The fall TV season is behind us, praise the TV lords, because everyone knows the midseason (which runs from the start of the new year until spring) is where all the best programming airs right now. And that certainly holds true for new shows. Whereas we had a heck of a time coming up with our most anticipated new shows list for the fall, we had a heck of a time narrowing down our initial list of nominees for the 2015 midseason.
I polled the TV.com writers about which upcoming new shows they're most excited about, and we've compiled them below in handy-dandy list form. Use it as a guide for new shows to keep track of, use it as information to impress your friends, just use it!
WHEN IT'S ON: Sundays beginning March 1; the series debuts with a one-hour premiere at 9pm, then takes over its regular timeslot of 9:30pm on March 8
WHO'S IN IT: Will Forte and no one else because he's the last man on Earth! Although the show is also squeezing in January Jones, Kristen Schaal, and Mel Rodriguez, too. Probably in flashbacks?
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Forte stars as Phil Miller, the sole human being on the blue marble known as Earth after an unknown event wipes out everyone else. He'll search the U.S. for other survivors, but mostly he'll roam around wearing pajamas and a big bushy, beard.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: The trailer feels like it erupted out of the mind geyser of Spike Jones. It's indie as F and embraces its minimal premise, unlike most network comedies, which generally follow the stale formula of set up > joke, pause for laughter > kid says adorable thing. Forte is also one of our favorite Saturday Night Live alums, and the man knows how to grow a beard. But mostly, The Last Man on Earth feels different and fresh, which is the exact opposite of what we'd say about the show it's replacing (Mulaney). The challenge will be making a high-concept comedy into a sustainable series.
WHEN IT'S ON: Thursdays at 10pm, beginning January 8. Season 1 is comprised of six parts.
WHO'S IN IT: Brit Marling (Another Earth), James Nesbitt (The Missing), Bertie Carvel, and Jonny Sweet.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The London police force is looking for a little help rebuilding its image, so it asks an American PR specialist to cross the pond and help 'em out. But the job isn't an easy one, due to police bureaucracy, prying news networks, and a meddling deputy with a knack for undermining people. Expect dark comedy and some drama.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: The show has already received positive reviews in the U.K., where it just finished airing, for its fast pace and witty commentary on modern society. SundanceTV has a knack for only importing the best international television shows, and the recent spate of excellent limited series on niche cable networks points to Babylon being a winner. And if you're looking for talent behind the camera, Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) directed the pilot and co-wrote the first season.
WHEN IT'S ON: Tuesdays at 9pm beginning January 6; the series will air for eight weeks, fillingAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s timeslot while Coulson and the gang are on hiatus.
WHO'S IN IT: Hayley Atwell (reprising her role from the Captain America films), James D'Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, Enver Gjokaj, and Shea Wigham.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Just like Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is The Avengers' TV cousin, Agent Carter is a 1946-set blood relative of the Captain America movies. The titular Peggy Carter must balance her work for the Strategic Scientific Reserve (the precursor to S.H.I.E.L.D.) with her secret job helping out Howard Stark (Papa Iron Man). Mostly it's Peggy beating up a lot of dudes.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: At this point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn't need to expand any further, but Agent Carter has a unique setting and a strong heroine to root for. Plus, since it's only airing as an eight-episode limited series during S.H.I.E.L.D.'s winter break, it has the potential to tell a fast-paced, compact story. And hey, no annoying punctuation in the title! (However, we could do without Marvel slapping its name all over its TV shows.)
WHEN IT'S ON: Sometime in March, and since it's airing on Netflix, all of Season 1 will drop at once
WHO'S IN IT: The adorable Ellie Kemper (The Office), plus Tituss Burgess(30 Rock), Sara Chase, and Jane Krakowski (30 Rock). Honestly, it sounds like the show still has a bit of casting to do.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Kimmy (Kemper) escapes from a Doomsday cult and starts her life over by moving to New York City. Imagine drinking a cup of hot dog water for the first time when you're in your 20s!
