Fall TV shows 2014: New drama series premiere dates, times and previews

Fall TV shows 2014 The Affair

If you’re a fan of the more serious side of television, Fall 2014 is a great time to be you, delivering a feast of fascinating storylines and compelling characters fleshed out by tried-and-true TV veterans and award-winning crossovers from the world of film. Below we round up premiere dates and times, previews and more for the new drama and dramedy series debuting now through December. Click on highlighted titles for more information.

Fall TV shows 2014 The Affair

The Affair (pictured above)
Showtime
Premieres: Oct. 12
Airs: Sundays at 10pm ET/PT

Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson star in this drama that tracks the cause and effect of an extramarital affair between author/schoolteacher Noah (West) and waitress Alison (Wilson).
MORE: Ruth Wilson on The Affair: “It’s not only about affairs and monogamy, but also about memory and perspective and subjective truth.”

Ascension
Syfy
Premieres: Nov. 24
Airs: Mondays

Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) returns to Syfy in this six-hour event series about a spacecraft that was launched in 1963. The story picks up in the middle of its 100-year journey to the planet Proxima, when a murder aboard the ship throws the crew’s carefully ordered society into chaos.

Constantine
NBC
Premieres: Oct. 24
Airs: Fridays at 10pm ET/PT

This gritty new supernatural drama is adapted from horror comic Hellblazer (and the 2005 movie Constantine starring Keanu Reeves). John Constantine (Matt Ryan) is a con man who is forced to protect humanity from demonic forces. Harold Perrineau and Charles Halford also star.

Dig
USA Network
Premieres: November [Update: Premieres Spring 2015]

From creators Gideon Raff (Homeland) and Tim Kring (Heroes) comes this six-episode event series in the vein of The Da Vinci Code. A murder investigation in Jerusalem uncovers a mystery involving biblical prophecies. Jason Isaacs, Anne Heche and Lauren Ambrose star.

The Flash
The CW
Premieres: Oct. 7
Airs: Tuesdays at 8pm ET/PT

This TV adaptation of the DC Comics superspeedy superhero saga reveals how Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) turned into The Flash, the fastest man alive and protector of Central City. Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanagh and Jesse L. Martin also star.

Forever
ABC
Premieres: Sneak peek Monday, Sept. 22 at 10pm ET/PT
Airs: Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT beginning Sept. 23

New York medical examiner Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is brilliant at determining a person’s cause of death, but he’s unable to solve the mystery of his own immortality.

Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce
Bravo
Premieres: Dec. 2
Airs: Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT

Bravo’s first scripted series comes from executive producer Marti Noxon and is inspired by the self-help book series by Noxon’s co-executive producer and writer Vicki Iovine. Lisa Edelstein stars as 40-something Abby McCarthy, who relies on the other divorcées in her social circle to help her navigate single life, single motherhood and her new sense of self.

Gotham
FOX
Premieres: Sept. 22
Airs: Mondays at 8pm ET/PT

This stylish crime series is more than just a Batman origin saga — it’s the story of rookie detective James Gordon (Ben McKenzie) and his struggle against the tide of crime and corruption that threatens to consume Gotham City. It’s also the story of how The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), The Riddler (Cory Michael Smith), Catwoman (Camren Bicondova) and others emerged as criminal masterminds. Donal Logue and Jada Pinkett Smith also star.

Gracepoint
FOX
Premieres: Oct. 2
Airs: Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT

This 10-part drama follows the investigation of the murder of a young boy in a small seaside town. Gracepoint is a remake of BBC’s Broadchurch, which aired to much acclaim in America last year, and features David Tennant reprising his role as the troubled lead detective. Anna Gunn, Jacki Weaver, Nick Nolte and Michael Peña also star.
ALSO SEE: What Anna Gunn found “very deep and rather disturbing” about her role in Gracepoint

Happyland
MTV
Premieres: Sept. 30
Airs: Tuesdays at 11pm ET/PT
MTV’s newest teen dramedy explores the behind-the-scenes action at a beloved (but fictional) theme park. While the park’s outward appearance is one of perpetual perfection, behind the scenes it is anything but. Lucy (Bianca Santos) has lived in Happyland her entire life, but now a scandalous secret has turned her life upside down.

