20 TV shows to watch this fall

[rthomas]

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/27/64055...-watch-out-for

Looking forward to several of these, especially Flight of the Conchords: Live at the London Apollo, HBO (Saturday, Oct. 6)

[PackMan97]

Looking forward to Jack Ryan from that list and that's about it. Should be called "1 TV Show to watch this fall"

Manifest would be interesting, but given they track record of canceling shows that I start watching, I'm going to not start watching this one

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/27/64055...-watch-out-for

Looking forward to several of these, especially Flight of the Conchords: Live at the London Apollo, HBO (Saturday, Oct. 6)

I do adore Flight of the Conchords.

[JasonEvans]

Manifest would be interesting, but given they track record of canceling shows that I start watching, I'm going to not start watching this one

In 2004, Lost was a huge hit and the TV nets jumped all over mystery sci-fi kinda shows. That gave us fun stuff like Heroes and the amazing Fringe, but it also gave us a number of frustrating series that set up mysteries only to never satisfactorily resolved them (hmmm, Lost may actually fall into the category too, but that is another conversation). I was the victim of a number of these including:

The Event - 2010 show about aliens living among us. By the end I had no idea what was going on.
Flashforward - 2009 series about the entire planet seeing their own future for a brief moment. It ended with a second flash forward and then the series was thankfully gone.
Jericho - 2006-08, the entire US gets nuked. The show was really good for a while but eventually melted under the weight of its mysteries not making sense and was cancelled for good after a short second season.
Journeyman - 2007 version of Quantum Leap with some fun mysteries wrapped in to keep us guessing. A wonderful show that never caught on. Made me a huge Kevin McKidd fan.
Revolution -2012-14 show about a world without electricity. The eventual explanation, involving nanotechnology that kept us from having power, was just godawful and the show died.

There are probably more that I have forgotten. All I know is that the second I saw a trailer for Manifest, I thought, "that looks like another The Event or Flashforward... no thank you." If it is any good, I will binge it once it has completed a satisfactory first season. Ain't no way I am risking my time on this kind of stuff from the start because I end up disappointed about 90% of the time.

-Jason "I should add the godawful Designated Survivor to this list, but it technically isn't sci fi" Evans

[jimsumner]

Sean Penn and a mission to Mars pushes my science-fiction geek buttons.

The most interesting part of this, IMO, is how few of these must-watch shows are on any of the traditional networks. HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix are the new normal.

No surprise. The awards-allocation for the last few years have confirmed the TV takeover by the premium/streaming/cable universe.

But it's still a bit disconcerting for those of us who grew up with three channels.

Here's hoping Murphy Brown can make a comeback. We need her.

[CDu]

Definitely interested in Jack Ryan and Flight of the Conchords. Possibly intrigued by A Million Little Things (good cast, interesting premise) and Maniac (again, for the cast).

[jimsumner]

In 2004, Lost was a huge hit and the TV nets jumped all over mystery sci-fi kinda shows. That gave us fun stuff like Heroes and the amazing Fringe, but it also gave us a number of frustrating series that set up mysteries only to never satisfactorily resolved them (hmmm, Lost may actually fall into the category too, but that is another conversation). I was the victim of a number of these including:

The Event - 2010 show about aliens living among us. By the end I had no idea what was going on.
Flashforward - 2009 series about the entire planet seeing their own future for a brief moment. It ended with a second flash forward and then the series was thankfully gone.
Jericho - 2006-08, the entire US gets nuked. The show was really good for a while but eventually melted under the weight of its mysteries not making sense and was cancelled for good after a short second season.
Journeyman - 2007 version of Quantum Leap with some fun mysteries wrapped in to keep us guessing. A wonderful show that never caught on. Made me a huge Kevin McKidd fan.
Revolution -2012-14 show about a world without electricity. The eventual explanation, involving nanotechnology that kept us from having power, was just godawful and the show died.

There are probably more that I have forgotten. All I know is that the second I saw a trailer for Manifest, I thought, "that looks like another The Event or Flashforward... no thank you." If it is any good, I will binge it once it has completed a satisfactory first season. Ain't no way I am risking my time on this kind of stuff from the start because I end up disappointed about 90% of the time.

-Jason "I should add the godawful Designated Survivor to this list, but it technically isn't sci fi" Evans

I'm still waiting to see how V ends. Go humans!!

[PackMan97]

In 2004, Lost was a huge hit and the TV nets jumped all over mystery sci-fi kinda shows. That gave us fun stuff like Heroes and the amazing Fringe, but it also gave us a number of frustrating series that set up mysteries only to never satisfactorily resolved them (hmmm, Lost may actually fall into the category too, but that is another conversation). I was the victim of a number of these including:

The Event - 2010 show about aliens living among us. By the end I had no idea what was going on.
Flashforward - 2009 series about the entire planet seeing their own future for a brief moment. It ended with a second flash forward and then the series was thankfully gone.
Jericho - 2006-08, the entire US gets nuked. The show was really good for a while but eventually melted under the weight of its mysteries not making sense and was cancelled for good after a short second season.
Journeyman - 2007 version of Quantum Leap with some fun mysteries wrapped in to keep us guessing. A wonderful show that never caught on. Made me a huge Kevin McKidd fan.
Revolution -2012-14 show about a world without electricity. The eventual explanation, involving nanotechnology that kept us from having power, was just godawful and the show died.

There are probably more that I have forgotten. All I know is that the second I saw a trailer for Manifest, I thought, "that looks like another The Event or Flashforward... no thank you." If it is any good, I will binge it once it has completed a satisfactory first season. Ain't no way I am risking my time on this kind of stuff from the start because I end up disappointed about 90% of the time.

