Welcome to November, fellow TV lovers. Did you remember to set your clocks back one hour?
And because the new fall season began way back on Sept. 21 (with some shows debuting even earlier than that), we surely must be finished with all the new and returning programs.
Nope. Not yet.
There are still a number of series set for the days ahead that fans have almost given up on. Major Crimes, for example, is a popular series in these parts, if my email is any indication, and the panic level has begun to rise.
"Have they canceled Major Crimes?" one asks.
"What happened to Major Crimes?" another wonders. "Surely they never finished the last season."
Indeed, they did not. Major Crimes returns at 8 p.m. Monday on TNT.
In its wisdom, TNT splits Major Crimes' season into two parts, with a break in the middle to allow the broadcast networks to fight over viewers in the frenzy of the fall premieres.
Part 1 of Major Crimes' 18-episode Season 4 debuted June 8 and ran until Aug. 10. The good news is that TNT has since ordered an additional five episodes for Part 2, bringing the total for the season to 23 -- the most ever for Major Crimes. The additional episodes will carry Capt. Sharon Raydor (Mary McDonnell) and her Major Crimes Division crew into next year.
That should ease the minds of fans who wondered if the series was in trouble.
The crime-busting ensemble includes detective lieutenants Louie Provenza (G.W. Bailey), Andy Flynn (Tony Denison) and Michael Tao (Michael Paul Chan), and detectives Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz) and Amy Sykes (Kearran Giovanni).
Phillip P. Keene portrays civilian surveillance coordinator Buzz Watson, and Graham Patrick Martin plays Sharon's adopted son, Rusty Beck.
And from time to time, Major Crimes brings back Jon Tenney as recurring character Fritz Howard, former FBI special agent and now deputy chief of the LAPD Special Operations Bureau. Fritz is married to beloved former Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer), who was replaced by Raydor.
In Monday's episode, "Four of a Kind," four wealthy victims are left for dead outside a hospital emergency room. Raydor and her team develop a bizarre list of suspects, including a high school daughter with her father's iPhone password, a diabetic chauffeur, a parking-lot owner and a mysterious woman.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
What other new and returning shows are directly ahead? Here's the rundown.
Today: The Librarians, 7 p.m. TNT. It's Season 2 for the keepers of the artifacts. Check out my preview in today's TV Week insert.
Monday: Legends 9 p.m. TNT. Sean Bean (Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings) is back for Season 2.
Thursday: Elementary, 9 p.m. CBS (Season 4). Angel From Hell, a new CBS sitcom starring Jane Lynch and Maggie Lawson, was originally scheduled for this week, but is being held until February. Veteran series Mike & Molly and sophomore series The Odd Couple remain on the shelf and may be paired with Angel From Hell.
Make a note: Now that CBS' Thursday Night Football has ended, the new Thursday lineup beginning this week will be (starting at 7 p.m.) The Big Bang Theory, Life in Pieces, Mom, The Big Bang Theory (encore) and Elementary.
Friday: MasterChef Junior, 7 p.m. Fox (Season 4); World's Funniest, 8 p.m. Fox (Season 2).
Nov. 8: Agent X, 8 p.m. on TNT; Getting On, 9 p.m. HBO (Season 3); Flesh and Bone (Starz), time to be determined.
It's a two-hour premiere for Agent X, a secret agent thriller starring Jeff Hephner (Interstellar, Chicago Fire) in the title role, Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct, Casino) and Gerald McRaney (Major Dad, Deadwood).
Nov. 10: Chicago Med 9 p.m. NBC; Donny!, 9:30 p.m. USA. Donny! is a new sitcom starring Donny Deutsch as the host of a daytime talk show.
Nov. 12: Project Runway Junior, 8 p.m. Lifetime.
Nov. 14: Spotless, 9 p.m. Esquire. Esquire Network is the former Style Network and Spotless is its first original drama. More on the series as the debut nears. The series is rated TV-14 (DLSV) and co-stars Brenden Coyle (Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey).
Nov. 15: Into the Badlands. 9 p.m. AMC; The Royals (Season 2), 9 p.m. E!
Nov. 27: Unforgettable, 7 p.m. A&E. It'll be back-to-back episodes to kick off the 13 episodes of Season 4. Poppy Montgomery returns as NYPD Detective Carrie Wells, who has the rare condition of hyperthymesia -- an extremely detailed autobiographical memory. The condition enables her to solve some of New York's stickiest crimes.
Dylan Walsh returns as her partner, Al Burns. Joining the cast are Alani "La La" Anthony, Kathy Najimy, E.J. Bonilla, Skeet Ulrich, Rachel Dratch and Grammy Award-winner Ashanti.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 11/01/2015