Soon, the foliage will turn crisp shades of orange, gold and brown, minds will turn from Back to School to Halloween and, as during any autumn, a whole new slew of television shows will appear on the tube.
Unfortunately, watching dead leaves fall and carving scary faces into pumpkins tend to leave a person without enough time to view every single new show. If you want to weed out the good from the bad, the plausible from the preposterous, and still have a little time for your favorite fall festivities, here is a preview of some of the most talked-about new shows.
The fledgling CW network, anchored by reality favorites like "America's Next Top Model" and "Beauty and the Geek" offers new scripted fare this season.
Based on the novels of the same title by Cecily von Ziegesar, "Gossip Girls" aims to connect with the "OC" audience abandoned by the show's cancellation. It may very well do just that.
"Gossip Girls" focuses on the lives of attractive, wealthy, but oh-so troubled teenagers and was co-created by Josh Schwartz, the mind behind "The OC." Replace Orange County with Manhattan, throw in the voice of Kristen Bell, who narrates the show and operates a searing blog about its main characters, and the CW has the makings of a guilty pleasure hit. The girls hit the tube Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 9 p.m.
Josh Schwartz must be a busy man, as "Gossip Girls" is not his only new program premiering this season. NBC offers "Chuck," a comedy with a premise about as believable as Tom Cruise's heterosexuality. Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, is a former minimum wage-earning store clerk who receives secret government information that could threaten the safety of the entire world. Chuck finds himself combating spies and terrorists with a government-appointed team, his sister and a best friend who, in all probability, will provide some nerdy, zany comic relief. "Chuck" premieres Monday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.
Fox welcomes sitcom veterans Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton and Fred Willard back to television with its comedic venture, "Back to You." Grammer plays a news anchor who leaves his local gig and co-anchor (played by Heaton) for primetime stardom. He finds himself back at the local Pittsburgh station after an embarrassing tape hits the Internet, costing him his job.
Tension (and hilarity?) within the formerly popular news team ensues. The show is created, produced and written by sitcom veterans in their own right - Steven Levitan ("Frasier," "Wings") and Christopher Lloyd ("Frasier") - so perhaps it stands a chance. America shall find out on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m.
The line between advertisement and entertainment continues to blur this season with ABC's "Cavemen," a series based on the sensitive cavemen who struggle to live in the modern world in those Geico commercials. No, this is not some sick joke; this is serious. It's possible that the show could be funny, but it would be difficult for any show to overcome being birthed out of an insurance company's advertising campaign. Cavemen are set to rampage Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m.
Of course, ABC also has the much anticipated "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Private Practice" which will track Dr. Addison Montgomery's (Kate Walsh) move to Los Angeles and her new career working at a free health clinic. Just kidding, that wouldn't make any sense at all. It's actually a private practice where she'll work with the woman from "Judging Amy" and the guy from "Wings." Tune in to see if "Grey's" fans worldwide will be swayed Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 9 p.m.
The network behind reality show successes like "Survivor" and "Big Brother" offers an entirely different reality-driven concept this season. In CBS's "Kid Nation," 40 children are sent to a desolate area of the country with the goal of creating their own functional, adult-free society.
On the other hand, perhaps the premise is best described by one of the kids who calms the crowd during a rowdy town meeting insisting that "...this is to prove that kids of all age groups can actually get stuff organized, actually create a society where people actually share without greed."
It's actually a nice sentiment and an interesting idea: Can the kids live in a classless, greedless society of their own invention? Each week, a kid is awarded a real gold star worth $20,000 - presumably to fund his or her college education. It also looks like there will be a lot of crying fits and the running of a general store involved. How could this be disappointing? Cross your fingers for the emergence of an underage utopian society on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m.
