Fall’s New Comedies: 15 Shows Ready to Make You Laugh
Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 10/9c, NBC
About the show: Neil Patrick Harris will do a little bit of everything as the host of this new variety show. There will be music, pranks, games and whatever else the former How I Met Your Mother star can think of.
They said: “I wanted to be able to spend some time showing large demographics some cool, interesting things that they’d never seen before. It’s all kinds of random nonsense that will hopefully make you smile, if not laugh—escapism in the big-top way” Harris says. Read more about Best Time Ever
Moonbeam City
Premieres: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 10:30/9:30c, Comedy Central
About the show: This spoof of the slick style of 80s cop dramas has a voice cast stacked with talent, including Rob Lowe as moronic cop Dazzle Novak, Will Forte as his rival Rad Cunningham and Elizabeth Banks as police chief Pizzaz Miller.
They said: ““I wanted to do a show that celebrated this sleek, neon ’80s vibe and that paid tribute to the awesome designs, awesome fashion and awesome synth music,” series creator Scott Gairdner says. “I think the recipe of super-stupid comedy rendered very beautifully is a really compelling combination.” Read more about Moonbeam City
Life in Pieces
Premieres: Monday, Sept. 21, 8:30/7:30c
About the show: Each week, this extended-family comedy will focus on multiple storylines of different interactions between members of the Short clan. Throughout the show, audiences will see what happens when different groupings come into contact.
They said: “It’s really like Looney Tunes,” series creator Justin Adler says. “You have this melting pot of characters, and you never know which permutation you’re going to get.” Read more about Life in Pieces
The Muppets
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 8/7c. ABC
About the show: A semi-estranged Kermit and Miss Piggy, along with the rest of the Muppets, make their return to primetime TV in an Office style docu-comedy chronicling the creation of Piggy’s new talk show.
They said: “We’re set in the real world, so the characters are living in the same space that you live in,” executive producer and creator Bill Prady says. “The notion that you could go to the farmer’s market and run into Floyd and Janice is the feel of the show.” Read more on The Muppets
Scream Queens
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 22, 8/7c, Fox
About the show: Masked killers, sorority girls, unsolved mysteries, Scream Queens takes as many slasher movie stereotypes as it can to play with. To round out the list of movie references, horror icon Jamie Lee Curtis appears as Wallace University’s sorority hating dean of students.
They said: “They identify that there are tropes and archetypes and then they peel them away” Curtis says. Read more about Scream Queens
Grandfathered
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 8/7c, Fox
About the show: Full House alum John Stamos once again finds himself acting alongside a pair of adorable twin girls. This time instead of being the cool, young uncle, his character, Jimmy Martino, suddenly discovers that he’s a father to an adult son, and much to his dismay, a grandfather to a little girl named Edie.
They said: “He’s a guy who, just by his nature, wants it all,” Stamos says. “He wants to maintain his bourgeois life through the restaurant, celebrities, women and dating, but he also wants to do the right thing and be the right kind of father. He just doesn’t know how, and he certainly doesn’t know how to be a grandfather.” Read more on Grandfathered
The Grinder
Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 8:30.7:30c, Fox
About the show: After playing an attorney on TV, big shot Hollywood actor Dean Sanderson (Rob Lowe) decides to head back to his hometown and try his hand at real-life lawyering at the law firm where his less glamorous brother Stewart (Fred Savage) makes a living.
They said: “I think there’s genuine love there… They both really want what the other person has. It’s what brings them together and what causes their rift,” co-star Fred Savage says. Read more about The Grinder
Truth Be Told
Premieres: Friday, Oct. 2, 8:30/7:30c, ABC
About the show: Two pairs of friends and neighbors tell each other the truth about uncomfortable topics like race and sex.
They said: “We’re going to try to talk about these gray areas that might seem a bit taboo for conversation, but we’re going to find the funny in it,” co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar says. Read more about Truth Be Told
Casual
Premieres: Wednesday, Oct. 7, Hulu
About the show: Grown siblings Alex (Tommy Dewey), a successful online dating entrepreneur, and Valerie (Michaela Watkins), a recent divorcee, live together and work out their relationship through unforeseen circumstances. It’s an exaggerated dramedy retelling of series creator Zander Lehmann’s relationship with his own sister.
They said: “I basically wrote a television show about our fake lives in the future,” creator Zander Lehmann says. “It comes from a lot of truth.” Read more about Casual
SuperMansion
Premieres: Thursday, Oct. 8, Crackle
About the show: From Robot Chicken producers Matt Senreich and Zeb Wells, SuperMansion follows the everyday lives of members of the super team the League of Freedom in their spare time away from heroics.
They said: “We wanted to turn everything 90 degrees on its side and focus on the mundane in these absurd worlds,” producer Matt Senreich says. Read more about SuperMansion
Red Oaks
Premieres: Friday, Oct. 9, Amazon Instant Video
About the show: On his way to an NYU accounting degree, David Myers (Craig Roberts) gets sidetracked by a summer job as a tennis pro assistant at Red Oaks Country Club. David has to figure out what he wants out of life in this 80s set coming-of-age comedy.
They said: “Nobody ever really comes of age,” Roberts says. Read more about Red Oaks
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Premieres: Monday, Oct. 12, 8/7c, The CW
About the show: Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) is a successful lawyer living the life in Manhattan, but she gives it all up to move to suburban West Covina, California and pursue her former crush. To make the transition more interesting, she stages elaborately choreographed song and dance numbers in her head.
They said: “Romantic obsession is one of the most universal drives in the world. Rebecca is acting how a lot of us do when we’re in love. Love makes you feel crazy.” Read more about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Dr. Ken
Premieres: Friday, Oct. 16, 8:30/7:30c, NBC
About the show: Ken Jeong hasn’t had time to practice medicine since he made it big in the acting world, but his latest comedy is loosely based on his pre-fame life as a doctor. The show follows Jeong’s semi-autobiographical Ken Park through his work life and his time at home with family.
They said: “He’s playing this really sweet—of course, overbearing and somewhat crazy, but sweet—dad and husband,” executive producer Mike Sikowitz says. “This is a way you’ve never seen him before.” Read more about Dr. Ken
Ash vs. Evil Dead
Premieres: Saturday, Oct. 31, 9/8c, Starz
About the show: Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell return to the campy gorefest of the Evil Dead franchise. After years of lazily working at S-Mart and Value Stop, Ash once again unleashes evil into the world and has to dust off the chainsaws and boomsticks to fight it.
They said: “He makes a horrible mistake and unleashes the demons again. That’s why I like Ash. He’s not a former Navy SEAL. He’s not a former CIA agent. He’s a former idiot. And now he’s a current idiot,” Campbell says. Read more about Ash vs. Evil Dead
Angel from Hell
Premieres: Thursday, Nov. 5, 9:30/8:30c, CBS
About the show: Jane Lynch plays Amy, a booze chugging supposed guardian angel who takes an interest in a young woman played by Maggie Lawson. Amy could be a celestial protector or a total stalker nut, not even Lynch knows which yet.
They said: “I haven’t had a drink in eons, which I think is interesting [since] I’m playing an alcoholic. [Laughs] Well, maybe she’s an alcoholic. I think she’s transcended addiction.” Read more about Angel from Hell
NO LAUGHING MATTER: This post is presented by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. NFID wants to remind you that getting the flu is no laughing matter. So get your flu shot today (before you settle in for all of fall’s new shows.)
