Fall TV Preview: The 10 Shows You Can't Miss

It’s the most wonderful time of the year—the start of the new TV season! We love our summer reality show fix as much as anyone but we’re ready for the latest slate of scripted series. Here’s your guide to the hottest new shows premiering in just a few short weeks. We promise that they’re all Tivo worthy!

MELROSE PLACE

THE CW

PREMIERE: Tuesday, September 8th at 8pm

CAST: Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Katie Cassidy, Laura Leighton, Thomas Calabro

FOR FANS OF: Old-school Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place and the new 90210.

THE SKINNY: With the success of the revamped 90210, it was only fitting that the sexiest residence of the ‘90s made a comeback too. This time around, Sydney (played by the originator of the role—Laura Leighton) is now the landlady of Melrose Place and still queen instigator of all the drama in the courtyard!

GLEE

FOX

PREMIERE: Wednesday, September 9th at 9pm

CAST: Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Jane Lynch

FOR FANS OF: Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks and High School Musical

THE SKINNY: A sneak preview of the show after American Idol all the way back in May created full-on mania for this dark comedy about a high school’s struggling show choir. Gleeks, as fans of the show call themselves, love the “choir” version of pop songs like “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse and “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey performed each week.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES

The CW

PREMIERE: Thursday, September 10th at 8pm

CAST: Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesly, Ian Somerhalder

FOR FANS OF: Buffy The Vampire Slayer and True Blood

THE SKINNY: It’s a vampire world—we just live in it! With hits like True Blood and of course Twilight, it was only fitting that the CW gets on the blood sucking bandwagon. This show is based on the popular series of Young Adult novels and focuses on Elena and Jeremy, a brother and sister back at school after the devastating loss of their parents. Two new brothers at school—that just happen to be 150-year-old vampires—however, quickly distract Elena!

BEAUTIFUL LIFE

The CW

PREMIERE: Wednesday, September 16th at 9pm

CAST: Mischa Barton, Sara Paxton, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Elle Macpherson

FOR FANS OF: The OC, One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl

THE SKINNY: With Ashton Kutcher serving as executive producer of this show about up and coming models (he was a model once upon a time himself), you know it’s gonna be hot. The up and comers look to the head of their agency (played by Elle Macpherson in a stroke of brilliant casting) and an older model (played by Mischa Barton) for guidance. Despite some setbacks due to Mischa’s recent hospitalization—she’s back on track and worth watching!

COMMUNITY

NBC

DAY/TIME: Thursday, September 17th at 9:30pm

CAST: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Chevy Chase

FOR FANS OF: The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs

THE SKINNY: We love, love, love that Joel McHale from The Soup so we’re super psyched to see him star in his very own scripted show! The premise sounds perfect for his dry sense of humor. He plays a former lawyer named Jeff who lost his license because he had fake college credentials—so off to community college he goes. He tries to BS his way through everything including a study group he starts just to seduce a pretty student!

MODERN FAMILY

ABC

DAY/TIME: Wednesday, September 23rd at 9pm

CAST: Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell

FOR FANS OF: Everybody Loves Raymond, Samantha Who?, The Office, Parks and Recreation

THE SKINNY: If you love the documentary style story telling of The Office and Parks and Recreation, then you’ll love the set up of this half hour comedy. The plot is simple—a documentary filmmaker sets out to show what it’s like to be a family in 2009. He follows three very different couples including Jay (played by Ed O’Neill) and his much younger Columbian bride Gloria (Sofia Vergara), a gay couple trying to adopt and stressed out parents Claire (Julie Bowen) and Phil (Ty Burrell).

COUGAR TOWN

ABC

DAY/TIME: Wednesday, September 23rd at 9:30pm

CAST: Courteney Cox, Busy Phillips, Christa Miller

FOR FANS OF: Desperate Housewives, Lipstick Jungle, Sex and The City

THE SKINNY: Courteney Cox is back on TV (we forgive her for Dirt—we still love her as Monica Gellar on Friends) and playing a recent divorcee that can’t help but feel her age as she competes against younger, hotter girls on the dating scene.

EASTWICK

ABC

DAY/TIME: Wednesday, September 23rd at 10pm

CAST: Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn, Jamie Ray Newman

FOR FANS OF: Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters

THE SKINNY: This is a new take on the famous John Updike novel and hit movie, The Witches of Eastwick. This time around, the show features Lindsay Price (fresh off the cancellation of the beloved Lipstick Jungle), Rebecca Romijn (does this mean she’s off Ugly Betty for good?) and Jamie Ray Newman (you may recognize her from a stint on General Hospital) star as three women in a sleepy New England town that wake things up when they start manifesting some strange powers!

FLASHFORWARD

ABC

DAY/TIME: Thursday, September 24th at 8pm

CAST: Joseph Fiennes, John Cho, Gabrielle Union

FOR FANS OF: Lost, Eli Stone

THE SKINNY: The good news? Here’s a great way to distract yourself while waiting for Lost to return. The bad news? It’s another show with a “mystery” element to totally confuse you. On this show, there’s no crash but instead a two minute and seventeen second blackout that affects the whole world–and gives everyone a glimpse into their lives six months in the future. Some people like what they see, others not so much and then there are those who just don’t understand what they saw. At least you know you’ll have something to talk about around the water cooler each week!