entertainment

10 New and Returning TV Shows To Look Forward To

The summer blockbuster season has come to a close, and it can only mean one thing - the return of our favourite TV shows AND a few new ones to look forward to!

Cover image via financesonline.com

Blockbuster season has undoubtedly brought us a variety of exciting movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy, How To Train A Dragon, Expendables 3, and Transformers 4, to name a few. However, all good things must come to an end...

Summer blockbusters of 2014. Clockwise from top-left: The Expendables 3, Hercules, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Edge of Tomorrow, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Age of Extinction, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

Image via The Daily Star

...until the next summer, that is.

But fret not; the arrival of the fall season signifies the return of several TV shows and the premiere of a few new ones as well.

Without further ado, here's a taste of what TV has to offer for the Fall 2014/2015 season, in no particular order.

SPOILER ALERT: Descriptions may contain spoilers for important plot points.

This is especially true for returning TV shows, so proceed with extreme caution. The writer had encountered far too many unexpected surprises (i.e. Game of Thrones) so she knows what it feels like.

1. Houdini [NEW]

Houdini promo banner.

Image via HISTORY Channel Asia

Starring Adrien Brody in the enigmatic title role, this miniseries chronicles the life and times of the legendary illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini.

Follow the man behind the magic as he finds fame, engages in espionage, battles spiritualists and encounters the greatest names of the era, from U.S. presidents to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Grigori Rasputin.

imdb.com

Premieres on HISTORY (ASTRO Channel 555) and HISTORY HD (ASTRO Channel 575) on 2 & 3 September (Tuesday & Wednesday) at 9pm.

historyasia.com

2. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 2) [RETURNING]

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Season 2 promo.

Image via ComicBook.com

By the end of Season 1, [SPOILERS INCOMING] we find out that Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) is very much NOT dead, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised, and HYDRA has come out of the shadows and into the light. Oh, and Coulson is now Director of a secretly and newly resurrected S.H.I.E.L.D. It is also safe to say that if you follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you should probably watch this too because it's all connected.

Producers made several big casting announcements for Season 2, including Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) as a longtime S.H.I.E.L.D. veteran. British actor Nick Blood will play Lance Hunter from S.T.R.I.K.E., a character that executive producer Jeffrey Bell describes as a mercenary who will join forces with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Reed Diamond (Dollhouse) will play an Hydra villain Daniel Whitehall.

go.com

Premieres on 23 September in the US.

go.com

Malaysian premiere on FOX (ASTRO Channel 710). Date and time TBA.

3. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Season 2) [RETURNING]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine promo poster.

Image via The Midnight Zone

With SNL alum Andy Samberg as the talented but childish Detective Jake Peralta, this comedy series is set in the fictional 99th Precinct of the New York City Police Department in Brooklyn and follows the precinct's team of detectives and a newly-appointed captain.

[SPOILER ALERT]
Season 1 ended with a surprising twist as Detective Peralta was asked to go undercover for a major FBI investigation. He said his goodbyes to the precinct, and finally confessed his “romantic-styles” affection for Detective Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), the unit's honorary straight arrow.

fox.com

Premieres on 28 September in the US.

fox.com

Malaysian premiere on FOX (ASTRO Channel 710). Date and time TBA.

4. Sleepy Hollow (Season 2) [RETURNING]

Sleepy Hollow Season 2 promo poster.

Image via Fox Asia

Not to be confused with the 1999 movie starring Johnny Depp, the TV counterpart of Sleepy Hollow is a modern retelling of the 1820 short story by Washington Irving 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'. Key character Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.

imdb.com

Picking up immediately after cliffhanger finale of Season 1, Sleepy Hollow returns with all-new edge-of-your-seat mysteries and adventures, as the series' heroic duo of Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) fends off the forces of evil to save not only their town, but the world.

fox.com

Premieres in the US on 22 September.

fox.com

Malaysian premiere on FOX (ASTRO Channel 710). Date and time TBA.

