The arrival of fall brings many new things. The leaves change, campus is filled with more than 5,000 new kids with lanyards around their neck and terrified expressions on their faces, the weather gets chillier (just kidding, this is L.A.). But one of the best things to come with September is all the new television shows. After having to spend your summer days deciding between bad reality television or re-watching the entire fourth season of “Breaking Bad” on Netflix (and we all know who wins that one), the networks reward you with a slew of new shows to become addicted to and add to your DVR. Here’s a preview of some of the new shows that will be gracing TV screens in the next few weeks.
CW
“Arrow”
Wednesdays, 8 p.m.
CW’s new drama takes the classic superhero tale of The Green Arrow and sprinkles its usual teen fairy dust, making the hero younger, the drama soapier and the cast ““ well, the poster says it all. The story follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, who returns home after being stranded on a remote island from a terrible shipwreck for five years. Realizing what a jerk he was before the accident, Queen decides to make amends by creating an alter-ego, “Arrow,” playing the carefree playboy by day and trying to save his city from the corruption of his powerful family by night. With a sexy cast that includes CW regulars Stephen Amell (“The Vampire Diaries”) and Katie Cassidy (“Gossip Girl”) mixed with comic lore, it’s finally a CW show boyfriends would be down to watch.
ABC
“Nashville”
Wednesdays, 10 p.m.
After a year of getting taunted, tempted and terrorized by ghosts in her own house in “American Horror Story,” Connie Britton is going back to her “Friday Night Lights” Southern roots on new drama “Nashville.” Britton plays Rayna Jaymes, a country music diva who’s trying to stay in the spotlight as new, younger Taylor Swift wannabes like Juliette Barnes (played by Hayden Panettiere) start getting the attention. The show has already topped a number of critics’ “best new dramas” for the fall, though with fellow newbies like NBC’s “Chicago Fire” and CBS’s “Elementary” also on the time slot, it has plenty of competition.
“666 Park Avenue”
Sundays, 10 p.m.
Joining the second season of the addictive “Revenge” is this new drama rounding out ABC’s soapy Sundays. Vanessa Williams (“Desperate Housewives”) and Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”) are owners of The Drake, a fancy apartment building in the Upper East Side. Seductive supernatural forces have residents thinking all their dreams for wealth, love and sex are coming true, but when a new couple moves in to manage the building, they realize there’s a much darker seduction game being played on the tenants.
NBC
“Go On”
Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
Everyone’s favorite “friend” is back on prime time with this series starring Matthew Perry. The actor plays Ryan King, a popular sportscaster whose wife suddenly dies. He begrudgingly joins a grief-support group and immediately turns it upside down, such as when he gets the group to play a game of “March Sadness” to see whose grief is the best … or worst. Featuring supporting turns from comedic vets like John Cho and Tyler James Williams, there are sure to be plenty of funnies in a show that revolves around such a sad topic.
“The New Normal”
Tuesdays, 9:30 p.m.
“Glee” creator Ryan Murphy’s new show may just be premiering, but it’s been getting buzz for months with controversy surrounding its storyline: A gay couple expecting a baby from a surrogate whose grandmother just happens to be a very outspoken homophobe (among other things). The half-hour comedy is an amped-up, politicized version of Cameron and Mitchell from “Modern Family,” with Justin Bartha and Andrew Rannells playing the attractive doting fathers-to-be and comedic vet Ellen Barkin taking on the opinionated grandma that few would want sitting next to them at Thanksgiving dinner.
“Revolution”
Mondays, 10 p.m.
Imagine a world without iPhones, computers or the Internet. Scary, huh? So is the world in “Revolution,” a post-apocalyptic universe where, 15 years ago, technology stopped working completely, leading to a complete dissolution of public order and an uprising of dictators and warlords. The show follows a family who might have the key to finding out what happened and how to reverse it, but first they have to stay alive in the new dog-eat-dog world. With executive producer J.J. Abrams (“Alias,” “Lost,” “Fringe”) on board, NBC is hoping the show will be the next big “Lost” and bulk up its fall lineup.
Fox
“Ben and Kate”
Tuesdays, 8:30 p.m.
Joining Fox’s comedy Tuesdays is this sweet sitcom about a pair of siblings who couldn’t be more different. Ben (Academy Award screenwriting winner Nat Faxon) is a big dreamer who decides to move in and help sister Kate (Dakota Johnson, “The Five Year Engagement”), a single mother struggling to take care of her daughter and make ends meet with a job as a bar manager. Both siblings try to help the other out, with Ben giving Kate more time to date and Kate teaching Ben to be more responsible. Created by Dana Fox, writer of “The Wedding Date” and “What Happens in Vegas,” the new series is bound to have an aw-shucks romantic comedy feel to it.
“The Mindy Project”
Tuesdays, 9:30 p.m.
One of the most buzzed-about comedies this fall, “The Mindy Project” is Mindy Kaling’s chance to finally get out of “The Office” and into the spotlight. The series follows Mindy Lahiri, a single OB-GYN who tries to juggle her work and personal life. The premise sounds simple enough, but with a slew of funny friends, a British McSteamy at work and Kaling’s own comedic chops, the show promises to be more than just a funnier version of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
CBS
“Elementary”
Wednesdays, 10 p.m.
With the Robert Downey Jr. movies and a PBS series about to begin its second season, you’d think there’s plenty of Sherlock Holmes to go around. CBS is jumping on the bandwagon, giving a contemporary update to the beloved detective with a big twist. Sidekick Watson will now be a female, played by Lucy Liu, accompanying British actor Jonny Lee Miller in the star role. The show’s executive producer has said the two characters will be having a “bromance,” hoping to prove that a man and woman can have a relationship that isn’t sexual. Good luck with that.