Brace yourself for a shock, gentle readers: It turns out that between the three of us, we watch a lot of TV.
We know. We were surprised too.
So, while last year we were able to fit all the shows we were anticipating, old and new, into just one post, this year we’ll be splitting it up into New Shows and Returning Shows. Below are all the new shows we either have already sampled or are planning to try out, their trailers, how many of us are watching, and how committed we are to sticking with each of them.
Prepare to fill up your DVR queues, because this season of television looks really good.
Atlanta, FX
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Donald Glover (and, in the cases of Teija and Sarah, mad love for their hometown.)
Commitment: Sarah thought the pilot was absolutely incredible, and while Teija and Lauren have yet to start it, we’re all pretty committed to at least giving it at least the entire season. Plus, for Sarah, it brings a little bit of Atlanta into her Nashville apartment and she loves that.
Conviction, ABC
Who’s Watching: Teija and Sarah
What Brought Us Here: Hayley Atwell. And a deep-seated love of procedural dramas.
Commitment: Despite the lackluster trailer, Teija is here in support of Ms. Atwell and will therefore watch as long as she can stand it. Meanwhile, Sarah has an undying love and devotion to procedural dramas and Hayley Atwell is the delicious icing on the cake.
The Crown, Netflix
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Trailer, the promise of a female-led period drama, and Matt Smith
Commitment: This is a “watch one episode and we’ll see” sort of show. While the trailers make it look great, Netflix originals tend to be pretty hit or miss, so there’s a lot riding on the first episode. This is also one we probably won’t jump on the second it drops, as Netflix gives us the freedom to wait to watch until after all the network shows break for the winter.
Frequency, The CW
Who’s Watching: Lauren and Sarah
What Brought Us Here: The movie Frequency, which is so great we don’t care that it makes no sense, and we’re not even talking about the whole “ham radio communicates through time using the Aurora Borealis” premise.
Commitment: The show looks almost exactly like the movie, which may be great (because we love the movie) or may be terrible (because the show has to last a whole season instead of only two hours). There are so many time travel shows premiering this season that, assuming the pilot does not totally suck, we’ll probably stick around for 3-5 episodes before making a decision.
The Good Place, NBC
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Kristen Bell, and an Actual Original Television Premise (whaaaaa)
Commitment: The pilot was so great, we’re probably here forever. Also, this show is insanely quotable, so that’s just something you’ll have to get used to from us.
Luke Cage, Netflix
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Marvel’s track record with Netflix series and Luke’s introduction from Jessica Jones.
Commitment: SWEET CHRISTMAS, WE’RE ALL IN.
Pitch, FOX
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: It’s about a woman breaking into the major league baseball world. We were drooling just at the premise.
Commitment: We really enjoyed the first two episodes (hello John Smoltz cameo!), and we’re willing to give it the time to show us what it can do. If it continues to go well, we’ll be here through the end. Also, it doesn’t hurt that Zack Morris himself is a cast member (yes, that’s him under the beard–it took us a second, too).
Speechless, ABC
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Trailer, Minnie Driver, and also this article: Speechless is Breaking New Ground on Television
Commitment: The first three episodes were an utter delight, so while none of us are great at sticking with comedies, this one feels like a keeper.
Timeless, NBC
Who’s Watching: Lauren and Sarah
What Brought Us Here: Trailer and time travel.
Commitment: See above re: Frequency
Time after Time, ABC
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Time travel. Again. Also, the ridiculous H.G. Wells-pursues-Jack-the-Ripper-through-time-using-his-time-machine-that-actually-exists premise.
Commitment: See above re: Frequency and Timeless for Lauren and Sarah. As for Teija, this one pings the “weirdly drawn to serial killer stories” part of Teija’s brain, so it intrigued her more than the other two time-travel shows did.
This is Us, NBC
Who’s Watching: Lauren and Sarah
What Brought Us Here: Trailer, Mandy Moore, the hope of finding another Parenthood, and the promise of watching Jess from Gilmore Girls actually get to make some good life decisions.
Commitment: After absolutely loving the first two episodes, we are in this for the long haul. This is exactly the show we needed to fill the Parenthood-shaped hole in our hearts.
Westworld, HBO
Who’s Watching: All of us
What Brought Us Here: Trailers! HBO! Ed Harris! James Marsden! Knowing that in 2 years we will have a Game-of-Thrones-shaped hole in our hearts and that this is the show meant to replace it! That weird and awesome “I could SWEAR Stephen King had something to do with this” feeling!
Commitment: Pretty damn serious.
How about you? Are you planning on watching any of these shows, or is there a new show you’re excited about that we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments!
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