NEW YORK (AP) – It’s a time-honored rite harking back to an era of black-and-white TVs and the trio of networks whose programs they delivered: the grand unveiling of new fall fare.
As part of the ritual, this latest fall crop is an occasion for handicapping the good and the misfires. Granted, it’s a risky business to rate a new series’ prospects on the basis of its pilot episode, which is typically the only thing critics have to go on. But even if it doesn’t guarantee a great series will follow, a pilot must at least trigger interest at a level to get viewers to return the second week.
Here are 10 new series that might catch your fancy:
– “RED BAND SOCIETY” (Fox; premieres Sept. 17). A group of teenagers meet as patients in the pediatric ward of a Los Angeles hospital. Sure, a show that gathers kids to frolic, flirt and even face death sounds like “Glee” without the jazz hands. But what could have been an overglossed rendering of life’s gravest moments instead comes with heart and a dose of authenticity that ground the good times.
– “GOTHAM” (Fox; Sept. 22). In an industry where nothing is a sure thing, fall’s most-awaited show by the most-desirable demo would seem to be a sure thing. “Gotham” turns out to be not only an “origin series” about Batman but also a humdinger of a noir crime thriller. Rolling back the clock to when Bruce Wayne was a youngster and his alter ego was years from being conceived, the series lays the groundwork for the Batman myth while introducing not-yet-Commissioner James Gordon (played by Ben McKenzie) as a rookie cop.