The promised land for television is once again on our doorstep.
After an unusually strong summer of TV content on cable, the broadcast networks are finally ready to debut their 2011-2012 shows in the coming weeks. And while the networks have several strong drama contenders lined up, the cable channels still landed four slots on our fall preview list.
The following list contains our picks for the most intriguing new shows of the 2011 season. Not all of these shows are going to catch on, but somewhere on this list is the next breakout hit or fan favorite series. Make your predictions about the fall schedule in the comment section below!
Person of Interest
Thursdays, 9PM CBS
Debut: September 22
Who are the only people who could possibly make us care about a crime procedural on CBS?
Why, that would be Jonathan Nolan ("The Dark Knight") and J,J. Abrams ("Star Trek"), of course. "Person of Interest" is Nolan's first TV project while Abrams has had a nearly golden touch with genre favorites like "Lost," "Alias" and "Fringe."
Jim Caviezel stars as former CIA agent John Reese, a presumed dead man who finds himself recruited by the mysterious billionaire Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson from "Lost") to stop crimes that will take place in the future based on a program (written by Finch) that can predict the identities of people who are about to be involved in violent crimes. The catch is that the program can't distinguish between victims, witnesses or perpetrators, leaving Reese to sort it all out before events come to a head.
On paper, it strikes us as an interesting mix between a quasi-science fiction premise and the old school procedurals that CBS loves so much. There's only one word that strikes fear in our hearts about this one:
"Undercovers."
But it appears that Abrams has learned his lesson from that misstep and with "Person of Interest" inheriting the coveted Thursday night time slot of "CSI," it could be poised to become this fall's biggest hit.
