This Fall on Sling TV
All times Eastern.
RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars: If you’re not watching Emmy-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race, then you’re missing out on the best antics in reality TV. Imagine a mashup of Lip Sync Battle and Project Runway, then imagine that a show had featured Channing Tatum-lookalikes dressed up as Beyonce years before LL Cool J and Chrissy Teigen got in on the action. Yes, like all the best trends, it started in WeHo. (Thursdays at 8pm, VH1 & Logo)
From Dusk Till Dawn: El Rey’s series adaptation of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s 1995 cult horror action comedy hit returns for a third season with its antihero Gecko Brothers, a pair of American criminals on the lam in Mexico, working for the snake-vampire culebra crime bosses and looking to onetime nemesis Santanico for help. “Just like the third act of the film,” says Rodriguez, “we’re blowing the lid off the Dusk universe in Season 3, but we’re also continuing to mash-up horror and action and Mesoamerican myth. That means new demons, new monsters — and crazy new threats.” (Tuesdays at 9pm, El Rey)
Atlanta: Created by and starring Donald Glover (Community), Atlanta tells the semi-biographical tale of a young, ambitious man, Earn (Glover) and his two cousins inside the world of local hip hop and hustle. With a daughter to take care of, Earn has to figure out a way to provide for his family, so he turns to his in-demand rapper cousin Alfred aka Paper Boi to become his manager and help them both ascend to fame and, most importantly, fortune. (Tuesdays at 10pm, FX)
Better Things: Pamela Adlon, who fans will remember as Louie’s on-and-off love interest on Louie, stars in a similarly autobiographical comedy as Sam Fox, a divorced working actress with three daughters – one still young and sweet, one searching tween, and one full-on belligerent teen – and very little time for anything else. Co-created by Adlon and Louis CK. (Thursdays at 10pm, FX)
Quarry: For fans of Breaking Bad and Mad Men with no new episodes to watch, Cinemax’s hit noir thriller might be just the series you need. Set in the ‘70s, veteran Mac Conway returns to Memphis from Vietnam, yet he doesn’t exactly get a hero’s welcome. News of his involvement in a civilian massacre has turned his hometown against him, and one mysterious gentleman known only as “The Broker” makes Mac a criminal offer he ultimately can’t refuse. So begins this twisted, Southern Gothic assassin saga which features the best soundtrack on TV. (Fridays at 10pm, Cinemax)
South Park: It’s rare enough that a comedy stays funny over an extended run; it’s even rarer that it just keeps getting better and better. Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s gleefully irreverent animated satire begins its 20th season (!!) and it’s a safe bet that neither Trump nor Clinton will escape their withering gaze. (New season premieres September 14 at 10pm, Comedy Central)
American Horror Story: Ryan Murphy’s horror anthology series returns for its sixth season, but still no word on this year’s theme. Rumor has it this season might be somewhat non-committally titled “The Mist,” which could connect to the spooky green mist in Freak Show? Or the mist that briefly woke the dead in Coven? Hopefully this is just another marketing ploy to disguise the real theme, and hopefully Ryan Murphy has not run out of good ideas for his remarkable cast (which includes Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson, Matt Bomer, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett, and Denis O’Hare) to bring back to life. (Season six premieres September 14 at 10pm, FX)
High Maintenance: The much-loved web series about a Brooklyn bicycle weed dealer makes its television debut as HBO’s newest mixed-genre series. Similar to Orange Is The New Black’s style of vignette-storytelling, each episode offers an intimate portrait of a different customer, connected only by their shared contact. Fans of both Weeds and Girls should be delighted. (Debuts September 16 at 11pm, HBO)
This Is Us: For the first time in a long time, NBC might have a bona fide hit. With over 70 million views on Facebook and YouTube, the trailer has lit up the internet, thanks in no small part to Milo Ventimiglia’s (ahem) assets. Early reviews of the series compare it favorably to Parenthood, so get ready for tears, then laughs, then more tears. Plus, Mandy Moore finally leaves the voiceover studio for her first series-regular TV role. (Premieres September 20 at 10pm, NBC)
The Good Place: Kristen Bell stars as Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman who is suddenly killed in a traffic accident and finds herself in the “good” afterlife, but she quickly learns she was mistaken for someone else. Her mentor, played by Ted Danson, helps to show her she does deserve to be there, inspiring her to shed her foul ways and become a better person. (Premieres September 19 at 10pm, NBC)
