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 Thursday 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 network dramas will either premiere or debut on September 25 with Grey’s Anatomy back for its 11th season and Scandal will be back for its fourth season. The new drama How to Get Away With Murder will debut while Bones will be back for its 10th season. Also, Parenthood will be back for its final sixth season.

Grey’s Anatomy will be back for its 11th season and will be a Meredith-centric (series lead Ellen Pompeo) season because she has lost her ‘person’ – Christina (former series regular Sandra Oh) left at the end of last season – and her husband Derek (series regular Patrick Dempsey) wants to move on to someplace else. Supposedly the new season will pick up right where the last season left off. And, there just might be flashback periods to the younger days of Drs. Ellis Grey, Meredith’s mother and Richard Webber. It would appear that Callie (series regular Sara Ramirez) and Arizona (series regular Jessica Capshaw) will continue to have troubles. What is also known is that Dr. Shane Ross (Gaius Charles) and Dr. Leah Murphy (Tessa Ferrer) will not be back for the new season, but the rest of the remaining cast will be back. Also, Caterina Scorsone, who plays Dr. Amelia Shepherd, one of Derek’s sisters, has joined the show as series regular. Veteran actress Geena Davis will also have a major guest arc playing a surgeon, and Annet Mahendru (The Americans) will also guest star.

Scandal, of course, saw Olivia Pope (series lead Kerry Washington) leaving Washington with Jake Ballard (series regular Scott Foley) in tow at the end of last season. The question, as the new season starts, will be “where on Earth is Olivia Pope?” And, President Fitzgerald Grant (series regular Tony Goldwyn) and his family will be reeling with the unexpected death of his son, which was perpetuated by Olivia’s father (recurring guest star Joe Morton). It is known that Harrison Wright (Columbus Short) will not be back on the show and there will be a time jump of about two-and-a-half months, right in time for the election. Guest stars for this new season will include Matthew Del Negro (Teen Wolf), Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight) and Josh Randall (Ed) and Portia de Rossi (Ally McBeal and Arrested Development).

How to Get Away With Murder will focus on brilliant, charismatic and seductive Professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis from The Help), who gets entangled with four law students from her class, “How to Get Away with Murder”. Little do the students know that they will have to apply what they learned to real life. The cast includes Aja Naomi King (Emily Owens, M.D.), Jack Falahee (Twisted), Katie Findlay (The Killing and The Carrie Diaries), Tom Verica (American Dream), Liza Weil (Gilmore Girls and Scandal), Charlie Weber (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer), Billy Brown (Hostages and Sons of Anarchy), Matt McGorry (Orange is the New Black), Latino star Karla Souza (Instructions Not Included) and Alfred Enoch (the Harry Potter franchise). Guest stars will include Alysia Reiner (Orange is the New Black), Ana Ortiz (Devious Maids and Ugly Betty)

Last season of Bones found Booth (series lead David Boreanaz) and Brennan’s (series lead Emily Deschanel) home riddled with gunfire and Booth being framed and falsely accused of murdering three federal agents, which found him being sentenced to jail. This new season will pick up right where the finale left off, albeit with a four month time jump, with huge ramifications, both physically and emotionally. Brennan will, of course, be trying to find a way to prove Booth’s innocence along with the squints. The way to do that is to finish what Booth started by uncovering who is behind the conspiracy at the FBI. Also at some point in the season, there just might be a chance for Booth and Brennan to have another child. John Boyd (24) will have a recurring role, playing James Aubrey, a junior FBI agent working under Booth, which means Brennan and the squints must find a way to set him free.

Parenthood will be back for its sixth and final season and it is expected that storylines affecting the Braverman family will be tied up. It is possible that viewers will see the loss of family matriarch or patriarch, Zeek (series regular Craig T. Nelson) or Camille (series regular Bonnie Bedelia [but that has not been confirmed]. Since the show has focused on so many hard-hitting subjects – cancer, failed marriages, affairs, heartbreak and the like – it will be interesting to see what comes next for the large Braverman family.

