Back in olden times (pre-Netflix), autumn kicked off the return of network TV after a long summer vacation. Nowadays, there’s a new show to binge each weekend. And yet, there’s still something exciting about the slate of new television coming this fall.
Looking ahead to the next few months, we’ve got plenty of TV to be excited for, including new animated shows from both the MCU and Lucasfilm (Marvel Zombies and Star Wars Visions season 3, respectively), along with the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building on Hulu and the final (!) season of Stranger Things and Netflix. Elsewhere in the streaming multiverse, Apple is preparing to roll out Pluribus (Vince Gilligan’s mysterious new show starring Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn), while Amazon prepares to follow up the success of The Legend of Vox Machina with The Mighty Nein, another D&D adventure from the Critical Role crew.
We’ve got all that and more, in our roundup of the 20 most exciting shows coming out this fall (aka, anytime between now and Thanksgiving), brought to you by Polygon’s most TV-obsessed writers and editors.
20
Wednesday season 2 part 2 (Sept. 3 on Netflix)
Wednesday returns with the remaining half of its eight-episode season. Starring Jenna Ortega, whose lead character Wednesday ended the first half of season 2 in a comatose state, while resident bad-boy Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan) runs amok around Nevermore and the town of Jericho.
It isn’t just Wednesday who’s dealing with problems. There’s an ongoing mystery involving a murder of crows who, as the name suggests, are doing just that to unsuspecting citizens of Jericho. And it wouldn’t be Wednesday without inter-generational family drama. All that and more to come when Wednesday season 2 part 2 arrives. —Aimee Hart
19
The Paper (Sept. 4 on Peacock)
It’s been over a decade since The Office ended, and it looks like the fictional documentary team that stalked the halls of Dunder Mifflin has finally found a new subject. From Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, The Office, Upload), The Paper moves the action from a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania to a struggling newspaper in Toledo, Ohio.
The Paper stars Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, a newly installed editor-in-chief who attempts to revive the newspaper by bringing in volunteer journalists. It’s a brand new cast, with one exception: everyone’s favorite account, Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez). We can only assume antics ensue in the sitcom’s 10-episode first season, which releases all at once for your binging pleasure. —Jake Kleinman
18
Only Murders in the Building season 5 (Sept. 9 on Hulu)
The Arconia remains the most dangerous place in New York in Only Murders in the Building season 5, where true crime podcasters Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez) investigate the death of their building’s doorman Lester (Teddy Coluca).
Their search for answers and listeners leads them to question members of the mob and a network of billionaires. As usual, expect plenty of meta comedy and a huge cast of celebrity cameos. Meryl Streep and Nathan Lane return, and the list of new guest stars includes Christoph Waltz and Keegan-Michael Key. —Samantha Nelson
17
Gen V season 2 (Sept. 17 on Prime Video)
School is back in session — now that the students are out of prison. Gen V’s second season sends Marie Moreau (Jaz Sinclair) and friends back to Godolkin University, this time on a mission given by Erin Moriarty’s Annie January/Starlight, who evaded capture by Vought at the end of The Boys season 4. Hamish Linklater joins as Dean Cipher, who, judging by the trailer, looks as villainous as you’d expect for a Boys antagonist.
The first season of Gen V delivered well on mixing teenage drama with the over-the-top schlock of The Boys, and season 2 is positioned to build out this universe even further. It’ll air without series star Chance Perdomo, who passed away before season 2 filming began. His character, Andre Anderson, was not recast, and instead Gen V’s second season was reworked before production to “honor Chance and his legacy,” according to a statement at the time. — Austin Manchester
16
Black Rabbit (Sept. 18 on Netflix)
The last time Jason Bateman and Netflix teamed up on a dark drama, we got Ozark. Now, Bateman is returning to the streamer for a new miniseries. And this time, he’s bringing Jude Law with him.
Black Rabbit stars Law and Bateman as a pair of brothers (Jake and Vince Friedken) who co-found a successful New York nightclub. Jake stays behind to run the club while Vince is seemingly more interested in shadier activities. But when Vince shows up again, it throws the entire business into chaos.
We admittedly still don’t know much about Black Rabbit, but the premise seems promising, and I’m excited to watch a disheveled Bateman (with long hair and unkempt beard, of course) get up to his usual antics. —JK
15
Haunted Hotel (Sept. 19 on Netflix)
Matt Roller served as story editor during Rick and Morty’s second season — you know, back when the show still felt fresh, edgy, and interesting. So when he turned around and made an adult animated comedy of his own, we took notice. Enter Haunted Hotel.
As its name implies, Roller’s new show takes place at a ghostly inn called the Undervale and follows the story of her single mother and her two kids as they struggle to run the business. The voice cast of Haunted Hotel includes beloved comedian Will Forte, along with Skyler Gisondo (fresh off Superman), Jimmi Simpson, Eliza Coupe, and Natalie Palamides. —JK
14
Marvel Zombies (Sept. 24 on Disney Plus)
Based on the Marvel Comics metaseries from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, this What If…? spin-off revisits a universe where heroes and villains alike have been transformed into the undead. Marvel Zombies follows a band of survivors searching for a cure while battling zombified versions of Earth’s mightiest icons. The ensemble cast includes Awkwafina, David Harbour, Simu Liu, Elizabeth Olsen, Randall Park, Florence Pugh, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Hailee Steinfeld, Tessa Thompson, and Dominique Thorne. All of them will be reprising their roles from previous MCU titles.
As of writing, though, it’s less than a month before its Sept. 24 premiere, and we still don’t have much footage. Hopefully, it’s a tad better than Marvel’s previous animated release, Eyes of Wakanda. —Isaac Rouse
13
Slow Horses season 5 (Sept. 24 on Apple TV Plus)
Slow Horses is consistently one of the best shows on TV, with each of its tight six-episode seasons faithfully adapting one of Mick Herron’s Slough House thrillers about a crew of failed MI5 agents relegated to doing the security agency’s most tedious tasks.
While burnt out Cold Warrior Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) constantly mocks his squad for their incompetence and uselessness, they still manage to solve complex cases each season, mostly because the agents in good standing are too busy jockeying for political advantage or covering up internal scandals. This is what Netflix’s Department Q is trying to be, but you should accept no substitutions. Slow Horses has already been renewed for two more seasons after this one. —SN
12
Wayward (Sept. 25 on Netflix)
It’s hard not to think of Twin Peaks whenever we encounter a new TV show about the dark secrets behind a small town in a northwest-inflected forested setting, but Wayward’s creator, Canadian comedian Mae Martin, has described this show as what would happen “if you took the kids from Booksmart and put them in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Police officer Alex Dempsey (Martin) and his pregnant wife Laura (Sarah Gadon) move to the rural town of Tall Pines, where they find out the local academy for troubled teenagers, run by mysterious cultish figure Evelyn Wade (Hereditary‘s Toni Collette), may be engaging in dark, unsavory practices. In addition to all the other reminds-us-of touchpoints here, this horror-thriller seems to have echoes of the recent MGM Plus Stephen King series The Institute. —Tasha Robinson
11
Alice in Borderland season 3 (Sept. 25 on Netflix)
The science-fiction thriller from Shinsuke Sato follows Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) and Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya) as they are thrust into a dangerous parallel world known as the Borderland. There, they are forced to compete in sadistic games inspired by French-suited playing cards.
Adapted from the manga of the same name by artist Haro Aso, Alice in Borderland season 3 picks up after a time jump. Arisu and Usagi are free from the game, but considering what we know about the show, I doubt they’ll stay that way for long. —AH