The fall TV season isn’t what it once was. Series are rolled out by the networks year-round, as fall premieres blend into midseason arrivals and beyond. But between Sept. 13 and Nov. 23 (when the Fox straggler “I Hate My Teenage Daughter” premieres), the five major broadcast networks will unveil a couple of dozen new shows.
Two tips about that: Forget you ever heard about “I Hate My Teenage Daughter.”
And make a special point to sample these recommended newcomers:
» “Ringer” (CW; premieres Sept. 13). Eight years after “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Sarah Michelle Gellar is back in a new series, and it’s a ring-a-ding-dinger. In one of her multiple roles, she plays Bridget, a stripper and drug addict in Wyoming who has struck a deal to testify against a fearsome villain whose latest heinous act she witnessed. But, fearing for her safety, Bridget flees instead.
» “Free Agents” (NBC; premieres Sept. 14). Alex is newly divorced and missing his kids. Helen is battling her loneliness with booze months after her fiance’s untimely death. As co-workers in a high-profile public relations agency, they share one ill-advised night of passion, then, post-tryst, must face each other in the office. What to do now? “Free Agents” has sassy, rapid-fire dialogue and, in a welcome change for a TV sitcom, grown-up comic plights.
» “2 Broke Girls” (CBS; premieres Sept. 19). Thank Bernie Madoff for this delightful comedy. Formerly wealthy Manhattan socialite Caroline is broke and disgraced after her Madoff-like dad is busted for his Wall Street piracy. Caroline seeks refuge in a downtrodden Brooklyn diner where, stylishly clad in her last Chanel suit, she lands a job alongside streetwise, likewise money-strapped Max, for whom waitressing is only one of two daily jobs.
» “New Girl” (Fox; premieres Sept. 20). As a wounded survivor of the relationship wars, Jess Day is something of a younger variation on Liz Lemon, the character that Tina Fey plays masterfully on “30 Rock.” Jess is goofy, good-natured and unguarded in her dealings with the world — and especially tone-deaf with men. When she catches her boyfriend with another woman in their apartment, she ends up sharing a spacious loft with three guys. As played by the adorable Zooey Deschanel (“(500) Days of Summer”), Jess is not without her charms. But the likelihood of hanky-panky with any of her roomies seems slight.
» “Revenge” (ABC; premieres Sept. 21). Emily Thorne is a wholesome, polished and friendly newcomer to the getaway known as the Hamptons in New York’s Long Island. But Emily is an impostor. With her false name and identity, she’s going undercover into Hamptons high society to wreak havoc on those who, years before, wronged her and her father terribly. She has a hit list, and “Revenge” seems poised to deliciously track her payback mission.
