The TV Column

Couch potatoes in good place as roll-out spins on

MacGyver co-stars Lucas Till (left) and George Eads chat up their new CBS series at San Diego’s Comic-Con 2016 in July. The series debuts Friday.
MacGyver co-stars Lucas Till (left) and George Eads chat up their new CBS series at San Diego’s Comic-Con 2016 in July. The series debuts Friday.

Today and Friday are the final two busy, busy days in the first week of the new fall season. Four new shows and 14 old favorites highlight the schedule.

TODAY

New shows:

First of all, NBC's The Good Place settles into its usual time slot at 7:30 p.m. The witty new comedy had a sneak preview last Monday following The Voice, and now the network hopes enough folks remember it has moved to make that ploy work.

Notorious, 8 p.m., ABC. This slick and fast-paced melodrama is supposedly based on the real-life behind-the-scenes symbiotic relationship between celebrity defense lawyer Mark Geragos (clients include Michael Jackson, Winona Ryder, Susan McDougal, Scott Peterson) and powerhouse Larry King Live producer Wendy Walker Whitworth. Both are listed as executive producers.

The series follows the relationship between talk show producer Julia George (Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs) and lawyer Jake Gregorian (Daniel Sunjata, Graceland). It's a frequently shady link between the justice system and the media.

The pilot was intriguing, but hopefully, a lot of this is artistic license.

Pitch, 8 p.m., Fox. I expected something cheesy in a series about the first woman to make it to baseball's big league. It didn't happen. Pitch is basically a family drama set against a baseball canvas.

Twenty-seven year old Kylie Bunbury (Under the Dome) is endearing, vulnerable, plucky and inspiring as (fictitious) baseball prodigy Ginny Baker. The project began life as a feature film and we'll see if there's enough here to translate into a series.

Also on board are Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dan Lauria, Ali Larter and Mark Consuelos. The San Diego Padres furnish the real team and ballpark. Note: Major League Baseball is a partner with Fox and the level of authenticity is amazing.

Returning shows:

Grey's Anatomy, 7 p.m., ABC. Season 13 promises to be "hotter."

Rosewood, 7 p.m., Fox. It's the sophomore year.

Superstore, 7 p.m., NBC. Season 2 begins with a strike looming.

Chicago Med, 8 p.m., NBC. This is a new night for the second season.

The Blacklist, 9 p.m., NBC. Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) lives! Now on to Season 4. A spinoff, The Blacklist: Redemption, is in the works.

How to Get Away With Murder, 9 p.m., ABC. Season 3 for Annalise Keating & Co.

FRIDAY

New shows:

MacGyver, 7 p.m., CBS. Instead of a "remake," the network touts this as a "re-imagining of the classic series" that aired on ABC from 1985 to 1992. There are tweaks in the action adventure that's sort of Jason Bourne meets James Bond meets Mission Impossible.

First of all, 26-year-old Lucas Till, who plays the new Angus "Mac" MacGyver, is about 10 years younger than Richard Dean Anderson was when he starred in the original.

Secondly, the series is lighter in tone, and Mac is also not so much a loner now. He's working with a super secret clandestine government outfit alongside former CIA agent Jack Dalton (George Eads, CSI), director of operations Patricia Thornton (Sandrine Holt, 24), and sassy computer hacker (there always has to be one) Riley Davis (Tristin Mays, The Vampire Diaries).

There are plenty of bullets and bodies flying, but MacGyver still saves the world with paper clips and duct tape.

The Exorcist, 8 p.m., Fox. This is a "revision" of the demonic possession novel/film that had heads spinning in the '70s. Ben Daniels (Flesh and Bone) and Alfonso Herrera (Sense8) are the demon-fighting priests; Oscar winner Geena Davis (The Accidental Tourist) and Alan Ruck (Spin City) are the parents; and Brianne Howey (Scream Queens) and Hannah Kasulka (True Blood) are their daughters. They may or may not be possessed.

Returning shows:

Caught on Camera With Nick Cannon, 7 p.m., NBC. Everybody has a camera, Season 3.

Hell's Kitchen, 7 p.m., Fox. What? It's Season 16 already? Sixteen!

Last Man Standing, 7 p.m., ABC. It's already Season 6 for Tim Allen. Heck, Home Improvement only lasted eight, but once had 20.6 million viewers.

Dr. Ken, 7:30 p.m., ABC. Season 2.

Hawaii Five-0, 8 p.m., CBS. Season 7.

Shark Tank, 8 p.m., ABC. Season 8.

Blue Bloods, 9 p.m., CBS. Season 7 already. Tom Selleck's iconic Magnum, P.I. only lasted eight.

Online: Season 5 of Longmire downloads Friday on NetFlix. Season 3 of Transparent also will be available on Amazon, which has already ordered a fourth season.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Weekend on 09/22/2016

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