Fall TV Preview 2016: The Scoop on 58 Returning Shows

This Season’s Theme: “Blowing up [The Gecko Brothers’] world and challenging them in new ways,” says showrunner Carlos Coto.

Where We Left Off: Santanico left to begin a new life free of the Nine Lords’ influence, while Seth and Richie were about to take their places as the newest of the Lords. The last of the Santa Sangre entered Kate’s body and she came back to life as…?

Coming Up: The destruction of the Titty Twister released what Coto calls a “prison gang” of demons from Xibalba, the Mayan version of hell. It’ll be up to the Geckos to deal with them.

Why So Episodic? The creature-of-the-week format this season seems reminiscent of Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Coto says it was “a conscious decision between Robert [Rodriguez] and myself at the beginning of the season” to mirror the structure of the original movie. “In the second half of the film, the bar goes insane and all these creatures start showing up,” he says. “What’s the season-long version of that?” – Robert Chan

(Credit: El Rey Network)

This Season’s Theme: “I’d say it’s revolution,” says Masters of Sex showrunner Michelle Ashford, of Season 4. “We pick up in 1968, and as you’ll see in the very first episode, the world is really upside down and the characters have undergone a revolution in terms of what they’re thinking.”

Where We Left Off: Sexperts William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) took a four-year time jump in between Seasons 2 and 3. This season, we’ll start only a few weeks after the duo’s professional and personal breakup, which found Virginia running off with businessman suitor Daniel Logan (Josh Charles) just as Bill’s long-suffering wife, Libby (Caitlin FitzGerald), decided to call it quits with him.

Coming Up: Even though they’re no longer a “couple,” Masters and Johnson remain internationally recognized celebrities as the ‘60s keep on swinging. They’ll again encounter Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (John Gleeson Connelly), who appeared in one episode last season, but has a larger presence this year. Getting On Emmy nominee Niecy Nash joins the cast for a recurring role as the head of a St. Louis Alcoholics Anonymous chapter. “She has a pretty harrowing backstory,“ says Ashford, "which lands her as a patient in their clinic.”

Monkey Business: One of the more controversial episodes of Season 3 found Bill and Virginia trying to revive a male gorilla’s libido. Although critics largely reacted negatively, Ashford says that she received a letter of support from the Los Angeles Zoo. “They said it was their absolute favorite episode, because they had this experience of an animal identifying with a trainer sexually. It’s not unheard of.” Still, she admits that it might have been a dramatic leap that some viewers weren’t willing to take. “Lizzie was a great sport about it, and did a beautiful job. Her days of cavorting with gorillas are over. I can safely say that.” – Ethan Alter

(Credit: Warren Feldman/Showtime)

This Season’s Theme: “Everybody knows everything,” says show creator Martin Gero, “but that doesn’t mean that everything is fixed.” The first half-dozen episodes will focus on the team learning to trust one another again.

Where We Left Off: After killing Oscar and betraying the group that wiped her mind, Jane has nowhere left to turn. Mayfair’s death leaves Weller – still coping with the revelation of his father’s horrific crime – in charge.

Coming Up: The action picks up three months later – months in which Jane has been tortured by the CIA for information. And even though Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton are still the stars, Gero is committed to giving the rest of the ensemble “the screen time they deserve.” Which means “there’s an amazing Reade and Zapata story that takes shape in Episode 2,” and “there’s a new suitor for Patterson,” who – hopefully – won’t be quite as nosy/killable as the last.

“We Didn’t Kill Him on Purpose”: Ennis Esmer will be returning as Rich Dotcom “for at least one if not, hopefully, a few episodes.” They had high hopes for the fan-favorite, which is why Gero says they didn’t kill him – in case they wanted to bring him back. His first episode last season “was a watermark moment for the show where we really realized we could stretch the tone of the show.” – RC

(Credit: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

This Season’s Theme: The subtitle for the first half of the season is “Mad City.” That could mean characters dying, though, according to executive producer Ken Woodruff, there are even more painful fates. Last season, for example, Jim Gordon’s (Ben McKenzie) moral fall led to “everything he held dear called into question or lost altogether.” Those are more interesting, he says, “because the character is alive to suffer the agony of them.”

Where We Left Off: A bus full of Indian Hill escapees disappeared into Gotham, including someone who looks exactly like Bruce Wayne. Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett-Smith) is back, but Gordon has left town to find Lee (Morena Baccarin).

Coming Up: In Season 1, we saw a city rife with crime; Season 2 explained how super-powered villains came to be. Now, says Woodruff, “we’ve set up the ground rules and we can bring in exotic characters to give the show the spectacle that comic book fans and our viewers look for.” That includes everything from the silly (Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee) to the terrifying (Solomon Grundy) to the just plain odd (Mad Hatter).

The Power of Three: The 22 episodes for this year will be split up into three parts: 11 episodes, 3 episodes, 8 episodes. Woodruff says that by doing it this way, “You can tell the beginning, middle, and end to a story,” giving it the feel of “a really good movie.” – RC

(Credit: Jeff Neumann/Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “There are storylines in place that were started up at the end of Season 9, and we’re continuing those. I guess the theme is, try to not let the show become terrible,” showrunner Steve Molaro jokes.

Where We Left Off: Leonard’s dad Alfred (Judd Hirsch) and Sheldon’s mom Mary (Laurie Metcalf) met … and hit it off. Like, really hit it off. Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) were about to have a second wedding ceremony for friends and family, and Howard (Simon Helberg) and the guys suspected the government was spying on their guidance system project.

Coming Up: A guest-star-packed premiere picks up the morning after the Season 9 finale: Katey Sagal as Penny’s mom, Jack McBrayer as her brother, Keith Carradine as her dad, Christine Baranski and Hirsch as Leonard’s parents, Emmy nominee Metcalf as Sheldon’s mom, and Dean Norris as the Air Force colonel who approaches the guys about their guidance system invention. And we will find out the current state of affairs – er, affair? – with Mary and Alfred. “You will find out everything that happened and all the tension it causes during what was supposed to be a lovely wedding,” Molaro says, adding, “Loveliness does find a way to poke its head through the curtain here and there.” Meanwhile, “if all goes according to plan, at some point this season [Bernadette’s] baby will come along,” and Molaro says the writers are going to “start taking a look at the living arrangements and how that’s working for everybody” in Season 10.

The Bachelor: Raj (Kunal Nayyar), the least settled member of the group, will remain torn between two women – Emily and Claire – when the season begins. As much as Raj wants to be a husband and father, Molaro says he’s already a married man, sorta. “Raj’s a pretty good second husband to all the women,” says Molaro. “It’s a role he handles well … He floats around and fills in the gaps for all their relationships, in a very nice way. He’s the backup spouse to everybody.” – Kimberly Potts

(Credit: Michael Yarish/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: How to survive and thrive in Coral Palms, Florida … at least for the early part of the season.

Where We Left Off: Jake (Andy Samberg) and Holt (Emmy nominee Andre Braugher), on the run after getting a threatening phone call from mobster Jimmy Figgis, entered the Witness Protection Program, where they became next door neighbors Larry and Greg in Coral Palms.

Coming Up: “We pick up six months later in Coral Palms with Greg and Larry. They’re very much ensconced in the world of Coral Palms, Florida, for better or for worse. Mostly for worse,” showrunner Dan Goor says. Greg and Larry have made friends – Greg by joining a neighborhood speed walking group led by guest star Rhea Perlman – and they even have new jobs. Greg, true to Holt’s work ethic, is trying to move up the ladder at his retail gig, but his boss – played by Samberg’s Lonely Island cohort Jorma Taccone – isn’t sure Greg is management material. As the fellas will remain in the Sunshine State for a few episodes, they have a U.S. Marshal (guest star Maya Rudolph) to help manage them, and, again, true to character, Jake/Larry is the one who needs more handholding. Back in Brooklyn, Charles is missing his BFF Jake, but he’s also got his hands full with his newly adopted son, who, at four years old, is slightly older than Terry’s twins. “That makes Charles a little bit more experienced as a parent than Terry, at least in Charles’s mind,” Goor says. Goor also promises that we’ll get to meet gangster Figgis in at least one episode. Will a big name be playing Figgis? “Yes. It rhymes with ‘Dom Glues,’” he jokes.

New Girl, Old Guys: Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Oct. 11 crossover episode with New Girl will be set in Brooklyn, and it came about, says Goor, because “we’re big fans of their show, and they claim to be big fans of our show.” And how is the totally unessential, but thoroughly delightful, duo of Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) and Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller) handling Jake and Holt’s absence at the 99? “I’m not 100 percent sure they’re even aware that Holt and Jake are gone,” Goor says. “Not sure they were ever totally aware that they were there in the first place.” – KP

(Credit: John P. Fleenor/Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “Season 1 was all about Lucifer’s daddy issues and Season 2 is all about dealing with his mom,” showrunner Joe Henderson says. “And as we saw in the finale, he is genuinely terrified.”

Where We Left Off: Shot by Malcolm, Lucifer (Tom Ellis) promised God/dad he’d do anything if He would save him so that he in turn could save Chloe (his partner in crime-fighting/love interest) and her daughter Trixie. So God asked, and the ask was huge – find, capture, and return a hell escapee who just so happens to be the mother of the devil and Amenadiel, whose life was saved by his demon lover Mazikeen.

Coming Up: So much conflict, starting with Lucifer and his mom. “The subtext is that mom is coming after him to punish her son as he was her warden in hell, but you will come to realize that his assumptions aren’t necessarily true,” Henderson says. Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), who is playing mommy dearest, adds, “They have a lot of unresolved issues and quite a history of miscommunication so there’s definite reason for his concern. Mom has an agenda.” And there’s Chloe, who witnessed “Lucifer seemingly do the impossible once again.” Henderson continues, “She’s a good cop who saw a man get shot in the stomach and be fine about two minutes later. She will look into that.”

Strip Tease: Henderson promises that one of the case-of-the-week episodes will double your viewing pleasure. “Dan [Kevin Alejandro] and Lucifer go shirtless together. You’re welcome, America,” he says. “What happened was Kevin came in to start shooting completely ripped, so I went back to the writers room and said, ‘We need to get him shirtless ASAP.’ Someone else suggested we make them both go undercover on a case that required taking their clothes off. That scene is a gift that keeps on giving.” – Carrie Bell

(Credit: Michael Courtney/Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “Growing up without growing apart,” says executive producer Brett Baer.

