TV Talk Fall Preview: Few new scripted shows as broadcasters rein in expenses

Following the Emmy Awards (8 p.m. Sept. 14, CBS), the TV season begins its annual kickoff with a few premieres this week (Fox’s “Name that Tune” and “Weakest Link” on Monday; ABC’s “High Potential” on Tuesday), more new shows coming next week and most of CBS’s series deploying new episodes the week of Oct. 12.

What’s most striking this fall is broadcast TV’s retrenchment, with NBC in particular backing away from expensive scripted series and giving a full night to the NBA beginning in October. Fox also loads its prime time with less expensive reality competitions.

And there are few new series debuting on the Big Four broadcasters. Just four new scripted shows premiere – three on CBS, one on ABC – and three new unscripted programs arrive in primetime.

The fall TV season just isn’t what it used to be.

Shows are listed below by time period for each night in alphabetical network order:

SUNDAY

7 p.m.: “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (Sept. 28, ABC).

“60 Minutes” (7:30 p.m. Sept 28, then 7 p.m. beginning Oct. 5, CBS).

“Football Night in America” (ongoing, NBC).

“Trivial Pursuit” (ongoing, The CW).

8 p.m.: “The Wonderful World of Disney” (8 p.m. Sept. 28, ABC).

“Tracker” (Oct. 19, CBS).

“The Simpsons” (Sept. 28, Fox).

“Sunday Night Football” (ongoing, NBC).

“CW Movie Night” (ongoing, The CW).

8:30 p.m.: “Universal Basic Guys” (Sept. 28, Fox).

9 p.m.: “The Road” (Oct. 19, CBS): Country music competition series where 12 aspiring singers compete in front of an audience in a different venue each week. The audience votes on their favorites and the singer with the fewest votes gets sent home. Keith Urban, Blake Shelton and Gretchen Wilson are the superstar hosts. Not available for review.

“Krapopolis” (Sept. 28, Fox).

9:30 p.m.: “Bob’s Burgers” (Sept. 28, Fox).

10 p.m.: Drama reruns (ongoing, CBS).

MONDAY

8 p.m.: “Monday Night Football” (ongoing, ABC).

“The Neighborhood” (Oct. 13, CBS).

“Celebrity Name That Tune” (Sept. 15, Fox).

“The Voice” (Sept. 22, NBC).

“St. Denis Medical” (Nov. 3, NBC).

8:30 p.m.: “DMV” (Oct. 13, CBS): Workplace show set in a DMV office, this single-camera comedy generates almost no laughs in its disappointing pilot episode. Written by Dana Klein (“9JKL”), “DMV” stars Tim Meadows (“Saturday Night Live”) and Harriet Dyer (“Colin from Accounts”) who work for a newly promoted manager (Molly Kearney, “Saturday Night Live”) in the East Hollywood, Calif., DMV branch. All the gags are telegraphed and obvious. A second episode shows some improvement, but not enough.

“St. Denis Medical” (Nov. 3, NBC).

9 p.m.: “FBI” (Oct. 13, CBS).

“Celebrity Weakest Link” (Sept. 15, Fox).

10 p.m.: “Watson” (Oct. 13, CBS).

“Brilliant Minds” (Sept. 22, NBC).

(The CW Monday night schedule remains TBD.)

TUESDAY

6:30 p.m.: “NBA Pre-Game Show” (Oct 21, NBC): Uh-oh. The NBA comes to NBC and wipes out the access hour (7-8 p.m.) – that means no “Wheel of Fortune” or “Jeopardy!” on Tuesday evenings. The game shows will relocate to 3 a.m. (“Jeopardy!”) and 3:30 a.m. (“Wheel”) late that same night.

7:30 p.m.: “NBA on NBC” (Oct. 21, NBC): NBC gives up a chunk of its prime-time schedule for professional basketball. Good-bye scripted shows, hello double dribbles.

8 p.m.: “Dancing with the Stars” (Sept. 16, ABC).

“NCIS” (Oct. 14, CBS).

“Murder in a Small Town” (Sept. 23, Fox).

“The Voice” (until NBA begins, NBC).

“WWE Next” (ongoing, The CW).

9 p.m.: “NCIS: Origins” (Oct. 14, CBS).

“Doc” (Sept. 23, Fox).

10 p.m.: “High Potential” (Sept. 16, ABC).

“NCIS: Sydney” (Oct. 14, CBS).

WEDNESDAY

8 p.m.: “Shifting Gears” (Oct. 1, ABC).

“Survivor” (Sept. 24, CBS).

“The Floor” (Sept. 24, Fox).

“Chicago Med” (Oct. 1, NBC).

“Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent” (Sept. 24, The CW): A Canadian spin-off of the NBC mainstay, this original series follows the Specialized Criminal Investigations Unit’s Detective Sergeants Henry Graff (Aden Young) and Frankie Bateman (Kathleen Munroe), as they investigate high-profile homicides in Canada’s largest city.

8:30 p.m.: “Abbott Elementary” (Oct. 1, ABC).

9 p.m.: “The Golden Bachelor” (previews at 8 p.m. Sept. 24, then 9 p.m. Wednesday starting Oct. 1, ABC).

9:30 p.m.: “The Amazing Race” (9 p.m. Thursday season premiere Sept. 25, then 9:30 p.m. Wednesday beginning Oct. 1, CBS).

