# 2014-15 US Network Television: What Are You Looking Forward To?



## J-Sun (Aug 30, 2014)

Apologies to non-Americans for the Americentric nature of the post but I gather a lot of these shows will end up airing in a lot of places, so it's not entirely so. Besides, a large chunk of them are adapted from South American or English sources, anyway.

I'm excited for *football* which, at least for awhile, comes on Saturday (starting tomorrow), Sunday, and Thursday. I'm excited for my returning survivors (_Almost Human_ got cancelled) in *Agents of Shield, Elementary*, and *Person of Interest* (in ascending order). However, when it comes to the new slate, this looked like the worst season of new shows ever until I watched some trailers and it still looks like it might be. But I was surprised that _Madam Secretary_ didn't look as awful as it sounded. (Tea Leoni and Bebe Neuwirth are no longer young, alas, but I always knew Bebe ruled and Tea Leoni seemed surprisingly excellent in the promo.) _Scorpion_ looked really dumb and too improbable but, on the other hand, looked like it could be _Numbers_ on amphetamines. Be amazing if they can actually get the computing right, though. And, of the innumerable superhero shows, I figure my tank is full with _Shield_, but _The Flash_ looked like it might not suck (the pajamas look awful though - the only superhero suit that ever made any sense was Iron Man's!) and _Gotham_ had a nice goth vibe (and Russell Crowe, Jr. as Gordon) though I can barely picture it being good and can't picture it staying good. Zero new SF shows, so just the one (or two if you count teen dystopias) already on. One sure-fire quick cancellation fantasy show to briefly bring the total up to eight plain fantasies (how many times are they going to trot out that same show?). And three new superhero shows to bring that total up to five.

The least non-interesting trailers/promos (commercials) to me:

Madame Secretary
The Flash
Gotham
Scorpion

According to wikipedia, these are the upcoming 2014 primetime premieres where the format is date, whether it's 'N'ew or not, and whether it's of genre interest as a 'F'antasy (including horror), 'S'cience 'F'iction show (loosely defined), or 'C'omic 'B'ook/superhero show.


```
08-30      Saturday Night Football
09-04      Football Night in America
09-04      NBC Sunday Night Football
09-07 N    Utopia                 
09-10      Hell's Kitchen         
09-11      The Biggest Loser      
09-11      Thursday Night Football
09-15      Dancing with the Stars 
09-16      New Girl               
09-16      The Mindy Project      
09-17 N    Red Band Society       
09-17 N    The Mysteries of Laura 
09-21      60 Minutes             
09-21 N    Madam Secretary        
09-21      The Good Wife          
09-22 N CB Gotham                 
09-22 N    Scorpion               
09-22   F  Sleepy Hollow          
09-22      The Big Bang Theory    
09-22      The Blacklist          
09-22      The Voice              
09-23   CB Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 
09-23      Chicago Fire           
09-23 N F  Forever                
09-23      NCIS                   
09-23 N    NCIS: New Orleans      
09-23   SF Person of Interest     
09-24 N    Black-ish              
09-24      Chicago P.D.           
09-24      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
09-24      Modern Family          
09-24      Nashville              
09-24      Survivor: San Juan del Sur
09-24      The Goldbergs          
09-24      The Middle             
09-25      Bones                  
09-25      Grey's Anatomy         
09-25 N    How to Get Away with Murder
09-25      Parenthood             
09-25      Scandal                
09-26      20/20                  
09-26      Blue Bloods            
09-26      Dateline NBC           
09-26      Hawaii Five-0          
09-26      Shark Tank             
09-26      The Amazing Race 25    
09-27      48 Hours               
09-28      Brooklyn Nine-Nine     
09-28      CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
09-28      Family Guy             
09-28   F  Once Upon a Time       
09-28   F  Resurrection           
09-28      Revenge                
09-28      The Simpsons           
09-29      Castle                 
09-29      Mom                    
09-29      NCIS: Los Angeles      
09-30 N    Manhattan Love Story   
09-30 N    Selfie                 
10-01      Criminal Minds         
10-01 N    Stalker                
10-02 N    A to Z                 
10-02 N    Bad Judge              
10-02 N    Gracepoint             
10-02      Reign                  
10-02   F  The Vampire Diaries    
10-03      Last Man Standing      
10-05      America's Funniest Home Videos
10-05      Bob's Burgers          
10-05 N    Mulaney                
10-06   F  The Originals          
10-07   F  Supernatural           
10-07 N CB The Flash              
10-08   CB Arrow                  
10-10 N    Cristela               
10-13 N    Jane the Virgin        
10-14      About a Boy            
10-14 N    Marry Me               
10-22   SF The 100                
10-24 N CB Constantine            
10-24   F  Grimm                  
10-27      2 Broke Girls          
10-30      Elementary             
10-30      The Big Bang Theory    
10-30 N    The McCarthys          
10-30      The Millers            
10-30      Two and a Half Men     
11-07      MasterChef Junior      
11-17 N    State of Affairs
```


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## TheDustyZebra (Aug 30, 2014)

Wow, the only things I watch on that list are 60 Minutes and The Big Bang Theory. I would watch Person of Interest and The Blacklist, but with children in the house, I can't keep enough attention on it to know what's going on. Other than that, it's just Doctor Who and The Amazing Race for me.

