Out with the old and in with the new.
Let's face it, 2013-14 is so last season. Literally. The networks have moved on, looking ahead to September, when every new TV show will be a smash hit and every returning favorite will enjoy its best season ever.
(In reality, only about 20 percent of new series live to see a second season. Some even implode and vanish after a few episodes.)
Nonetheless, the five broadcast networks have now unveiled their new fall lineups, cried crocodile tears over old shows they "really, really loved" but never saw "traction," and gotten all giggly over the shiny new freshmen (all 45 of them) waiting in the wings.
Sadly, no matter how good it looks on paper, there's no such thing as a guaranteed success on TV. Just ask last pre-season's "sure-fire winners" Michael J. Fox and Robin Williams. Both their new comedies have joined the infamous scrapheap of one-season wonders.
Still, TV marches inexorably on. Here's a quick overview of what the networks are offering in the fall, along with handy lists of the renewed and canceled shows from last season.
Commercials for the new programs have already begun showing up, but be aware that the networks frequently tweak the schedules right up to the last couple of weeks.
Caution: As has become their habit, the networks are holding back some veteran series along with some promising newcomers for midseason. Be sure to carefully study the renewed/canceled list before you send me a pleading email that begins, "But what about (fill in the blank)? I don't see it on the fall schedule! It was my favorite show. Is it canceled?"
NBC ON RISE
It was a good year for NBC thanks to The Blacklist (TV's top-rated new series), The Sound of Music Live!, the Winter Olympics and Jimmy Fallon's seamless transition to The Tonight Show.
NBC's fall lineup will be heavy on romantic sitcoms and spy dramas as the Peacock adds the relationship comedies Marry Me and A to Z, the Debra Messing light drama police procedural The Mysteries of Laura, the Hellraiser DC Comics adaptation Constantine and the Kate Walsh comedy Bad Judge.
Premiering in mid-November will be the Katherine Heigl CIA drama State of Affairs.
Note: Parenthood will get a shortened,
13-episode final season, and Parks and Recreation is renewed for a final season, but not yet on the schedule.
Here's how NBC will begin the fall. New series are in bold.
Sunday: Football Night in America, NBC Sunday Night Football.
Monday: The Voice, The Blacklist/State of Affairs (beginning Nov. 17)
Tuesday: The Voice, Marry Me, About a Boy, Chicago Fire.
Wednesday: The Mysteries of Laura, Law & Order: SVU, Chicago P.D.
Thursday: The Biggest Loser, Bad Judge (The Blacklist beginning Feb. 5), A to Z, Parenthood.
Friday: Dateline NBC, Grimm, Constantine.
Saturday: Repeats.
Renewed: Hannibal, Parks and Recreation, Parenthood, Grimm, Chicago P.D., Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire, About a Boy, The Blacklist.
Canceled: Welcome to the Family, The Michael J. Fox Show, Ironside, Sean Saves the World, Dracula, Community, Believe, Crisis, Revolution, Growing Up Fisher.
FOX RELOADS
It was a disappointing year for Fox. Fading juggernaut American Idol continued its long ratings slide (it'll be scaled back next season), overall network viewership declined and only two new shows, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Sleepy Hollow, made it to a second season.
Fox is adding 12 new shows for 2014-15; five will debut in the fall. That's a lot for a network that doesn't even program the 9 p.m. hour.
At the top of the list, Fox hopes the promising Batman prequel Gotham will live up to its preseason buzz. Stars: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Utopia is a Survivor-esque reality competition and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer will front the quirky hospital drama Red Band Society. The "event" drama Gracepoint and comedy Mulaney round things out.
Here's how Fox will begin the fall. New series are in bold.
Sunday: Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Family Guy, Mulaney.
Monday: Gotham, Sleepy Hollow.
Tuesday: Utopia, New Girl, The Mindy Project.
Wednesday: Hell's Kitchen, Red Band Society.
Thursday: Bones, Gracepoint (10 episodes only).
Friday: Masterchef Junior, Utopia (second episode).
Saturday: Fox Sports Saturday.
Renewed: Glee, Bones, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, New Girl, So You Think You Can Dance, Family Guy, Masterchef Junior, The Simpsons, American Idol, Sleepy Hollow, The Following, Bob's Burgers, The Mindy Project.
Canceled: Dads, Enlisted, Raising Hope, Rake, Surviving Jack, The X Factor. Note: American Dad is moving to TBS.
ABC REGROUPS
ABC is also adding 12 new shows next season trying to overcome its disappointing third-place finish. The new lineup will be heavy on crime dramas and ethnic diversity.
