ABCRev your DVRs, the 2017 fall TV season is here!
Ahhh, don't you just love the start of a new season, with so many fresh new shows making their debuts, hoping to earn a season pass from viewers in an ever-crowded landscape. And with so many new series on so many new platforms, it can be overwhelming trying to decide which ones to devote your previous time to, which is where we come in.
Our TV Team is offering up their quick and dirty thoughts on all of the new broadcast dramas and comedies debuting in September and October with our rapid-fire reviews. First up? ABC's new offerings...
The Mayor
Premiere Date: Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 9:30 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Bull (CBS), This Is Us (NBC), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (The CW)
Stars: Brandon Michael Hall, Lea Michele, Bernard David, Marcel Spears and Yvette Nicole Brown
Tierney Bricker: The Mayor earns my vote for the best new comedy of the season. Brandon Michael Hall has charisma for days, and it's so fun to see Lea Michele play outside of Ryan Murphy's sandbox for a change. (But please get her on American Horror Story ASAP, please and thank you!).
Chris Harnick: This is cute and funny and fits right in with ABC's comedy brand. Definitely poised to be one of the shows to watch this year.
Lauren Piester: If I could hug a TV show, I would hug The Mayor. And I'd hug it so hard that it would be like "This is weird." It's nice and timely but optimistic as opposed to depressing, and the cast is delightful. Yvette Nicole Brown might have found her best role yet.
Billy Nilles: Without a doubt, this is the best new comedy of the season. Brandon Michael Hall is poised to be the year's breakout star as Courtney Rose, the upstart rapper whose mayoral campaign publicity stunt proves more successful than he bargained for. The idea is fresh, the comedy is sweet and charming, and Yvette Nicole Brown, as Courtney's mom Dina, has never been better. The Mayor absolutely has my vote.
The Good Doctor
Premiere Date: Monday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Scorpion (CBS), The Brave (NBC)
Stars: Freddie Highmore, Antonia Thomas, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chuku Modu, Beau Garrett, Hill Harper, Richard Schiff and Tamlyn Tomita
Tierney Bricker: This is not really my jam, but I don't fault anyone for wanting to put it on their toast, if you know what I mean? You probably don't. Also, Highmore continues to be one of the most underrated actors on TV.
Chris Harnick: Freddie Highmore is going from killing people to saving people with ABC's ambitious new drama. FYI: He also said that quote during every interview/appearance at TCA. Some of the other casting for this feels out of place, but if you were a fan of House and Highmore, set your DVR, but be warned: There are still kinks to be worked out for sure.
Lauren Piester: Everything about this show in theory sounds annoying, because the "doctor who's bad with people but good with medicine" has been done to death (and by the same creator, too). But The Good Doctor is actually sweet and thoughtful and comforting and the pilot might have made me cry just a little bit. Add in the hot doctors sleeping with each other and that's everything I need from a medical drama.
Billy Nilles: It certainly feels like creator David Shore has done this show before, but Freddie Highmore's Dr. Shaun Murphy is certainly much more sympathetic than Dr. House ever was. There's a lot of heart here, especially coming from Richard Schiff as Shaun's mentor and protector Dr. Aaron Glassman, but there isn't much originality.
Marvel's Inhumans
Premiere Date: Friday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Hawaii Five-0 (CBS), Taken (NBC), The Exorcist (Fox), Jane the Virgin (The CW)
Stars: Anson Mount, Serinda Swan, Ken Leung, Eme Ikwuakor, Isabelle Cornish, Ellen Woglom and Iwan Rheon
Tierney Bricker: You know how in movies they will have characters go see a fake movie or play a trailer for a fake movie a la Tropic Thunder? This show feels like that for superhero shows, with Jessica Jones watching for 10 seconds before changing the channel. Good idea, not the best execution, unfortunately.
Chris Harnick: If you are curious about Inhumans, check out Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee's excellent Marvel comic series from 1998. That's my polite way of saying stay as far away from this as possible.
Lauren Piester: I like the giant teleporting dog, I guess. But I also hate the giant teleporting dog?
Billy Nilles: A hero who can't speak because his voice is powerful enough to destroy planets. A giant teleporting dog. A secret city on the moon in danger of being exposed to Earth. If you want balls-to-the-wall insanity, Inhumans has it in spades. If you want thoughtful writing and production value worthy of the Marvel name, well, you might want to look elsewhere.
Ten Days in the Valley
Premiere Date: Sunday, Oct. 1 at 10 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: Madam Secretary (CBS)
Stars: Kyra Sedgwick, Erika Christensen, Abigail Pniowsky, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Francois Battiste, Felix Solis, Josh Randal, Kick Gurry, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Ella Thomas
Tierney Bricker: I feel like ABC's been looking for a successor to Revenge (but season one Revenge, not the rest of the seasons of Revenge) and I feel like this soapy and ridiculous-yet-totally-watchable thriller starring Kweeeeen Kyra might just be their best shot.
Chris Harnick: Is this this year's The Family? Seems like it. There's a solid leading actress (Kyra Sedgwick) saddled with a mystery in a very meh show. Maybe Sedgwick should've chatted with Joan Allen.
Lauren Piester: I'm confused...yet intrigued. There is a LOT going on in this show, but if you like mysteries and the entertainment industry, there is fun to be had.
Billy Nilles: This is a very busy premiere, introducing about seven subplots in one hour, and it can feel like a lot at times. But Kyra Sedgwick's turn as harried TV producer Jane Sadler successfully sheds the image seven seasons of The Closer cultivated and the whodunnit surrounding the disappearance of her young daughter is enough to keep me coming back for me. Here's hoping the creators keep their word and actually end this limited series after the titular ten days.
Kevin (Probably) Saves the World
Premiere Date: Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 10 p.m.
Time-Slot Competition: NCIS: New Orleans (CBS), Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (NBC)
Stars: Jason Ritter, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, J.August Richards, India de Beaufort, Chloe Easti and Dustin Ybarra
Tierney Bricker: Kevin might save the world, but Jason Ritter's charm-for-days can't save this show for me. Womp-womp. Cute yet forgettable, like a straight-to-On Demand movie.
Chris Harnick: ABC is smart to want to be in the Jason Ritter business, he's one of the most charming actors on TV and certainly the best part of this weird pilot. It's OK, not great, and not something I will be watching. If you like Jason Ritter, you'll be into this, for a bit at least.
Lauren Piester: There's nothing truly objectionable going on here and it could be a sweet show, but something in the pilot felt off, like no one's sure what the tone is supposed to be. But this is at least better than that other ill-fated guardian angel show with Jane Lynch.
Billy Nilles: This spiritual series, which tasks title character Kevin with having to find 35 worthy souls to help save the world (at least I think that's what the quest is), will live or die based on Jason Ritter's winning charm. He bounces off his supporting cast with ease, generating instant chemistry, but the "guardian angel making him look crazy" schtick could get old fast. Hopefully the show can find a way to avoid that because there could be something really special here if done right.
Which of ABC's new fall shows are you looking forward to? Tweet @EOnlineTV with your pick!