Get your DVR ready -- we've hand-picked the top 5 shows you've just gotta watch.
As the scorching heat of summer dies down and football season kicks into high gear, there's more to look forward to this fall than Halloween candy and baking pumpkin bread. September starts a cascade of favorite shows returning to television (a lovely escape from the political circus happening now with all-Trump TV), as well as new ones hitting the airwaves for the first time. In fact, there are more than 40 (!) new buzzworthy sitcoms and dramas hitting the airwaves soon, from the hype of Heroes Reborn and Supergirl to curiosity around Limitless. And since recent favorites of mine such as Netflix's Grace and Frankie don't return until next summer, I'm giving some promising new shows a try. Get your remotes ready. These are my picks for top 5 TV shows this fall.
Best new bet, drama: Blood and Oil
When a working-class couple move to North Dakota to cash in on its oil boom, they stir up trouble with the town's big tycoon and his scandalous family. It's got everything a soap drama needs: determined good guys, ruthless bad guys, and a nice mix of juicy romance, glamour, and suspense. I'm loving the cast in this one: Don Johnson, Amber Valletta, and Chace Crawford.
Watch it: September 27 at 9 p.m., ABC
Best new bet, comedy: Grandfathered
Full House alum John Stamos stars as a hot-shot restauranteur and eternal bachelor who finds he's not only a father, but a grandfather as well. Hilarity ensues when his polished world is flipped upside down as he gets to know the family he never knew he wanted. Stamos may still be a fox, but the actor who plays his son, Josh Peck, is so charming, he may be in the running to become a new Hollywood "It boy."
Watch it: September 27 at 8 p.m., FOX
The show you might not want to keep watching, but will: Scandal
The age-old primetime question on my personal top 5 favorite has become "Will Olivia and Fitz ever get together?"--and this season finally seems like a promising "yes." After a particularly dark, choppy and convoluted string of plots last season, let's hope season five begins how the last one ended: with a romantic little Liv & Fitz rendezvous on the White House balcony.
Watch it: September 24 at 9 p.m. on ABC
Favorite return: Nashville
In a primetime landscape dotted with hour-long shows that involve violent crime-solving and supernatural/paranormal mystery, Nashville is a refreshing and heartwarming escape. Now that the country music show's heroine, Rayna Jaymes, and her long-time beloved, Deacon, finally have a chance to be together, we were left wondering if his cancer-curing liver transplant went through. After all, just like this show's amazing soundtracks, country is all about storytelling, right?
Watch it: September 23 at 10 p.m., ABC
Mid-season revival we're most curious about: The X-Files
This iconic sci-fi show was way ahead of its time during its lengthy run in the '90s. The twisty plots and will-they-or-won't-they sexual tension between lead characters David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson (better known as Mulder and Scully) was enough to make it one of the top-rated shows of its time. Famously diehard fans of The X-Files should savor every pixelated second of this show: the return is only a six-episode run.
Watch it: January 24 at 10 p.m. on FOX