The 2013 Fall Lineup: Welcome, Old and New Friends!
Of all of the most wonderful things about fall, new television shows just may be the best. Well, maybe right next to the beautiful autumn leaves, all crunchy on the ground, coloring the world with oranges and reds, but let’s be real: who wants to go outside? It is cold outside, baby! Instead, why don’t you just check out what I believe are the ten best new shows on the lineup! Cross your fingers that they make it to the big little screen!
1. How the Hell Am I Normal? This show is being sold as a 1980’s more dysfunctional Wonder Years. You had me at Wonder Years. ABC
2. About a Boy Based on the Nick Hornby novel, and the 2002 film starring Hugh Grant, of course, this sitcom seems like it could be hilarious, and probably pretty touching, as well. Hopefully it has all of the elements of the movie/novel, and maybe they can even consider having the theme song be Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.” NBC
3. Gothica Though I originally assumed this show might be some kind of a crazy spin-off of the 2003 Halle Berry film, I quickly realized that the difference between a “c” and a “k” are pretty important, and then I realized that this show sounds EVEN BETTER. It is being billed as a “sexy gothic soap opera,” which coincidentally are all of my favorite words. Set in present day, the show ties in a mythological presence with characters like Dracula, Frankenstein, and even my boy Dorian Gray. I am in. ABC
4. Super Clyde Greg Garcia, one of the masterminds behind My Name Is Earl, has his hands in a show that surprisingly stands out in a world of the familiarity that is public television. Super Clyde focuses on a timid young man working in a fast food restaurant who decides to become a superhero in order to build confidence. AND GUESS WHO SUPER CLYDE IS? Ron Weasley. Um, radical. CBS
5. Beverly Hills Cop Ever seen those movies? I sure hope you have! And even if you haven’t, you have some time to catch up before this show premieres. Brandon T. Jackson has already been cast to play Aaron Foley, Eddie Murphy’s character’s son. Murphy himself would be playing Axel as a recurring character, and if you guys know how much I love Murphy, you know why I think this show sounds brilliant. Beverly Hills Cop would be an hour long, with “comedic elements”–a dramedy, if you will, if we still say that word, which I hope we do because I love new words! CBS
6. Selection Three hundred years in the future, a young woman with very little money is chosen by a lottery to compete in order to become the next “queen of a war-torn nation at a crossroads.” Sound familiar? Pretty Hunger Games-y, yeah? Too bad Jennifer Lawrence is probably too busy to play the lead character, but the show sounds pretty fun anyway. CW
7. Pulling Get this: three “dysfunctional” women in their 30s who live however they would like to live, despite what society expects from them. Sounds like they are HelloGiggles girls, am I right? The show is based on a British comedy series also called Pulling, and sometimes that works wonders for the success of an American show. (The Office, duh.) ABC
8. Trophy Wife A half hour sitcom involving a “reformed party girl” who falls in love with a dude who has three troublemakin’ kids, and two judgy ex-wives. Sounds kind of hilarious, in my opinion, not to mention Bradley Whitford plays the male lead, which should always be a sentence I can claim to be true. ABC
9. “Untitled Michael J. Fox Comedy” I don’t really know why you would need me to tell you anything else about this show, because even if it were Michael J. Fox staring at a blank piece of paper with the word “Untitled” scribbled across it for 22 minutes a week, I would watch it. Every single night of my life. Fox belongs on TV, because TV and our hearts go hand in hand, and Fox is in all of our hearts.
But enough of that. The show, along with plenty of other shows this upcoming season, are semi-autobiographical, which means Fox will be playing a husband/father who deals with juggling all life has to offer, including Parkinson’s Disease. So maybe not so “semi” autobiographical, though Fox will be playing a news anchor, which he is not actually in real life, though I wish he was. Maybe I would actually watch the news! NBC
10. “Untitled John Leguizamo Comedy” Funnily enough, the expression “untitled” anything does not make me as disinterested as one would assume it might, especially when the name is attached to a versatile and hilarious (and okay, cute) actor. As I mentioned when gushing about Mr. Fox, there are quite a few shows based on real lives this upcoming season, and Leguizamo’s follows suit. Father, husband, struggle to balance old and new lives, etc. I am especially interested in Leguizamo’s show because there will be a focus on his attempt to stay grounded in his Latin roots, and any time network television attempts to diversify, I get really excited. ABC
What are you guys excited for?
Murphy image via geektyrant.com, Fox image via collider.com, Leguizamo image via rottentomatoes.com, faces smushed together via this ol’ gal.
