When to Watch: Two-hour season 20 premiere on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9 p.m. on NBC. Regular timeslot: Thursdays, 10 p.m. on NBC.
What to Expect: History, baby! Law & Order: SVU season 20 ties the mothership Law & Order ans Gunsmoke as the longest-running primetime scripted live-action American TV series. There will be some new faces around when SVU returns, including Nip/Tuck veteran Dylan Walsh, Scandal's George Newbern and Mr. Robot's Sandrine Holt. Holt is playing Lisa Abernathy, a clinical psychologist, the character is also the first LGBTQ recurring character on the show since BD Wong's George Huang. Series star and executive producer Mariska Hargitay also told E! News she'll be doing something as Lt. Olivia Benson that she's never done before.
When to Watch: Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. on Fox.
What to Expect: Clayne Crawford out, Seann William Scott in! Scott will play Wesley Cole, a war veteran and father, and the new partner to Damon Wayans' Roger Murtaugh. Maggie Lawson is joining the cast in a recurring role as Natalie Flynn, Wesley's ex and an ER surgeon. Wesley comes to Los Angeles to be closer to Natalie and their child.
When to Watch: Friday, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: Mac finds himself pulled back in just three months after quitting the Phoenix Foundation. In the premiere, Mac learns Jack is in danger, so he must put aside his differences with his father to get to work.
When to Watch: Sunday, Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: An assembly of former real-life secretaries of state! Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright will all guest star as themselves in the season premiere. Elizabeth McCord, (Téa Leoni) turns to the former secretaries of state to get their advice on how to keep a nuclear disarment deal from falling apart following a deadly attack on the White House. "We're delighted to have these three former secretaries of state be part of our season premiere," Barbara Hall, executive producer and series creator, said when the casting was announced. "It was a privilege to experience their perspectives and discourse both in and behind the scenes.
When to Watch: Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9:30 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: Murphy Brown returns to a vastly different world. "When we left these characters in 1998, there was no Internet. There was no social media. Cable news was just getting started. So to take these characters and put them in the world of 24 hour cable news, which is what their new show is, it was very rich for us, very, very rich," series creator Diane English said at TCA. Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is now at a 24-hour news network, hosting her own show with her pals from FYI, competing with her son Avery (Jake McDorman) for viewers, and living in the era of Donald Trump. The show will tackle politics and current events, including the #MeToo movment, and will continue the tradition of rotating secretaries.
When to Watch: Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: Gibbs (Mark Harmon) is now the acting director in the wake of Director Vance's kidnapping and the whole team is on the hunt for their leader. "Gibbs always been a risk-taker but this season, we're going to amp it to '11'—which is going to place Gibbs in increasing conflict with the NCIS Director as well as his team," NCIS showrunners Frank Cardea and Steven D. Binder told E! News.
When to Watch: Sunday, Sept. 30 at 10:30 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: They're gravely injured and can't reach the team back in the US, so the premiere finds Callen, Sam, Kensi and Deeks are on search for a safe path home...and have to contend with a new bounty on their heads. Gerald McRaney guest stars as retired Navy Admiral Hollace Kilbride in the season 10 premiere. "If there's one word to describe the first part of our season it would be 'fallout,' as our characters are forced to deal with the repercussions of last season's fiery finale," series showrunner R. Scott Gemmill told E! News.
When to Watch: Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 10 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: Pride (Scott Bakula) is fighting for his life while the team searches the city for the woman who attempted to assassinate him. Mark Harmon, Chelsea Field and Shanley Caswell guest star. Showrunner Christopher Silber teased, "The ramifications from what Pride experiences in the premiere episode will carry through into season five and that journey will help him discover some hidden truths about his past."
When to Watch: Monday, Sept. 24 at 8 p.m. on Fox.
What to Expect: Season two begins roughly a week after the season one finale with the team at Chastain Memorial dealing with a major storm and blackout. Jenna Dewan guest stars in a key role. Look for her character, a medical device rep named Julian, to be central to the story. Hot in Cleveland and Frasier star Jane Leeves joins the cast as a new ortho surgeon.
When to Watch: Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. on the CW.
What to Expect: Have you seen the season three trailer?! There's a whole lot going on in season three, including Archie going on trial for a murder he didn't commit. According to creator Roberto Aguirre Sacasa, the premiere will kick off a "big mystery" that may feel a tad supernatural, but is really more "occult and ritualistic, kind of like True Detective season one." As for the couples, Aguirre Sacasa says that "especially Bughead is pretty solid," but did confirm Camila Mendes' comments that Veronica may be getting a new non-Archie love interest and said we'll see "seeds" of that in episode three.
When to Watch: Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 9 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: Season two starts six months after Jason Hayes (David Boreanaz) returned home with his head injury. He and the team are fully recovered and back in action. However, Ray (Neil Brown Jr.) is on instructor duty and on the outs with after lying about his shoulder.
When to Watch: Sunday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. on the CW.
What to Expect: Meet the world's first transgender superhero! Trans activist Nicole Maines joins the show as Nia, a new reporter at CatCo who Kara takes under her wing. We'll also see the fallout from James unmasking himself as Guardian, and we may find a few real-life events and issues reflected in what we see happening in National City this season.
When to Watch: Thursday, Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. on the CW.
What to Expect: The hunt is on for Dean (Jensen Ackles), who could be literally anywhere after being fully possessed by Michael at the end of season 13 (can we just talk about how wild it is that this is season 14?!), meaning we get to watch Sam (Jared Padalecki) search for his brother, and then we get to watch Jensen Ackles not play Dean. Meanwhile, Cas (Misha Collins) is meeting up with an unreliable source in the season premiere, and Jack (Alexander Calvert) is adjusting to life as a human.
When to Watch: Thursday, Sept. 27 at 10 p.m. on CBS.
What to Expect: It's a standoff for the team with human traffickers who are holding child hostages. As if that wasn't bad enough, a major earthquake hits Los Angeles during their operations and things get complicated. Meanwhile, Hondo (Shemar Moore) develops unexpected personal connection with Deputy District Attorney Nia Wells (Nikiva Dionne).
When to Watch: Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. on NBC.
What to Expect: Tears! Oh, will there be tears. But This Is Us season three will also be a more hopeful season. Get ready to experience the early days of Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), as well as Jack's time in Vietnam. Will & Grace and I'm Dying Up Here star Michael Angarano will appear as Nicky, Jack's brother. ""We are challenging ourselves in season three," executive producer Isaac Aptaker said. "Now that we've figured out that our audience is along for the ride...we're kind of breaking all the rules. We're challenging ourselves to jump to decades we've never been to before, and going to the future as we've seen a little bit, and really play with the storytelling format in a way that's just much more complicated than we were able to in earlier seasons, when we were kind of showing people how the show worked."
"I feel like it's the strongest season yet," Moore told us.
When to Watch: Thursday, Oct. 4 at 9 p.m. on NBC.What to Expect: Karen Walker is...missing! But not for long. Megan Mullally, who was nominated for an Emmy for her work last season, is back filming, of course. The first episodes of season 10 (or season two of the reboot) are titled:"Where in the World Is Karen Walker?""Anchor Away""Family, Trip""The West Side Curmudgeon""Dead Man Texting""Who's Sorry Now?""Grace's Secret"
David Schwimmer makes his Will & Grace debut as a new love interest for Grace in "The West Side Curmudgeon."