“99 to Beat” (Sept 24, Fox): Ken Jeong and Erin Andrews host this new game show where 100 contestants go head-to-head with the last person standing winning $100,000.

“Chicago Fire” (Oct. 1, NBC).

“Wild Cards” (ongoing, The CW).

10 p.m.: “Shark Tank” (Sept. 24, ABC).

“Chicago P.D.” (Oct. 1, NBC).

THURSDAY

8 p.m.: “9-1-1” (Oct. 9, ABC).

“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” (Oct. 16, CBS).

“Hell’s Kitchen” (Sept. 25, Fox).

“Law & Order” (Sept. 25, NBC).

“Police 24/7” (ongoing, The CW).

8:30 p.m.: “Ghosts” (Oct. 16, CBS).

9 p.m.: “9-1-1: Nashville” (9 p.m. Oct. 9, ABC): The latest iteration of the “9-1-1” franchise, this one set and filmed in Tennessee, stars Chris O’Donnell, Jessica Capshaw, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and LeAnn Rimes. Not available for review.

“Matlock” (8:30 p.m. Sunday season premiere Oct. 12, then 9 p.m. Thursday beginning Oct. 16, CBS).

“Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” (Sept. 25, Fox).

“Law & Order: SVU” (Sept. 25, NBC).

“Police 24/7” (ongoing, The CW).

10 p.m.: “Grey’s Anatomy” (Oct. 9, ABC).

“Elsbeth” (9:30 p.m. Sunday season premiere Oct. 12, then 10 p.m. Thursday beginning Oct. 16, CBS).

“Law & Order: Organized Crime” (10 p.m., NBC).

FRIDAY

8 p.m.: “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” (Sept. 26, ABC).

“Sheriff Country” (season premiere at 9 p.m. Oct. 17, then moves to 8 p.m. Fridays on Oct. 24, CBS): Sheriff Mickey Fox (Morena Baccarin, “Firefly”), already glimpsed on “Fire Country” as the stepsister of Cal Fire’s division chief Sharon Leone (Diane Farr), seems to know everyone in rural Edgewater, Calif. But that doesn’t mean everyone loves Mickey, an interim sheriff who’s running for election to her position. Additional drama hits close to home with her newly sober daughter (Amanda Arcuri), her elderly father (W. Earl Brown) and her ex-husband (Christopher Gorham). Matt Lauria (“Friday Night Lights”) plays Mickey’s fellow cop, Nathan, and Caroline Rhea guest stars in the pilot (and hopefully future episodes) as Mickey’s assistant, Gina. It’s more character-driven than many CBS procedurals, at least in its first episode.

“Fox College Football Friday” (ongoing, Fox).

“On Brand with Jimmy Fallon” (10 p.m. Sept. 30, then Oct. 3, NBC): Fallon hosts this competition set at a faux marketing agency where competitors will work to create campaigns for actual brands, including Dunkin’, KitchenAid, Pillsbury and Southwest Airlines. Not available for review.

“Happy’s Place” (Nov. 7, NBC).

“Penn & Teller: Fool Us” (ongoing, The CW).

8:30 p.m.: “Happy’s Place” (Nov. 7, NBC).

9 p.m.: “20/20” (Sept. 26, ABC).

“Fire Country” (8 p.m. Oct. 17 season premiere, then moves to 9 p.m. Oct. 24, CBS).

“Dateline NBC” (Sept. 26, NBC).

“Masters of Illusion” (ongoing, The CW).

10 p.m.: “Boston Blue” (Oct. 17, CBS): A “Blue Bloods” spin-off, this police drama sees NYPD Det. Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) relocate to Boston where he’s paired with Det. Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green, “Star Trek: Discovery”). This time, the focus is on Silver’s family, which includes district attorney mom Mae (Gloria Reuben), police superintendent sister Sarah (Maggie Lawson), rookie cop brother Jonah (Marcus Scribner) and renowned Baptist pastor grandfather Rev. Edwin Peters (Ernie Hudson, essentially in the Tom Selleck role). And, yes, there are still family dinners where they pray, then talk shop, albeit with a twist. The first character glimpsed in the pilot is Danny’s son, Sean (Mike Amonsen, replacing Andrew Terraciano, who played the role on “Blue Bloods”), whose involvement in a case brings Danny to Boston. This spin-off feels of a piece with “Blue Bloods” – police cases mixed with decent family relationship drama — so it should have similar appeal.

SATURDAY

7 p.m.: “Fox Sports Saturday” (ongoing, Fox).

7:30 p.m.: “College Football” (ongoing, ABC).

8 p.m.: Drama reruns (ongoing, CBS).

“Big Ten Saturday Night” college football games (ongoing, NBC).

“The CW Sports Saturday” (ongoing, The CW).

9 p.m.: Drama reruns (ongoing, CBS).

10 p.m.: “48 Hours” (Sept. 27, CBS).

11:30 p.m.: “Saturday Night Live” (Oct. 4, NBC).

MIDSEASON

Series expected to return later in the 2025-26 TV season include ABC’s “American Idol,” “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” “The Rookie” and “Will Trent;” CBS’s “Hollywood Squares;” Fox’s “Animal Control,” “Going Dutch,” “Family Guy,” “Grimsburg,” “Beat Shazam,” “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!,” “Extracted,” “The Floor,” “Kitchen Nightmares,” “Lego Masters,” “The Masked Singer,” and “Next Level Chef” and NBC’s “The Hunting Party.”