It’s that time of year again.
October is in full swing and finally my life has meaning once more. That’s right, fall TV premieres are upon us! There are a lot of new options this season, and the seemingly endless selection can be daunting. Here are a few picks that will certainly validate any subsequent classroom procrastination.
- Jane the Virgin – Hear me out, I know the title is weird, and when you read the show’s synopsis, it seems even weirder. Basically, a young woman accidentally gets impregnated with her boss’s sperm. Wack. The show itself, however, is actually incredibly charming and stocked with a fantastic cast. They even manage to explain this immaculate conception of a plot point in a way that makes biological sense!
- How to Get Away With Murder – I can tell you about this show, how it’s basically a whodunit legal drama dressed up in academia, but it’s made by Shonda Rhimes so roughly half of all TV viewers are already all up on this. Though the hyperdrama and flash-forward timeline don’t quite suit me, I must admit Viola Davis is killing it as a no-nonsense defense attorney/professor. Also noteworthy, former Hogwarts’ student Dean Thomas has retired his wand and taken up the scales of law!
- Gotham – Do you enjoy the tragic tale of an orphaned bazillionaire boy who grows up to become a winged vigilante? Of course you do! Well now you can watch an entire series devoted to the days before Bruce Wayne became an uber-muscular crime fighting machine. The story focuses on young Bruce and Detective James Gordon, or the character that Gary Oldman totally owned in the Dark Knight trilogy. Have no fear, Alfred will make some appearances.
- The Affair – Dang, this show’s got tension, and not just of the sexual variety. Set in a Hamptons-esque New York coastal town, The Affair tracks the development of an intimate relationship between married man Noah Solloway and not-his-wife Alison Lockhart, who is also not single. It’s told from a he-says, she-says point of view, reminiscent of the current hit film Gone Girl, including voiceovers of police interrogations with the two lead characters. Stories aren’t quite matching up, facts seem elusive, and someone is clearly dead.
- American Horror Story: Freak Show – Technically this show is in its fourth season but since it’s an anthology series I felt like it should be included. Also, it’s absolute, electrifying perfection. Real-life goddess Jessica Lange is as magnetic as ever, and the rest of the cast ain’t too shabby either. This season’s characters come together under the guise of a circus troupe in 1950s Jupiter, Florida. People are dying, the music is creepy, and producers of the show went so far as to hire the literal smallest woman in the world, Jyoti Amge. If you’re not already hooked, I have two words for you: killer clown.