Where We Left Off: Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Cece (Hannah Simone) got hitched, while Nick (Jake Johnson) took things to the next level with Reagan (Megan Fox). And Jess (Zooey Deschanel) realized she might still have romantic feelings for Nick.

Coming Up: Expect some shifts in the loft after Reagan returns later this season. “We have some episodes that deal with her impending arrival and what it’s going to be like once Reagan moves in with Nick in the loft, and whether or not the roommates are OK with that,” says Baer. But if you’re thinking: love triangle, EP Dave Finkel tells us that’s not how New Girl rolls. “Love triangles over here are tricky,” he says. “The thing between Nick and Jess is always at the core of the show, [but] we think of it more as a friend triangle.” Also coming up: New Girl will cross over with Brooklyn Nine-Nine when the crew travels to the Big Apple for a one-hour mashup in October.

House of Horrors: Schmidt and Cece don’t want to be “married with roommates,” so they’ll hunt for a place of their own. “It’s not going well because Aly’s younger sister, Leslie, is the real estate agent and she’s not a good real estate agent,” Baer says. “It causes all sorts of problems. They actually do manage to buy a house, but it’s a real fixer-upper. It’s somewhere between a fixer-upper and condemned.” – Victoria Leigh Miller

(Credit: Adam Taylor/Fox)

Where We Left Off: The three original Chanels were settling into life in the asylum after Hester set them up to take the fall for the sorority and campus murders. Only Dean Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) still suspected Hester (Lea Michele), but with her closet full of skeletons, she made a deal with the Red Devil to not incriminate one another. “When exoneration comes to the Chanels, somebody else has to go down and Hester is the only one left alive,” says executive producer Brad Falchuk. “Revenge is always a big theme in Scream Queens.”

Coming Up: Season 2 jumps three years into the future. The gals have cleared their names and been released, but Falchuk explains, “Life has not been great to them.” A guilt-ridden Munsch gets them jobs at her teaching hospital, but “any horror fan knows hospitals are not a place you want to find yourself.” Also on call this season are John Stamos and Taylor Lautner. “Stamos is the brilliant head surgeon. Taylor is his little brother and a baby-faced prodigy who reveals his strange medical affliction to No. 3 when they start a flirtation.” Falchuk also teases that other famous faces will check in as patients, but given what show we’re talking about, they may not check out. Lea Michele says, “When a new killer shows up at the hospital, Jamie Lee Curtis comes to ask my thoughts on what is happening, as she knew I was the killer last time.”

Good Girls Go Bad: Michele was thrilled when she discovered during the finale shoot that she was the last killer standing. “I don’t want redemption,” Michele says. “I got to play someone so feisty, so naughty, and a little evil last year. This year I am just bats*** crazy and there is nothing I like to play more, it turns out, than f***ing bats*** crazy.” – CB

(Credit: Patti Perret/Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “Darker. Sexier. We’re on in a later timeslot and we’re taking advantage of that,” says star Chloe Bennett. The growing hate and intolerance of the Inhumans will be explored, while the introduction of Ghost Rider brings up complicated moral questions about vengeance, drawing the line between good and evil, and “Who decides who deserves to die?”

Where We Left Off: Following the death of Hive, the show leapt six months ahead to a time where, apparently, Daisy has gone rogue as is now being hunted by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Coming Up: There’s a new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Jason O'Mara), but the headline is still Ghost Rider (Gabriel Luna), who is a game-changer for the show as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe – it’s their first opportunity to deeply explore the supernatural in this world.

Where’s Nicholas Cage?: This version of Ol’ Flamehead isn’t the Johnny Blaze that appeared in the movies. It’s Robbie Reyes, who drives a muscle car, not a motorcycle, and also has a history with Mr. Hyde (played last season by Kyle MacLachlan). – RC

(Credit: Kelsey McNeal/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: It’s a clash between generations, born out of a desire to cast more young people on the show. “There were so many good young people, and we weren’t going to have room for them all if we did a traditional tribe,” says host/executive producer Jeff Probst. While the millennials may seem to be the underdogs, “Be prepared for the millennials to reverse those expectations. They are much brighter than people give them credit for.” And though Probst is a Gen Xer himself, he didn’t side with them. “You hear the Gen X tribe say things like ‘back when I was a kid,’ and I found myself thinking, ‘Oh, shut up.’”

Coming Up: The players include a Survivor first: a high school student named Will Wahl. “It’s not like he just graduated. He was still enrolled!” Probst marvels. “You would never guess Will was 18 years old when you listen to him speak.” There’s also a bromance between millennials Taylor Stocker and Jay Starrett, who “bonded within the first 30 seconds, based in no small part on admiring each other’s hair.” A memorable figure on the Gen X side is David Wright, a television writer from Hollywood who “makes Cochran look like Tarzan. He is afraid of everything,” Probst says.

Idol Speculation: New season, new twist on the hidden immunity idol – now it’s hidden in plain sight. “On a beach, you tend to find things like: shell, coconuts, driftwood. Those are where the idols will be hidden,” Probst explains. “You might find one inside a piece of driftwood, which sounds impossible, but not when you have the Survivor art department engineering it.” – Kelly Woo

(Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: “This year is about transitions and new identities,” says creator Adam F. Goldberg.

Where We Left Off: Freshman Fear Week gave Adam (Sean Giambrone) a peek at what high school will be like, while Geoff Schwartz (Sam Lerner) finally gave up on Erica (Hayley Orrantia) after one too many rejections.

Coming Up: School will be a big focus this season. “Adam is now a high school freshman and decides to be proactive in establishing his identity as a cool badass and not a geek,” Goldberg says. “Erica is now a senior and even though it should be her best year yet, she’s too busy pining for Geoff Schwartz. And Beverly becomes a nearly unstoppable smother by actually becoming a substitute teacher at William Penn.”

The Breakfast Flub: Goldberg says he had to start Season 4 with “the episode that people pitch to me on a daily basis on Twitter,” so get ready for an homage to The Breakfast Club, thanks to Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey), who somehow lands her kids in Saturday detention. “The family bonds like never before, Breakfast Club style,” Goldberg reveals. “There is also much discussion on why there’s no actual breakfast.” By the way, there will also be another annual “Adam’s Folly” movie episode, and Goldberg tells us “it involves booking one of the biggest stars on the planet right now.” – VLM

(Credit: Michael Ansell/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: “The battle for the soul of Empire,” says executive producer/showrunner Ilene Chaiken.

Where We Left Off: Season 2 left us with the big-picture twist that Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) was now just as powerful as Lucious (Terrence Howard) within Empire Entertainment, but in more alarming news, Jamal (Jussie Smollett) was accidentally shot by Freda Gatz (Bre-z) on a red carpet. Oh, and either Anika (Grace Gealey) or Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) was thrown off a hotel roof.

Coming Up: “Cookie has a fabulous story this season,” Chaiken says. “The story of trying to move on from Lucious that might well involve a new man.” That new man? Guest star Taye Diggs. Meanwhile Cookie will still have to deal with the fact that her nemesis Anika is now married to her ex-husband Lucious. “Somehow Cookie is going to show us what it means to be done with Lucious and still co-CEO with him.” But Season 3 also promises “a battle between Lucious and Jamal, with Lucious trying to take his family down the dark path that he’s always trodden, and Jamal desperately trying to lift his family out of the depths and lead them toward living better lives.” Plus, as always, expect dozens of incredible Cookie outfits, as well as guest stars Phylicia Rashad and – be still our hearts – Mariah Carey. – Price Peterson

(Credit: Michael Lavine/Fox)

Where We Left Off: The squad was left reeling after the tragic death of Sgt. Mike Dodds (Andy Karl). Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) received a romantic request to go to Paris with her boyfriend Tucker (Robert John Burke).

Coming Up: Dodd’s death will continue to hang over the squad members. “The death of Andy Carl, or Sgt. Dodd is really looming in the squad room in the first episode,” says Peter Scanavino, who plays Det. Dominick Carisi, Jr. “You see a surprise thing about who is going to step up” as Sergeant, teases Kelli Giddish, who plays Det. Amanda Rollins. As for the premiere, it’s heavy on the action. “It begins with a hit and run in the park,” Giddish says. “And we find out this kid is totally alone and we find something in his backpack. Benson is put into this compromised situation.”

Veep Stakes: Vice President Joe Biden makes a cameo in the second episode in a storyline about clearing the rape kit backlog. It’s a cause he’s championed before; he was honored by Hargitay’s foundation, Joyful Hearts, which empowers survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse. “He’s very charismatic and he was very happy to be here,” Giddish says. The cast was starstruck by the VP and took photos with him. “I sent them to my parents, and they thought it was fake!” Scanavino reports, laughing. – KW

(Credit: Michael Parmelee/NBC)

This Season’s Theme: “We don’t have a theme. It would be very boring if we said, ‘This is the season where the families realize that they are all…’ – I don’t know, I’m already snoring.“

What’s Coming Up: "Everybody was off on a trip – the Dunphys to New York, Jay and Gloria to a wedding in Mexico, and Mitch and Cam to Missouri. So we follow them there, and it’s a three-part travel show,” says exec. producer Christopher Lloyd. “There’s a lot of fun, particularly with the Dunphys in New York. The biggest, most boisterous city in the world, meeting the biggest most enthusiastic human being, Phil Dunphy.”

Boy Trouble Luke gets a job working at Jay’s country club, and “he starts to speak like an older, retired guy, and he always has a bunch of ones and fives in his pocket from earning tips doing various legal and illegal things,” says Lloyd. Manny, meanwhile, goes through an “almost-Communist” phase. “When he was in that wedding in Mexico he met this very comely young socialist who recalibrated his philosophy on the world.”

New 'Family’ Friends: Castle star Nathan Fillion joins for a multi-episode arc as weatherman Rainer Shine. “Phil has always had kind of a man-crush on him, and he introduces him to the family,” says Lloyd. “But Rainer becomes more interested in other family members than Phil.” And Haley will encounter an old-school PR expert played by none other than Martin Short: “Haley’s contemplating a move into that career, so he brings her to the seat of the master to give her an education on how it’s done.” – Kristen Baldwin

(Credit: Hopper Stone/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: Ch-ch-changes, as the kids are growing up rapidly, and there will be two new faces in the Johnson family.

