Rueben's Ramblings

The fall TV season is nearly upon us and it is time to take a look at what the major networks have in store for us.

Over the course of this coming week, I will focus on each individual night of programming; specifically the new and returning dramas that will debut or air their season premieres when the fall TV season gets started.

The following is the Monday night schedule (courtesy of TV Line):

NOTE: You can double click on the image above to see a larger size of the Monday night chart.

The majority of the Monday night dramas will either debut or air their season premiere on September 22. Sleepy Hollow and The Blacklist will both be back for their second seasons while the new dramas Gotham and Scorpion will air their debut episodes.

Sleepy Hollow will pick up right where the season one finale ended with Ichabod (series lead Tom Mison) buried alive, Abbie (series lead Nicole Beharie) trapped in purgatory, Katrina (series regular Katia Winter) kidnapped by the Headless Horseman, Captain Frank Irving (series regular Orlando Jones) behind bars for a murder he did not commit and Abbie’s sister Jenny (new series regular Lyndie Greenwood) among the wreckage of a horrific car crash. All of these events are, in great part, due to Henry Parish (new series regular John Noble), who is actually Ichabod and Katrina’s son and the Horseman of War. There will be a ‘slew of netherworld evils’ for the team to combat as well as guest stars including Matt Barr (Hellcats), Sakina Jaffrey (House of Cards), Timothy Busfield (thirtysomething), Heather Lind (Turn) and Aunjanue Ellis (NCIS: Los Angeles).

The Blacklist will pick up a few months after the events in the season one finale with Berlin (recurring guest star Peter Stormare) back “in full force” and more answers about who this man is and why he is adamant about destroying Red (series lead James Spader) will be revealed. The cases of the week will still happen, but they will take on an international scope, featuring blacklisters that are “delicious, strange and super-dark oddballs”. And, hopefully we will learn if Cooper (series regular Harry Lennix) will survive and if Elizabeth’s (series lead Megan Boone) husband Tom (series regular Ryan Eggold) survived; and we will probably see a darker side of Ressler (series regular Diego Klattenhoff). This season will find Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman), Lee Tergeson (The Americans), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Krysten Ritter (Veronica Mars) and Norm Lewis (Scandal and currently in Boardway’s Phantom of the Opera) all guest starring.

The new FOX drama Gotham will take a look at the early years of Commissioner Gordon when he was just Detective James Gordon (series lead Ben McKenzie from Southland and The O.C.) – on the job for only two weeks. The cast includes Erin Richard (Open Grave) as Barbara Kean, Gordon’s fiancée; Donal Logue (Terriers and Vikings) as Harvey Bullock, Gordon’s partner; David Mazouz (Touch) as young Bruce Wayne; Jada Pinkett Smith (The Matrix franchise) as gang boss Fish Mooney; newcomer Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle (the future Catwoman); Robin Lord Taylor (The Walking Dead) as Oswald Cobblepot (soon to be The Penguin) and Sean Pertwee (Elementary) as Wayne butler Alfred Pennyworth.

The new CBS drama Scorpion is inspired by a true story about eccentric genius Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel from Body of Proof) and his team of brilliant misfits who comprise the last line of defense against complex, high-tech threats of the modern age. The other members of Walter’s team includes Eddie Kaye Thomas (the American Pie franchise) as Toby Curtis, an expert behaviorist; Jadyn Wong (Being Erica), as Happy Quinn, a mechanical prodigy and Ari Stidham (Huge), as Sylvester Dodd, a statistics guru. The cast includes Robert Patrick (The Unit), as federal agent Cabe Gallo and Katharine McPhee (Smash) as Paige Dineen, a waitress who helps translate the world for the team and who has a young, gifted son.

Then on September 29, Castle and NCIS: Los Angeles will be back for their seventh and sixth seasons respectively.

Castle will obviously pick up where the season finale ended with the car crash that derailed Castle (series lead Nathan Fillion) and Beckett’s (series lead Stana Katic) wedding. But while fans can speculate that it was either a simple accident, the 3XK Killer taking revenge or Castle’s spy father Jackson Hunt, the plan is to go in a different direction. Now that the mystery behind Beckett’s mother’s murder has been solved, a “brand-new, overdue chapter in Castle’s life” will be focused on throughout the season; but the powers that be behind the show are committed to their relationship. Don’t be surprised, though, if the latter two (3XK and Hunt) don’t show back up again at some point. Guest stars will include Matt Letscher (Eli Stone and Scandal), Rebecca Wisocky (Devious Maids) and Gina Ravera (The Closer).

NCIS: Los Angeles will also continue from its season finale with Callen (series lead Chris O’Donnell) and Sam (series lead LL Cool J) trapped inside that submarine along with two terrorists and ammonium nitrate. Meanwhile, Hetty (series regular Linda Hunt) will go to Washington to face a hostile Senate committee seeking the truth about NCIS’ White Ghost op; and, on a lighter note, there will be more romantic tension between Kensi (series regular Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (series regular Eric Christian Olsen) now that undercover DEA agent Talia Del Campo (recurring guest star Mercedes Masohn) will still be around.

NOTE: The above is a fan-made video not an official video from the studio or network.

On October 6, The Originals will return to The CW for its second season while the new CW drama Jane the Virgin will debut on October 13.

The Originals will return for its second season after a debut season that saw Hayley (series regular Phoebe Tonkin) transition into a hybrid; while she and Klaus (series lead James Morgan) had their baby, named Hope, who was taken by Klaus’ sister Rebekah (former series regular Claire Holt) [and whose death was faked by Klaus to protect her] and saw the return of the Mikaelson parents, Michael and Esther. As the season opens, Francesca (recurring guest star Peta Sargeant) has run all vampires out of the quarter – except “The Originals” who are “holed up in their compound while Marcel (series regular Charles Michael Davis) is living across the river. Guest stars in season two will include Colin Woodell (Devious Maids), Daniel Sharman (Teen Wolf) and Sonja Sohn (Body of Proof).

Jane the Virgin is about a Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez from Filly Brown), a 23-year-old soon-to-be-teacher (and wanna-be-writer) who, based on values instilled by her grandmother, believes that women must protect their virginity at all costs (and that telenovelas are the highest form of entertainment). But when she is inadvertently inseminated during what should have been a regular check-up with her doctor, Jane has to deal with the ramifications and how it will affect her fiancé Michael (series regular Brett Dier from Ravenswood), her young-at-heart mother Xo (Andrea Navedo from Golden Boy), her still-devout grandmother Alba (Ivonne Coll from Switched at Birth and Teen Wolf) and the biological parents Rafael (Justin Baldoni from Single Ladies) and Yael Grobglas (Reign).

NOTE: The new ABC drama Forever will air a sneak peek on September 22 while The CW will air a Supernatural retrospective special on October 6. Regular episodes of Forever and Supernatural will both air on Tuesdays and each show will be spotlighted in my separate Tuesday night article.