Rueben's Ramblings

The official announcement of the FOX Fall TV Schedule has been announced to the advertisers today, but news has already been swirling since mid-last week about the network’s plans.

Here is a full list of FOX’s fall schedule as well as details and a trailer for the new dramas that have been placed on the schedule:

Mondays:

8 PM: Gotham (New Drama)
9 PM: Sleepy Hollow

GOTHAM

Before there was Batman, there was Gotham. Everyone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world’s greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon’s story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world’s most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker? Gotham is an origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told.

CAST: Ben McKenzie as Detective James Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, Sean Pertwee as Alfred, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle/the future Catwoman and Zabryna Guevara as Captain Sarah Essen.

Tuesdays:

8 PM: Utopia (New Reality Series)
9 PM: New Girl
9:30 PM: The Mindy Project

Wednesdays:

8 PM: Hell’s Kitchen
9 PM: Red Band Society (New Drama)

RED BAND SOCIETY

What if a hospital was your high school, boarding school and summer camp rolled into one? What if it was the place where you fell in love for the first time and made friendships that lasted a lifetime? And what if it was all weirdly hilarious and the most fun you ever had in your entire life? This is the world of RED BAND SOCIETY. From Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television, starring Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer (The Help) and based on the award-winning Spanish series, “Polseres Vermelles,”

CAST: Octavia Spencer as Nurse Jackson, Griffin Gluck as Charlie, Zoe Levin as Kara, Dave Annable as Dr. McAndrew, Rebecca Rittenhouse as Nurse Dobler, Charlie Rowe as Leo, Brian Bradley as Dash, Ciara Bravo as Emma and Nolan Sotillo as Jordi.

Here is the upfront trailer for Red Band Society.

Thursdays:

8 PM: Bones
9 PM: Gracepoint (New Event Series)

GRACEPOINT

When a young boy is found dead on an idyllic beach, a major police investigation gets underway in the small California seaside town where the tragedy occurred. Soon deemed a homicide, the case sparks a media frenzy, which throws the boy’s family into further turmoil and upends the lives of all of the town’s residents. Welcome to Gracepoint, a new 10-episode mystery event series based on Broadchurch, the U.K.’s critically acclaimed hit crime drama.

CAST: David Tennant as Det. Emmett Carver, Anna Gunn as Det. Ellie Miller, Michael Peña as Mark Solano, Virginia Kull as Beth Solano, Nick Nolte as Jack Reinhold, Jacki Weaver as Susan Wright, Josh Hamilton as Joe Miller, Kevin Rankin as Paul Coates, Kevin Zegers as Owen Burke, Jessica Lucas as Renee Clemons, Stephen Louis Grush as Vince Novik, Madalyn Horcher as Chloe Solano, Sarah-Jane Potts as Gemma Fisher, Jack Irvine as Tom Miller and Kendrick Sampson as Dean Iverson.

Fridays:

8 PM: Masterchef Junior
9 PM: Utopia (New Reality Series – 2nd Night)

Saturdays:

7 PM: Fox Sports Saturday

Sundays:

7 PM: NFL Game
7:30 PM: Bob’s Burgers
8 PM: The Simpsons
8:30 PM: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9 PM: Family Guy
9:30: Mulaney (New Comedy)

UPDATED: Glee isn’t on the fall schedule, but it did receive a 22-episode final season order. It is expected to return sometime mid-season.

The following dramas will air on FOX at some point in 2015:

BACKSTROM

From creator/executive producer Hart Hanson (Bones), Backstrom is a subversive and comic crime procedural about an unhealthy, offensive, irascible – albeit brilliant – detective who is brought back from exile to run the Portland Police Bureau’s Special Crimes Unit (S.C.U.). Detective Lieutenant Everett Backstrom (Rainn Wilson from The Office) is a man with no filter. After a five-year banishment to the traffic division for offensive behavior, he has returned from disgrace to lead Portland’s newly minted S.C.U. Tasked with navigating the city’s most sensitive and serious cases, he must solve each crime as he tries, and fails, to change his own self-destructive behavior.

