11 Reasons to Tune In This season
It may seem hard to believe, but fall is just around the corner, which means your return to the great indoors and, not coincidentally, the return of original programming to your television. Old favorites will be back, of course, but the networks are counting on you to make room for something unfamiliar. This season’s new offerings seemed to be designed for maximum addiction—between Law & Order: Los Angeles and Hawaii Five-0, there’s a seemingly endless supply of crimes to be investigated, while The Event and Nikita will have you crying conspiracy at every commercial break. HBO is debuting Boardwalk Empire, a chronicle of Atlantic City in the 1920s, while Arrested Development alumni David Cross and Will Arnett will star alongside Keri Russell in FOX’s comedy Running Wilde. Here, we give you a rundown of what—and most importantly, who—to add to your Tivo.
Next: Keri Russell in Running Wilde
Keri Russell in Running Wilde
(Photo by Ellen von Unwerth)
The last time Keri Russell carried a TV show, she was a recent NYU graduate. Now, eight years-and a film career-later, she’s settled into the next life-phase as Emmy, a professional humanitarian and mother to a 12-year-old girl-and the love interest of Will Arnett-on FOX’s new comedy Running Wilde (out on September 21).
Next: Skeet Ulrich in Law & Order: Los Angeles
Skeet Ulrich in Law & Order: Los Angeles
(Photo by Bruce Weber)
The flagship Law & Order met its improbable end this spring but, like some mythical octopus, the franchise has simply grown another limb with which to rip from the headlines. Law & Order: Los Angeles premieres on September 29 on NBC, with Skeet Ulrich—best known for his starring role on Jericho, though let’s not forget Scream—will play detective Rex Winters, an ex-Marine and Rodney King riot-veteran with an unsurprisingly harsh worldview.
Next: Terrence Howard in Law & Order: Los Angeles
Terrence Howard in Law & Order: Los Angeles
(Photo by Noe DeWitt)
Like Vincent D’Onofrio and Ice-T before him, Terrence Howard will lend a marquee name to Law & Order, playing Deputy District Attorney Joe Dekker in the new Los Angeles-based version of the series.
Next: Jason Ritter in The Event
Jason Ritter in The Event
(Photo from NBC)
Best known for the two years he spent on the spiritually-themed Joan of Arcadia, Jason Ritter is no stranger to shows that ask big questions. On NBC’s The Event, premiering September 20, he’ll star as Sean Walker, a man who stumbles upon “the biggest cover-up in U.S. history” while investigating the disappearance of his fiancé.
Maggie Q in Nikita
(Photo by Roberto D’Este)
On September 9, the CW will premiere Nikita, the world’s third take on Luc Besson’s 1990 film La Femme Nikita, which spawned a 1993 remake (Point of No Return), and a Canadian television series. This time, Maggie Q will play the rogue assassin attempting to bring down a fictional branch of the CIA.
Next: Lyndsy Fonseca in Nikita
Lyndsy Fonseca in Nikita
(Photo by Mark Segal)
Lyndsy Fonseca got her start on The Young and the Restless, and most recently played dream girl Katie Deauxma in Kick-Ass. On Nikita, she’ll play Alex, a former street kid-turned-assassin who the title character takes under her wing.
Next: Scott Caan in Hawaii Five-O
Scott Caan in Hawaii Five-O
(Photo by Pablo Alfaro)
It might seem that Law & Order has enough investigators to cover the planet, but the team hasn’t yet made it to Honolulu: That’s where CBS’s remake of 1970s procedural Hawaii Five-0 comes in. Scott Caan will take the lead as Detective Danno Williams, a Jersey ex-pat with an attitude that’s not exactly “aloha.”
Next: Grace Park in Hawaii Five-O
Grace Park in Hawaii Five-O
(Photo by Richard Prince)
Grace Park is best known for her portrayal of Number Eight in the sci-fi series Battlestar Galactica (she also had a role on the almost-as-culty teen soap Edgemont). This fall, she’ll go from outer space to Oahu as detective Kona Kalakaua, a recent Academy graduate eager to make her mark on the force, on Hawaii Five-0.
Next: Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire
Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire
(Photo by Mario Sorrenti)
Anyone who’s followed the doomed civilian life of cousin Tony Blundetto on The Sopranos, or the similarly doomed-though funnier-P.I. career of 30 Rock‘s Lenny Wosniak knows that Steve Buscemi can carry a TV show. He’ll do it on the Martin Scorsese-produced Boardwalk Empire, premiering September 19 on HBO, on which he’ll play Enoch “Nucky” Thompson, Atlantic City’s corrupt, Jazz Age treasurer.
Next: Michael Pitt in Boardwalk Empire
Michael Pitt in Boardwalk Empire
(Photo from HBO)
Michael Pitt last shared the screen with Steve Buscemi in 2006’s Delirious, in which he played a derelict young man who becomes an assistant to an unhinged paparazzo (Buscemi). The pair will play mentor-and-protégé again in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, with Pitt as an Ivy League dropout looking to learn Nucky Thompson’s signature system of politicking.
Next: Jesse Bradford in Outlaw
Jesse Bradford in Outlaw
(Photo by Roberto D’Este)
On NBC’s Outlaw (premiering September 15th), Jesse Bradford will play Eddie Franks, a recent law school grad clerking for Jimmy Smits’s Cyrus Garza, a Supreme Court Justice who gives up his appointment to go David-vs.-Goliath with a small private practice. We last saw Bradford as a bachelor party-er in the film adaptation of Tucker Max’s book, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, but it’ll be good to see him get back to the nice guy we remember from Bring it On.