Where We Left Off: Bow (Emmy nominee Tracee Ellis Ross) found out she was pregnant at the end of Season 2…

Coming Up: …and her brother, Johan – played by Hamilton Tony winner Daveed Diggs – arrives to stir up tension, especially with his brother-in-law Dre (Emmy nominee Anthony Anderson). “We get along beautifully,” Ellis Ross says of Bow and her bro, but Dre finds Johan to be entitled and pretentious. “And yes, Dre lets him know it.“ While Black-ish creator Kenya Barris hints we should expect to meet the new Johnson baby during Season 3, he says the pregnancy won’t be the main focus of the Emmy-nominated comedy this season. “[All the kids] are growing, and I think the great thing in any family show is that you don’t have to make stories contrived, because you actually have a natural growth chart for your family,” Barris says. “As girls develop faster than boys, we’re seeing our twins starting to have that reflected in their lives. And at the same time you can look at Rainbow, who’s having what now is considered a late in life last child. That impacts the entire family.”

They’re Going to Disney World!: The Johnson family heads to the Florida theme park for the Season 3 premiere, in a nod to the family vacations Barris took as a child. “I think family vacations are really important. They don’t have to be big vacations, but every so often, especially as the kids start to get older, everyone is going in their own direction, and you need to put everyone on an island together and trap yourself on that island together to re-invest in who you are as a family,” Barris says. “As kids, we’d take those road trips, and I think being in that car with each other was the best part of the trip a lot of times. You didn’t realize that until it was over, or until later in your life, but it was. That will be a big part of what this family starts to realize.” – KP

(Credit:(Richard Cartwright/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: Relationship drama! Camilla Luddington, who plays intern Jo Wilson, says that the premiere picks up right where the Season 12 finale left off: with Alex (Justin Chambers) just having beaten DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) to a pulp after finding him with Jo and believing the worst. “Dealing with the aftermath is probably the central storyline,” she says of the beginning of Season 13. And then there’s a love triangle brewing with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), sister Maggie (Kelly McCreary), and Riggs (Martin Henderson).

Where We Left Off: Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) got married, and April (Sarah Drew) gave birth to her baby with Jackson (Jesse Williams). Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) made peace with Callie (Sara Ramirez), who moved to New York with her girlfriend.

Coming Up: The Alex mess is going to weigh heavily on the entire staff of Grey Sloan. “There will be ramifications,” Luddington warns. “There’s no way to hide what happened.” Meredith, meanwhile, has a more lighthearted storyline. “There’s a little bit of a love triangle, although I feel like Meredith doesn’t want to admit it,” she says. “It’s a lot of fun. With Grey’s, even in the midst of the darkest storylines, they bring another element of comedy somewhere else.” And let’s not forget the newlyweds! “Amelia and Owen just got married and what does married life look life for two very complicated people who really jumped into it?” Luddington teases.

Career Counseling: Even as Jo grapples with the aftermath of Alex’s violent episode, she’s still trying to find her place in the hospital. “Of anybody, Jo was connected to Callie, so Jo definitely has to find her place and her specialty,” she says. “We see Stephanie (Jerrika Hinton) in neuro, and I think Jo wants that for herself. So this season, I think we’ll see Jo finding a mentor, because she lost the person who may have been that.” – KW

(Credit: Byron Cohen/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: “The bond of friendship is the theme for the whole next season. Not so much ‘will they or won’t they’ or any of that, [but] just friends helping each other get through really tough times,” says creator Todd Harthan.

Where We Left Off: Rosewood (Morris Chestnut) and Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) were this close to revealing their true feelings for one another, but Villa backed off when she found out Rosie investigated her late husband’s death behind her back. Pippy (Gabrielle Dennis) and TMI (Anna Konkle), ended their engagement, and Captain Hornstock (Domenick Lomdardozzi) turned in his badge.

Coming Up: Season 2 picks up two weeks after the events in the Season 1 finale. “Nobody has seen each other for two weeks, which is very rare for all of them, and what’s happened to all of them is still very close to the surface,” Harthan says. Eddie Cibrian joins the cast as Aaron Slade, a mysterious – and difficult – addition to the East Miami Police department, and both Rosewood and Villa will have new love interests this season. Still, Rosie and Villa shippers shouldn’t give up hope. “When you have chemistry like that… It’s never going to go away,” Harthan says. “It’s just going to be dormant for a bit.”

Murderer Mystery: Mama Rosewood (Lorraine Toussaint) gets a major storyline with a 10-episode arc that kicks off in the first episode. “We’re doing the Rosewood version of Making a Murderer,” Harthan teases. “[Donna] starts to fight for a man that she believes in her heart is wrongfully accused of murder, and that starts to involve the whole Rosewood family and the police department.“ – VLM

(Credit: Adam Taylor/Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “Dealing with the daily aggravations but also moments of joy and fun that come with working a low-paying, unglamorous job,” says executive producer Justin Spitzer.

Where We Left Off: The Cloud 9 crew, with the exception of Dina (Lauren Ash), walked out after store manager Glenn (Mark McKinney) got fired.

Coming Up: In addition to exploring the workplace dynamic, Season 2 will touch on several Cloud 9 corporate issues. “We touch on trans bathroom rights, and things like that,” says Spitzer. “But we don’t ever want to be overly political … We never want to feel like we’re trying to teach people anything. We like issues when they give us a chance to explore our characters, or have fun, or present comedic opportunities without teaching a lesson.”

A Screwball Duo: Spitzer says Jonah (Ben Feldman) and Amy (America Ferrera) have always liked each other, even if they butt heads at work. “I like to think their relationship is a little closer to Sam and Diane, where they like and hate each other at the same time,” he explains. – VLM

(Credit: Trae Patton/NBC)

This Season’s Theme: “Betrayal is certainly one of them,” series creator Jon Bokenkamp says. “I think everyone from the task force to Red to almost all the key players are grappling with a deep betrayal that either they perpetrated or they feel has been perpetrated against them.”

Where We Left Off: Red learned his trusted friend Mr. Kaplan helped Liz fake her death. Liz fled to Cuba, where she hoped to live a private life with Tom and baby Agnes, but Red’s foe Alexander Kirk tracked her down, told her he’s her father, and kidnapped Tom and Agnes.

Coming Up: “We pick up very soon, almost real time, from where we left off at the end of Season 3,” Bokenkamp says. “One of the things that’s going to be really threatening about Alexander Kirk is that he has a deep understanding of Red’s past and of Elizabeth Keen’s past and of Katerina Rostova’s past. This is somebody who comes parachuting into this story, which is all about secrets and identity and how these people are interconnected, and here comes this guy with a backpack full of truths. Liz is going to be confronted with truths about who she is that we had never really addressed before.” Does that mean Liz should believe Kirk’s bombshell about being her father, Konstantin Rostov? “I think we should take it at face value,” Bokenkamp says. “That’s really the question that Liz is going to be asking herself. I think he’s going to have an incredibly compelling argument.”

Red Alert: Can Red forgive Mr. Kaplan’s treachery? “We’ve seen how he handles betrayal. We saw Mr. Grey in Season 1, and it didn’t end well,” Bokenkamp says. “At the same time, I think we’ve shown that we’re open to sometimes letting the story completely drive the shape of what our cast looks like. It broke my heart when Alan Alda blew up in the orange box, but that’s what the story determined. It’s going to be a very difficult, deeply emotional situation that is front and center in Red’s mind. How does he handle this?” – KP

(Credit: Peter Kramer/NBC)

This Season’s Theme: “Trying to get back to normal,” explains executive producer/showrunner Pete Nowalk. “And we’ll see that backfire greatly.”

Where We Left Off: Season 2 ended with the one-two punch of Wes (Alfred Enoch) learning the identity of his biological father shortly before the same man was shot in the head right in front of him by an unseen killer. In worse news, we discovered that Frank (Charlie Weber) had indirectly murdered Annalise’s unborn child and this secret had been the leverage Sam (Tom Verica) used to force Frank to murder Lila Stanhope way back in Season 1. Also, Asher (Matt McGorry) and Michaela (Aja Naomi King) did sex.

Coming Up: “Frank plays an essential role in our mystery, so we’ll be finding out more about Frank’s origin story,” Nowalk teases. “We’ll be putting the puzzle pieces together about who Frank is, and what his relationship with Annalise [Viola Davis] is, and whether they can move on from the betrayal at the end of last season.” Plus, "we’re going to find out a lot more about Michaela, and what the term 'bayou trash’ means to her. These characters all have these pasts that they’ve tried to mask. So we’ll be pulling off the masks.”

Will We Ever Truly Learn How to Get Away With Murder?: “I think the lesson of the show is you can get away with murder for the time being, but there are always going to be new methods that you have to learn,” Nowalk says with a laugh. – PP

(Credit: Nicole Wilder/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: “I think the theme is family,” Star Ken Jeong tells us. “Allison, my wife [played by Suzy Nakamura] will be working with me at the HMO, Welltopia, and so there is a bit of a shift in the paradigm. This season just really tackles not only working with his wife, but also living with her.”

Where We Left Off: Dr. Ken took a break from the HMO office to try his hand at stand-up, paving the way for more changes in Season 2. But Jeong tells us that his character will also explore deeper things than “just comedy and business.”

Coming Up: Damona (Tisha Campbell-Martin) and Pat (Dave Foley) will finally decide what to do with their on-and-off relationship, while Dave (Albert Tsai) will get a girlfriend, played by Jeong’s real-life daughter, Zooey. And Jeong teases there’s something planned for D.K. (Dana Lee) that’s “kind of a jaw-dropper” and causes him to move in with the Park family. “We have a specific reason he moves in,” Jeong explains.

Culture Shock: Jeong tells us he’s excited for a Halloween episode that will be “a full-on Korean ghost story.” “We are really talking more cultural aspects,” Jeong says. “It’s almost a little bit ‘Treehouse of Horror’ you get from The Simpsons. So we’re doing a very outside-of-the-box Halloween episode. It really departs from the Dr. Ken formula and we are really excited about it. ” – VLM

(Credit: Danny Feld/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: “Everybody is taking stock of their lives, especially McGarrett (Alex O'Loughlin),” says showrunner Peter Lenkov, “And asking themselves if it’s worth it.”

