The 2016 fall tv season has a bumper crop of new shows to offer, some that show a lot of promise and some not so much.
Along with the return of shows that have already proven themselves, shows like Gotham, Arrow, The Flash, and The Expanse, we have a whole new flock of offerings that include shows about time travel, future tech, super powered beings, and the supernatural. I, for one, look forward to checking out these rookie series and what they bring to the table. So here we go, 2016’s new crop of genre tv shows, presented in no particular order, with the trailers for each at the bottom of the article.
MARVEL’S LUKE CAGE
Admittedly I am very enthused about this show, based on the fact that its basically a show about a grounded black Superman, and what a great job Netflix did with their other Marvel-based offerings Daredevil, and Jessica Jones. While those two characters had special abilities, Luke Cage represents the first real super powered character they have tackled, and the trailers make this series look like its going to be super cool.
Stars: Mike Colter in the title role, with Simone Missick as Misty Knight, and Mahershala Ali, Frankie Faison, Erik LaRay Harvey and more supporting.
Airs: Friday the 30th of September on Netflix in the US and UK.
FREQUENCY
If this sounds familiar its because its based on the 2000 movie of the same title that featured Dennis Quaid, and Jim Caviezel. The cast this time features Riley Smith, Mekhi Phifer, Peyton List, Lenny Jacobson, Anthony Ruivivar, Devin Kelley and Daniel Bonjour.
Just like the movie its about a police detective who discovers she can communicate via ham radio with her father who died a decade ago. The pair teams up to solve an open murder case, but the time travel element causes all sorts of problems in the modern day
The show will air Wednesday the 5th of October at 9pm on The CW in the US
POWERLESS
This comedy series about normal people living in a world where super powered beings exist and live sounds like it has just enough quirky comedy potential to be entertaining and fun, while at the same time sounding like it could be a real stinker. Only time will tell if it doesn’t crash and burn right out of the gate. It features Vanessa Hudgens, Alan Tudyk, Danny Pudi and Christina Kirk.
Is about a workplace in a DC Comics-inspired universe. This comedy series tells the story of Hudgens’ Emily, who stands up to a superhero, gaining her the status of a cult hero among her workmates. According to the official blurb, Emily will be navigating “her normal, everyday life against an explosive backdrop.”
The show will air on NBC in the US.
RIVERDALE
Loosely based on the classic comics, this interpretation seems to include some mystery, adventure, and other elements that may include forays into the supernatural, that makes me think it maybe somewhat reminiscent of Scooby-Doo and other series of that sort.
Created by Greg Berlanti, he of The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow and Legends Of Tomorrow fame, is executive producing, with Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa writing and Lee Toland Krieger directing.
Its about Archie Comics characters Betty, Veronica and Archie himself transplanted into the present as millennials. This series was originally developed at Fox last year but missed out on the pilot stage. It’s being described as an exploration of “the surrealism of small town life – the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome façade.” The cast includes Luke Perry, Madchen Amick, Lili Reinhard, and Cole Sprouse.The show will air midseason 2017 on The CW in the US.
STAR TREK DISCOVERY
Naturally, like a lot of fans, I am really excited to witness the iconic science fiction brand’s return to the format that gave it birth, and curious to see where its taken this time around. Like Star trek Enterprise, the series this time is a prequel to the original series taking place before the adventures of Kirk and crew. The show’s creators promise the return of familiar aliens, ships and tech alongside new additions to the Star Trek universe.
The show will air January 2017 first on CBS All Access in the US, then on Netflix here in the UK and 87 other territories.
VAN HELSING
Really Syfy? Another vampire series? Kelly Overton (True Blood) has been cast as Vanessa Helsing, the daughter of the legendary vampire hunter in Syfy’s 13-episode TV series, which premieres later this year. The cast also includes Jonathan Scarfe, Christopher Heyerdahl, Rukiya Bernard, David Cubitt, Vincent Gale, and others. the series airs Friday September 23rd, 2016 on Syfy
SWEET/VISCOUS
Is about two college girls, one trouble-making, one well-behaved. One of them is hiding a secret identity as a masked superheroine who dishes out justice to campus sex attackers, while the other elects to be her sidekick. It’s a dark one-hour comedy from fresh talent, Jennifer Kaytim Robinson. The show will air Autumn 2016, on MTV in the US.
THE EXORCIST
This show needs no introduction being a modern reimagining of the classic horror story set over forty years from the movie of the same name. Expect demonic possession, priests and “forces you can’t even begin to understand”. Whatever your feelings about bringing classics to the modern age, the trailer looks as though it can handle creepiness. The show will air Friday the 23rd of Septmber at 9pm on Fox in the US, TBC Autumn 2016 on Syfy UK.
TIME AFTER TIME
This series, based on the 1979 film, is about A fictionalised version of writer H.G. Wells who actually built the time machine that made his name, and who used it to follow a chum he learns is Jack the Ripper to modern-day New York City. We’re talking fish-out-of-water time travel with stabby murders, mystery, adventure, and romance. The cast includes Freddie Stroma, Josh Bowman, Genesis Rodriguez, and Regina Taylor.The show will air in 2017 on ABC.
TIMELESS
Its about a criminal who steals a time machine with the intention of destroying the US by changing key moments in its history, and the three people, a scientist, a soldier and a history professor, sent back in the machine’s rust-bucket prototype to find and stop him. A glossy Quantum Leap? The cast includes Abigail Spencer, Matt Lanter, Malcolm Barrett, Goran Visnjic, and Paterson Joseph.The show airs Monday the 3rd of October on NBC in the US
WESTWORLD
The series boasts a stellar cast that includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Ben Barnes, Thandie Newton and more.
This show shows a lot pf promise for being entertaining and being full of squeamishness inducing scenes. Its based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film about a futuristic amusement park populated by lifelike robots. Its a theme park that goes wrong, or as HBO put it “a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin”.
INCORPORATED
New science fiction on Syfy from David and Alex Pastor, and produced by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Todd’s Pearl Street Films.
This new series sounds intriguing for its subject matter at least, It portrays a dystopian high tech society in the near future, in which corporations enjoy untrammelled power. Lead Ben Larson infiltrates a dangerous corporate world to save the woman he loves in a show billed as “a fresh, edge-of-your-seat thriller that challenges notions of the world we live in today.” Incorporated features a cast that includes Sean Teale, Julia Ormond, Eddie Ramos, Dennis Haysbert and others. The show will air late 2016 on Syfy in the US
So there you have it. You can find the trailers for the series talked about below. Which shows will suffer an early death and which will thrive? Its always a crap shoot for new shows as to whether fans will approve of or despise them, and of course the almighty ratings and corporate execs have the last say which will still be around at the start of next year, whether they’re good or not. Still, I always enjoy checking out new shows and the ideas that make them interesting (or not). Happy viewing.
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