As the summer heat transitions to an autumn heat (?), the 2024-25 TV season has come to a close, and the fall TV season shifts into turbo. There are numerous options now through the end of the year, including some highly anticipated titles. Let’s break down my faves across broadcast and streaming.

Q4 TV Preview

October

My birthday month is packed with numerous offerings, beginning this past week with the fifth season of Abbott Elementary (Oct. 1). ABC’s Emmy-winning comedy still brings the laughs despite not winning any award gold for its underappreciated geniuses Janelle James and Chris Perfetti.

Staying in the broadcast lane, we will also receive CBS’s DMV (Oct. 13). The dreaded government agency is a perfect setting for a workplace comedy. Its cast boasts the very busy legend Tim Meadows, who has been seen in HBO Max’s Peacemaker.

Switching genres but not networks, we have the return of two of my favorite shows. Carrie Preston and Kathy Bates are leading their respective series, Elsbeth (S3) and Matlock (S2). Both will air previews on Sunday, October 12, before shifting to their weekly schedule.

In streaming, we have some favorites returning with Netflix’s The Diplomat (Oct. 16) and the penultimate season of The Witcher (Oct. 30). Keri Russell’s political drama gains another West Wing alum with Bradley Whitford joining as Allison Janney’s husband in the third season. And Liam Hemsworth takes the mantle as Geralt in the fantasy series. Liev Schreiber will voice the iconic Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell’s first animated adaptation, Deathwatch (Oct. 14). The streamer also boasts two new true crime offerings. First, Ryan Murphy delivers another killer installment of Monster (Oct. 3), this time with Charlie Hunnam as ghastly serial killer Ed Gein. And True Haunting (Oct. 7) will explore tales of the paranormal a la Unsolved Mysteries.

The true crime obsession continues over on Hulu with the story of three summers ago — Murdaugh: Death in the Family, about the wealthy South Carolina solicitor who was found guilty of killing his wife and son. It explores the family’s dark legacy that was eventually uncovered by an amateur reporter/podcaster. And Peacock will tackle the Chicagoland serial killer John Wayne Gacy in Devil in Disguise with Severance’s Michael Chernus starring.

November

The month of thanks seems pretty light for now, but it finishes with one of the decade’s most anticipated titles. Netflix will deliver a second dose of The Vince Staples Show (Nov. 6), an abstract comedy that peered into the semi-biographical life of the Long Beach rapper. The same day, Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen star in Death by Lightning, a historic retelling of the assassination of the 20th US president, James Garfield.

Later, the Tudum streamer sets Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes in the spy thriller, The Beast in Me (Oct. 13). And finally, the whole family can gather around the TV after Thanksgiving dinner and begin the final chapter of Stranger Things Part 1, dropping Nov. 26.

December

The Stranger Things saga will continue through the next month, airing Parts 2 and 3 on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. The month also brings us season two of Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Dec. 10). The adaptation garnered great acclaim from book enthusiasts, and it could be an alternative to the polarizing Harry Potter series due next year. We also have season two of Prime’s hit Fallout (Dec. 17) and the limited series, Wonder Man (TBD), with Yahya Abdul Mateen II and Sir Ben Kingsley.

Reviews

The war for eyeballs has left many studios reliant on familiar IP, in the form of sequels, prequels, spinoffs, and revivals. While many are misses, the ones that stick the landing go for the gold. Recently, I finished FX’s Alien: Earth, a franchise that found exciting new life in Romulus, released this past year. In the hands of Fargo and Legion scribe, Noah Hawley, Earth expands the 46-year-old lore to the third planet from the sun, two years before the events of the original film.

With a mostly fresh-faced cast, Hawley recreates the 1970s-produced dystopian future where a Zuckerberg-esque trillionaire thinks he has solved immortality. Amidst these scientific grays, a spaceship carrying foreign specimens crash-lands in his lap, increasing the hubris of human ambition. Of course, his Frankenstein balancing act becomes increasingly complicated when the specimens are loosed.

Excellent performances matched with taut writing and classic sci-fi terror lift Earth to new heights, making it one of the funniest TV experiences of the year. Kudos to Sydney Chandler and the cast of “The Lost Boys” for their brilliant portrayal of adult children. And Emmy gold should be reserved for both Timothy Olyphant and Babou Ceesay for their monumental performances as Kirsh and Marrow, respectively.

While some argue the ending was anticlimactic, it definitely sets up a possible second season, which could explore the other corporations and how Prodigy falls by the time of the first film.

All eight episodes of Alien: Earth are available to stream on Hulu.

Speaking of franchises, Prime Video’s Gen V arrived for its second season on September 17. A spinoff of politically drenched satire The Boys, Gen V surprised many by standing on its own, with elements from its predecessor. For those unfamiliar, the spinoff is set at Goldokin University, the exclusive college for superheroes. Here, supes learn how to harness their abilities for success, whether landing an acting career or joining the Seven.

The first season unraveled a conspiracy where students were imprisoned and tortured to create a supe-killing virus. Unfortunately, this heroic narrative was hijacked by Vought and Homelander as a basis to enact war against the lesser beings, humans. Any dissent categorized you as the enemy — a Starlighter — named after a former The Seven member and resistance leader, Starlight.

The first three episodes waste no time establishing our main conflict: Marie, Jordan, and Emma find themselves back at God U after seemingly having their records expunged. After an interaction with Starlight, Marie discovers the new dean is seeking to revamp an old weapon that began with the college’s founder, Thomas Godolkin. This secret project could be the key to stopping Homelander once and for all.

To start, I would be remiss if I did not praise the writers for first and foremost, honoring the late Chance Perdomo throughout the series. Perdomo sadly died in a motorcycle accident early this year, silencing his main character, Andre Anderson. Production was delayed to address rewrites, and the team opted not to recast. Eric Kripke and the team handle the character’s absence with care, maintaining a story that feels natural for the show.

Apart from the great writing, awesome ensemble of young actors, and the insane stunts this production team is capable of pulling off (a supe whose anus is technically a black hole of infinite space), the commentary is damn near prophetic. Not only does the writing team so perfectly mirror the country’s growing fascist state, but a particular storyline echoes the political theatre surrounding the death of Charlie Kirk.

But the most impressive commentary is its examination of womanhood — specifically Black womanhood. While The Boys focuses through Billy Butcher, Huey, and Homelander, Gen V has positioned itself with three female leads, exploring how any woman — super or not — survives these systems. Previously, we were afforded some perspective with Starlight and Maeve, two white women. Gen V forces us to approach similar storylines but through the lens of race and gender. Without saying too much more, it sparks conversations about womanhood, whiteness, and allyship that were salient in 2016, 2024, and today.

The first five episodes of Gen V are available on Prime Video, with new episodes released each Wednesday.

I also caught a few films since I’ve been gone. The first was The Man in My Basement, a mysterious thriller starring Corey Hawkins and Willem Dafoe. After losing his job and the mother he cared for, a man is about to lose the family home until a stranger agrees to rent out his basement. This arrangement seems simple enough until the stranger reveals his true intent. Powerful performances carry this eerie examination of our culpability for evil, but all the pieces don’t fit together.

Then I watched a classic in Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. First of all, never watch a film on Tubi — the ads are outrageously obnoxious. Overall, the movie was fine, although I was smiffed about the happy ending.

Lastly, the best film of the trio was James Gunn’s Superman. As a life-long Batman fan, I was really impressed by the story. David Corenswet soars as Clark Kent/Kal-El, and Nicholas Hoult is decent as Lex Luthor. But Mr. Terrific, played by the incredible Edi Gathegi, steals the show.