CAST: Rainn Wilson as Det. Lt. Backstrom, Genevieve Angelson as Det. Gravely, Dennis Haysbert as Det. Sgt. Almond, Page Kennedy as Officer Moto, Kristoffer Polaha as Sgt. Niedermayer, Beatrice Rosen as Nadia Paquet and Thomas Dekker as Gregory Valentine.

EMPIRE

From Academy Award nominee Lee Daniels (The Butler and Precious) and Emmy Award winner Danny Strong (Game Change), comes Empire, a sexy and powerful new drama about the head of a music empire whose three sons and ex-wife all battle for his throne. Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard from Crash and Hustle & Flow) is the king of hip-hop. An immensely talented artist, the CEO of Empire Entertainment and a former street thug, his reign has been unchallenged for years. But all that changes, when he learns he has a disease that is going to render him crippled and incapacitated in a matter of three years. The clock is ticking, and he must groom one of his three sons to take over his crowning achievement, without destroying his already fractured family.

CAST: Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon, Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon, Malik Yoba as Vernon Turner, Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon, Bryshere Gray as Hakeem Lyon, Trai Byers as Andre Lyon, Grace Gealey as Anika Gibbons, Kaitlin Doubleday as Rhonda Lyon and Gabourey Sidibe as Becky.

HIEROGLYPH

The world of ancient Egypt – a time of magic, Pharaohs, gods and thieves – lives again in Hieroglyph, an exciting action-adventure series from creator/executive producer Travis Beacham (Pacific Rim and Clash of the Titans). When a dangerous scroll, The Book of Thresholds, is stolen from Egypt’s most secure vault, master thief Ambrose (Max Brown from Beauty and the Beast) is plucked from prison to track down the perpetrator. Having spent the past five years in the darkest of pits, Ambrose quickly learns that his prison cell might be safer than the dangerous new world in which he finds himself: Atum, the empire’s capital.

CAST: Max Brown as Ambrose, Caroline Ford as Peshet, Reece Ritchie as Pharaoh Shai Kanahkt, Condola Rashad as Nefertari Kanahkt, Kelsey Chow as Lotus, Antony Bunsee as Rawser and John Rhys-Davies as Vocifer

WAYWARD PINES

Imagine the perfect American town… beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets. Now imagine never being able to leave. You have no communication with the outside world. You think you’re going insane. You must be in Wayward Pines. Based on the best-selling novel “Pines” by Blake Crouch and brought to life by suspenseful storyteller M. Night Shyamalan, Wayward Pines is the intense new mind-bending 10-episode event thriller evocative of the classic hit Twin Peaks.

CAST: Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Melissa Leo, Reed Diamond, Juliette Lewis, Shannyn Sossamon, Tim Griffin, Charlie Tahan and Terrence Howard [among others].

TOMORROW: ABC

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The official announcement of the NBC Fall TV Schedule is set to officially be made tomorrow to the advertisers, but the news is already been swirling since mid-last week with all the specific details coming out today.

Here is a full list of NBC’s fall schedule as well as details and a trailer for the new dramas that have been placed on the schedule:

Mondays:

8 PM: The Voice
10 PM: The Blacklist / State of Affairs (Starting on November 17) [NEW DRAMA]

STATE OF AFFAIRS

Each day the President is faced with dozens of life and death decisions, and to prioritize the biggest international crises facing the country, one top CIA analyst—Charleston Tucker (Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy)—assembles the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB). This list of the most vital security issues facing the nation brings with it moral and political judgment calls for Charleston and her trusted group of brilliant analysts at the agency. Aside from the political minefields she has to walk, Charlie has a close personal relationship with the President (Alfre Woodard from Desperate Housewives) because she was once engaged to her son before a tragic terrorist attack took his life. Charlie survived that attack and is now determined to bring the perpetrators to justice. Navigating a complex personal life and a pressure-cooker profession is, of course, a challenge, and Charlie sometimes engages in boundary-pushing behavior to avoid facing her grief. But when the clock strikes 2 a.m., she is all about her job—protecting her nation, serving her President and still trying to get to the bottom of her fiancé’s murder that will reveal itself as a shocking mystery.