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: We were already on board with the idea of this series when it was announced as part of NBC's midseason lineup, but in an unusual switcheroo, Netflix swooped in and took it off NBC's hands, renewing it for a second season in the process. Kemper is perfect for this type of role, and with Tina Fey on board as a producer, it should be great, right? Plus, thanks to the additional leniency that comes with airing on Netflix, the show will be able to let Kimmy really experience the world, in all its ugly and profane glory.
WHEN IT'S ON: Sundays at 8pm beginning January 4; the show will air two new half-hour episodes per week, filling in for Once Upon a Time while the fairy-tale drama is on hiatus.
WHO'S IN IT: Joshua Sasse, Mallory Jensen, Karen David, Timothy Omundson (Psych), Vinnie Jones, and Luke Youngblood are the "stars." But get a load of these guest stars: "Weird Al Yankovic! Ricky Gervais! Hugh Bonneville! Anthony Head! And... AND!... John Stamos!!!!!!
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Well, let's get this out of the way: It's a musical fairy-tale comedy. Yep. People will be dressed like they're cosplaying Camelot and frequently breaking into song. The story follows Galavant (Sasse) as he plots revenge against the evil king who stole his true love.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: There's no way we would we've put this on our list just by the sound of it, but after watching the pilot, it's... kinda good? Think Shrek or Spamalot with some solid and silly (and sneakily adult) humor. It's a very self-aware series, which works in its favor—especially when everyone's hamming it up, which is often.
WHEN IT'S ON: Sundays at 10pm beginning March 1
WHO'S IN IT: Josh Duhamel, Dean Winters, Kal Penn, Janet McTeer, and Aubrey Dollar.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: A pair of mismatched law enforcement officers! Yes, more odd-couple cops; this time, we'll be hanging out with a police detective (Winters) and an FBI agent (Duhamel) who team up to solve crimes in the small town of Battle Creek, Michigan. But without the budget of a big-city police department, they'll have to rely on other means of closing cases.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: There isn't much in the above WHAT IT'S ABOUT section that makes Battle Creek a must-see, but here's a little detail that might pique your interest: The series was created by Vince Gilligan, a.k.a. the genius behind a little show called Breaking Bad. So yeah, he gets a free pass for the rest of his life. However, Gilligan won't be running the show day-to-day; that responsibility belongs to House vet David Shore. On top of that, we've seen the pilot, and Duhamel and Winters are great together. Battle Creek definitely has the potential to be a strong procedural for CBS, which knows a thing or two about the genre.
WHEN IT'S ON: To be determined!
WHO'S IN IT: Rose McIver (Once Upon a Time's Tinker Bell!), Robert Buckley, Malcolm Goodwin, always-a-villain David Anders, and Rahul Kohli.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: A young female med student named Liv dies, then comes back to life as a zombie and takes a job at the morgue, where she has access to an endless supply of brains to munch on. But each time she chows down on the squishy pink stuff, she acquires a few aspects of the deceased's personality, as well as some of their memories, which she uses to help a cop figure out how they died. The show is loosely based on the comic of the same name.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: If you're thinking, "HEY this sounds like Veronica Mars but with zombies," then pat yourself on the back because you are smart and observant. iZombie was created by Veronica Mars mastermind Rob Thomas, so we're hoping to see it recapture some of the glory of its predecessor. Also, since Liv instantly obtains the memories contained within the brains she consumes, iZombie is vaguely reminiscent of Chuck and the way its titular character used to get flashes from the Intersect.
WHEN IT'S ON: The series debuts on Wednesday, February 4 at 8:30pm, with another new episode airing at 9:30pm, before moving to its regular time slot of Tuesdays at 8pm on February 10.
WHO'S IN IT: Randall Park (The Interview's Kim Jong Un), Constance Wu, Ian Chen, Forrest Wheeler, and Hudson Yang.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Based on chef Eddie Huang's memoir Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir, the single-camera comedy is set in the mid-1990s and tells the story of a Vietnamese family that moves from Washington, D.C. to Florida to open a restaurant.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: Fresh Off the Boat is another step in ABC's ongoing attempt to single-handedly diversify broadcast television, and after screening the pilot, we think the show is poised to be one of the better new comedies of the year. Told from young Eddie's point of view, it feels like an Asian version of Everybody Hates Chris, combining cultural and family comedy in a throwback setting. Bonus: There will be Notorious B.I.G. and Wu-Tang Clan references, as Eddie's a big fan of East Coast hip-hop.