Where We Left Off: For McGarrett, that soul-searching is a result of his near-death experience. For Chin (Daniel Dae Kim), it’s his promise to look after Gabriel’s daughter. Then, there’s that mysterious appearance by Wo Fat’s father…

Coming Up: Six years of being good at their job has taken its toll, says Lenkov, “And I think they’re all ready to make changes to their lives.” Kono (Grace Park) will be asking herself if it’s time to start a family and McGarrett wonders if everything he’s done has cost him the good stuff in his life. “They’re a little more mature this season.”

The Big Bad: Lenkov says the first four episodes introduce a villain who is “very, very different. A more cerebral villain” than we’ve seen in the past and who will be with the show “way beyond that.” – RC

(Credit: Norman Shapiro/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: “Friday nights at 10!” jokes executive producer Kevin Wade.

Where We Left Off: Season 6 of the police procedural ended with the fallout after the grand jury failed to indict an NYPD officer involved in a shooting of a teenager, and how the verdict directly affected Frank (Tom Selleck) and Erin Reagan (Bridget Moynahan) and Mayor Poole (David Ramsey).

Coming Up: Season 7 picks up with an investigation by the state attorney general’s office into Danny Reagan’s (Donnie Wahlberg) shooting of serial killer Thomas Wilder (Louis Cancelmi). “We kick off the season with Danny being investigated for what anybody would think was a good thing,” Wade says. “He took a very bad man off the streets and in a legal way… [The investigation] causes him to question his place in the NYPD.” Wade also tells us that Erin “continues to find the second chapter in her life” now that her daughter Nicky (Sami Gayle) is off at college, while her new partnership with Anthony (Steve Schirripa) has her acting like more of an investigator than when she first started with the D.A.’s office. Also, Jamie Reagan (Will Estes) and Officer Janko (Vanessa Ray) continue to be frustrated by the fact that they’re still beat cops.

Have Mercy!: Full House alum Lori Loughlin will be a guest star this season in a role that’s a far cry from Aunt Becky. “Because she’s the widow of a fallen and decorated cop Frank knew, Frank has kind of acted as a surrogate dad to her son,” Wade says. “It’s likely their next encounter might be something that steps into a more personal story.” – VLM

(Credit: John Paul Filo/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: “At the end of Season 5, we literally saw the separation of the two parts of Regina. That becomes one of the operating metaphors for the season – a lot of the characters will have to look inward at the different parts of themselves,” said co-creator Adam Horowitz. Co-creator Edward Kitsis added, “The question is: Can you destroy the darkness?”

Where We Left Off: A portal gone wrong took Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) to the Land of Untold Stories, where they met Jekyll and Hyde. Then, Regina, grieving the death of Robin Hood, took the doctor’s separation serum to kill the Evil Queen. But the villain somehow survived – and vowed to destroy Storybrooke.

Coming Up: Aladdin (Deniz Akdeniz) and Jasmine (Karen David) are the newest Disney characters to pop up on the show. And as the EPs revealed at Comic-Con, Aladdin turns out to be a Savior like Emma (Jennifer Morrison). This season will explore Savior mythology, which mirrors the Dark One mythology. And “we’re going to learn there have been others and we’re going to learn early on that the fate of Saviors is not always a happy one,” says Kitsis.

Relationship Status: With Emma declaring her love for Hook (Colin O’Donoghue), “we can look forward to seeing those two progress, or at least try to,” Kitsis teases. And Hook lovers can expect more flashbacks. “There’s more to Hook’s past that we haven’t seen yet.” As for Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and Belle (Emilie de Ravin), she’ll get out of the box she’s trapped in eventually and confront her baby daddy. “What we like to call the 'maternity-leave box’ won’t be left closed for long,” Horowitz says, referring to de Ravin’s break last season after having a baby. “That will allow us to explore the ramifications of where those two are now. It’s a rocky journey.” – KW

(Credit: Eike Schroter/ABC)

Coming Up: A second Robot Chicken couch gag is on its way, but first: In the season premiere, The Simpsons meet up with Adventure Time for “Simpsons Time,” with AT creator Pendleton Ward singing the revised theme song.

Guest Stars: Seven-time Emmy winner Allison Janney, the cast of Masters of Sex, chess master Magnus Carlsen, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, and comedian Patton Oswalt.

Special Episodes: The 600th episode will also be the 27th “Treehouse of Horror” and the centerpiece is a Hunger Games-esque dystopian future where Mr. Burns controls all the water in Springfield. The billionaire will also feature prominently in an episode where he builds Burns University – an institution with some not-coincidental parallels to the now-discredited Trump University.

Not Throwing Away His Shot: Though they didn’t get Lin Manuel-Miranda for their two-part, hip-hop Great Gatsby episode, showrunner Al Jean did get to meet the creator of Hamilton for two minutes after a performance. “You couldn’t ask for a nicer guy,” he says. “He was really wonderful. He’s a Simpsons fan!” – RC

(Credit: Fox)

Where We Left Off: It doesn’t really matter, according to showrunner/executive producer Barbie Kligman, as the only character that carries over to the second season is detective Andrea Cornell (Juliette Lewis). “There are benefits in having seen the first season in terms of the level of understanding of Cornell because the Ben Crawford case did change her. There are incremental differences in how she approaches this murder and this suspect. But you can easily jump straight into season 2.”

Coming Up: While Eric Warner (Michael Ealy) is at a party celebrating taking over his family’s private equity firm from his father (Terry O’Quinn), tragedy strikes: His wife (Jordana Brewster) takes a forced swan dive from a skyscraper roof “We have gone from the suburban cul-de-sac to a private equity firm in the city so there is more pressure on this case as the victim, the family, and the accused are more moneyed,” Kligman says. “Eric’s sister is a criminal attorney so she knows how the system and Cornell work. That means there will be additional pressure from the brass above her.” Ealy, who didn’t want to know whodunit until absolutely necessary, promises that this season will keep you guessing until the very end: “After the pilot, I was sure it was my father or me, but I changed my mind with almost every script and had all these conspiracy theories. It is a roller coaster.”

Dressed To Kill: As Warner, Ealy spent the shoot dressed to the nines. “All of my shirts were tailor-made for me. The suits and ties were custom. I had pocket squares and a fancy Audi that was basically orgasmic to hear the engine roar come to life. I am not a big fashion guy, but I raised my suit game after playing Eric Warner. But for everyday life, I went right back to being a jeans and T-shirt guy. Looking like Eric Warner is too much work when you don’t have a glam squad.“ – CB

This Season’s Theme: Co-showrunner Rich Appel jokes that the writers are using Season 15 to “solve the immigration crisis any way we can.”

Where We Left Off: Kate McKinnon and Neil deGrasse Tyson were among the big-name guest stars last season, which also saw the Griffin family indulge in their usual series of wacky misadventures, from Brian and Stewie’s road trip to India to Peter’s homemade horror movie, which takes a typically freaky turn.

Coming Up: Longtime fan of the show Sean Penn will play himself in an early episode, flying in to the rescue when Peter’s decision not to vaccinate Stewie results in a quarantine situation. And in another installment, New England Patriots wildman Rob Gronkowski pulls up to the house next door to the Griffins in his party bus. “For the first time, Peter is living next door to someone who out-Peter’s Peter,” Appel says, laughing.

Graveyard Shift: Two-time Family Guy guest star Frank Sinatra Jr. passed away in March, but not before recording his last cameo for the series to air later this season. “We’ve done a lot of final performances from actors,” co-showrunner Alec Sulkin explains, pointing to Lauren Bacall as a past example. “As one of our writers says, we have the unfortunate distinction of walking them off to the glue factory.” – EA

(Credit: Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “Every part of this group is teaching Tandy to grow,” Emmy-nominated star Will Forte says. “[Losing his brother] is just another step which connects him to the group and makes him want to try even harder. He definitely will still always be a somewhat challenged individual. We don’t want to rob the character of all the fun. Tandy will never be like, a normal person, but as long as his heart’s in the right place, that’s what we’ve been shooting for.”

Where We Left Off: Forte’s Phil Tandy bid adieu to his astronaut brother Mike (Jason Sudeikis), who appeared to be sick and dying from the virus that wiped out most of the population. Meanwhile, the Malibu gang faced imminent danger, as seaman Pat (Mark Boone Junior), accompanied by two cohorts, landed on their beach and headed towards the gang’s house with weapons in their hands.

Coming Up: “It picks up right where Season 2 left off. It’s a really fun first episode back. There are some good surprises.” Not cryptic enough for you? Forte, who says even the network encourages him to offer up more episode spoilers sometimes, is a bit more open about the fate of Mike, who some viewers think may still be alive. “If we ever found out that he somehow didn’t die, it would have to be for a very good reason, because we would hate to rob [the story] of the reality of that moment,“ says the actor. "We certainly would never have started out the third season with, ‘Oh my god, he’s alive!'”

Last Babies on Earth: Will we see Erica and Carol’s babies – “Yorba Linda” or “Bezequil,” as Carol wants to name her offspring – be born in Season 3, or, at least, will Tandy and his crew start to plan for the births without any medical assistance? “We’ll be dealing with the realities of bringing kids into this new world,” Forte says. “We’re still figuring out the timeline. It’s very possible that if we didn’t do a time jump, we would have to go several seasons to actually see these babies, but who knows if that’s going to happen for us? Time, and Fox, will tell.” – KP

(Credit: Adam Taylor/Fox)

This Season’s Theme: “Sometimes you have to do bad to do good,” says creator Josh Safran.

Where We Left Off: Liam (Josh Hopkins) was revealed to be the mastermind behind the attacks, and Alex (Priyanka Chopra) and Ryan (Jake McLaughlin) killed him; Alex accused Claire Haas (Marcia Cross) of assisting Liam; Simon (Tate Ellington) sacrificed himself to save his friends from an exploding bomb; and Alex was offered a job at the CIA.

Coming Up: Season 2 is "darker than Season 1,” says Safran. “The FBI’s goal is to protect people, and they do good. But like I said before, sometimes you have to do bad to do good. The CIA is all about stopping things before they even start to heat up. They take a much longer view, and they have to do some more insidious things, so there’s an amorality that you have to have in a certain way to be an operative in the CIA. That takes Alex into darker waters.” So yes, Alex accepts the job with the CIA, and Safran says we’ll learn in the Season 2 premiere why the CIA was interested in her and her FBI past, and how they plan to use it to their advantage. “While characters from the past and events from the past still are in the fabric of Alex’s life and the show’s life, we are not doing any sort of direct pickup, except for in the history of these characters,” says Safran. “Claire Haas is vice president, but she exists as a specter of when people get away with things, let’s say. She’s more of a moral lesson and less of a plot point.”