Six of the 12 will launch in the fall, including How to Get Away With Murder, a juicy legal thriller from powerhouse producer Shonda Rhimes (Scandal, Grey's Anatomy) starring Viola Davis (The Help).
Fall sitcoms include Selfie, about a woman with 263,000 online followers and no friends; Black-ish, about a suburban black family; Manhattan Love Story, a comedy that reveals the actual thoughts of men and women; and Cristela, about a Mexican-American law student.
The drama Forever stars Ioan Gruffudd as an immortal doctor looking for clues to his condition.
Here's how ABC kicks off the fall. New shows are in bold:
Sunday: America's Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon a Time, Resurrection, Revenge.
Monday: Dancing With the Stars, Castle.
Tuesday: Selfie, Manhattan Love Story, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Forever.
Wednesday: The Middle, The Goldbergs, Modern Family, Black-ish, Nashville.
Thursday: Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder.
Friday: Last Man Standing, Cristela, Shark Tank, 20/20.
Saturday: Saturday Night Football.
Renewed: America's Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Castle, Dancing With the Stars, The Goldbergs, The Great Christmas Light Fight, Grey's Anatomy, Last Man Standing, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Middle, Modern Family, Nashville, Once Upon a Time, Resurrection, Revenge, Scandal, Shark Tank, The Taste and 20/20.
Canceled: The Assets, Trophy Wife, Mixology, The Neighbors, Suburgatory, Super Fun Night, Killer Women, Lucky 7, Betrayal, Back in the Game, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.
CBS HOLDS STEADY
CBS, TV's most-watched network, still had its audience shrink by 8 percent, so it ordered eight new series. Five will debut in the fall, including a new Tea Leoni political drama, Madam Secretary, in which she plays the secretary of state.
Also up: yet another NCIS spinoff -- this one is set in New Orleans starring Scott Bakula. There's also Thursday night football and (yea!) the 12th and final season for Two and Half Men.
Crime dramas include Stalker, with Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q nabbing stalkers, and Scorpion, about Homeland Security geeks fighting crime. It stars Robert Patrick and Katharine McPhee.
The McCarthys is a Laurie Metcalf comedy about a close-knit Boston family of sports nuts.
No surprise: Five of the network's new dramas are about fighting crime.
Only two freshman shows, Mom and The Millers, made it to a sophomore year.
This is CBS' fall schedule. New series are in bold.
Sunday: 60 Minutes, Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, CSI.
Monday: The Big Bang Theory/2 Broke Girls (in October), Mom, Scorpion, NCIS: Los Angeles.
Tuesday: NCIS, NCIS: New Orleans, Person of Interest.
Wednesday: Survivor, Criminal Minds, Stalker.
Thursday: NFL Thursday Night Football (until Oct. 23), then The Big Bang Theory, The Millers, Two and a Half Men, The McCarthys, Elementary.
Friday: The Amazing Race, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods.
Saturday: Crime show repeats, 48 Hours.
Renewed: CSI, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, NCIS, Elementary, Blue Bloods, Mike & Molly, The Millers, Hawaii Five-0, Two and a Half Men, The Good Wife, NCIS: Los Angeles, Mom, 2 Broke Girls, Criminal Minds, Survivor, Undercover Boss, The Amazing Race, Person of Interest.
Canceled: Bad Teacher, The Crazy Ones, Friends With Better Lives, Hostages, Intelligence, We Are Men, How I Met Your Mother.
THE CW LATE FALL
The mini-network CW prefers to let the dust from the fall stampede settle before launching its new season later in October.
New this fall is the telenovela adaptation Jane the Virgin. It stars Gina Rodriguez as a telenovela-obsessed virgin who is accidentally artificially inseminated. Also up is Arrow spinoff The Flash, starring Grant Gustin as Barry Allen, the fastest man alive.
Look for the supernatural crime procedural iZombie and the apocalyptic drama The Messengers at midseason.
The fifth network will also shuffle around a couple of shows and begin the fall with this lineup. New series are in bold.
Monday: The Originals, Jane the Virgin.
Tuesday: The Flash, Supernatural.
Wednesday: Arrow, The 100.
Thursday: The Vampire Diaries, Reign.
Friday: Whose Line Is It Anyway? (plus an encore episode), America's Next Top Model.
Renewed: Arrow, Hart of Dixie, The Originals, The Vampire Diaries, Reign, America's Next Top Model, The 100, Supernatural, Beauty and the Beast.
Canceled: The Carrie Diaries, Nikita, Star-Crossed, The Tomorrow People.
Style on 06/03/2014