WHEN IT'S ON: Sometime in March, with a more specific date to be announced later.
WHO'S IN IT: Kyle Chandler (Coach Taylor!), Ben Mendelsohn, Linda Cardellini (Lindsay Weir!), Sam Shepard, and Sissy Spacek. And for all you Zero Hour and Real World fans, Jacinda Barrett.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Ummm... we don't really know! But here's what we've got: A family's secrets are ripped out of the ground when their black-sheep brother comes home.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: For one thing, that cast! Coach Taylor is back! For another thing, Bloodline comes from Damages creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman, and Glenn Kessler, and if you've never seen Damages, you're about to find out that these fellas really know how to produce a TV series. Their knack for combining psychological drama with twists and turns should yield an ideal bedfellow for Netflix's binge-watching distribution model.
WHEN IT'S ON: Better Call Saul debuts with a two-night, two-episode premiere on Sunday, February 8 at 10pm and Monday, February 9 at 10pm; the series will then continue to air on Mondays at 10pm.
WHO'S IN IT: Bob Odenkirk reprises his role as Breaking Bads' slippery lawyer Saul Goodman, and Jonathan Banks will be back as Mike Ehrmantraut. New additions to the Breaking Bad canon include Michael McKean, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, and Julie Ann Emery.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: This comedy prequel to Breaking Bad follows Saul Goodman six years before the events of the AMC hit, back when he was a small-time lawyer dude named Jimmy McGill. You'll see some familiar faces, but Better Call Saul will seemingly tell its own story while merely existing in the same universe as Breaking Bad.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: It's more Breaking Bad, kinda! Saul was one of our favorite characters from the original series, and if Vince Gilligan feels okay about expanding Breaking Bad's scope—he co-created Better Call Saul with Breaking Bad alum Peter Gould and serves as an executive producer on the project—then we feel okay about it, too. Plus, AMC has already ordered a second season, so it must be feeling pretty good about the show.
WHEN IT'S ON: Wednesdays at 10:30pm beginning January 14
WHO'S IN IT: Jay Baruchel (Undeclared), Eric Andre (The Eric Andre Show), Britt Lower, and Maya Erskine.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Baruchel plays Josh Greenberg, a 20-something fella who's doing what 20-something fellas do: looking for love with an attractive soulmate. But Cupid doesn't shoot arrows his way all too often, and when he does feel the prick of the god of love's darts of desire, they tend to stick in his thigh and make him bleed. He also wears his heart on his sleeve—sometimes literally—via whimsical interstitials that bring fantasy into Josh's reality. Prepare yourself for impressively weird, surreal situations like Josh going on a date with an actual trolland his ex-girlfriend hooking up with Hitler.
WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT: The promos are fantastic, the pilot was solid, and the show has the potential to be the zany rom-com we didn't realize we needed, with metaphors coming to life in hilarious ways.
THE RUNNERS-UP
– 12 Monkeys (Syfy, January 16): Based on the Terry Gilliam film of the same name, 12 Monkeys follows a bum-looking dude (Nikita's Aaron Stanford) who time-travels back to the near present to try to prevent the onset of a deadly plague that totally messes up the world in the future.
– American Crime (ABC, March 5): Need an intense racial drama to get your blood boiling? HERE YOU GO! From 12 Years a Slave writer John Ridley, this incredibly dramatic miniseries centers on a racially charged trial in California's Central Valley, examining the differing perspectives of everyone involved.
– The Comedians (FX, TBD): Billy Crystal and Josh Gad star as a pair of mismatched comedians (one's old, the other's young!) who launch a new TV series together. Surprise, they might not get along.
– Togetherness (HBO, January 11): Another HBO "comedy" that will probably be equal parts sad/quiet/dramatic. Created by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass (Transparent and The Mindy Project for the former, The League and The Mindy Project for the latter), the series follows two married couples living under one roof. Mark Duplass, Amanda Peet, Melanie Lynskey, and Steve Zissis star.
Which new midseason shows are you most excited about?