Here is a preview for the final season of Parenthood.

The new drama Gracepoint (the US adaptation of the British mini-series Broadchurch) will debut on October 2 while that same night The Vampire Diaries will be back for its sixth season and the second season of Reign will return too.

Gracepoint will focus on what happens when a young boy is found dead on an idyllic beach in the small northern California seaside town of Gracepoint. A major police investigation is launched with Detective Emmett Carver (David Tennant from Broadchurch and Doctor Who) in charge. He just arrived in Gracepoint to fill a high position in the town’s police force that was previously promised to Detective Ellie Miller (Anna Gunn from Breaking Bad). Miller has to put aside resentment and work the case with her prickly new boss. The cast includes Josh Hamilton (American Horror Story), newcomer Jack Irvine, Michael Pena (End of Watch), Virginia Kull (Boardwalk Empire), newcomer Madalyn Horcher, Kendrick Sampson (The Vampire Diaries), veteran actor Nick Nolte, Kevin Rankin (Justified), Sarah-Jane Potts (Kinky Boots), Stephen Louis Grush (Lucky 7), Kevin Zegers (Transamerica), Jessica Lucas (Cloverfield) and veteran actress Jacki Weaver.

The Vampire Diaries had a massive season finale with Mystic Falls being overrun with Travelers, the group bent on stripping the town of all its magic; but Elena (series lead Nina Dobrev), Damon (series lead Ian Somerhalder) and Bonnie (series regular Kat Graham) coming up with a dangerous plan to destroy them. That didn’t work out, though, ending with Damon and Bonnie being left on The Other Side as the supernatural world crumbled with them vanishing in a white light. The new season will pick up a couple months later with everyone dealing with the loss; namely with Stefan (series lead Paul Wesley) leaving the town to go soul searching, Elena resorting to witchy drugs in her attempt to hallucinate Damon and Jeremy (series regular Steven R. McQueen) drinking alone in the woods. Meanwhile, a mysterious new community watch program will come to the town. Matt Davis will be back as Alaric, who now has a teaching job at the local university; and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (Nash Bridges and Hit the Floor) and Colin Ferguson (Eureka and Haven) will guest star.

The second season of Reign will see the plague spread, Francis (series lead Toby Regbo) will find Lola (series regular Anna Popplewell) and his newborn son and Bash (series lead Torrance Coombs) knocking down doors to save his wife Kenna (series regular Caitlin Stasey). Of course, Francis and Mary (series lead Adelaide Kane) will face countless obstacles; and the former will have a great deal of guilt hanging over his head. The dynamic between Mary and Catherine (series regular Megan Follows) will remain incredibly tense. Jonathan Keltz has been promoted to series regular and that will allow for an interesting “quadrangle” between he and Greer (series regular Celina Sinden) and her betrothed Lord Castleroy (recurring guest star Michael Therriault) and Castleroy’s daughter Yvette (guest star Sarah Winter). Oh, and don’t rule out seeing Clarissa (recurring guest star Katie Boland) again. Guest stars this season will be Craig Parker (Spartacus and Legend of the Seeker) and British actress Rose Williams.

Lastly, Elementary will be back for its third season on October 30.

Season three of Elementary will experience an eight-month time jump, will find Joan (series lead Lucy Liu) in her own apartment, a steady boyfriend and a solo P.I. gig; then Sherlock (series lead Jonny Lee Miller) returns to the States after working with MI6. And that’s not all: he will be accompanied by a “new and decidedly different protégé named Kitty. Needless to say, the two women in Sherlock’s life will not get off to a good start with each other. Among the guest stars will be Gina Gershon (Rescue Me), British actress Ophelia Lovibond (the mini-series Titanic: Blood and Steel), Raza Jaffrey (Smash), Sonya Walger (Lost), Zak Orth (Revolution), Mamie Gummer (Off the Map and Emily Owens, M.D.) and Jacob Pitts (Justified).

NOTE: There currently is not a trailer for the third season of Elementary, which is most likely due to the later start for the new season.

Mark your calendars!