New Love Interest?: There is a time jump between Seasons 1 and 2, but Safran won’t say how long. He confirms Ryan is back and will team with Alex on a new adventure, but won’t say if they’re together romantically. He does drop some intel on new cast member Blair Underwood, who’ll be working with Alex at the CIA. “He plays an enigmatic character named Owen Hall. He intersects with every character. We love working with Blair so much,” Safran says. “What I love so much about this season as a whole is that it’s a slower burn. It still has the fun plot twists that you’ve come to expect from the show, but the characters unfold much more slowly. You’re walking deeper into their lives with them.” – KP

(Credit: Jonathan Wenk/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: (First, a note: We spoke with showrunner Erika Messer before Thomas Gibson was fired from the show. It’s not yet clear how his character, Aaron Hotchner, will be written out.) “Things that are old are new again,” says showrunner Messer. “We haven’t really done any long-term arcs really since Prentiss left the show in Season 6,” but she feels like they’ve earned the right to do more serialized storytelling. “We’re going to be doing something a little more detailed like [the Ian Doyle arc] this season.”

Where We Left Off: A multi-city prison break has released 13 serial killers the BAU had previously put away, including Mr. Scratch.

Coming Up: Over the summer, a few of those escapees will have already been caught by a fugitive task force, which is where newcomer Luke Alvez (played by CSI: Miami’s Adam Rodriguez) enters the picture. He joins Prentiss (Paget Brewster, who returned briefly last season and has now been promoted to series regular). Alvez "is a little bit more of a solitary guy, so working with the BAU is something that probably scares him, which is funny because he’s a tough guy,” says Messer. “The idea of being responsible for a team and their survival – I think he takes that really literally and seriously.” Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), meanwhile, “doesn’t really want to like him, but he’s so likable that it’s hard,” says Messer. “So it’ll be this little arc of Luke having to earn his way in with Garcia.”

Collaboration: One of the reasons that the ensemble feels so rich is that so many of them are creatively invested. Joe Mantegna and Matthew Gray Gubler have both directed episodes and Kirsten Vangsness has co-written episodes with Messer. Vangsness and Messer are also writing this season’s Halloween episode, but they already know they won’t be able to top their last collaboration. “The last thing we did was Shemar [Moore] leaving the show, so emotionally, we know that’s a bar we’re not going to hit.” – RC

(Credit: CBS)

This Season’s Theme: According to creator Michael Seitzman, Season 2 of CBS’s medical procedural will follow the two R’s: refresh and reboot. “We’ve done a reset the same way a real hospital would,” Seitzman says, acknowledging the personnel shuffle that occurred between seasons, which saw freshman year cast members Bonnie Somerville and Raza Jaffrey departing Angels Memorial, as newbie Rob Lowe arrives.

Where We Left Off: Boris Kodjoe joined the staff in the final four episodes of Season 1 as chief of surgery, Mike Campbell, who regularly clashes with Marcia Gay Harden’s hard-charging ER Dr. Rorish. “This is the first time where I could explore the darker side of a character,” Kodjoe says. “Campbell is an alpha dog; he may not be as socially skilled other doctors, but he knows what needs to be done and does it.”

Coming Up: “The big twist of Season 2 is that Campbell is now the head of both the ER and the OR, so he’s everyone’s boss,” Seitzman says, noting that this development is sure to elevate Leanne’s already high stress level. Good thing she’ll have a friend in Lowe’s Colonel Ethan Willis, an active army doctor stationed at Angels Memorial to train the ER staff in the ways of combat medicine. “Ethan and Leanne believe in a certain kind of cowboy medicine – they do whatever it takes to save the patient.”

Jaws, Too: What better way to hook audiences, and introduce Lowe’s character, than with a good old-fashioned shark attack? The Season 2 premiere dispatches the staff, plus Col. Willis, to a Malibu beach that’s been stained red by a sharp-toothed fish. “We poured gallons of fake biodegradable blood all over the beach,” Seitzman says of the premiere’s set piece. “With the express approval of the California government! We were very environmentally conscious about it.” – EA

(Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: The stakes are higher than ever, as Liza’s personal and professional lives become even more complicated. “She has two boys who are giving her attention who are both amazing. She has a great job. It’s a fairy tale,” star Sutton Foster says. But her romantic relationships are coming to a crossroads and decisions will have to be made. “Liza is going to have to start asking a lot of hard questions,” Foster warns. “Hearts are going to be broken, I think.”

Where We Left Off: Liza tried to quit Empirical Publishing after a huge fight with Kelsey, but Charles (Peter Hermann) convinced her to return – and kissed her! But Liza’s ex-boyfriend, Josh (Nico Tortorella), also kissed her to try to win her back.

Coming Up: Aside from the big love triangle, Liza is also dealing with upheaval at work. The publishing industry is not in a good place. “One of our episodes is called 'The Last Day of Books.’ And of course, it’s affecting Empirical,” Foster explains. “The whole season is about trying to save the company and about the Millennial Imprint that’s trying to gain notoriety and new readers.” And the world is expanding, with more backstory and insight into supporting characters, like Diana Trout (Miriam Shor). Let’s just say the buttoned-up boss lets her hair down like we’ve never seen before.

Sex and the City: “There’s a lot of sex this season,” Foster says, laughing. “For everyone!” Kelsey, who lost fiancé Thad in a freak accident, goes on “a bit of a boy bender,” she adds. Co-star Hilary Duff teases, “And in unexpected places. A lot of public sex this year. A lot of nudity.” – KW

(Credit: TV Land)

This Season’s Theme: “Ash returns home,” says executive producer and star Bruce Campbell. We’ll find out that his habit of leaving things worse than he found them has been a life-long pattern and his hometown still remembers. “The town doesn’t want him back!”

Where We Left Off: Ash leaves the Necronomicon with Ruby and the end of the world is imminent.

Coming Up: After three movies and a full season of television, we’ll finally get to find out about Ash’s past. “It’s a great chance to find out about his family dynamics,” promises Campbell. “He’s got to save the world and repair his damaged reputation.” Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo are back, and Lucy Lawless will be a much bigger presence. “Last year, she just wasn’t available until halfway through the season,” due to her commitments on Salem, but, “She’s a major player this season and we couldn’t be happier.” And he calls Lee Majors – best known as the Six Million Dollar Man – “the perfect guy” to play his dad, because Ash and Steve Austin are “both guys with missing parts.”

A Little Slice of Home: What do you do when your show is set in small-town Michigan, but you’re shooting in New Zealand? You send your production designer to Gladwin, Michigan (which the town in Season 2 is patterned after) so that when you build your set, it’s as authentic as possible. “I’m jealous! He spent a summer on the road looking at small towns in Michigan.” – RC

(Credit: Starz)

This Season’s Theme: “The theme for the first half of the season is elections,” says executive producer Barbara Hall, speaking to the real-world presidential election and the one on the show that could find Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni) running for vice president.

Where We Left Off: Elizabeth worried that she was about to be replaced when she got wind that a short list of candidates was being vetted for her job, President Dalton (Keith Carradine) told her that he actually wanted her as his running mate for the next election.

Coming Up: Should we expect a title change to Madame Vice President? “I feel like regardless of what we do, the title can stay the same. But we’ll see,” says Hall. The season opener, directed by Morgan Freeman, jumps right into the election story, as well as some stand-alone foreign policy stories. Freeman, also an executive producer on the show, reprises his Chief Justice Willborn role.

On the Personal Side: The three McCord kids (Stevie, Alison, and Jason) will still have prominent storylines and “things between Elizabeth and Henry are very good,” says Tim Daly. “They are challenged by this outside force that threatens them a little bit. But on a personal level they’re doing great.” And Dmitri fans, have no fear. “We will see Dmitri again and we are hoping to pick up on what his life in America is about and what his relationship with Henry is like now,” says Hall. – Abby West

(Credit: Sarah Shatz/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: The Gallaghers are reinventing themselves. “Everybody’s on a new path than what we’ve seen before,” teases executive producer Nancy Pimental. “New relationships, new careers, new explorations for pretty much everybody.”

Where We Left Off: Frank (William H. Macy) ruined Fiona’s (Emmy Rossum) wedding to Sean by revealing that Sean was still using heroin. Lip (Jeremy Allen White) went to rehab. Ian (Cameron Monaghan) became an EMT. The kids, all fed up with Frank, threw him into the freezing Chicago River.

Coming Up: The Gallagher children are trying to get their acts together. “Fiona has a new attitude about life, sort of a 'f*** men’ attitude,” Pimental explains. She’ll find a role model in the successful owner of her workplace, a woman played by Sharon Lawrence. As for Lip, he’s out of rehab – but not totally on the straight and narrow. “He’s certainly learned some things, but he’s also learned some tricks as well.” Ian is still with boyfriend Caleb, but “there will be some twists in his relationship and his career.” Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) continues his transformation from gangster to model citizen, while Debbie (Emma Kenney) works on motherhood. “She has a Gallagher interpretation of what a good mom should be.” Uh oh.

Frank You Very Much: “I am happy to report Frank did survive,” star William H. Macy says. He wakes up in the hospital, unaware of what happened to him. When he realizes his kids did this to him, “He cuts them off.” He’s homeless again, since Fiona kicks him out of the house, but he uses that to his advantage. “He creates a homeless shelter, as only Frank can do it,” Macy says. “But that goes south, because you know Frank, he can f*** up a baked potato.” – KW

(Credit: Chuck Hodes/Showtime)

This Season’s Theme: “A question we’ve asked a lot over the years is, ‘Can broken people repair themselves?’" says creator Robert Doherty. “We’ve met plenty of criminals, but we’ve never tried to reform any of those criminals. It’s something we’ll explore over the course of Season 5.”

Where We Left Off: Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller), Joan (Lucy Liu), and Papa Holmes (John Noble) defeated the new head of Moriarty’s criminal enterprise, Joshua Vikner, only to have Daddy Dearest wind up heading up the organization instead … with the promise that he’d be working to bring it down from the inside.

