Why: Grief-ridden, recently widowed radio host Ryan King (Matthew Perry) reluctantly joins a counseling group at the behest of his boss. Stubborn resentment leads to humorous antics and results in serious bonding.
Channels: Friends meets In Treatment.
Set the DVR: NBC. Tues., 9 p.m. ET.
Why: Five young men and women leave their traditional Amish and Mennonite communities for an extreme Rumspringa and explore the devil’s playground in the big city — think cell phones, electricity, cars, denim, and more.
Channels: The Beverly Hillbillies have heart and undertake a True Life change.
Set the DVR: TLC. Sun., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: Something blows the global circuit, and everyone’s left without a spark. Fast-forward fifteen years: Society slips into the Middle Ages, and the militia runs the show. The ominous crew takes particular interest in young Charlie Matheson’s family, inciting her pilgrimage to the far-off land of Chicago in a self-dubbed “Lord of the Rings on the American highway.”
Channels: J.J. Abrams enters the reaping of The Hunger Games.
Set the DVR: NBC, premieres tonight. Mon., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: Kelly Kapoor (better known as Mindy Kaling) ditches the cube for the OR and looks for love in, yep, all the wrong places. Ed Helms makes an appearance; where The Office cast goes, we follow.
Channels: The New Girl gets smart and Scrubs in.
Set the DVR: Fox, premieres Sept. 25. Tues., 9:30 p.m. ET.
Why: Dennis Quaid saddles up as a former sheriff forced out of retirement when a big, bad Chicago mobster and his murderous hooligans saunter into town. Can he bring order to the budding 1960s strip?
Channels: Boardwalk Empire colonizes Las Vegas.
Set the DVR: CBS, premieres Sept. 25. Tues., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: A submarine under the command of Andre Braugher (whose voice we love almost as much as James Earl Jones’s) and Scott Speedman (sigh) goes rogue after receiving admittedly melodramatic orders to destroy an entire country. With nowhere to go, it settles on (where else?) a deserted island.
Channels: A cabal gets Lost from the Homeland.
Set the DVR: ABC, premieres Sept. 27. Thurs., 8 p.m. ET.
Why: Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) abandons 1880s London for 2012 New York and, in lieu of a curmudgeonly sidekick, pals around with Joan Watson (Lucy Liu). Together, the duo solves murders alongside Aidan Quinn (whose sheriffing abilities were more than Practical Magic — don’t judge).
Channels: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle puts on the NYPD Blue and joins CSI.
Set the DVR: CBS, premieres Sept. 27. Thurs., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: The six-part British hit crosses the pond and depicts sassy young nurses and even sassier nuns delivering babies in the East End of London in the 1950s. We suggest ringing Mom about this one.
Channels: Downtown Abbey tells A Baby Story.
Set the DVR: PBS, premieres Sept. 30. Sun., 8 p.m. ET.
Why: Stop lamenting the loss of Dave Annable from the small screen; he returns as one half of a young couple hired to manage the chichi — and haunted — Drake high-rise. Though nothing seems subtle (see: the title’s devil shout-out), we anticipate campy fun.
Channels: American Horror Story leaves Happy Town for the Big Apple.
Set the DVR: ABC, premieres Sept. 30. Sun., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: Connie Britton (sup, Mrs. Coach) takes the stage as a Faith Hill-like industry vet to Hayden Panetierre’s pseudo Taylor Swift, but we’ve got our eye on the subplot between Clare Bowen’s Scarlett and Sam Palladio’s Gunnar. Bonus points for stars doing their own crooning.
Channels: Country Strong becomes Glee-ful.
Set the DVR: ABC, premieres Oct. 10. Wed., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: It’s easy to pass this one off as an excuse to parade around dudes in heroic situations. But once the SVU fan in us learned Dick Wolf executive produced, we lit up for the fire department drama.
Channels: Law & Order swaps a badge for a hose to Rescue Me.
Set the DVR: NBC, premieres Oct. 10. Wed., 10 p.m. ET.
Why: Fueled by reignited superhero fever (Amazing Spider-Man, Dark Knight), the action series follows a shipwrecked rich boy-turned-vigilante who slings arrows to right past wrongs (while wooing audiences with his Chris O’Donnell-esque good looks).
Channels: A Batman philosophy with a Robin Hood aesthetic.
Set the DVR: CW, premieres Oct. 10. Wed., 8 p.m. ET.
Why: New Yorker Nev Schulman gained fame by documenting a meet-up between him and his Facebook crush on film (things are not as they appear). Now he’s helping Joe Schmos do the same IRL.
Channels: Well, er, Catfish — but for the masses.
Set the DVR: MTV, premieres Nov. 12. Mon., 10 p.m. ET.
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