Fall has traditionally been the season for major TV premieres, and 2021's autumn TV slate is no exception. The rise of cable and streaming have meant that new series debut year-round, but fall offers a unique combination of pilots from the traditional broadcast networks and significant offerings from other platforms. In particular, the fall months are slated to see some long-anticipated sci-fi and horror projects arrive.
The start of the 2021-22 season sees TV getting back to some kind of normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic forced major disruptions to filming schedules. Network shows like Supergirl that ended mid-season.
The list below provides the biggest planned debuts, as well as some new installments or revivals of familiar titles, that will take place between September and November 2021. This isn't all of them, but some of the most exciting and anticipated shows due to arrive on the small screen this fall.
Sept. 7 - Impeachment: American Crime Story (FX)
The long-delayed third season of Ryan Murphy's previous seasons of American Crime Story, in particular the first season dealing with the OJ Simpson trial, received critical acclaim and Emmy nods.
Sept. 13 - Y: The Last Man (Hulu)
Another long-gestating project is the FX-on-Hulu adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's Y: The Last Man comic series. The series tells the story of Yorick, the last cisgender human man alive after a virus wipes out everyone else with a Y chromosome. Ben Schnetzer stars as Yorick, with Diane Lane as his congresswoman mother who is thrust into a position of political power.
Sept 16 - Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (Peacock)
While Tom Hanks played the older Robert Langdon in the Dan Brown movie trilogy that kicked off with The Da Vinci Code, Peacock's The Lost Symbol follows him as a young man. This time out, he's played by Ashley Zukerman in a cast that also includes Valorie Curry and Eddie Izzard. The plot apparently revolves around Langdon's recruitment by the CIA to solve a number of deadly puzzles when his mentor goes missing.
Sept. 20 - The Big Leap (FOX)
The first premiere of the network TV season is FOX's The Big Leap, a meta-sounding drama series about a reality show chronicling a dance company putting on a production of Swan Lake. If done right, the show could have the same satirical punch as the first UnREAL. The cast includes Scott Foley, Jon Rudnitsky, Teri Polo, and Piper Perabo.
Sept. 22 - Star Wars: Visions (Disney+)
One of the more unique titles in Disney+'s ambitious Star Wars slate is Skywalker Saga, so creators will have mostly free reign to interpret the iconography of Star Wars as they see fit.
Sept. 22 - The Wonder Years (ABC)
The latest classic sitcom reboot is The Wonder Years, based on the 1988-93 comedy that cast a nostalgic look back at the 1960s. The new series is also set in the 60s but features a Black family living in Alabama. The ABC series will star Dule Hill and Saycon Sengbioh, with Don Cheadle narrating the series from the perspective of the youngest child.
Sept. 24 - Foundation (Apple TV+)
Apple TV+ has an ambitious fall slate as it tries to carve out its niche in the streaming wars, with later titles including the sci-fi drama Invasion and the Will Ferrell/Paul Rudd dramedy The Shrink Next Door, but no series is more ambitious than Foundation story for Apple TV+, which stretches across hundreds of years and chronicles a human settlement created to preserve a collapsing intergalactic civilization. The cast, starring Lee Pace and Jared Harris, will try to bring life to Asimov's rigorous but sometimes dry writing.
Sept. 28 - La Brea (NBC)
La Brea is a serialized drama that begins with a giant sinkhole opening up in the midst of Los Angeles, which sends those caught within it to a strange underground world. The cast, headed up by controversial Lost.
Sept. TBD - Scenes from a Marriage (HBO)
Arriving at a yet-to-be-announced date in September is HBO's reimagining of Ingmar Bergman's seminal mini-series Scenes from a Marriage. The new version will star Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as a couple going through troubles, and all five episodes will screen at the Venice Film Festival before premiering on television. The series will stream weekly on both HBO's traditional channel and HBO Max could be a major Emmy contender if successful.
Oct. 7 - Ghosts (CBS)
Based on the BBC series of the same name, Ghosts stars Rose McIver and Utkarsh Amudkar as a couple who move into their country dream house only to discover that it is dilapidated and haunted. The series has a solid sitcom pedigree, being adapted by New Girl writers Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, and the British original received generally positive reviews, so CBS's version could find an audience in fans of offbeat sitcoms.
