MOST PROMISING NEW SHOWS (2013-14 TV SEASON) (Updated)

Updated: 09/07/2013 

Finally the upfront madness is over, which means we know the network TV schedules for next year and we got our first batch of trailers.

A lot of people have been asking me on twitter about the most promising shows for the 2013-14 season, however I felt I needed more than 140 characters to properly explain this. So here is a list of the shows I am looking forward to next season:

NBC

The Blacklist!

I usually don’t have many expectations for NBC, but they seem to be heading in the right direction next year. A couple of shows look interesting but none more than this.

Premieres: September 23rd

Reasons to watch: This is the ONE show I am most excited about. I am basically obsessed about it already and I can’t wait until it premieres or NBC puts it on Hulu. So why should you watch it? JAMES SPADER! Need I say more? One of the best TV actors period. He was absolutely amazing as Alan Shore on The Practice and Boston Legal and that’s not even taking into account all his movie credits. The trailer looks incredible, Spader is as magnetic as ever and I am digging the Silence of the Lambs meets Damages vibe. It looks exactly like the kind of drama I’d like to watch with the actor I have been missing for so long. With such a great leading actor an interesting premise this is pretty much a safe bet. I really hope I am right about that. 

I am also cautiously excited about Dracula. It could go very very wrong, but I actually loved the trailer. 

THE CW

The Tomorrow People

All the trailers for The CW look like something I may want to watch (except for Reign, I really don’t know what to expect with that one), but then again I am conflicted with this network. I don’t want all the new shows to perform well because that would mean saying good bye to some of the old shows. At this point I am willing to throw any show under the bus if it means getting a new season of Beauty and the Beast [which incidentally was a show I was NOT excited about last year after watching the previews]. In any case, The Tomorrow People is the show that excites me the most for the CW.

Premieres: October 9th

Reasons to watch: As with any CW show, it has pretty people doing cool stuff while wearing really nice clothes, so there’s that. I like science fiction and this show looks like what Alphas should be and Heroes was in the first two seasons.  It is produced by Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries) and Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Everwood, Brothers & Sisters, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Political Animals). As you can probably tell I love Greg Berlanti and his previous work, Julie Plec… I am not so crazy about but she does know how to keep a plot going… so I’ll give credit where credit is due. The screenplay was written by Roger Damon Price and created by Phil Klemmer. I have never heard of those two so I had to IMDB them and I found out their credits include: Veronica Mars, Chuck and the original 1990 The Tomorrow People, so that’s promising. Finally; besides all the good looking teens, Mark Pellegrino also stars. You might remember him from Lost, Supernatural, Dexter or Being Human (US); I’d watch for him alone.

ABC

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

I am not entirely sure of the direction ABC is taking next year, so I decided to stick with what I know and I am betting on Once Upon a Time in Wonderland.

Premieres: October 10th

Reasons to watch: It looks as good, if not better, than Once Upon a Time. Much like the original OUAT it is a re-imagining of the classic tale. Kitsis and Horowitz are involved so it should be good. I also appreciate the trend to have more wholesome family oriented shows. We have our share of gritty cable dramas, so I enjoy escaping reality for some ‘happy ending’ stories once in a while.

I am also looking forward to S.H.I.E.L.D. but I can't shake the feeling that they are over-hyping that show too much... I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. We'll just have to wait and see. 

CBS

Intelligence

Looks like CBS's main interest for next year is to launch new comedies [not that they need new dramas since they have so many already], none of which interests me much. I am impressed that among the new dramas they don’t have any CSI-type show planned. The one CBS show I am looking forward the most  is: Intelligence.

Premieres: Midseason

Reasons to watch: Josh Holloway! Who didn't love Sawyer right? And yeah, that is the main reason why I want to watch this show. I also like the fact that it is not another CBS cop show. After watching the latest previews I got more excited. It looks like Chuck meets Terminator meets the Bourne Identity. Question is, would the CBS audience like it?

Another CBS show I am looking forward is Hostages, I am not big on the "police procedural", so I am excited CBS is diversifying. 

FOX

Almost Human

As I said before, with Fringe gone the remaining FOX shows were old and boring. Nevertheless, it looks like next year they are getting their edge back. I am looking forward to quite a few new FOX shows, but specially this one Almost Human.

Premieres: November 4th

Reasons to watch: Take a look at the trailer, it looks like a movie. Of course the pilot always looks more expensive than the rest of the episodes but still… The show is produced by J.J. Abrams and written by J.H Wyman (Fringe), which means it will have the right balance between action, science fiction and emotional angst. I am already feeling the void left by Fringe and this show will be perfect to fill it.

Also looking forward to Sleepy Hollow, but I have scheduling conflicts with that one.

As you probably noticed I am more of a drama girl, none of the comedies particularly excited me, but a couple stood out: Surviving Jack, Us & Them and The Michael J. Fox Show (I am rooting for this one, the trailer was funny and I absolutely adore Michael J. Fox). And that’s it, the shows I am looking forward to next year. But as I have been saying lately: What the hell do I know? It’s hard to tell which shows will be good based on the trailers and even after watching the pilots! Many shows get exponentially better after the pilot episode (Beauty and the Beast) while others lose their initial wow factor (The Following). In summary, my favorite show could be hiding somewhere in the sea of trailers waiting to be discovered. If I have learned anything from last season is to give shows a chance before deleting them from my Hulu queue!

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TVEmpress

The TV Empress is a Media Management graduate, screenwriter in the making (and financial engineer in the meantime). She has serious plans to take over global television. You can follow the TVEmpress on twitter @TVRepublik