The cast also includes Adam Kaufman (Without a Trace) and Leslie Odom, Jr. (Smash and Person of Interest)

Tuesdays:

8 PM: The Voice
9 PM: Marry Me (New Comedy)
9:30 PM: About A Boy
10 PM: Chicago Fire

Wednesdays:

8 PM: The Mysteries of Laura (NEW DRAMA)
9 PM: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10 PM: Chicago P.D.

THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA

Debra Messing (Will & Grace) stars as Laura Diamond, a brilliant NYPD homicide detective who balances her Columbo day job with a crazy family life that includes two unruly twin boys and a soon-to-be ex-husband (Josh Lucas from The Firm and Sweet Home Alabama)—also a cop—who just can’t seem to sign the divorce papers. Between cleaning up after her boys and cleaning up the streets, she’d be the first to admit she has her hot mess moments in this hilariously authentic look at what it really means to be a working mom today. Somehow, she makes it all work with the help of her sexy and understanding partner, and things becomes even more complicated when her husband, ironically, becomes her boss at the precinct. For Laura, every day is a high-wire balancing act.

The cast also includes Laz Alonso (Breakout Kings) and Janina Gavankar (Arrow and True Blood).

Thursdays:

8 PM: The Biggest Loser
9 PM: Bad Judge (New Comedy) / The Blacklist (Starting on February 5)
9:30 PM: A to Z (New Comedy)
10 PM: Parenthood / Allegiance (possibly airing mid-season)

ALLEGIANCE

Alex O’Connor (Gavin Stenhouse from Person Of Interest), a young idealistic CIA analyst specializing in Russian affairs, learns a shocking secret and his close-knit, affluent family is about to be split apart when its revealed that his parents, Mark (Scott Cohen from Necessary Roughness) and Katya (Hope Davis from The Newsroom and In Treatment) are covert Russian spies deactivated decades ago. But today the Kremlin has re-enlisted them into service as they plan a terrorist operation inside the U.S. border that will bring America to its knees. Years ago, Russian-born Katya was tasked by the KGB to recruit American businessman Mark O’Connor as a spy—and the two fell in love. A deal was struck: As long as Katya remained an asset for Russia, and it was agreed that her services could be called on in the future, she would be allowed to marry Mark and move to America. After years in America building a happy life and without word from Moscow, they thought they had escaped. Now it seems that the new Mother Russia has one more mission—turning Alex into a spy. For these anguished parents, the choice is clear: Betray their country or risk their family.

The cast also includes Margarita Levieva (Revenge), Annie Ilonzeh (Switched at Birth and Arrow) and Kenneth Choi (Ironside).

No trailer is yet available for Allegiance.

Fridays:

8 PM: Dateline NBC
9 PM: Grimm
10 PM: Constantine (NEW DRAMA)

CONSTANTINE

Based on the wildly popular DC Comics series Hellblazer, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan from Criminal Minds) specializes in giving hell… hell. Armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and his wickedly naughty wit, he fights the good fight — or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he’s decided to leave his do-gooder life behind, but when demons target Liv (Lucy Griffiths from True Blood), the daughter of one of Constantine’s oldest friends, he’s reluctantly thrust back into the fray—and he’ll do whatever it takes to save her. Before long, it’s revealed that Liv’s second sight—an ability to see the worlds behind our world and predict supernatural occurrences—is a threat to a mysterious new evil that’s rising in the shadows. Now it’s not just Liv who needs protection; the angels are starting to get worried too. So, together, Constantine and Liv must use her power and his skills to travel the country, find the demons that threaten our world and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows… maybe there’s hope for him and his soul after all.

The cast also includes Harold Perrineau (Lost).

