FALL TV 2014: Kingdom, Selfie, Transparent Lead What’s New to Must-Watch

Erik Anderson September 16, 2014

Viola Davis, Nick Jonas, Karen Gillan and Jeffrey Tambor are in this fall's hottest new shows — From left; Viola Davis, Nick Jonas, Karen Gillan and Jeffrey Tambor are in this fall’s hottest new shows

It’s Fall TV season time and we have a handful of new shows that we think you’re going to want to watch. From fantastical freakshows, to self-aware comedies to family dramas we’ve got you covered no matter what genre you like or if you like all of them.

The Affair
Showtime must be seeing that Homeland is on its way out after a high peak and fast crash with this story of an extramarital affair and told in a he said/she said manner that should provide a smart and honest portrayal of the show’s main deceit. The show stars Dominic West (HBO’s The Wire), Ruth Wilson (BBC’s Luthur), Joshua Jackson (Fox’s Fringe) and Maura Tierney (CBS’s The Good Wife). It looks to be a rich, dramatic mystery and we can’t wait. (Showtime – 10pm, October 19^th)

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American Horror Story: Freak Show
The latest in the great anthology series from is going to feature AHS alums Kathy Bates as the Bearded Lady, Angela Bassett with three boobs, Sarah Paulson as conjoined twins and Jessica Lange as a German running the whole shebang. Now really, how can that not be good? (FX – 10pm, October 8^th )

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Gotham
It’s hard not to get excited over an origin premise like this but with so many iterations of Batman, what can this realistically give us? A show with no Batman, presumably. A brave venture, really but digging into the beginnings of the eventual Commissioner Gordon (played byBen McKenzie from TNT’s Southland) plus a cabal of Gotham city thugs in the Penguin, Catwoman and the Riddler, we’re hoping that the outcome meets the anticipation. (FOX – 8pm, September 22^nd)

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How to Get Away with Murder
Shonda Rhimes, hoping to build upon the huge success of Scandal (a show which has increased in ratings season to season), brings us Viola Davis as a law professor grooming law students to work for her in this crazily over-the-top premise of a show that should fit perfectly as the lead-out to Scandal. (ABC – 10pm, September 25^th)

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Kingdom
From the creators of ABC’s FlashForward and Fox’s 24 comes a DirecTV original series about a father (Frank Grillo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and his three MMA fighting sons played by Jonathan Tucker (NBC’s Hannibal) and singer-turned-actor Nick Jonas, who has a lot of nudity and a secret that may be too much for his intensely masculine father and for the sport. We’re definitely here for that. Matt Lauria (NBC’s Parenthood and Friday Night Lights) and Keile Sanchez (ABC’s Lost) round out the cast. (DirecTV – October 9^th)

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Selfie
One of the best looking new comedies of the season is Selfie, an updated My Fair Lady about the social media age. Upon first glance of the description and character names (Eliza Dooley, ugh), it would be easy to dismiss. But the pilot, which is available at abc.com, is fast and funny, smart and sweet. Definitely worth your time and could provide a wealth of laughs if it doesn’t burn out its concept too quickly. The show stars Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) and John Cho (Fox’s Sleepy Hollow). (ABC – 8pm, September 30^th)

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Transparent
Now comes something that is truly a game-changer. The latest show from Amazon’s original content details the affect on a family when its father announces she is transgendered (and brilliantly portrayed by Jeffrey Tambor from Fox and Netflix’s Arrested Development). Creator Jill Soloway (HBO’s Six Feet Under) brings Judith Light aboard as well in a show that looks to manage comedic and dramatic tones effortlessly. (Amazon – all episodes available September 29^th)

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.