The new fall season gets busy the next couple of days, with five new series making their debut and eight veteran series returning.
Here's the new stuff.
• The Gifted, 8 p.m. Monday on Fox. Gifted or cursed? This highly anticipated sci-fi family drama is set in Marvel's X-Men universe, but there will be no familiar X-Men around to complicate things.
Instead, The Gifted tells the tale of the Strucker family, whose ordinary suburban life is shaken by the sudden discovery that their kids have mutant powers. In this universe, mutants are hated, feared and hunted.
The Struckers have to go on the run from the mutant-hunting government agency, Sentinel Services. Fortunately, there is the Mutant Underground network to help them escape to more mutant-tolerant Mexico.
At its core, this is not a tale about superheroes, but one of family, acceptance, discrimination and disenfranchisement of any group that's "different." In that way, parallels will be found between the series and contemporary divided American society.
Stephen Moyer (True Blood) is the (at first) mutant-prosecuting attorney dad, Reed; cult favorite Amy Acker (Angel, Alias, Person of Interest) is the nurse mom, Caitlin; and the kids are Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lind, Gotham) and Andy (Percy Hynes White, Night at the Museum 3).
Lauren has been aware of her power for a while, but has kept it hidden. Being bullied at school unleashes Andy's power, much to the shock of the bullies, himself and his family.
Season 1 will have 10 episodes.
• Ghosted, 7:30 p.m. today on Fox. This comedy takes two funny guys from two funny shows and pairs them in a sort of odd couple buddy detective sitcom that falls somewhere between The X-Files and Ghostbusters.
No-nonsense retired police detective Leroy Wright (Craig Robinson, The Office) and paranormal true believer Max Jennifer (Adam Scott, Parks and Recreation) are recruited by the secret Bureau Underground and its leader (Ally Walker, Profiler) to investigate very strange unexplained stuff in Los Angeles.
The tag line: "Be afraid. Be kind of afraid." Hilarity ensues.
• Wisdom of the Crowd, 7:30 p.m. today on CBS. Jeremy Piven (Mr Selfridge) plays Silicon Valley innovator Jeffrey Tanner, the creator of a crowd-sourcing app he hopes will help solve his daughter's murder. Much to Tanner's surprise, the app begins to solve other crimes. Drama ensues.
• Ten Days in the Valley, 9 p.m. today on ABC. This promising drama stars fan favorite Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) as Jane Sadler, a TV crime show producer whose daughter is abducted in real life. The 10 episodes will cover the 10 days of the investigation.
• 9JKL, 7:30 p.m. Monday on CBS. Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains) plays Josh Roberts, an actor whose TV show got canceled and whose wife dumped him. Strapped for cash, he has to move back to New York where he's stuck in an apartment between his smothering, doting parents (Linda Lavin, Elliot Gould) and his grating brother and sister-in-law (David Walton, Liza Lapira).
Sadly, the jokes are forced and predictable, and the aging parental premise is fatiguing. Even old pros Lavin and Gould won't be able to save this one. Watch it while you can.
RETURNING SHOWS
• The Toy Box, 6 p.m. today on ABC. Eric Stonestreet returns as host for Season 2, but there will be no adult mentors this time and a mostly new panel of kid judges.
• Bob's Burgers, 6:30 p.m. today on Fox. Season 8 for the Belchers and their burger joint.
• Shark Tank, 7 p.m. today on ABC. It's a two-hour premiere for Season 9's would-be entrepreneurs.
•The Simpsons, 7 p.m. today on Fox. The record-setting show just keeps chugging along in Season (D'oh!) 29.
• Family Guy, 8 p.m. today on Fox. Season 16 for Stewie and the Griffin family.
• NCIS: Los Angeles, 8:30 p.m. today on CBS. Last season ended with Sam (LL Cool J) avenging the death of his wife by killing terrorist Tahir Khaled. Season 9 opens a few months later with Sam still grieving and not yet back on the job. Brace yourselves -- the first episode begins with a nuclear threat from North Korea.
• The Last Man on Earth, 8:30 p.m. today on Fox. Last season's cliffhanger found the gang sailing to Mexico to avoid the radioactivity from the nuclear reactor explosion. Season 4 picks up where we left off after Pamela Brinton (Kristen Wiig) boarded the yacht.
• Lucifer, 7 p.m. Monday on Fox. Cliffhanger: Lucifer (Tom Ellis) was mysteriously attacked and wakes up to find himself alone in the desert with his wings that he had destroyed having been restored. What's with that?
Season 3 will find Lucifer trying to find out who attacked him.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 10/01/2017