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 Survivor that were unable to film for long periods will be returning, as will series such as 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 American Crime Story anthology will air weekly on the FX cable network, depicting President Bill Clinton's infamous 1990s sex scandal and the subsequent impeachment hearings. The series will star Clive Owen as Bill Clinton, Edie Falco as Hillary, and Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky, with Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale, and Billy Eichner in supporting roles. The real Monica Lewinsky serves as a consulting producer on the season. The 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 season of 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 Visions, an animated anthology series of one-off stories set in the Star Wars universe. The nine short films are created by a variety of Japanese studios, including acclaimed anime houses Trigger (Kill la Kill), Science SARU (Devilman Crybaby), and Production IG (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). The anthology series will be followed in December by the Mandalorian spin-off The Book of Boba Fett, with several more series to come. The anime shorts aren't bound by the continuity of Star Wars' faction-heavy 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. The show will adapt sci-fi legend Isaac Asimov's 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 Justified and The Detour's Natalie Zea, tries to investigate the mysterious phenomenon. NBC hopes that the series will capture the same public interest as past sci-fi mysteries like the 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.
Oct. 12 - Chucky (SyFy/USA)
Chucky is the latest installment in the killer-toy horror franchise that began with the Child's Play movies, and will unusually air simultaneously on the SyFy and USA networks. The series will return many veterans of the franchise, including writer Don Mancini, who will script all ten episodes; actress Jennifer Tilly, who has appeared in four Chucky movies; and Brad Dourif as the familiar voice of Chucky. The story is a direct continuation of 2017's movie Cult of Chucky The TV series will look to win over longtime Chucky fans with its depiction of the Chucky dolls, being inspired by the well-liked Child's Play 2.
Oct 15 - I Know What You Did Last Summer (Amazon Prime)
The latest addition to the nostalgic horror reboot train sees a new take on I Know What You Did Last Summer, which was previously a horror franchise kicked off in 1997. As ever, the premise is familiar: One year after the fatal car accident that haunted their graduation night, a group of teenagers finds themselves bound together by a dark secret and stalked by a brutal killer. As they try to piece together who’s after them, they reveal the dark side of their seemingly perfect town—and themselves. Everyone is hiding something, and uncovering the wrong secret could be deadly.
Oct 22 - Invasion (Apple TV+)
From Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy Award-nominated producer Simon Kinberg and David Weil, Invasion is a sweeping, character-driven science fiction drama series released across 10 episodes that follows an alien invasion through different perspectives around the world. Set across multiple continents, Invasion stars Shamier Anderson, Golshifteh Farahani, Sam Neill, Firas Nassar, and Shioli Kutsuna.
Oct. 25 - 4400 (CW)
Another revival arriving on TV this fall is 4400, a remake of the sci-fi show that aired on the USA Network in the mid-2000s. As in the original, the story is about 4400 people who had disappeared over the past century suddenly reappearing, having no idea what happened in the interim. The CW's reboot is developed by Riverdale's Ariana Jackson and stars Joseph David-Jones, Khailah Johnson, and Brittany Adebumola.
Nov. 7 - Dexter: New Blood (SHO)
Dexter is also getting a new life on Showtime following its controversial series finale eight years ago. Michael C. Hall returns as the titular serial killer who hunts other serial killers, having resurfaced at Iron Lake, a small town in upstate New York. Despite his attempts at reinvention, Dexter is hunted by a mysterious killer. Series creator and original showrunner Clyde Phillips will return after being absent for the back half of the original series.
Fall TBD - Cowboy Bebop (Netflix)
Netflix typically doesn't announce premiere dates as far in advance as the traditional networks, but it has confirmed that its live-action remake of Cowboy Bebop will stream sometime during the fall. The series adapts the beloved 1990s anime series about a cynical crew of bounty hunters in a noir-inflected future and stars John Cho as Spike Spiegel and Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine. The live-action version has a lot to live up to, but could be a big hit for Netflix.