7 new fall TV shows you’ll want to watch
For TV nerds, the fall season used to feel like Christmas as a kid, a time when anticipation turned to wonder at the gifts the networks were about to bestow.
Now, it feels closer to Christmas as an adult. Finding a worthwhile series can be as difficult as tracking down one of those Turbo-Man action figures in “Jingle All the Way.” (Still, it’s far easier than actually sitting through “Jingle All the Way.” Yikes!)
To help cut through some of the clutter, here’s a look at seven new fall series you need to watch:
‘Forever’
Now streaming on Amazon
After 12 years together, June (Maya Rudolph) and Oscar (Fred Armisen) have settled into a delightfully mundane pattern. Then, a relatively madcap decision — forgoing the trip they always make to their lake house in favor of a ski getaway — changes everything. That’s maddeningly vague, but pretty much anything about this surprising comedy, from “Parks and Recreation” alums Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard, is a potential spoiler. Except for the fact that Rudolph and Armisen are hilariously absurd in the best possible way.
‘The First’
Now streaming on Hulu
Capt. Thomas Hagerty (Sean Penn) leads the first manned mission to Mars in this drama written by “House of Cards” creator Beau Willimon. Sure, Penn can be a lot to take. Regardless, there’s plenty to like in “The First,” which spends as much time, if not more, exploring the fractured relationship between Hagerty and his daughter (Anna Jacoby-Heron) as it does exploring space.
‘Kidding’
10 p.m. Sundays, Showtime
To a generation of viewers, he’s Mr. Pickles (Jim Carrey), the beloved host of a long-running PBS children’s show. But to his estranged wife and son, he’s Jeff, the loving but disturbed guy whose reality was ruptured by a family tragedy. The wonderfully surreal series reunites Carrey and his “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind“ director, Michel Gondry. The results are straight-up gonzo.
‘Mr Inbetween’
11:30 p.m. Tuesday, FX
Ray Shoesmith (creator Scott Ryan) is a doting father, a loving dog owner and a staunch supporter of a brother suffering from a motor neuron disease — when he isn’t working as an enforcer/gun for hire. The half-hour Australian drama has enough darkly comic moments to make it enjoyable. And Ray, who’s going through a bit of a midlife crisis and embarking on a new relationship, is just likable enough to make his day job all the more troubling.
‘The Rookie’
10 p.m. Oct. 16, ABC
Before you get too excited, “The Rookie” is not a great series, but it’s one that’s executed extremely well. Nathan Fillion (“Castle”) stars as John Nolan, a recent divorcee who decides to start over and becomes the oldest trainee in the Los Angeles Police Department. Fillion is a rare commodity in that he’s an actual TV star. He’s able to take the material he’s given — without spoiling anything, many officers go their entire careers without seeing the kind of action Nolan is hit with during his first day on the job — and not only make it better, but make it seem more believable.
‘Titans’
Oct. 12, DC Universe
Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”), who left Gotham after a falling-out with Bruce Wayne, works the streets of Detroit by day as what has to be the youngest detective in the history of the city’s police force. By night, he patrols darkened alleyways as the brutally savage vigilante Robin. When he meets a runaway (Teagan Croft) who’s possessed with strange powers, it lays the groundwork for the superheroes known as the Titans. Unlike the animated version of the team featured in “Teen Titans Go!,” the gritty, violent drama, the first new offering from the subscription service DC Universe, is most assuredly not for kids.
‘Sorry for Your Loss’
6 p.m. Tuesdays, Facebook Watch (facebook.com/sorryforyourloss)
Advice columnist Leigh Shaw (Elizabeth Olsen) is still reeling, three months after the death of her husband. Her mother (Janet McTeer, “Jessica Jones”) and recovering-alcoholic sister (Kelly Marie Tran, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) aren’t exactly helping — at least not in the way that her grief group and its free donuts are. “Sorry for Your Loss,” which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a powerful showcase for Olsen. And, yes, it’s more than a little jarring to see her acting on the same platform where your uncle shares the latest QAnon conspiracy theories.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.
