Margaret here, with a Tuesday Wednesday Top Ten. Ready to rank the incoming class of movie stars trying their hand at the small screen. Every TV season, a new group of movie actors crops up on the fall schedule, either because scarcity of good film roles or the lure of a hefty paycheck.
Here are the top ten series soon to debut, in order of how much we're looking forward a weekly date with their stars. Set your DVRs accordingly!
#10 True Detective - HBO - 2015
This spot is a placeholder for True Detective Season 2, the impossibly buzzy crime drama anthology series at HBO. While the show has yet to cast its leads, if any of the numerous rumours prove true it will certainly feature at least one famous and undervalued actor looking for a McConnaissance of his or her very own. Although it's not due until early 2015, it's safe to assume we'll be hearing at least as much about it all fall as we will any other show.
#9 Madam Secretary - CBS - 8 pm Sunday, 9/21
Téa Leoni stars in this drama series as a female Secretary of State. (Sure, she's got a globally-essential job, but what I want to know is can she have it all????) It's CBS, so unless it turns out to be a Good Wife-type anomaly, chances that it will be a formula-busting creative showcase are low. The supporting cast includes Tony winners Patina Miller (Pippin) and Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago, Sweet Charity), so we can always hold out hope for a musical number.
8 more starry series after the jump...
#8 State of Affairs - NBC - 10 pm Monday, 11/17
Katharine Heigl, in a bid to bounce back from a stalled movie career, stars in this political thriller as a CIA analyst and advisor to the president, played by the incomparable Alfre Woodard. While there may be many who eagerly await Heigl's return to TV, to my mind the real draw here is Woodard. Can you describe her presence without using the word queenly? President may do just as well.
#7 Gotham - FOX - 8pm Monday, 9/22
Cashing in on Batman mania, this prequel series focuses on Detective James Gordon's early days on the Gotham City police force. Many of the franchise's most famous villains make appearances as their younger selves, and Jada Pinkett Smith is in the mix as a gang boss with the misfortune to be named Fish Mooney. The show certainly has the brand power to be a hit, and Smith has been publicly enthusiastic about playing evil-- perhaps this will be more successful than her past TV work.
#6 Black-ish - ABC - 9:30pm Wednesday, 9/24
The only sitcom on this list, Black-ish features Anthony Anderson and Laurence Fishburne, who also executive produce. A comic take on class and racial identity, the show was developed by the very sharp and very funny Larry Wilmore (of Daily Show fame). Oscar-nominee Fishburne is worth watching in everything, though his role in this is recurring rather than regular, and it's great to see Anderson and his comic chops take center stage. Balancing humor with pointed cultural commentary is a tough order on network TV, but that team has a strong shot at pulling it off.
#5 Empire - FOX - Spring 2015
This doesn't premiere until mid-season, but it simply will not be ignored. Lee Daniels has created a musical drama series about a family hip-hop empire that stars Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard, and Gabourey Sidibe. If it's anything like Lee Daniels' other work it will be messy and captivating and compulsively watchable; in other words, great TV. All three stars have been Oscar-nominated, but Henson and Sidibe in particular have been drastically underserved by their post-nomination roles and a soapy primetime showcase could be just what they need.
#4 Red Band Society - FOX - 9pm Wednesday, 9/17 (tonight!)
This hour-long dramedy based on a Catalan series has been described as "Grey's Anatomy meets Glee". While that may not be for everyone, it sure zeroes in on an audience with great potential for devoted fandom. Everyone's best friend Octavia Spencer plays the tough-but-caring pediatric ward nurse. Though she's definitely an ensemble player here, it goes some of the way towards salving the wounds inflicted by the abandonment of that Murder, She Wrote reboot in which Spencer was meant to star.
#3 Mozart in the Jungle - Amazon - All episodes available December 2014
You may not know what this is supposed to be about. But it stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Malcolm McDowell, and Bernadette Peters.
Isn't that really all we need to know?
Okay, how about the logline "sex, drugs, and classical music"? You there yet? I am.
#2 American Horror Story: Freak Show - FX - 10pm Wednesday, 10/8
Ryan Murphy is back for round four of his actressexual catnip series, with most of his troupe returning to vamp and rage in another camp-friendly setting. Academy Award winners Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates return, along with Academy Award Win- (damnit) Angela Bassett and Gabourey Sidibe, and Academy Award Nom- (damnit) Sarah Paulson. The advertising has thus far been cryptic, but everyone who's known and loved the previous series should be chomping at the bit for this one.
#1 How to Get Away with Murder - ABC - 10pm Thursday, 9/25
VIOLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Viola as a mysterious-sexy-brilliant criminal law professor with dark secrets! I have watched the teaser for this show more times than I should probably publicly admit and I get chills every time.
Mark your calendars. We owe it to Viola, and to ourselves, to make this show a hit. Setting aside how one might feel about Shonda Rhimes' ouvre, to watch this show is to take one small step towards gaining Ms. Davis the Oscar she so richly deserves. Once she's a bankable television star (and making that network-drama $), she'll be able to finance that Barbara Jordan Biopic she's been trying to get off the ground since 2010. (Tony Kushner himself has written her a script.) From there it's just a short walk to the podium in the Dolby Theater."
What are you most looking forward to this TV season? Do you have hunches about which of these are going to avoid cancellation?