5. The Voice (Season 7) [RETURNING]

The Voice Season 7's Celebrity Judges. From left: Pharrell Williams, Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton

Image via TV Guide

Fresh off its 10 Emmy nominations, The Voice returns in September 2014 as Gwen Stefani and Pharrell Williams join Adam and Blake for the new season!

axn-asia.com

Premieres on AXN (ASTRO Channel 701) & AXN HD (ASTRO Channel 721) on 23 & 24 September. Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 8.05pm.

axn-asia.com

6. Once Upon A Time (Season 4) [RETURNING]

Once Upon A Time 'Frozen' promo.

Image via ScienceFiction.com

Last we saw of our favourite fairytale characters in the season finale of Season 3, things seem to be looking up...but not without a few hiccups here and there.

A mysterious woman has arrived in Storybrooke, and she is none other than the Ice Queen herself. Winter is coming courtesy of Elsa (formerly of Disney's Frozen and played by Georgina Haig), and we can expect to see a few other additions to the winter arc in Season 4, namely Princess Anna, Kristoff, and Prince Hans of the Southern Isles.

Premieres in the US on 28 September.

go.com

Malaysian premiere TBA.

7. Boardwalk Empire (Season 5) [RETURNING]

Boardwalk Empire Season 5 promo.

Image via TV Spots Free

The fifth and final season of the Emmy winning HBO Original drama series set in the 1920s during Prohibition, chronicling the life of “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi).

hboasia.com

Boardwalk‘s final season picks up seven years after the events of Season 4 and shifts the setting from the Roaring Twenties to the dawn of The Great Depression. It’s safe to say change is indeed coming – as Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) ominously points out in the trailer – for many of Boardwalk‘s central players.

screenrant.com

Premieres on HBO (ASTRO Channel 411) and HBO HD (ASTRO Channel 431) on 8 September. Mondays, 8pm.

hboasia.com

8. Gotham [NEW]

Gotham promo poster.

Image via HNGN

Where Marvel seeks to conquer the silver screen with a slew of movies lined up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), DC Comics seems to be focusing its creative energies on the small screen with not only one but THREE new shows premiering this fall, following the success of superhero drama Arrow.

Serving as the origin story behind Commissioner James Gordon's (Ben McKenzie, "The OC") early days on the Gotham City Police Force and his rise to prominence, Gotham will also include the origin stories of Bruce Wayne/Batman and several Batman villains, including the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Hugo Strange, Harvey Dent and Mr. Freeze.

wikipedia.org

Premieres in the US on 22 September.

fox.com

9. The Flash [NEW]

The Flash promo poster.

Image via Screen Rant

While Gotham and Arrow seem to be going for a darker tone, The Flash lends a whoosh of colour (pun totally intended) to DC Universe's ever-growing collection of TV shows.

Existing in the same universe and acting as a spin-off to Arrow, The Flash follows the adventures of Barry Allen a.k.a. Flash (Grant Gustin), a superhero with incredible speed and dubbed "the fastest man alive".

Following a particle accelerator explosion, Barry awakens to find his life has changed – the accident has given him the power of super speed, granting him the ability to move through Central City like an unseen guardian angel. Barry now has a renewed purpose – using his gift of speed to protect the innocent, while never giving up on his quest to solve his mother’s murder and clear his father’s name.

cwtv.com

Premieres in the US on 7 October.

cwtv.com

10. Constantine [NEW]

Constantine promo poster.

Image via ComicBook.com

Based on the wildly popular comic book series "Hellblazer" from DC Comics, seasoned demon hunter and master of the occult John Constantine (Matt Ryan, "Criminal Minds") is armed with a ferocious knowledge of the dark arts and a wickedly naughty wit. He fights the good fight - or at least he did. With his soul already damned to hell, he's decided to abandon his campaign against evil until a series of events thrusts him back into the fray, and he'll do whatever it takes to protect the innocent. With the balance of good and evil on the line‎, Constantine will use his skills to travel the country, find the supernatural terrors that threaten our world and send them back where they belong. After that, who knows... maybe there's hope for him and his soul after all.

nbc.com

Premieres in the US on 24 October.

nbc.com

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