Coming Up: Season 5 takes a deep dive into Sherlock Holmes mythology and reels in the semi-obscure supporting player Shinwell Johnson (True Blood’s Nelsan Ellis), a career criminal who gathers intel, and occasionally throws punches, for the detective. (For those Sir Arthur Conan Doyle obsessives, Shinwell is first glimpsed in “The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.”) “In our show, he’s a character fresh out of prison and trying to re-enter society with as few bumps and bruises along the way as possible.” Sherlock and Joan will also match wits with a bomber in the season premiere, and the second episode finds Holmes being forcibly hired to aid a New York street gang. Things get positively cosmic in the fourth episode, which also happens to be Elementary’s 100th installment, when the duo discovers that a murder victim may hold the secret to diverting “Earth-killer” asteroids. “You could say they’re dealing with nothing less than the fate of life on Earth.”

Dormant Dormer: Natalie Dormer’s Game of Thrones commitments have kept her from reprising her dual role as Irene Adler and Jamie Moriarty since Elementary’s second season. But if you saw GoT’s explosive sixth season finale, you know that Margaery Tyrell isn’t a player in the game of thrones anymore. “As a Game of Thrones fan, I was bummed, but as an Elementary fan, I’m much more hopeful than I was a year ago,” Doherty says. “I notice they didn’t show any bodies, so I’m not totally convinced that Margaery’s dead. Maybe it’s in the books or something.” – EA

(Credit: Michael Parmelee/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: Executive producer Nick Wootton says the theme of the show has been the same from the beginning: “The evolution of, especially, Walter, but also the entire team from robot to human.”

Where We Left Off: Walter had just admitted he loves Paige – though not to Paige. Toby had just proposed to Happy, and she revealed that she was already married.

Coming Up: “We’ve broken out two times as much emotional story for this season than we have in any previous season,” says Wootton. “It’s really fun for us to thread through all the action.” The team will make time to go to space; they shot some weightlessness scenes for the Area 51 episode last year and liked it so much, they decided to go all the way.

Secret Hubby: We’ll find out who Happy is married to within the first six episodes, and you can’t stop reading fan theories – the character isn’t one we’ve seen or heard about yet. – RC

(Credit: Richard Cartwright/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: Mindy will make “the biggest decision ever, between Danny, the father of her son, and Jody, a man who just happens to have bought her an apartment,” star/creator Mindy Kaling says. “Later in the season, Mindy will bristle as the staff takes her hostility towards a new female doctor for misogyny. And as usual we’ll focus on our favorite themes: fashion, romance, and the ancient struggle between woman and food stains.”

Where We Left Off: Mindy hooked up with ex/baby daddy Danny (Chris Messina) when they were stuck in an elevator together. She returned home to find that Jody (Garret Dillahunt) had bought the upstairs apartment as a romantic gesture.

Coming Up: A battle is brewing within Shulman & Associates. “The nurses finally realize how badly they’ve been treated and go on strike, suddenly the doctors have to do their own nurse work and realize how good they used to have it,” Kaling says. And get ready for the comedy to push into new frontiers. “We’re doing another genre-bending fantasy episode, which you’ll have to wait to hear more about. But ignore the rumors, it’s not our take on Avatar. Hulu balked at the episode’s $200 million dollar price tag.”

Sex Change: In August Kaling told reporters that she pitched an episode where her character wakes up as a white man. So, is this actually going to happen? “It depends, we need to find a white man who can convincingly say ‘Exqueeze me’ and eat sour straws lying on the floor,” the star jokes. “We’re doing a nationwide casting search of America’s gay bars and brunch spots.” – KW

(Credit: Jordin Althhaus/Hulu)

This Season’s Theme: “Family,” says executive producer Aaron Helbing. “What we’re exploring is the balance of [Barry’s] work family and his nuclear family.” Which would be a generic topic for any other show – but considering how much his nuclear family fluctuates (gain a dad from prison, lose a dad to Zoom, gain a dad from Earth-2…), that gets to be very tricky very quickly.

Where We Left Off: Barry revisited the past again, only this time, he saved his mother from Reverse Flash.

Coming Up: Saving his mother precipitates the events of Flashpoint – where the show will draw on the comic book storyline of the same name. Like Earth-2, we’ll see alternate versions of all the characters and, though we’ll only be in that universe for a few episodes, Helbing says, “the impact of Flashpoint and of the consequences of Barry’s action will definitely play out throughout the season.”

The Super Musical: Not just one, but two crossover musical episodes between The Flash and Supergirl are in the works for this season. Executive producer Greg Berlanti is fond of casting Broadway stars on his shows and fans have been clamoring for this from both shows since their launch. – RC

(Credit: Katie Yu/The CW)

This Season’s Theme: “Legacy,” says showrunner Wendy Mericle. “All of the characters, but especially Oliver, will be thinking about what kind of legacy are they going to leave for the future.”

Where We Left Off: Oliver was just elected mayor, Diggle had just murdered his brother, and Felicity just dropped a nuclear weapon on Havenrock.

Coming Up: Everyone will be dealing with the consequences of last season. Mericle says they will “play the reality” of the nearly averted nuclear apocalypse. Oliver will have to deal, not only with a city devastated by three major terrorist attacks in four years, but a rising tide of vigilantes inspired by his actions – if not his ethics.

The Legion of Doom: Arrow has always been the least cartoony of the Arrowverse shows, so what are Malcolm Merlyn and Damien Darhk doing as the core of this live-action revival of the old Superfriends villain cabal (which also features Captain Cold from Legends of Tomorrow and Reverse Flash from The Flash)? Mericle shrugs and says, “Everyone wants a piece of John Barrowman and everyone wants a piece of Neil McDonough!” – RC

(Credit: Bettina Strauss/The CW)

Where We Left Off: Just as papa Beau (Sam Elliott) and mama Maggie (Debra Winger) seemed to be on the verge of a reconciliation after he saved the family ranch, Maggie disappeared. And just as Colt (Ashton Kutcher) decided to make an honest effort with girlfriend Heather (Kelli Goss), his high school sweetheart Abby (Elisha Cuthbert) told him she’s having doubts about her fiancé.

Coming Up: Colt’s going to have to choose between a future with his current love and a future with his past love. As for his parents, their relationship will continue to be front and center too, inspired by that other sitcom where Kutcher and The Ranch co-star Danny Masterson first met. “It’s a multi-generational show. We don’t necessarily have some set demographic that we have to appease,” says Kutcher, who, along with Masterson, is also an executive producer on The Ranch. “We just want to tell really good stories. These characters are so rich. We intentionally cast [Elliott and Winger] because they’re not traditional sitcom actors, and they can do deeper, grittier stuff.”

That 2016 Show?: So, about that photo Danny Masterson Instagrammed last spring, the one that includes Wilmer Valderrama, Mila Kunis, and Laura Prepon with Masterson and Kutcher on The Ranch set … what does it mean? “I think that maybe people that are fans of [That '70s Show] might have something to look forward to in this next set of episodes,” Kutcher teases. – KP

(Credit: Netflix)

This Season’s Theme: Before the Clinton campaign chose it as their slogan, “Stronger Together” was already one of Supergirl’s mottos (it was the title of their second episode). With the addition of Lena Luthor (Katie McGrath), daughter of supervillain Lex Luthor, that motto becomes even more relevant. Showrunner Ali Adler says the writers used the metaphor of, “Can a Republican and a Democrat be friends?” to build that relationship. “That’s sort of our paradigm for where we’re exploring this season.”

Where We Left Off: With the defeat of Non and Myriad, things seem tidily resolved. Except for that matter of another pod from Krypton identical to the one that brought Kara (Melissa Benoist) to Earth.

Coming Up: There will be plenty of new faces. That pod’s occupant is Mon-El (Chris Wood), who Adler says will test Kara “emotionally and physically.” With Calista Flockhart’s Cat Grant appearing less, Snapper Carr (Ian Gomez) will be Kara’s chief foil at CatCo. Then, of course, there’s the Big S himself – only seen in silhouette last season – Superman, played by Tyler Hoechlin.

Superman vs. Superman: Will we finally get to see former Superman Dean Cain face-to-face with current Superman Tyler Hoechlin? Adler can’t say for sure yet whether or not this will happen, but finding Kara’s dad, played by Cain, is a “big part of our quest for this season.” – RC

(Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: “Romance is more a part of the season than it ever has been on 2 Broke Girls,” says executive producer Michelle Nader. “We want the girls to have fun with the boys this year.”

Where We Left Off: Max (Kat Dennings) and Caroline (Beth Behrs) paid off Han’s (Matthew Moy) gambling debt in exchange for part ownership in the diner, and Max said goodbye to Randy (Ed Quinn).

Coming Up: The girls open their dessert bar, and their rapper pal, 2 Chainz, will be back for the hour-long premiere episode. Also back? Ed Quinn’s Randy. “He and Max had such a big very big romantic relationship,” Nader says. “The timing is bad, but they are kind of crazy about each other.” Caroline may finally get a love interest – and possibly a big-name star to play her in the movie about her life. Meanwhile, new mom Sophie (Jennifer Coolidge) will be “a real helicopter parent,” says Nader.

Han, Solo: Nader tells us Han will be desperate to get his diner back, so he’ll take on side jobs as an Uber driver, a flower delivery guy, and a dog walker. While the girls will have some success with their dessert bar, a snafu involving an illegal liquor license could keep them broke as a joke. – VLM

(Credit: Darren Michaels/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: “The Hecks are running after the inevitable growing up of their kids,” series co-creator Eileen Heisler says. “Their family as they know it might be headed for change, and Frankie’s trying hard to hold on to the core group, which is the name of our first episode.“

Where We Left Off: Brick (Atticus Shaffer) graduated from junior high, Sue (Eden Sher) headed to Dollywood for a summer job, Frankie (Patricia Heaton) and Mike (Neil Flynn) spent the summer couch surfing after buying name brand batteries for the TV remote, and Axl (Charlie McDermott) met “the love of his life.”

