Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) gets struck by lightning and becomes a superhero, saving ordinary folks while also seeking out fellow metahumans. The Flash is the latest DC Comics hero to get his own show and comes from the same production team behind the CW’s Arrow, so we’re optimistic this won’t be, well, a flash in the pan. It also differs from the show it’s spun off of. “Arrow is a crime world and The Flash is a sci-fi world,” Greg Berlanti, the executive producer of both shows, recently told The Hollywood Reporter . It also seems willing to have a little fun with itself in a way DC superhero movies won’t. Just consider this line from Allen: “Lightning gave me … abs?” Here’s hoping this show’s mix of fun action hero stuff and police drama keeps us tuning in week after week.—Angela Watercutter
Gracepoint
A remake of the highly-acclaimed British show Broadchurch, this 10-episode crime drama follows two detectives investigating the murder of a 12-year-old boy in a small California town. While rejiggering British shows for US audiences is nothing new, this one has a twist: David Tennant, beloved among Doctor Who fans as the Tenth Doctor, reprises the lead detective role he played in the BBC series, but with an American accent. Anna Gunn, who recently won her second Emmy for her performance as Skyler White on Breaking Bad, plays his partner Ellie Miller. “Whodunit” shows like True Detective and The Killing have proved popular in recent years, and with the keywords “Doctor Who” and “Breaking Bad” attached, the murder of little Danny Solano could be the mystery that hooks viewers this fall. —Laura Hudson
Premiere Date: Oct. 2 (Fox)
Marry Me
Sometimes, a show’s title is more misdirection than a true indicator of what to expect (looking at you, How I Met Your Mother). Marry Me is this year’s case in point. As the producers have pointed out, this isn’t really a show about getting married. Instead, it’s a sitcom from the writers of ABC’s much-missed Happy Endings, with that program’s Casey Wilson and Ken Marino (Party Down, Veronica Mars) leading a cast that also includes Tim Meadows and Broad City’s John Gemberling. Based on that talent, Marry Me is a must-watch for the first few episodes no matter what it’s about.—Graeme McMillan
Premiere Date: Oct. 14 (NBC)
Selfie
So here’s the problem: with rare exceptions (both of which my colleagues are writing about), this fall is a wasteland for new comedy. All the truly intriguing stuff—whether Will Forte’s Last Man on Earth for Fox or the Tina Fey-produced Ellie Kemper vehicle Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt—are slated for January, where they’ll swoop in to rescue the failures limping off the battlefield. Which leaves us Selfie. Can I understand your revulsion at the title? I can. Do I share your misgivings about the “My Fair Lady recast for the social-media generation” premise? I do. HOWEVER. John Cho is one of the most underrated actors working today (comedy or drama), and creator/E.P. Emily Kapnek has a flair for spinning bland flax into to offbeat gold, as evinced by her previous ABC outing Suburgatory. (Which, if you never watched, was a constant source of joy, thanks to supporting-cast winners like Cheryl Hines and Alan Tudyk.) And Karen Gillan is Karen Gillan, for chrissakes. So annoying topical title or no, I’ll be letting this one creep into my feed for at least a few weeks. —Peter Rubin
Premiere Date: September 30 (ABC)
Utopia
There’s no way this reality show—in which 15 people “from all walks of life” are challenged to build a harmonious, cooperative society—can possibly end well. After all, idealists as far back as Ancient Greece (see: Plato’s The Republic) have endeavored to build a theoretically perfect society, only to have their ideas torpedoed by, well, reality. It’s easy to come up with your idea of a perfect paradise, but what if your neighbor disagrees with you? Proving that point, Utopia’s contestants ran into conflict even before the show’s premiere last night. That said, watching group dynamics—utopian or otherwise—disintegrate is why we love reality shows to begin with, so watching this particular pack of contestants try to succeed at building a perfect society should at least be amusing. —Devon Maloney
Premiere Date: Sept. 7 and 9 (Fox)
Black-ish
Through no fault of its own, Modern Family has become the Tracy Flick of sitcoms. Theirs is the house at the end of the TVLand cul-de-sac with the Griswold-sized Christmas light display every year, the prize-winning roses lining their white picket fence and the greenest, plushest grass. All the kids are honor students. Mom and dad are members of PFLAG. They spearhead the impeccable Fourth of July block party every year. You bitch about them to your neighbors, but you also want all their recipes and look forward to their annual come-one-come-all Thanksgiving roundtable. In other words, the neighborhood is in desperate need of some new blood—a family we actually want to hang out with, instead of one we sort of hate. So let’s give a warm welcome to the Johnson family on Black-ish! Anthony Anderson and Laurence Fishburne co-produce and star in this show about a successful father and husband, Andre, looking to establish a stronger cultural identity for his black family in their vanilla suburban landscape. We’re eagerly looking forward to our first Hip Hop BroMitzva alongside African Rights Of Passage Ceremonies, and having balance restored to this thoroughly Modern TV age. —Jordan Crucchiola
Premiere Date: Sept. 24 (ABC)
Gotham
Everyone knows how Batman begins (or at least they should by now), but the point of Gotham is to give screen time to the origins of everyone else. And while the show ostensibly follows the rise of detective Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie), Gotham is also about how good guys go bad, so Oswald Cobblepot (aka Penguin), Selina Kyle (Catwoman), and Edward Nygma (Riddler) are all here too. A very young Bruce Wayne is in the mix as well, but this show is about the days long before he put on the cowl. Count us in for a few dark nights. —Angela Watercutter
Premiere Date: Sept. 22 (Fox)
Constantine
To be honest, Constantine—about “master of the dark arts” John Constantine—could hit or miss. It could hit because it’s a comic book adaptation with a little more of a horror/supernatural side—something that can help scratch that Penny Dreadful itch. However, it could miss because it’s a version of DC Comics/Vertigo’s Hellblazer made for network TV, so there’s a chance it may not be able to get as gritty as fans want it to. However, place us in the “optimistic” column on this one. It’s being executive produced by David S. Goyer, who has had a hand in everything from Christopher Nolan’s Batman flicks to Da Vinci’s Demons, so there’s a good chance Constantine could be just the kind of primetime antihero we’ve been waiting for. (And just in time for Halloween too!) —Angela Watercutter
Premiere Date: Oct. 24 (NBC)
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