-Jason "I should add the godawful Designated Survivor to this list, but it technically isn't sci fi" Evans

Lost. /smh Glad I didn't watch that until I could binge watch it. Only wasted a month of my life instead of 5 years

Heroes was awful after the first season and just got worse. Fringe was awesome. I still sometimes joke that if my oldest had been a girl, we would have named him Etta. (he's a Henry).

I saw all of those you mentioned. I think you are being a bit kind to Revolution. That show was such a mess that I have no idea how it got to two seasons. Thankfully the planned third season didn't happen.

According to the show's creator, Eric Kripke, the third season was going to be different from the first two seasons:

It was going to be great. It was gonna be this kind of treasure story where they were going to hear a legend of a very mythic treasure. It wasn't gonna be gold, it was gonna be supplies. It was gonna be this incredible stockpile of supplies. All the good guys and all the bad guys in the show were going to fight for this gold mine of material and supplies. It was going to be fun. It wasn't going to be a war season. It was going to be a treasure hunt season, which would have been fun and mixed up the show in a really interesting way.

Jericho's first season was quite good, but you are right it got buried in its own conspiracies. Why can't a show just keep to a simple plot and do it quite well. Even though I love Lennie James, had the show left him out and just focused on the town of Jericho and it's fight for survival it would have been so much better.

You forgot Day Break (2008) a "groundhog day" like show with Taye Diggs starring.

[budwom]

I'm still waiting to see how V ends. Go humans!!

those were some badazz lizards, that's for sure.

[BD80]

those were some badazz lizards, that's for sure.

Some of them were really attractive too!

[rsvman]

Of that list, Jack Ryan is of interest to me, and perhaps The Romanoffs.

I wouldn't watch A Million Little Things if it were the only show on television. I freakin' HATE "This is Us." It's so self-important and saccharine. The last thing I need in my life is another self-important, cloying, sentimental TV show that thinks it's DEEP. Gag me.

The Jim Carrey show might be interesting. He's pretty talented at pulling off stuff like this. Finally, I like cooking shows in general, so the cooking/travel show might be worth a look.

[camion]

The title of the article is, "NPR's Fall TV Preview: 20 Shows To Watch Out For."

Could that be as in, "Watch out for that tree?"

[BigWayne]

I doubt I will watch any of these shows. What I found interesting was that about half of them are not on network TV.

[elvis14]

I doubt I will watch any of these shows. What I found interesting was that about half of them are not on network TV.

I have to admit that I watch a lot of TV but I was rather underwhelmed by this list. For me, most of the shows that I end up really liking and watching are not on network TV. I'm surprised when I find some I want to watch on network TV.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

I had a random thought about when Ozark was returning - Googled it...and season 2 drops TOMORROW. (Timing is everything) Since I was traveling and away from the family, I watched a couple of the last episodes of season one last night to get me re-oriented for 2.

Good solid 4 out of 5 *s in my opinion. Very good dialogue.

[Udaman]

Can we morph this thread from "shows you should watch" to "what shows are you watching that you think others should watch?"

I'll echo the recommendation for Ozark. Season 1 was great. Every episode. Definitely looking forward to Season 2.

Others we are now watching and enjoy

Get Shorty - just started it. On Ep 3 or so. Fun thus far. It's in its second season, and I've heard it's great

Goliath - just saw first episode. Really enjoyed it. This series is also in Season 2, I believe.

The Americans - yeah, I know, we are behind. On Season 2 at the moment.

Better Call Saul - fully caught up. This current season is S L O W. They've gotten too full of themselves (the Producers, that is). We are four episodes in, and barely anything has happened, and nothing makes sense (and there have been some things that did happen, that defy logic). That said, still hopeful.

Marvelous Ms. Maisel - if you haven't seen Season 1...go do it. Right now!


Any other good recommendations out there?

[rthomas]

Any other good recommendations out there?

1. Kiling Eve - Sandra Oh deserves the TV Oscar, but I would let Villanelle kill me if she wanted to, not that I could do anything about it.
2. GLOW - Alison Brie ('nuff said). About the beginning of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling in the 1980's
3. Barry (the one with Bill Hader) - depressed, low-level hit man Barry Berkman wants to become an actor.
4. River - British drama - River is a police officer haunted by the murder victims whose secrets he must uncover. Theme song will not get out of my head.

[cato]

Any other good recommendations out there?

We tend to catch on to shows after they have been out a while, but our current favorite is The Killing. Very well done murder story.

The sci-fi conversation about got me thinking about Orphan Black. That was another one we loved. I wish it were not over.

[jimsumner]

We tend to catch on to shows after they have been out a while, but our current favorite is The Killing. Very well done murder story.

The sci-fi conversation about got me thinking about Orphan Black. That was another one we loved. I wish it were not over.

If you like science fiction, have you tried The Expanse?

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Goliath - just saw first episode. Really enjoyed it. This series is also in Season 2, I believe.

The Americans - yeah, I know, we are behind. On Season 2 at the moment. Any other good recommendations out there?

My recommendations on these two...I'm a bit ahead of you here (no spoiler).

On Goliath, it's frustrating...that show could be a solid 5. Great idea. Good cast. But they so over play the very cliched main character by Thornton. You know, the red mustang, the hotel room, always drinking and smoking, never eating...so cliched. But still, a 3.5 IMO. Season 1 is def worth washing. Season 2, totally different case, is dark dark dark. I needed to shower after the final couple episodes.

Americans: BINGE it. Season 5 and 6 are the best two seasons...really picks up the pace as they wrap the series up, which they did very well. You'll notice differences in seasons 1,2,3 and 4 from each other...sometimes a lot of sex, sometimes none, the kids will be prominent, and then not...but they settle into it a groove and finish strong.