Coming Up: We’ll meet Axl’s dream girl too, as will the Hecks. “He’s very much smitten, kind of goofy,” Heisler says of Axl, whose girlfriend April will be played by Awkward’s Greer Grammer. “But April will not be necessarily everything Frankie dreamed of for Axl. This romance causes a little friction in the household, between the family and Axl.” Sue may get a new love interest in Season 8 too, though she’s more immediately focused on a possible new career path, after having a showbiz (ish) experience in Tennessee. “She got to spend two weeks as Girl in the Well, a featured performer, at Dollywood, which we’ll see a little flash of,” Heisler teases. “It makes her contemplate potentially changing her major.” Meanwhile, Frankie’s still working at the dental office, Mike’s still working at the quarry, and Brick is starting high school, continuing to date Cindy, and learning how to swallow a pill. “He only knows how to take squirt-y medicine,” says Heisler, “so that’ll be fun.”

Rev. TimTom!: The Middle does great holiday episodes, and this season will again include special celebrations for Halloween and Thanksgiving. Also returning: actor Paul Hipp’s hip (ish), guitar-strummin’, singing youth pastor, and this time he’ll be helping Brick instead of Sue. “Brick is learning how to drive, and there’s a little mishap that causes the whole town to sort of get involved,” Heisler says. “Rev. TimTom is in that episode, singing his tunes, and we hope to have him back more than once this year.” – KP

(Credit: Michael Ansell/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: The premiere takes the Huangs to Taiwan, where the family members grapple with where they belong. The episode “mirrors what we did in the pilot,” explains showrunner Nahnatchka Khan. It’ll be an eye-opening experience for all of the Huangs, as they deal with “being Asian American and not quite fitting in either place.”

Where We Left Off: Louis’s (Randall Park) brother Gene (guest star Ken Jeong) visited to announce his upcoming marriage, but after the brothers argued, Gene abruptly returned to Taiwan. To mend fences, Louis and Jessica (Constance Wu) packed up the kids to follow him.

Coming Up: Election fever comes to the comedy in the form of the 1996 presidential race. “It was Clinton vs. Dole, so we’re drawing a lot of parallels in terms of what’s important to voters,” says Khan. “For our family the immigration issue is going to come up – again the idea of where do you fit in?”

Growing Pains: Not only will Eddie (Hudson Yang) have to deal with attending the same school as little brother Emery (Forrest Wheeler), he’s hitting puberty. “In the Halloween episode, Eddie and his friends get invited to their first high school party,” Khan teases. “When you’re in middle school still, half the kids still want to go trick or treating and half of them want to go where the girls are. Not everybody grows up at the same time.” – KW

(Credit: Nicole Wilder/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: “Last year it was about our family dealing with the divorce and Kenny coming out, but basically they were all kind of living in theory. And this season it’s about practice. This year we’re going to see in practical ways how they’re all moving forward into this new reality that they’re in,” says executive producer Stacy Traub.

Where We Left Off: Kenny (Noah Galvin) kissed a boy – at prom, no less! – and Eileen (Martha Plimpton) tried to make sense out of her attraction to Vice Principal Murray (Matt Oberg).

Coming Up: RuPaul, Lance Bass, Tyler Oakley, and Jane Lynch will all make cameos in a rainbow-colored fantasy sequence in the premiere episode. Traub also tells us Kenny will get into a relationship in Season 2, while his mom gets into a love triangle with VP Murray. Family patriarch Pat (Jay R. Ferguson) moves out of the basement and into the garage (think tiny house), and the O’Neal kids will hold a divorce ceremony for their parents. “Pat and Eileen know that they got married under not the best circumstances, but they feel like they’re getting divorced under great circumstances,” Traub explains.

Home for the Holidays: The Real O’Neals plans to go all out for the fall holidays. “We’re doing a really fun Halloween episode,” Traub teases. “Kenny’s first gay Halloween… Before Kenny was out, Eileen was fine with him dressing in drag, but now she’s not. We have big dance number and a really fun fantasy sequence.” Also, Eileen will meet VP Murray’s mom at Thanksgiving, and a Christmas episode will include a choir competition with a rival church. – VLM

(Credit: Jennifer Clasen/ABC)

This Season’s Theme: “The inmates are running the asylum,” says executive producer Phil Klemmer. Now that Vandal Savage and the corrupt Time Masters have been defeated, the team sets out to track down time criminals themselves. The question is, “Will they screw history up more than they fix it? Because when you unleash Mick Rory on any time period, there’s always that chance.”

Where We Left Off: Hourman of the Justice Society of America warns the remaining Legends that if they board the Waverider once again, they will all die.

Coming Up: Last season was heavy on the doom and gloom, centered mostly on Rip’s dead family and the seemingly inevitable destruction of the planet. This year will focus on the fun of time travel. “You should get to fight in the Civil War if that’s what you want to do and you should get to ride a T. Rex if that’s what you want to do!”

The Justice Society of America: Legends inherited most of its superheroes from other shows, but this year, they get to introduce an entirely new team. Fresh faces will include Commander Steel (Matthew MacCaull), the Golden Age version of Vixen (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), Star Girl (Sarah Grey), and Obsidian (a legend in his own right, Lance Henriksen). – RC

(Credit: Dean Buscher/The CW)

What’s Coming Up: Supernatural is riding the wave of a killer Season 11, followed by some major cliffhangers at the season finale. Where We Left Off: Sam was kidnapped by the British Men of Letters chapter and was hauled off to England like a less-violent version of Taken. Mary Winchester rose from the dead, seemingly alive – and it’s up to Dean to get Sam back and figure out life with mother, 33 years after her death. Coming Up: According to showrunner Andrew Dabb, both of these ideas have been in the writer’s room a while: “We thought of emotional triggers you can put on the guys [Sam and Dean]. Mary was always one of those, but we wanted to wait to bring her back at the right time. She’s always been a core part of our show. The British Men of Letters, we thought that was interesting as a counterpoint to Sam and Dean, who are better at their jobs but maybe not as noble as they think.” Runnin’ With the Devil: Lucifer, still shopping for the right meat suit, finds himself inhabiting a washed-up rock ‘n’ roll god played by Rick Springfield, who will star in a multiple-episode arc. “There are not many rock stars who can also act,” says Dabb. “Our casting people came to us to say that it was a long shot, but we might be able to get him, since Springfield was recently on True Detective and Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep. We were really fortunate that he accepted.” – KS (Credit: Katie Yu/The CW)

This Season’s Theme: #Adulting! “Growing up, in terms of what do you hold onto, what do you lose,” says creator Jennie Snyder Urman. “There are a lot of big milestones that happen this year and a lot of youthful innocence shed. People change and grow in significant ways.”

Where We Left Off: Jane (Gina Rodriguez) and Michael (Brett Dier) finally got married, to Rafael’s (Justin Baldoni) disappointment, but as the newlyweds began their wedding night, Michael was shot by his former detective partner Susanna – who turned out to be Rose in disguise! Meanwhile, Xiomara (Andrea Navedo) discovered she was pregnant, and Anezka (Yael Grobglas) caused twin Petra to get locked-in syndrome to take over her life.

Coming Up: Michael’s fate will be resolved in the first episode. And later this season, Jane the Virgin will … no longer be a virgin! “The exact circumstances under which it will happen and what will make it significant and funny and heartfelt and all of those things have evolved,” says Urman. But it [will] not be at the beginning of the season or a season finale. I don’t feel like our show is essentially about her virginity and I don’t want to put that much pressure on it.”

American Spirit: What’s next for our TV BFF Rogelio? “There’s something that happens that leads Rogelio to think that he might not be as famous in America as he thought,” Urman says with a laugh. “Rogelio will be bringing one of his beloved telenovelas, The Passions of Santos – he decides to remake that for the American audience. He runs into a little trouble, because the Americanized version loses what he loves about Santos.” – KW

(Credit: Scott Everett White/The CW)

This Season’s Theme: “We’re flipping last year’s theme, which was seeing Felix in a relationship while Oscar was jealously standing and watching. Now we’ve got Oscar in a committed relationship [with Teri Hatcher’s character, Charlotte] and Felix and Emily are going to be entering some rocky times together. So we’re juggling the dynamic of last year,” says executive producer Bob Daily.

Where We Left Off: Oscar (Matthew Perry) ended up on a blind date with Felix’s (Thomas Lennon) ex-wife, while Felix’s relationship with Emily (Lindsay Sloane) hit a snag when she decided to take a three-month internship in London.

Coming Up: Season 3 will pick up with Emily getting on a plane to London, and then the show will jump ahead three months to “Felix kind of going crazy without her” – especially when she decides to stay an extra month. “We’re playing a lot of this out via Skype,” Daily tells us. A big scene with guest stars Boyz II Men will culminate in a supersized Skype fight in the premiere episode after Oscar tries to show Charlotte his romantic side by hiring her favorite boy band to sing to her.

Stars and Bars: Downton Abbey’s Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) will turn up as “the world’s worst assistant” when Oscar and Dani (Yvette Nicole Brown) try sharing a helper, and Fred Willard will play the owner of Langford’s. “Felix agrees to become an investor and sort of turns it into exactly what Oscar doesn’t like in a sports bar,” Daily says. – VLM

(Credit: Ron P. Jaffe/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: The long-running drama is coming to an end, but showrunner Julie Plec hit upon Season 8’s theme before she knew it would be the last: It’s “the fear of mortality, and what happens when you die, and will your sins catch up to you? Is there punishment in the Vampire Diaries equivalent of the afterlife?” she says. “Once we started dabbling in those themes, we realized it had 'final season’ written all over it. Because you can’t get much more intense than a sense of what hell might be like.”

Where We Left Off: Stefan (Paul Wesley) finally reunited with Caroline (Candice King). Damon (Ian Somerhalder) and Enzo (Michael Malarkey) entered the Armory vault to help Bonnie (Kat Graham), but she ended up losing her magic. Enzo and Damon, meanwhile, were taken by a mysterious force – only to resurface and go on a killing spree.

Coming Up: The evil vault monster – or as Plec laughingly puts it, “EVM” – is the big bad, at least at the beginning of the season, and the show will explore “what is this thing, how is it controlling Damon and Enzo, and why is it having them do what they’re doing?” Bonnie, meanwhile, has “hit a low” searching for her best friend and boyfriend. “She’s really struggling, feeling very powerless.” One silver lining is the Steroline relationship: “We do want to see them enjoy each other as much as they can this season,” Plec says.

