ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC FAMILY)
Premiere: Sunday September 30, 2012 (8:00 PM)
The fantasy-drama series gives a new take on childhood fairy tales. On Snow White’s wedding day the Evil Queen barges in and proclaims that she will place a curse on the realm to take away love so that she can finally have her happy ending. Story book characters such as Prince Charming, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood, along with many others now have no recollection of their past lives and are transported to a new, gloomy realm where magic does not exist and happy endings are a rarity—Earth. Emma Swan comes to Story Brooke to meet the son she gave up and unbeknownst to her, is the heroine of the story and the only one who can break the curse.
BONES (FOX)
In its eighth season, Bones returns this fall on FOX. Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan and FBI agent Seeley Booth form the crime-stopping duo of the Jeffersonian Institute. Solving murders with forensics, the nature of each often reaching beyond the surface, grabs the viewer by the heartstrings. Each episode focuses on a unique murder but the members of the Jeffersonian “squinterns” bring levity to otherwise somber situations with their comedic idiosyncrasies.
COMMUNITY (NBC)
After facing the threat of cancellation, Community returns for its fourth season this fall. The series follows a quirky group of students with varying ages, backgrounds and personalities who find each other in a study group that rarely studies. Instead, the characters engage in competitions, arguments and the occasional feud with the other members of the student body. These shenanigans shed light on these fractured characters but also highlight their endearing qualities in a comedic way.
THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)
Nerds unite for the premiere of the sixth season of The Big Bang Theory. The Emmy-award winning brainchild of creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady returns with the brilliant and incredibly annoying Sheldon Cooper and his endearing roommate Leonard Hoffstadter and with their two socially awkward genius science department friends, Rajesh Koothrapali and Howard Wolowitz. Social awkwardness juxtaposed with their beautiful neighbor Penny’s social skills and common sense make the show hilarious.
MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
Three individual families combine into one “Modern Family” for ABC’s Emmy-award winning show. The show features an ensemble cast and revolves around the families interrelated through Jay Pritchett and his children, Claire and Mitchell. Jay is married to the significantly younger Gloria, a passionate Colombian, who raises her precocious son Manny. Claire, a homemaker, and her husband, a self-professed “cool dad” raise their three children: the dramatic college student Haley, mini-genius Alex and Luke, the hyperactive youngest of the family. Claire’s gay brother Mitchell lives with his flamboyant partner Cameron and their adopted child, Lily, from Vietnam. This show takes a satirical look at this one unusual family and the trials they endure.
1600 PENN (NBC)
1600 Penn is a new sitcom about a dysfunctional first family. The show is written by executive producer Josh Gad, former presidential speechwriter Jon Lovett and director Jason Winer of “Modern Family.” The ensemble cast features Bill Pullman as President Gilchrist, Jenna Elfman as the president’s second wife and Josh Gad who plays the out-of-control oldest son who returns home and becomes not only the family’s biggest liability but also the glue holding everyone together.
NASHVILLE (ABC)
This March ABC picked up a new musical-soap drama set against the backdrop of the Nashville country music scene. Connie Britton stars as Rayna, a 40-year-old country superstar, whose fame is diminishing as she is forced to tour with breakout artist Juliette Barnes, played by Hayden Panettiere, or face the loss of her tour and promotion of her latest records.