Saturdays:

8 PM: Encore Programming

Sundays:

7 PM: Football in America
8:30 PM: NBC Sunday Night Football

The new dramas A.D., Emerald City, Hannibal, Heroes: Reborn and Odyssey have yet to be scheduled, but here are details on each of those new dramas:

A.D.: In the follow-up to the eye-opening success of The Bible miniseries on History, the 12-hour miniseries A.D.—from producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey—will look at the lives that were instantly altered following the death of Christ. His disciples, mother Mary, and key political religious leaders at the time saw their world turned upside down and their lives forever altered. Beginning at that fateful moment of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, part two of the greatest story ever told will focus on the disciples who had to go forward and disseminate the teachings of Christ to a world dominated by political unrest and the start of a whole new religion that would dramatically reshape the history of the world.

AQUARIUS: It’s 1967 and the era of free love, drug experimentation and the Vietnam War is in full effect. When the teenage daughter of a respected lawyer goes missing, L.A. Police Sgt. Sam Hodiak (David Duchovny from Californication and The X-Files) starts asking around. He soon discovers that the hippie kids he’s questioning don’t take kindly to cops, especially one with hair as short as his. Needing the help of someone they will trust, he partners with rebellious undercover cop Brian Shafe, a man who’s more comfortable rolling a joint than patrolling a beat. It’s not long before they stumble upon a small-time cult leader seeking out vulnerable women to join his cause. From there, they follow this man’s trail down a rabbit hole of drugs, sex, murder and cultural revolution. Little could they know, however, the guy they’re hunting will eventually become the killer we now recognize as Charles Manson. He was a lost soul who desperately wanted to get into the music scene of the ’60s until something snapped. This is the show that will explore the cat and mouse game between him and the police that will go on for several seasons, ultimately ending with the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders.

EMERALD CITY: Desperate for clues that will lead to the identity of her biological mother, a young woman breaks into a sinister underground facility somewhere in the Midwest. Unable to complete her mission and surrounded by security, our feisty heroine steals a K9 police dog and drives away into the night… and headlong into the path of a raging tornado. In the blink of an eye, she is transported to another world, one far removed from our own — a mystical land of competing kingdoms, lethal warriors, dark magic and a bloody battle for supremacy. This is the fabled Land of Oz in a way you’ve never seen before, where wicked witches don’t stay dead for long and 20-year-old Dorothy Gale becomes a headstrong warrior who holds the fate of kingdoms in her hands. You’re not in Kansas anymore, and this is not your Grandmother’s Oz.

HEROES REBORN: The saga behind the 2006 breakout series Heroes will continue as creator Tim Kring returns to the fold and develops new layers to his original superhero concept. This highly anticipated 13-episode miniseries will reconnect with the basic elements of the show’s first season where ordinary people were waking up to the fact that they had extraordinary abilities. This series will be preceded by a new digital series that will introduce audiences to the new characters and storylines that will take the Heroes phenomenon to new places.

ODYSSEY: In this Traffic-like action drama, an international conspiracy explodes when three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide—a female soldier, a corporate lawyer and a political activist. After a team of American soldiers battles Jihadists in North Africa, they’re shocked to find that one of the men they killed is Al Qaeda’s top man. Sgt. Odelle Ballard (Anna Friel, Pushing Daisies)—a soldier, mother, wife and the unit’s only female member—discovers computer files that suggest a major U.S. corporation is funding the Jihadists. But before she can tell anyone, her team is attacked and left for dead. News is reported that the unit was wiped out, but the truth is that Odelle survived and is the only witness to her unit’s assassination by U.S. Special Forces. In New York, former U.S. Attorney Peter Decker (Peter Facinelli, Nurse Jackie) is working on a merger deal for the same company that was funneling money to the Jihadists. Meanwhile, Harrison Walters (Jake Robinson, The Carrie Diaries), a political activist and trust fund kid, meets a hacker who claims to have unearthed a massive military-industrial conspiracy. And he’s right: He’s stumbled onto the cover-up that began with Odelle and will soon be out in the open and everyone’s lives will be in danger. The only way they’ll ever save their country, their families and themselves is by joining forces and exposing the people behind it. The cast also includes Treat Williams (Everwood), Daniella Pineda (The Vampire Diaries) and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost) [among others].

TOMORROW: FOX

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