How to Get Away With Murder
ABC
Premieres:
Sept. 25
Airs: Thursdays at 10pm ET/PT

In the newest addictive drama from Shonda Rhimes, Viola Davis (The Help) plays a brilliant but flawed defense attorney who teaches criminal law at a Philadelphia college, choosing several of her best students to join her firm while trying to hide her complicated personal life from them.

Jane the Virgin
The CW
Premieres:
Oct. 13
Airs: Mondays at 9pm ET/PT

Jane (Gina Rodriguez) is a 23-year-old virgin saving sex for marriage with her fiancé (Brett Dier). But things get weird when Jane learns she’s been accidentally artificially inseminated during what was supposed to be a regular checkup.

The Librarians
TNT
Premieres:
Dec. 7
Airs: Sundays at 9pm ET/PT

TNT reunites Noah Wyle, Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin in this 10-episode adventure series based on the hit Librarian movie franchise. Flynn Carsen (Wyle) is an eccentric intellectual recruited by an immortal organization to find and protect ancient treasures. Rebecca Romijn, John Larroquette and Matt Frewer also star.

Madam Secretary
CBS
Premieres:
Sept. 21 at 7:30pm ET/PT and 10:30pm ET/PT (encore)
Airs: Sundays at 8pm ET/PT

Téa Leoni returns to series television as a disillusioned former CIA analyst whose quiet family life in a college town is disrupted when she’s abruptly appointed U.S. secretary of state. Tim Daly and Bebe Neuwirth costar.

The Mysteries of Laura
NBC
Premieres:
Sept. 17 at 10pm ET/PT
Airs: Wednesdays at 8pm ET/PT beginning Sept. 24

Will & Grace’s Debra Messing stars as a homicide detective and harried mom of rambunctious twin sons who discovers that her charming soon-to-be ex-husband (Josh Lucas, Sweet Home Alabama) is her brand-new boss.
MORE: The Mysteries of Laura star Debra Messing: “Laura would never wear heels!”

NCIS: New Orleans
CBS
Premieres:
Sept. 23
Airs: Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT

Military investigation heads to the Big Easy as Special Agent Dwayne “King” Pride (Scott Bakula) leads a small office of NCIS investigators. Lucas Black, Zoe McLellan and CCH Pounder also star.
MORE: We’ve got 5 Questions for CCH Pounder!

Red Band Society
FOX
Premieres:
Sept. 17
Airs: Wednesdays at 9pm ET/PT

Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer (The Help) and Dave Annable (Brothers & Sisters) star in a coming-of-age dramedy about a group of teens who live in a hospital and the adults who mentor them through adolescence. The brave teens may be fighting serious illness, but they’re still growing up, falling in love and facing heartbreak.

Scorpion
CBS
Premieres:
Sept. 22
Airs: Mondays at 9pm ET/PT

A group of socially awkward geniuses serve as America’s last line of defense from the dangers of a modern world. Starring Elyes Gabel, Robert Patrick and Katharine McPhee, and inspired by a true story.

Stalker
CBS
Premieres:
Oct. 1
Airs: Wednesdays at 10pm ET/PT

Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q star as members of the LAPD’s Threat Assessment Unit in this crime procedural that examines why — and how — stalkers do what they do. Created by Kevin Williamson (The Following).

State of Affairs
NBC
Premieres:
Nov. 17
Airs: Mondays at 10pm ET/PT

Katherine Heigl returns to TV as the star and co-executive producer of this political thriller. Heigl plays a CIA analyst entrusted with assembling the President’s Daily Briefing, but her relationship with the president (Alfre Woodard) goes much deeper as they share a personal tragedy.

Tyler Perry’s If Loving You Is Wrong
OWN
Premieres:
Sept. 9
Airs: Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT

Writer/director Tyler Perry presents this drama about the lives of a group of husbands, wives and friends who live and love in the same neighborhood. They appear happy on the surface, but underneath their lives are entangled by scandal, heartbreak and deceit. Eltony Williams, Amanda Clayton and April Parker-Jones star.

Z Nation
Syfy
Premieres:
Sept. 12
Airs: Fridays at 10pm ET/PT

This 13-episode series, from the same folks who brought you Sharknado, depicts the epic struggle to save humanity following a zombie apocalypse. Harold Perrineau, Tom Everett Scott, DJ Qualls, Michael Welch and Kellita Smith are among the cast.

Photo: The Affair: © Showtime, LLC All rights reserved Credit: Steven Lippman