Each fall television networks drop a slew of new shows. Which ones should you watch? Are there some that can be skipped entirely? What about the ones that might best be consumed the next time you're sick or enjoying a three-day weekend? We're here to help. Here are our suggestions for how to plan your fall TV diet.
The Muppets
It’s time to start the music. It’s time to light the lights. It’s time to meet The Muppets in a more adult-leaning mockumentary context. The first ongoing Muppet series since Muppets Tonight ended in 1998 picks up as Jim Henson’s characters work backstage in Los Angeles on a late-night talk show hosted by Miss Piggy. Kermit is executive producer, Fozzie is Piggy’s on-air sidekick, The Electric Mayhem is the house band, and the rest of the characters fill out the crew so well it's a wonder nobody thought to do this before. Sure, there's a lot to be nervous about—co-creator Bill Prady also co-created The Big Bang Theory, and the insipid insistence on treating the Muppet characters like they’re actual separate living things in press conferences—but given all the promos, it seems like the perfect setting to do the kind of celebrity cameo revolving door gambit that worked so well throughout the classic films. We’re optimistic, which is saying something when looking at the rest of the major network freshmen. —K.M. McFarland
Scream Queens
If you loved American Horror Story: Coven and you’ve been wishing Madison Montgomery could come back to life in her own spinoff series, then Scream Queens is the show for you! Ryan Murphy's latest endeavor has some of his signature stars like Emma Roberts and Lea Michele, but more importantly it’s got the Scream Queen herself, Ms. Jamie Lee Curtis, as a college dean with a grudge. This slasher serial doubles as a who-dunnit, so tune in every week, lest you get spoiled. —Jordan Crucchiola
Supergirl
OK, so we're not totally sold on this being a major hit, TBH. But it's a female superhero with her own show and Melissa Benoist (aka Supergirl) has the ability to be very charming. Either way, we say watch it at the beginning just to make sure you don't catch FOMO, but if it doesn't grab you, move it to the Skip pile.—Angela Watercutter
Flesh and Bone
Moira Walley-Beckett's claim to fame is her Emmy-winning script for *Breaking Bad'*s "Ozymandias," which is widely regarded as the best single episode of that series and one of the best hours of television ever. Her first project since Vince Gilligan’s landmark show is her own creation, the story of an emotionally fragile ballet dancer (Sarah Hay) who joins a revered New York ballet company. Unlike The Red Shoes or Black Swan, this isn't necessarily one girl's story. Walley-Beckett intends to show the dysfunction and pressure within a niche of the art world previously unexamined in this way. It's a shame that Starz ultimately deemed the show to be too expensive and scaled it back from an ongoing series to a limited one, but the brief glimpses so far tease eight episodes of tense dancing free of body doubles or trick editing. —K.M. McFarland
Ash vs. Evil Dead
Every single ounce of ham-fisted charm you’ve ever wanted from Bruce Campbell will be brought forth and soaked in demon blood for Ash vs. Evil Dead, which is presented by Sam Raimi and comes with an ass-kicking helping of Lucy Lawless! Dive into the series during its Halloween night premiere, and then keep on charging. You’ve waited 30 years for more Deadites and more Ash and more Boomstick. Don’t just let the episodes pile up now. —Jordan Crucchiola
A Very Murray Christmas
Netflix, you had us as at "Bill Murray in reindeer antlers," but then you added in directing from Murray’s Lost in Translation collaborator Sophia Coppola, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock, Jenny Lewis, and a slew of others and now it’s pretty much impossible not to watch. This is being billed as a variety show where Murray plays a version of himself worried that a snowstorm will screw up his TV show. In other words, it’s the best early holiday present any of us could ask for. —Angela Watercutter
Code Black
Code Black has a Must-Watch Mandate that comes with a caveat: Give it the week-by-week treatment to check for quality then stick with it if it's your new favorite medical procedural ... or bail out if it's DOA. The big questions here are Luis Guzman and Marcia Gay Harden. The more we see either of them, the better this show will be. But if the most talented people in the cast are brushed aside for a bunch of rookies then we’re going to have a big problem here. —Jordan Crucchiola
This is easily one of TV’s most beautiful new shows, and it tells the story of a legendary warrior on the path to enlightenment who picks up a young traveling companion to share in his physical and existential journey. And what pairs better with dazzling martial arts choreography than warring feudal barons? The whole thing feels more like slow burn programming than “crack TV”, though, so watch deliberately on the established viewing schedule.—Jordan Crucchiola
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
This CW show stars viral video sensation Rachel Bloom (she of "Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury" fame) as a New York lawyer who decides to follow her high school flame out West to California. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is also a musical comedy that Bloom calls "Rodgers and Hammerstein with a South Park sensibility." (There’s a apparently a joke about “ass blood.”) In other words, the CW is adding a new flavor to its buffet of superheroes and six-pack abs. —Angela Watercutter
Red Oaks
Stephen Soderbergh is great, and if he’s going to stamp his name on something we’ll give it a chance. Besides, we’re really curious about this young lead, Craig Roberts. The '80s are always a fun backdrop and there’s never really enough Richard Kind or Paul Reiser anywhere else, so why not hang out with them in Red Oaks for a few hours? —Jordan Crucchiola
Heroes: Reborn
We're hoping the "Reborn" part of this also means that this show will look more like Heroes did when it was first delivered into the world and not like what it looked like near its demise. Regardless, we're keeping this one safely in the "binge" pile to catch up on later. —Angela Watercutter
Jessica Jones
Look, we’ve loved Krysten Ritter since Breaking Bad, so seeing her play Marvel’s superheroine-turned-private-investigator Jessica Jones is must-watch TV. But since it’s on Netflix, that makes it must-binge TV. The noir show also stars faves David Tennant (aka the Tenth Doctor) and Carrie-Anne Moss from the Matrix trilogy. It’s also slated to be the launching pad for Netflix’s upcoming Luke Cage show, so get into the groove ASAP. —Angela Watercutter
The Man in the High Castle
What would the world look like if the Axis powers had won? The premise is fascinating in the abstract, but there’s something about seeing the symbol of the Rising Sun painted on the Golden Gate Bridge that sinks the hooks in deep for this new Amazon series based on Philip K. Dick's novel of the same name. The full season will be available in late November, so you might as well watch it all! —Jordan Crucchiola
Blood & Oil
It’s not that Don Johnson playing an Alpha Male American oil baron feels wrong. It almost feels too right! And, look, Amber Valletta is great and we’re happy Chace Crawford is getting work again after Gossip Girl, but watching them all do Dallas in North Dakota doesn’t sound like trash we can feel good about. The TV slate is packed in 2015, and watching one thing means giving up something else. Blood & Oil isn’t worth the opportunity cost. —Jordan Crucchiola
Quantico
Based on the trailer, we're pretty sure the alternate title for this show was Hot People in the FBI (or Grey's Anatomy, But with Government Operatives). Either way, while the premise—something about the secrets of a bunch of people in an FBI academy and fighting terrorism—seems interesting, the show does not. We're here to be proven wrong, though. —Angela Watercutter