Familiar Faces: Over the summer, the producers revealed they are hoping to get Nina Dobrev to reprise her role as Elena for the finale, but it’s still up in the air. “We’re just waiting to see what her availability is,” Plec says. As for the return of characters currently off-canvas, like Jeremy or Tyler, keep your fingers crossed. “My hope is to be able to revisit not just the characters who are still alive, but also some of the favorites over the years, characters we’ve lost along the way – whether it be through flashback memories or other ways to check in.” – KW

(Credit: Bob Mahoney/The CW)

This Season’s Theme: Co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna offers a cryptic three-word tease that echoes a vintage Beatles tune: “He loves me.” Where We Left Off: Ah, but which “he” is she talking about? McKenna declines to specify, but last year’s cliffhanger ending suggests that, after a season of literally dancing around each other, Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) and Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III) are finally in sync. “Last year was very much about denial, and this year Rebecca’s feeling that she’s connected with Josh, and that they’re meant to be.” Still, the other man in her new West Covina life, self-loathing bartender Greg (Santino Fontana) who sabotaged their fledgling romance, remains very much in the picture. Josh’s recently dumped ex, Valencia (Gabrielle Ruiz, now a series regular), will also continue to be a major presence. “She’s going to have this beautiful path where she’s going to learn from the Josh/Valencia break-up,” Rodriguez says. Coming Up: “We’re doing a Blink 182-style power punk pop song, and a Princess-style song,” McKenna says, while Rodriguez promises that Josh will get to show off his sweet dance moves again. We’ll also continue to spend time in Rebecca’s law office, where her partner-in-love-crimes Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin) takes on a new role, and we’ll check in with her overbearing mother (Tovah Feldshuh). Vince4Ham: Tony winner Lea Salonga guest starred on the Season 1 finale, opening the door for potential appearances from other Broadway superstars. Rodriguez’s dream get? Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. “If I could rap with Lin, I would die a happy man,” he says. “I want to play Hamilton so badly!” Luckily, he’s on the right show to indulge his obsession. “If you go into our writer’s room and say, ‘Angelica,’ someone else will say, ‘Eliza.’” – EA (Credit: Scott Everett White/The CW)

This Season’s Theme: “It’s a shift in control and a shift in power,” says executive producer and director Greg Nicotero. “The idea that we left our group at the end of last season completely powerless. It’s a place you’re not accustomed to seeing the good guys end up in. We’re watching everybody deal with the repercussions of the [season premiere] and how that episode and how the events of that episode change people, while Negan is strutting his stuff.”

Where We Left Off: The semicircle of doom, which will end with one – possibly more – of our favorite characters decimated by a vicious fatal beating from Negan and his barbed wire-covered baseball bat.

Coming Up: What we’ve all been waiting for, and dreading, since that Season 6 finale in April, and the season premiere will answer definitely who Negan kills. The twist, Nicotero says, is that, unlike any other villain in The Walking Dead comics or TV series, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) isn’t going to be so easy to hate. “What I love about what Jeffrey brings to the role is the charisma and charm that takes it to a different place,” Nicotero says. “When Jeffrey smiles, it’s an inviting smile. That’s a smile of somebody that you want to have a beer with, somebody that you want to share a joke with, someone that you want to be friends with.” Besides, it’s not like Negan’s attack is unprovoked. “Looking at Rick and looking at the things Rick has done … in [“Not Tomorrow Yet”], they waged an attack on one of Negan’s outposts and killed like 25 people in their sleep,” Nicotero says. “That’s a pretty bold and a pretty brutal move. ’”

Apocalyptic Levity: Nicotero’s not promising a repeat of Rick and Daryl’s “Butch and Sundance” adventure from Season 6’s “The Next World,” but he does say there will be some inherent lightness – much needed in the dark first half of Season 7 – with the introduction of comic book character Ezekiel and his pet tiger, Shiva. “The episodes all have sort of very different tones,” he says. “Clearly, when we see Ezekiel sitting on his throne, with Shiva next to him, that’s pretty outrageous. The fun stuff about the comic book is everyone is like, ‘Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, he has a tiger.’ They’re like, ‘What the f*** are you talking about?’ I love who Ezekiel is, and [Ezekiel portrayer] Khary Payton is f***ing amazing. There’s some pretty crazy tone shifts in this entire first half of the season … [viewers] are getting a new flavor in our universe.” – KP

(Credit: AMC)

Where We Left Off: Daniel (Aiden Young) moved to Tennessee to start his life over, and give his loved ones the same opportunity to live life outside his shadow back in Georgia.

Coming Up: In the fourth and final season, the story remains about “an individual’s existential journey through his life,“ says series creator Ray McKinnon. "I think I’ve explored the story and the characters enough to at least feel good about me leaving it. Hopefully the viewers are going to have their own individual subjective experience to this journey. Hopefully they’ll feel, I don’t know if ‘closure’ is the word … maybe ‘full.’” Adds Abigail Spencer, who plays Daniel’s long-suffering sister Amantha, “To me it’s just a season. Amantha lives on. I feel curious about where she will go and what she will do or who she will be with, whatever happens even when the cameras stop rolling. That’s hopefully what people will really feel.”

Did He or Didn’t He?: For viewers who still want a definitive answer to whether or not Daniel killed his high school girlfriend Hannah, McKinnon offers this: “I think I still feel that if Daniel was wrongfully convicted, one of the big motivating factors of his wrongful conviction is the pressure that law enforcement feel about finding closure, about finding out what happened. Not all wrongful convictions are caused by crooked law enforcement. Sometimes in life we don’t get to know what happened. You know? That’s life. If that is what happens with this series, then that’s true to the original story we sought to tell.” – KP

(Credit: James Minchin/Sundance TV)

This Season’s Theme: “It’s the theme of the series, which is, specifically, women in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction trying to get on with their lives,” says co-creator Chuck Lorre.

Where We Left Off: Christy (Anna Faris) was stressed over her college bills, so Bonnie (Allison Janney) sold her granddaughter Violet’s (Sadie Calvano) pricey wedding dress to help with the tuition. On the heels of her broken engagement, Violet decided to quit school to be a blackjack dealer at a casino in Lake Tahoe.

Coming Up: Bonnie’s beau, Adam (William Fichtner), will be back. “They’re actually going to be living together for a while and dealing with the difficulties of that,” Lorre says. “He’s a regular guy. He drinks, he smokes pot. He’s not an addict … and trying to negotiate a relationship with a woman who’s in recovery is tricky. There’s a bridge for them to cross in terms of understanding each other.” Rosie O’Donnell also returns as Bonnie’s former fling, Jeanine, and Christy will have a moral dilemma over whether to jump ship on her dream to get a law degree.

Still Recovering: Last season’s storyline about Jodi’s (Emily Osment) overdose death still has the Mom crew reeling from the "emotional whiplash,” says Lorre. “It was a difficult thing to do. I’m glad that we did it, [but] it’s extremely difficult, even in the world of make-believe.” – VLM

(Credit: Darren Michaels/CBS)

This Season’s Theme: “We’re going to have a bunch of different characters in different states of crisis,” says series creator Justin Adler. “The show really lives and breathes in those awkward moments that we can all relate to.”

Where We Left Off: Jen (Zoe Lister-Jones) found out she was pregnant on the same day Greg (Colin Hanks) quit his job so he could launch his invention, CryTunes; Heather (Betsy Brandt) and Tim’s (Dan Bakkedahl) teen son Tyler (Niall Cunningham) and his girlfriend Clementine (Hunter King) got married; Matt (Thomas Sadoski) and Colleen (Angelique Cbral) got engaged; and parents John (James Brolin) and Joan (Dianne Wiest) shocked everyone by revealing they’ve been secretly divorced for 35 years.

Coming Up: A season premiere that includes hilarious marrieds Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman playing the parents – actually, the mom and uncle – of Clementine. “Once you meet them and you see that Clementine came from this, you can very easily see why Clementine was so comfortable getting married at this age,” says Adler. Heather and Tim will decide they have to do everything to support “these two 18-year-old idiots,” while Heather will also contemplate a return to the workplace. Joan will be dealing with the death of her mother (an homage to actress Ann Gilbert, who died in June) and a remarriage to John, and Colin Hanks promises, “CryTunes is most definitely still in play for Greg. It better be … it took a season for us to find Greg a job, and then he lost that job the next episode.”

I Do, Too?: Could there be a double Short wedding, with mother and father joining Matt and Colleen at the altar? “There is a chance,” Adler confirms. “We’re definitely going to be building toward a wedding for Matt and Colleen this year.” But wedding drama won’t be Colleen and Matt’s biggest problem: There’s the potential return of Colleen’s ex, Chad (Jordan Peele), and their co-worker, Dougie (Fortune Feimster), who’s now their roommate. “She will constantly be a problem for Matt and Colleen as they try to live together and get their lives as an engaged couple off the ground,” Adler says. – KP

(Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS)

Where We Left Off: Rory (Alexis Bledel) graduated from Yale and got a job as a reporter covering Barack Obama’s first campaign, and Luke (Scott Patterson) and Lorelai (Lauren Graham), while not officially back together, seemed to be on the reunion trail.

Coming Up: “What I can tell you is that Luke and Lorelai are together. They are figuring out their next steps in life,” says Patterson. “That’s pretty much all I can say.” Which is pretty much all that matters to the Gilmore devoted. Actually, no, we want more. Has Luke changed? “Luke’s not a changer. He resists change. He lives in a very small world that he’s created around himself, that he’s very comfortable in,” Patterson says. “He doesn’t like to leave it. Maybe he’s gained five pounds.” Even so, Luke’s trademark baseball cap still fits. “The hat was not at the wardrobe fitting, but the first day on set the hat was waiting for me in the trailer,” the actor says. “I will admit. I was by myself, and I said out loud, ‘Hello, old friend.’ I really did say that very corny line.”

Grandpa Gilmore: Lots of other things have changed in the lives of the Gilmore girls, of course, the saddest one being the 2014 death of Edward Herrmann, which is written into the new season as grandma Emily, Lorelai, and Rory are all dealing with the death of family patriarch Richard. “[Series creators] Amy [Sherman-Palladino] and Dan [Palladino] made sure to pay proper respect to him in these episodes,” says Patterson, who credits the incredible response the Gilmore gang received during their appearance at the 2015 ATX Festival with helping to push the Netflix project into existence. “The first day I came onto the Gilmore house set, there are reminders of Ed all over that set. It was quite a moment for all of us. We all just sort of sat down and took a moment to remember and feel.” – KP

(Credit: Netflix)