Fall TV Preview 2015: Sunday TV Deathmatch

We’re tackling the new fall TV schedule night by night, starting with Sunday night.

Let’s bitch it out…

The following tables do not include online / streaming series from Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. These will be addressed at the bottom of the post on the appropriate days.

SUNDAY TV DEATHMATCH

[table id=1 /]

Hourly Breakdown: 8pm EST

• ABC‘s Once Upon A Time (Sept 27) is looking to follow up last year’s ratings success/creative disappointment Frozen with a turn to the dark side. In anticipation to introducing King Arthur (whaa?) and Brave‘s Merida, lead character/charisma void Emma Swan will don a different colour of leather fetish gear to play the Dark Swan. Fans are likely excited; everyone else is likely surprised that this CGI monstrosity is still on.
• CBS takes a gamble on S2 of the Tea Leoni-fronted Madam Secretary (Oct 4) which never really gained traction last year, despite a solid cast. This one – like a lot of CBS’ Sunday night schedule – skews old, but is relatively stable. Overall the show’s success is a mixed bag. It’s possible that The Good Wife gets cut this year and Secretary moves into its 9pm timeslot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6Q8Y3K-uFw&list=PLCF4E9612CFF6AD62

• FOX starts off Sunday nights with the 27th (!!!) season of The Simpsons (8pm, Sept 27), though contrary to rumours Homer and Marge are not separating (unlike a certain frog and pig couple). So what can we expect? The girls of Girls apparently. Fellow 8 o’clock stablemate Brooklyn 99 (8:30pm) shakes up the norm by demoting Holt and introducing a new Captain, played by Bill Hader. Meanwhile Jake and Amy navigate their new relationship getting their smoochies on in the S2 finale. Very exciting.
• NBC doesn’t have any scripted programming, but they will end up owning the night thanks to NFL coverage, which always dominates

Hourly Breakdown: 9pm EST

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dV3HaglFqg

• ABC is the sole major network adjusting their schedule, premiering two new series. The first – Blood & Oil (debuting Sept 27) – looks like the riskier venture if it doesn’t appeal to the nighttime soap fans ABC has been courting with Shona Rhimes and Nashville in recent years.

https://youtu.be/82on4_jUlKw

• CBS is likely hoping that The Good Wife (debuting Oct 4) continues to provide stability to Sunday nights, though in S7 the series is getting a bit long in the tooth. Despite a solid premise last season, many critics and fans soured on the Cary in jail / Alicia for States Attorney race plot lines, so it remains to be seen in S7 reclaims the glory days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0I86_zHk9Y

• FOX launches the 14th season of Family Guy on Sept 27 which a season that promises a Peter/Liam Neeson fight and voice appearances by Ashton Kutcher and John Mellencamp. At 9:30pm, sophomore season of surprise hit Last Man On Earth will address the surprise appearance of Phil’s brother (played by Jason Sudeikis) but first there’s a road trip to Carol’s place in D.C.
• NBC = still pigskin.
• Cable gets interesting once we get into October:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9RlsD8lIO0

• S2 of “depression porn” The Leftovers (Oct 4, HBO) relocates the Garveys (and drops half the supporting cast) with a move to Texas and a place without departures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yBHxsTnIXg

• Carrie enters self-imposed exile in Germany for Homeland S5 (Oct 4, Showtime) which jumps ahead two years after her ill-fated Islamabad posting and adds amazing Aussie actress Miranda Otto to the fray. Amuse yourself in the interim with a Claire Danes cry face supercut.

• The Walking Dead S6 picks up the baton from its boring LA prequel for another Rick Grimes meltdown (Oct 11, AMC) as tensions (naturally) escalate in Alexandria. Amuse yourself in the interim with a Rick Grimes says “Carl” supercut.
• Finally TNT welcomes Sharon Stone to TV as POTUS in the strangely named Agent X on Nov 8.

Hourly Breakdown: 10pm EST

• ABC is betting big on Quantico (debuting Sept 27 at 10pm EST), which seems like a better fit and has broader demographic appeal than Blood & Oil. The network is really putting their advertising muscle behind this one, particularly in an attempt to create buzz around insanely popular Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, so they clearly has more faith in this one.
• CBS is keeping your alarmist parents and grandparents happy with the return of the laughably out of touch CSI: Cyber, which loses Peter MacNicol but somehow still has Oscar winner Patricia Arquette and the Beek caught in its dark clutches.
• NBC = yet more football.
• Much like the 9pm hour, 10pm cable doesn’t get started until October:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxC0wZIhZak

• The biggest development in Showtime’s adultery drama The Affair (Oct 4) is the introduction of all four characters’ points of view (expanded from only two in S1). Rumours that the drama is going to be more emotional have some fans worried Alison is headed for another breakdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8wKm3grIxc

• STARZ’s limited series ballet drama Flesh and Bone (Nov 8) hails from Breaking Bad writer Moira Walley-Beckett, which automatically bumps it to one of our most anticipated series of the fall.

• Loosely based on the classic Chinese tale Journey to the West, this genre-blending series promises to be unlike anything else of TV. Kudos to AMC for introducing yet more genre fare onto the small screen (Nov 15).

That’s it for Sunday nights. Check in for our Monday TV Deathmatch tomorrow.