Oh, and we were watching Longmire, but A&E has cancelled it and it's being shopped out, so we'll have to wait and see what channel it lands on. (I know, that's not network TV, and neither is Doctor Who, but they kind of blend together when you're on cable.)


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## markpud (Aug 31, 2014)

POI, TWD and AOS - 3 acronyms for 3 great shows this "fall"


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## Michael Colton (Sep 1, 2014)

The only shows I will be watching are _Elementary_ and _Madame Secretary_. The latter primarily out of curiosity to see Leoni drive a show. Nothing else particularly interests me, so if I see anything else it will have to randomly be on when I turn on the television or something. I would watch SVU, but I am three seasons behind and do not want to jump ahead. I will wait for the show to be over and just buy the full box set when it is released.


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## J-Sun (Sep 2, 2014)

TheDustyZebra said:


> Wow, the only things I watch on that list are 60 Minutes and The Big Bang Theory. ... Other than that, it's just Doctor Who and The Amazing Race for me.
> 
> Oh, and we were watching Longmire, but A&E has cancelled it and it's being shopped out, so we'll have to wait and see what channel it lands on. (I know, that's not network TV, and neither is Doctor Who, but they kind of blend together when you're on cable.)



_The Amazing Race_ is also on that list. But, yep, I do understand it's all just "TV" when you have cable. 



markpud said:


> POI, TWD and AOS - 3 acronyms for 3 great shows this "fall"



Yep, _Person of Interest_ is the best to me and I like _Agents of Shield_. What's TWD, though?



Michael Colton said:


> The only shows I will be watching are _Elementary_ and _Madame Secretary_. The latter primarily out of curiosity to see Leoni drive a show.



A fellow Elementary fan.  I think the mysteries are usually pretty ingenious and well-solved (as opposed to implausible "break the perp" interrogation scenes without much evidence or powerful manipulation) but I think my favorite thing about it is the characters and their interrelations - Sherlock and Joan, especially, but also the two main regular cops.

As far as Leoni driving a show, I'd have thought it was impossible before seeing the promo (not quite like Katherine Heigl trying to drive a similar show on another network this season but not far removed) but now I can see it. Or could. Looking more closely at the schedule, CBS has decided it's "chick flick" counter-programming (which is what I thought it'd be pre-promo but it seems much more general than that) and has it on opposite football so I can only see it during commercials.


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## Michael Colton (Sep 2, 2014)

J-Sun said:


> A fellow Elementary fan.  I think the mysteries are usually pretty ingenious and well-solved (as opposed to implausible "break the perp" interrogation scenes without much evidence or powerful manipulation) but I think my favorite thing about it is the characters and their interrelations - Sherlock and Joan, especially, but also the two main regular cops.
> 
> As far as Leoni driving a show, I'd have thought it was impossible before seeing the promo (not quite like Katherine Heigl trying to drive a similar show on another network this season but not far removed) but now I can see it. Or could. Looking more closely at the schedule, CBS has decided it's "chick flick" counter-programming (which is what I thought it'd be pre-promo but it seems much more general than that) and has it on opposite football so I can only see it during commercials.



I enjoy 'crime shows' as long as the characters interest me. Elementary is one of the rare ones where that is the case. Sherlock's dialogue is brilliantly written as far as television goes - not only the actual content of the writing, but that feeling one gets where the dialogue was written specifically for the actor playing the part. Whether that is actually the writers or just a fine performance by the actor (or a bit of both), who knows. But I have enjoyed every episode of the show. Even details such as the casting of Moriarty was very well done, in my opinion.

Leoni has shown enough breadth in her career that I am intrigued to see how she handles a show on her shoulders. Heigl is quite the opposite - her involvement in a project generally reduces my interest unless I am in a mood for a 'Heigl thing.' Which certainly can happen from time to time, but not regularly enough for me to tune in to a show for it. She was at her best in Grey's Anatomy and has been slowly declining ever since, in my opinion. Much like everyone else on that show with the profound exception of T. R. Knight's stellar theater career post-GR.


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## The Bluestocking (Sep 2, 2014)

Sleepy Hollow
The Blacklist
Person of Interest 

Elementary

Grimm (not listed there)
Supernatural (not listed there)
Those are the ones I will be following along with *Outlander* that is currently playing until the end of September, then picking up again in Spring 2015.

And that (plus Doctor Who) is me sorted for the next 12 months. That's about the maximum I can squeeze into my already over-packed life.


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## TheDustyZebra (Sep 2, 2014)

J-Sun said:


> _The Amazing Race_ is also on that list. But, yep, I do understand it's all just "TV" when you have cable.



