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 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 Tuesday 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 Tuesday night dramas will either air their season premieres or their series debuts on September 23. NCIS will return for its 12th season while Person of Interest will return for its 4th season. Chicago Fire will be back for its 3rd season and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back for its second season. Also, the new dramas NCIS: New Orleans and Forever will debut.

The number one TV drama will continue in its procedural pattern with the NCIS team solving countless military related cases; and for once not having a tumultuous cliffhanger ending. The premiere episode will find Gibbs (series lead Mark Harmon) and McGee (Sean Murray) heading to Russia to bring a computer engineer back to the USA. Things, of course, go awry. Also on tap this season is putting a face to the long-MIA Mrs. Gibbs No. 2 and unveiling another never-seen Gibbs spouse. And, the storyline of McGee’s dad will be revisited at some point; we will meet Bishop’s (series regular Emily Wickersham) husband and CGIS Agent Borin (recurring guest star Diane Neal) will return. Guest stars this season will include Stephanie Jacobsen (Melrose Place), as a new love interest for Tony, Leslie Hope (24 and Revolution) will be back as the current SecNav and Adam Campbell (Mixology and Touch) will play Ducky in a flashback episode.

Person of Interest ended last season with Samaritan going online and the team heading off in separate directions. As the new season starts, it is about six weeks after Samartian went online with Root (series regular Amy Acker) and Shaw (series regular Sarah Shahi) working as, of all things, cosmetics counter girls in their new identities while it appears that Reese (series lead Jim Caviezel) is now a cop and Harold (series lead Michael Emerson) is a college professor (of sorts). Meanwhile, Detective Fusco (series regular Kevin Chapman) will become a useful asset in a different aspect than before because Samaritan is not aware he worked with the rest of the team. This season will, assuredly, see a battle of the Machine versus Samaritan with the team trying to get back to work together. Jason Ritter (Parenthood), Monique Curnen (Lie to Me) and Cara Buono (Mad Men) will guest star this season.

The finale of Chicago Fire found nearly the entire cast of characters inside a burning building that exploded. The aftermath of that explosion will have ramifications on everyone and not everyone will make it out. Fans can expect a 1 ½ month jump between the building explosion and the ramifications of that horrible incident. This catastrophe will be devastating for Chief Boden (series regular Eamonn Walker), who just got married, has a baby on the way and then this tragedy strikes. What is known is that Severide (series lead Taylor Kinney) will survive, but he will deal with the consequences in a possible self-destructive manner. And the engagement of Gabby (series regular Monica Raymund) and Casey (series lead Jesse Spencer) “is still on”.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended its debut season with the agency being dismantled from within by Hydra, and the team learning that Grant Ward (series regular Brett Dalton) was actually working for Hydra all along. Ward and Hydra will not be gone this season, with the former discovering just what he wants out of life since he’s been a follower and has been told what to do for so long. There will also be a small time jump at the start of this season with Coulson (series lead Clark Gregg) working to rebuild SHIELD as the new director. But there is the little problem of the alien serum affecting his brain. Among the guest stars this season will be Henry Simmons (Ravenswood and NYPD Blue), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), Simon Kassianides (Nikita), Brian Patrick Wade (Teen Wolf), Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights), British actor Nick Blood (The Bletchley Circle) and Lucy Lawless (Spartacus). And, B.J. Britt, who was seen for much of the latter part of the debut season, will be around a lot too. Also, Hayley Atwell will appear as Agent Carter in an early episode, helping to set up the debut of the new series.

NCIS: New Orleans is yet another spin-off series from the franchise, focusing on the local field office in The Big Easy. Leading the team is Special Agent Dwayne Pride (aka King) [Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap); and by his side are Special Agent Christopher LaSalle (Lucas Black from Fast & the Furious Tokyo Drift), Special Agent Meredith Brody (Zoe McLellan from Dirty Sexy Money), Dr. Loretta Wade (CCH Pounder from Warehouse 13) and Rob Kerkovich (Chasing Life) as Sebastian Lund, a forensic scientist. Washington may happen bigger cases, but the NOLA field office goes from Pensacola all the way around the Gulf to Texas so the cases will not just be centered The Big Easy. Viewers can, of course, expect crossovers between the mothership series and NCIS:NOLA.

Forever focuses on Doctor Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd from Ringer and the Fantastic Four franchise), who is New York City’s star medical examiner. But he has a secret. He doesn’t just study the dead to solve criminal cases, he does it to solve his own 200-year old mystery, as he is immortal. The cast includes Alana De La Garza (Law & Order) as Detective Jo Martinez; Judd Hirsh (Taxi) as Abe, Henry’s best friend and confident (and the only person who knows Henry’s secret) and Lorraine Toussaint (Orange Is the New Black) as Lt. Joanna Reece.

And then on October 7, The Flash will debut on The CW followed by Supernatural starting its 10th season.

The Flash is a spin-off from Arrow that will focus on Central City CSI Investigator Barry Allen (series lead Grant Gustin from Glee), who is struck by lightning during an accident when a cutting edge particle accelerator at S.T.A.R. Labs exploded. Nine months later, Barry awakens from a coma, learning that he has developed superhuman speed. He ends up working with disgraced physicist Harrison Wells (series regular Tom Cavanagh from Ed) and his team members Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker from Necessary Roughness) and Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes from Broadway’s Once) to determine just how far his new-found powers can go. The cast also includes Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order), Candice Patton (The Game) and Rick Cosnett (The Vampire Diaries). Fans can expect crossovers from Arrow as well as guest appearances by Greg Finley (Star-Crossed and The Secret Life of the American Teenager), Clancy Brown (Sleepy Hollow), Kelly Frye (Rake), Wentworth Miller (Prison Break), William Sadler (Roswell), Robbie Amell (The Tomorrow People) and Robert Knepper (Prison Break) will reprise his Arrow role of the Clock King.

Supernatural opens its 10th season this fall coming off a tumultuous year where the Winchester brothers Sam (series lead Jared Padalecki) and Dean (series lead Jensen Ackles) were not only defeated by Metatron (recurring guest star Curtis Armstrong) but Dean’s life was also taken by the fallen angel. However, Crowley (series regular Mark Sheppard) brought Dean back using the Mark of Cain’s weapon, but Dean is now a demon. Sam will spend the early part of the season searching for his brother while Castiel (series regular Misha Collins) will be dealing with the aftermath of Metatron’s aborted plot to take over heaven and struggling with how to get his angelic grace back. Contained within the new season will be the series’ 200th episode that will be music-based, but isn’t exactly being called a musical episode. Guest stars will include Kim Rhodes, returning as Sheriff Mills, Brianna Buckmaster back as Sheriff Donna Hanscum and a surprise returning character that has yet to be revealed. Also, Scottish actress Ruth Connell will recur as a mysterious old-school witch named Rowena.

Don’t miss out!