Let's Hear It!

Fall is coming. The days are getting shorter and I’m about to start watching way too much television. Following are the five premieres I am most excited about.

Ringer—CW, Series Premiere Tuesday, September 13, 9/8c
Bridget: “Your life seems perfect.”
Siobhan: “No one’s life is perfect.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to television in a marked departure from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer role she made so famous 14 years ago. Here she plays a recovering drug addict, Bridget, who has witnessed a brutal murder and is being offered federal protection for her testimony. When her well-off twin sister Siobhan commits suicide, Bridget, in a moment of fear and desperation, takes on her sister’s identity. Bridget becomes embroiled in her twin’s life, which turns out to be even more twisted and dangerous than the one Bridget is trying to escape.
Why I’m Hooked: The intriguing Hitchcock-esque plot is wish-fulfillment gone awry in the worse possible way and explores the dichotomy between the façade we show the world vs. what’s going on in our own personal hell.
Bridget: “Tonight seemed so happy.”
Andrew: “That was an act.”

Parenthood—NBC, Season Premiere Tuesday, September 13, 10/9c
Adam: “I’m just so happy we’re having a baby. I thought we were done. I love you.”
Kristina: “You had a third beer, didn’t you?”
Yay! The Braverman family is back for a third season of raising kids, navigating heartbreak, following passions, coping with tragedy, and still finding the joy and the laughter in life’s big and little moments.
Why I’m Hooked: I actually want a bit of real life about real people in my escape from my real life. The dilemmas are on-point and relatable, the sibling rivalry/camaraderie is funny as hell, and Adam and Kristina’s teamwork, affectionate kidding, and loving acceptance is a refreshing portrayal of a happily married couple. This beautiful partnership is summed up perfectly when their teenage daughter asks Adam in frustration if he and Kristina have some sort of pact where they ignore each other’s flaws.
Adam replies, “Yes, it’s called marriage.”

Nikita—CW, Season Premiere Friday, September 23, 8/7c
Michael: “Someone has to undo what’s been done.”
Nikita: “What we’ve done.”

Reformed political assassin Nikita has joined forces and is on the run with her lover and former adversary, Michael. Her student and partner on the inside, Alex, has turned against her and is now her greatest enemy. The secret killing organization Division is now being headed by the very scary interrogator Amanda. Season 2 is about to get interesting.
Why I’m Hooked: Tight, thrilling plots about redemption and moral duality executed by forces to be reckoned with. Then there is Nikita herself, whose combination of empathy and single-minded drive to right her past wrongs are in stark contrast to the tough, ruthless killer that made her so valuable to Division to begin with.
Amanda: “It’s too late to save yourself. But there may be time to save others.”
Nikita: “Right now, I’d be wondering about who’s going to save you.”

The Good Wife—CBS, Season Premiere Sunday, September 25, 9/8c
Will: “It’s always the good girls with the deep dark secrets.”
Alicia: “Because we’re catching up.”
Season 3 of this legal and political drama begins the morning after lawyer Alicia Florrick has finally consummated a long-simmering attraction with her years-smitten boss, Will Gardner.  She is planning to divorce her husband, State’s Attorney Peter Florrick, since finding out he had a one night stand with her best friend, the law firm’s enigmatic and bad-ass investigator, Kalinda Sharma. Complicating matters is that Peter’s campaign manager, Eli Gold, has set up shop at Alicia’s law firm, making it even more difficult for Alicia to extricate herself from her husband’s personal and political sphere.
Why I’m Hooked: The wife standing silently by her famously sex-scandal cheating husband has her own story to tell, and her own life to rebuild. That story is smart, funny, dramatic, and played out by a cast of complex characters with even more complicated interrelationships that are delightful to watch.
Kalinda: “You ought to try it sometime.”
Alicia: “Flipping someone off?”
Kalinda: “It’s good for the soul.”

Once Upon a Time—ABC, Series Premiere Sunday, October 23, 8/7c
Emma: “Why doesn’t everybody just leave?”
Henry: “They can’t. If they try, bad things happen.”

Writers from Lost craft this new series where fairy tales and curses are real and the survival of our world hinges upon restoring the mythic realm we talk about but don’t really believe exists. Emma Swan’s life is about to change when the son she gave up ten years ago finds her and asks for her help. He insists that she is the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, and that only she can undo the Evil Queen’s curse that has frozen Emma’s parents in time and banished the possibility of a happy ending for all of eternity.
Why I’m Hooked: An unconventional hero, a bail bonds collector who has spent her life taking care of herself, must answer the call of a frightened little boy. She is the one who must save the traditional fairy tale land because hope in and of itself is what fuels the human spirit.
Snow White/Mary Margaret: “Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.”

Related articles

• Fall TV Lineup: 10 Shows Worth Watching (huffingtonpost.com)
• Get Ready For The Premiere of ‘The Good Wife,’ in September on CBS (dishtvblog.com)