Oh, fiddlesticks. There's a scroll bar!

Ok, I amend my estimation. Add Gracepoint and the aforementioned Amazing Race from that list. And there are probably a couple of others that I would like to see but won't get to.


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## Perpetual Man (Sep 2, 2014)

I'm looking forward to a lot of stuff, but have to say that The Flash is near the top of the list. Arrow has been superb, so I hope they can do The Flash justice as well.

As to the returning shows Person of Interest must be close to the top of the list. They just don't seem to be able to put a foot wrong with the show. Just when you feel it can't get any better... it does.

I'm hoping Agents of SHIELD manages to keep the momentum it ended last season with going.

Other than that The Blacklist has kept me entertained and as it is comic influenced I'm hoping they can do something interesting with Gotham.


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## markpud (Sep 2, 2014)

J-Sun said:


> Yep, _Person of Interest_ is the best to me and I like _Agents of Shield_. What's TWD, though?


The Walking Dead 

Also intrigued by Z Nation starting next week, another zombie show, this time on SyFy I believe. 

I may also give Flash a go, Gotham I almost certainly will!


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## J-Sun (Sep 5, 2014)

Michael Colton said:


> Heigl ... was at her best in Grey's Anatomy and has been slowly declining ever since, in my opinion. Much like everyone else on that show with the profound exception of T. R. Knight's stellar theater career post-GR.



I don't know - you couldn't pay me to watch that show. I just meant that, to me, Heigl and Leoni seemed almost equally implausible as smart powerful diplomatic/intelligence operatives until Leoni went a long way toward convincing me in the promo. (I wasn't saying they were equal in general.) As a memory refresher, I watched an episode of _The Naked Truth_ during this thread (because that's where I first noticed her and really all I know of her other than stray bits) and, while it was not very good, she was pretty good, but still didn't exactly hint at a future as Secretary of State. 



TheDustyZebra said:


> Oh, fiddlesticks. There's a scroll bar!



That may have tripped up The_Bluestocking, too. 



The_Bluestocking said:


> Sleepy Hollow
> The Blacklist
> Person of Interest
> 
> ...


_Grimm_ and _Supernatural_ are both under the cutoff and need the scrollbar, but the same is true of _Elementary_, so I'm not sure there.



Perpetual Man said:


> I'm looking forward to a lot of stuff, but have to say that The Flash is near the top of the list. Arrow has been superb, so I hope they can do The Flash justice as well.
> 
> As to the returning shows Person of Interest must be close to the top of the list. They just don't seem to be able to put a foot wrong with the show. Just when you feel it can't get any better... it does.
> 
> ...



Agreed on POI. Funny you should mention _The Blacklist_. I'd seen a few episodes (but not the first one or so) and it seemed okay but never hooked me. But I was thinking that it would work out in its slots and considered giving it a try. They have the last five episodes up on the website and I watched those and have it tentatively added to the list. It seemed pretty good if a bit unpleasant.  On the other hand, while it's not fair to _The Flash_, I've now seen two _Arrow_s and I don't like it much at all, but maybe that's just from coming in on the middle of things or it just not being my kind of thing.

Along those lines, I gave up on _Grimm_ early last season, but gave it another try because some of it is also up online - the season finale was an idiot plot but still okay overall and the episodes before were pretty good. So maybe I'll add that back to the list as something I'm looking forward to.



markpud said:


> The Walking Dead



Ah, I've never seen it but I should have been able to figure that out - it just wouldn't come to me. Thanks.


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## Michael Colton (Sep 5, 2014)

J-Sun said:


> I don't know - you couldn't pay me to watch that show. I just meant that, to me, Heigl and Leoni seemed almost equally implausible as smart powerful diplomatic/intelligence operatives until Leoni went a long way toward convincing me in the promo. (I wasn't saying they were equal in general.) As a memory refresher, I watched an episode of _The Naked Truth_ during this thread (because that's where I first noticed her and really all I know of her other than stray bits) and, while it was not very good, she was pretty good, but still didn't exactly hint at a future as Secretary of State.



Regardless of whether one hates the type of show that GA was, much of the cast did exceedingly well with the characters they were given. Whoever was in charge of casting for that show needs to be given nearly all of the credit for its success. One may criticize the value of that type of show as a whole, but as far as that type goes it was very well done.


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## The Bluestocking (Sep 5, 2014)

Ah! Saw the scrollbar now.

All right - adding one more to my list: *Constantine*.

Let's see if NBC can pull it off or if they'll b***** it up...


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## BAYLOR (Sep 5, 2014)

Sleepy Hollow season 2 
Hannibal Season 3 
Agents of Shield Season 2
The Flash


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## Juliana (Sep 5, 2014)

Returning shows: SHIELD and Arrow
New shows: Gotham and The Flash

And also looking forward to the Agent Carter mini-series, which should come out in SHIELD's midseason break, I think.


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