Scream Queens: The campy horror comedy makes its return with Chanel (Emma Roberts) and her “idiot hookers” Chanel #3 (Billie Lourd) and Chanel #5 (Abigail Breslin) as they finish their stint in the psychiatric hospital. As for Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis), she’s moved on from college life and has taken over a hospital, a hospital she asks the Chanels to work at after they enroll in medical school. In addition to Keke Palmer, Niecy Nash, and Lea Michele returning for season two, John Stamos and Taylor Lautner are joining the ranks this season as two doctors in Munsch’s hospital. (September 20 at 9pm, FOX)
Designated Survivor: Kiefer Sutherland stars as Tom Kirkman, the one cabinet member who is designated as the one person not to attend the State of The Union in case of an attack. This year, however, the unthinkable happens when the President and the entire line of succession for the Presidency is killed, except for Tom, who is now acting President of the United States. (September 21 at 10pm, ABC)
Lethal Weapon: Damon Wayans and Clayne Crawford (Rectify) step into the roles made famous by Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in FOX’s update of the sine qua non of buddy-cop franchises. It seems like a terrible idea, but the first episode is pretty good and Wayans and Crawford are great together; let’s hope it keeps the tonal balance of the first movie – mostly serious with moments of irreverence, courtesy of the Riggs character – rather than the toothless overt silliness of the third and fourth. (Premieres September 21 at 8pm, FOX)
Empire: Cookie and Lucious return for a third season as they continue their fight for music industry domination. Special guests this season including the introduction of Kitty, Cookie’s ally in the world, played by Mariah Carey. (September 21 at 9pm, FOX)
Pitch: Semi-newcomer Kylie Bunbury takes on the challenging and important role of Ginny Baker, the first female pitcher in the MLB. For the first time, the actual MLB has teamed up with a TV show to allow the use of actual uniforms, team names, stadiums, logos, etc, giving Pitch the authenticity it needs to be a homerun in FOX’s stacked new fall lineup. (September 22 at 9pm, FOX)
The Exorcist: Another classic film-to-TV adaptation that sounds like a terrible idea on paper but actually looks to have a few tricks up its sleeve, with Geena Davis as a mom with two teenage daughters and a husband recovering from a stroke, who goes to her local priest to report her home is full of demons. Set in the same universe as the 1973 movie – at one point the priest’s research on exorcism turns up a news clipping about Chris Macneil and her daughter – the series makes some smart tweaks to the premise by broadening the family and suggesting that more than one of them is the devil’s plaything. (September 23 at 9pm, FOX)
Son of Zorn: In a new semi-animated series, Jason Sudeikis lends his voice to Zorn, the only animated character on the show who returns to Orange County to be a better father to his son. As he tries to adjust to life on Earth, Zorn struggles to adapt to everyday things like working a 9-to-5 desk job. If you missed the sneak-peek of the first episode, watch it on-demand now. (September 25 at 8:30pm, FOX)
Westworld: Despite a troubled development process that significantly delayed its premiere (it was originally supposed to land soon after Vinyl), both the loaded cast (Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Geoffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton) and the premise (the artificial humanoid beings populating an elaborate, hedonistic Old West theme park begin to gain sentience) are just too promising to count this one out. (October 2 at 9pm, HBO)
Divorce: Sarah Jessica Parker makes her HBO return in a new dramedy also starring Thomas Haden Church as a married couple going through the act of breaking up, which is much harder than they expected. If you’re hoping for SJP’s new show to echo her beloved legacy as Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and The City, you need to adjust your expectations. (October 9 at 10pm, HBO)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s Do the Time Warp Again: Forty-one years after the cult-classic landed on Earth, FOX is bringing back the twisted story of newly engaged couple Brad and Janet finding themselves at a very unusual castle on a very special night. With a stacked cast featuring Laverne Cox as Frank-N-Furter, Victoria Justice as Janet, Christina Milian as Magenta, Adam Lambert as Eddie, and none other than Tim Curry – the original Dr. Frank-N-Furter himself – returning as the narrator. (October 20, FOX)
Insecure: Issa Rae is best known as a YouTube star in her web-series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, which served as a the basis of her new HBO series, which centers around life’s daily struggles with awkward experiences and racy tribulations of the modern-day African-American woman. (Premieres October 9 at 10:30pm, HBO)