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!

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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.

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