Of the 30-plus new shows heading to the broadcast networks over the course of the season, well, we’re not going to lie—it’s a bleak landscape this year. Two strong contenders—FX’s Terriers and the CW’s espionage drama Nikita—have already premiered, kicking off an onslaught over the next few weeks. (If you haven’t already caught the series premieres for both, go do so straightaway.) But, with the notable exceptions of those and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, it’s a pretty lackluster autumn for television, and much of the product that’s being offered seems suspiciously familiar or—in the case of the CW’s cheerleading drama Hellcats—just shrill and annoying.
WATCH: The Walking Dead (AMC)
While AMC has yet to send out any finished episodes to critics to screen, the cable network's latest original series, an adaptation of Robert Kirkman's zombie comic book, arrives just in time for Halloween. If the four-minute trailer that premiered at San Diego Comic-Con this past July is any indication, The Walking Dead will be a terrifying horror trip likely to give more than a few some nightmares. The series revolves around police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who is in a coma when a zombie apocalypse breaks out. Emerging into consciousness, he encounters a world very different from the one he remembered as he sets out to track down his wife and son, who might already be dead… or zombies. With AMC's track record for creating addictive and intelligent entertainment, this could be the series to lure the masses to the cable channel, until now known for Mad Men and Breaking Bad. (AMC; premieres October 31)
AVOID: $#*! My Dad Says (CBS)
What is there to say that the title hasn't already? The Twitter sensation attempts to make the leap to the small screen with this painfully unfunny multi-camera sitcom starring William Shatner as the misanthropic father of the title and Jonathan Sadowski (who replaced Ryan Devlin after the project was ordered to series) as his oft-put-upon son. While CBS has yet to send out the revised pilot to journalists, it seems impossible that some recasting and minor retooling have fixed what was one of the very worst pilots of the current bunch, not to mention one of the most humorless comedies of the last few years. (CBS; premieres September 23)
