Rueben's Ramblings

It’s that time of year again when the networks make their annual presentations in New York to the advertisers where they announce their proposed fall line-up and announce the new shows they have picked up.

Here is the breakdown for FOX:

MONDAY

8 PM – 9-1-1
9 PM – Prodigal Son *

Prodigal Son – Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne from The Walking Dead) has a gift. He knows how killers think. Back in the 1990s, his father, Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen) was one of the best, a notorious serial killer called The Surgeon. That is why Malcolm is the best criminal psychologist, as murder is the family business. He will use his twisted genius to help the NYPD solve crimes and stop killers, all while dealing with a manipulative mother (Bellamy Young from Scandal), annoyingly normal sister (Halston Sage from The Orville), a homicidal father still looking to bond with his prodigal son and his own constantly evolving neuroses.

Here is a trailer for Prodigal Son:

TUESDAY

8 PM – The Resident (New Night)
9 PM – Empire (New Night)

WEDNESDAY

8 PM – The Masked Singer
9 PM – Not Just Me *

Not Just Me – Only child Julia Bechley (Brittany Snow from Pitch Perfect franchise) finds her life turned upside down when her father, Leon Bechley (Timothy Hutton from Leverage), reveals that, over the course of his prize-winning career as a pioneering fertility doctor, he used his own sperm to conceive upwards of a hundred children. Reeling from this explosive revelation, Julia discovers two new sisters – her former best friend, Edie Palmer (Megalyn Echikunwoke from The 4400 and Vixen), and an ex-Olympic athlete, Roxy Doyle (Emily Osment from Young & Hungry). As these three young women begin to embrace their new reality, Julia must figure out what life is like without Leon by her side; Edie comes to grips with her burgeoning sexuality, as her marriage falters; and Roxy faces adulthood out of the spotlight. Against all odds, the three women will attempt to form an untraditional bond as sisters, even as they must welcome a tidal wave of new siblings into their rapidly expanding family.

Here is a trailer for Not Just Me:

THURSDAY

7:30 PM – Thursday Night Football Pregame Show
8 PM – NFL Football

FRIDAY

8 PM – WWE’s Smackdown Live

SATURDAY

7 PM – FOX Sports Saturday: College Football

SUNDAY

7 PM – NFL on FOX
7:30 PM – The OT/ FOX Encores
8 PM – The Simpsons
8:30 PM – Bless the Harts *
9 PM – Bob’s Burgers
9:30 PM – Family Guy

* Denotes new shows.

On August 7, BH90210, a meta-revival of the iconic 1990s teen soap will air a 6-episode run bringing original stars Jason Priestley (Brandon), Jennie Garth (Kelly), Ian Ziering (Steve), Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea), Brian Austin Green (David) and Tori Spelling (Donna) back to play heightened versions of themselves.

Here is a preview for this event series:

On January 19 and January 20, a two-night premiere of the spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star will debut after the NFC Championships. The series will star Rob Lowe (Code Black and The West Wing) as a sophisticated New York cop, who, along with his son, relocates and must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in his own life.

The following dramas will air sometime during mid-season:

Deputy – The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is one of the largest police forces in the world, but when the elected Sheriff dies, an arcane rule in the county charter, forged back in the Wild West, suddenly thrusts the most unlikely man into the job. That man is Bill Hollister (Stephen Dorff from True Detective and Star), a fifth-generation lawman, who is only interested in justice. Under Bill’s command is a county-wide crew of LA’s finest, including Deputy Cade Ward (Brian Van Holt from Cougar Town), a former Marine stationed in Afghanistan, eight years sober and one of Bill’s few confidantes; Deputy Rachel Delgado (Siena Goines from The Young & Restless), Walker’s partner, a meticulous officer who is knee-deep in a nasty divorce; Deputy Breanna Bishop (Bex Taylor-Klaus from Arrow and Scream: The Series), the whip-smart, sarcastic driver in charge of Bill’s security detail; and Deputy Joseph Blair (Shane Paul McGhie from the box office movie After). The dangers associated with the job often lead the police to LA County General Hospital, where Bill buts heads with Dr. Paule Reyes (Yara Martinez from Jane the Virgin), the hospital’s chief trauma surgeon – and his wife. Given a job he never wanted, in an unfamiliar sea of politics, Bill quickly learns that doing what is expected and doing what is right are two different things, and that his innate, dogged pursuit of justice is the only skill the job truly requires.

Here is a trailer for Deputy:

Filthy Rich – Meet the Monreauxes, a mega-rich Southern family famed for creating a wildly successful Christian television network. On the cusp of launching a digital retail arm of the company, the family’s patriarch, Eugene (veteran actor Gerald McRaney), dies in a plane crash (or so we think), leaving Margaret (Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City), a now-“Oprah” to the religious and Southern communities, to take charge of the family business. Not surprisingly, Eugene’s apparent death greatly impacts the Monreaux children: Eric (Corey Cott from The Good Fight), the couple’s ambitious son, who assumes he will now run the show; and daughter Rose (Aubrey Dollar from Women’s Murder Club), a budding fashion designer, who constantly struggles to evade the vast shadow cast by her mother. If that wasn’t enough, the Monreauxes are stunned to learn that Eugene fathered three illegitimate children, all of whom are written into his will. Now, Margaret must use her business savvy and Southern charm to control her newly legitimized heirs, whose very existence threatens the Monreaux family name and fortune: Ginger (Melia Kreiling from Salvation and Tyrant), the tough-as-nails daughter of a Vegas cocktail waitress, whose life was virtually destroyed by Eugene’s rejection; Antonio (relative newcomer Benjamin Levy Aguilar), a single dad and boxer from Queens, NY; and Jason (Mark L. Young from The Comeback), another scion, who is not what he seems to be. With monumental twists and turns, not to mention lies, deceit and shade from every direction, Filthy Rich presents a world in which everyone has an ulterior motive – and no one is going down without a fight.

Here is a trailer for Filthy Rich:

neXt – Silicon Valley pioneer Paul LeBlanc (John Slattery) built a fortune and legacy on the world-changing innovations he dreamed up, while ignoring and alienating the people around him, including his own daughter, Abby (Elizabeth Cappucino from Jessica Jones), and his short-sighted younger brother, Ted (Jason Butler Harner from Ozark and Ray Donovan), who now runs Paul’s company. After discovering that one of his own creations – a powerful A.I. called neXt – might spell doom for humankind, Paul tried to shutter the project, only to be kicked out of the company by his own brother, leaving him with nothing but mounting dread about the fate of the world. When a series of unsettling tech mishaps points to a potential worldwide crisis, LeBlanc joins forces with Special Agent Shea Salazar (Fernanda Andrade from The First and Here and Now).

Here is a trailer for neXt:

The Orville will return sometime in 2020.