Fall 2018 Preview: Go Inside the Season’s Must-Watch TV Shows

Credit: ABC; AMC; Lifetime

Fall 2018 Preview: Go Inside the Season's Must-Watch TV Shows

What’s new? What’s returning? How do you choose what to watch and what to skip? Us Weekly has put together a full Fall TV preview guide, which includes exclusive scoop on all the biggest shows on TV this season. Scroll through our gallery below:

Credit: ABC; AMC; Lifetime

Fall 2018 Preview: Go Inside the Season's Must-Watch TV Shows

What’s new? What’s returning? How do you choose what to watch and what to skip? Us Weekly has put together a full Fall TV preview guide, which includes exclusive scoop on all the biggest shows on TV this season. Scroll through our gallery below:

Credit: Courtesy of Lifetime

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When Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg meets Elizabeth Lail’s Beck, he immediately falls for her – esentially becoming a character in the show. “Because of the subject matter, I think we had to bond in a way that was creating safe space for one another,” Badgley tells Us. “Here’s the scary thing, if I was a different kind of person, I could have made this really uncomfortable for her.” While there are clear parallels with Joe and Gossip Girl’s Dan Humphrey – “In the first scene of the pilot, I seem exactly like Dan Humphrey,” he says – the actor, 31, didn’t let that hold him back from telling the story. “If I was hesitant about every time somebody would think I was Gossip Girl, I would never leave my home,” he says. (Lifetime, Sunday, September 9, at 10 p.m. ET)

Credit: Mathieu Young/ FOX

9-1-1

Season 2 of 9-1-1 picks up a few months after the first finale, introducing a new character: Buck’s sister, Maddie, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt. After escaping an abusive relationship, she finds comfort in a new job as a 9-1-1 operator (taking over for Connie Britton’s Abby, who left town at the end of season 1). “She’s essentially on the run. She has a nursing background. She’s been an ER nurse for the last eight years. So she really wants to start over in L.A., run from her circumstances. She’s still be able to help people but can’t do it in a normal situation where anyone could just come and find her,” Hewitt, 39, tells Us, adding that Maddie just loves to help people – but struggles to help herself.

The season will also dive deeper into Athena (Angela Bassett) and Bobby’s (Peter Krause) romance. “They’re both getting a lot of what they need,” Bassett, 60, tells Us. “They’re pretty professional folk in their field. He’s a leader and so is she so they’ve managed to maintain and keep those lines, but of course there’s always a moment or two where you can sneak behind a fire truck, smooch a little bit.” (Fox, Sunday, September 23, at 8 p.m. ET)

Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

The Resident

Season 2 means new faces – and a lot of them. Jenna Dewan joins the hospital as Julian Lyn, a medical device rep with a personal connection to her job. “A medical device gave her a new life,” Dewan, 37, tells Us. “She is persuasive, believes in herself and has a lot of passion for her work – a woman on a mission.” The World of Dance host is also playing a former dancer, so “of course” there will be dance scenes in the show. “There is a cute flashback to look out for of me dancing as a kid,” she tells Us. (Fox, Monday, September 24, at 8 p.m. ET)

Credit: Craig Blankenhorn/NBC/Warner Brothers

Manifest

What would you do if your plane landed and five years had passed? That’s the question in Manifest when Ben (Josh Dallas), his sister Michaela (Melissa Roxburgh) and his son Cal (Jack Messina) attempt to reestablish themselves into their families and friends who thought they were dead. “It's Lost meets This Is Us,” Dallas, 39, tells Us. “Both Michela and Ben are strangers in this world. They're aliens. Everything is the same and everything is different. There's a moment in the pilot when the families reunite in the airport, and when he sees his wife, when he sees his daughter who is now a sixteen year old, it's so unbalancing and he's going to try to fight his way back to regain his life again, and maybe he does, maybe you can, maybe you can't. This is about a second chance and it's about the choices that you make now in this situation, and do you make the same choices?” (NBC, Monday, September 24, at 10 p.m. ET)

Credit: Ron Batzdorff/NBC

This Is Us

Get ready for more exploring in season 3 — this time, the drama will dive into Beth’s backstory, Susan Kelechi Watson tells Us. “Beth is going to be dealing with her own personal challenge and we’ll begin to see who she was and how Beth came to be,” she says. “We’re gonna start to see what makes Beth Beth.” Beth and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) will also continue to grow their family, figuring out what’s next for Deja and still planning to adopt. “We will try to make her feel more at home or try to find ways for her to try and fit in, not just at home, but within the community,” Watson, 36, says. (NBC, Tuesday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Francisco Roman/NBC

New Amsterdam

Grab your tissues! Earning the prime spot after This Is Us, NBC’s new drama New Amsterdam with include both emotional story lines and surprising twists. Tyler Labine, who plays psychologist Dr. Iggy Frome, wasn’t into the show before he read the script. “I was not excited about reading a medical drama. I just feel like there's a very obvious formula that we all are asked to subscribe to and I just don't,” he admits to Us. However, his team pushed him to do so. The show isn’t your normal medical drama but instead about a doctor (Ryan Eggold) who comes in ready to make some serious — and not so easy — changes to the way things are done. Needless to say, Labine couldn’t be more thankful that he decided to read it. “I got 10 pages in and I was just like, ‘whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.’ Call it a page turner. I just was overwhelmed and was, like, ‘I have to do this pilot.’” (NBC, Tuesday, September 25, at 10 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Michael Parmelee/CBS

FBI

Jeremy Sisto jumped at the opportunity to reunite with Dick Wolf for CBS’ new drama; the actor starred in Law & Order from 2008 to 2010 so he’s well aware of the creativity going into FBI. “Being on a Dick Wolf show is dissimilar to any other show that I've been on, and it just feels like a very structured universe,” Sisto tells Us. He plays Jubal, Assistant Special Agent in Charge on FBI, a show that takes an inside look at the organization in New York City – an experience that surprised the Six Feet Under vet. “I I just didn't realize how connected they were to the different departments,” the 43-year-old says. Jubal also loves his job and his “energized by being the center of this crazy room of activity and pressure.” (CBS, Tuesday, September 25, at 9 p.m. ET)

Credit: Parish Lewis/Fox

Empire

With a two-year time jump, season 5 is a bit of a “restart,” Jussie Smollett tells Us, with the entire Lyon family finally on the same page. “The Lyons have lost everything, and Lyons don’t do well when they can’t eat,” he says. As for Jamal, he’s “finally” at a good place after going away for a bit following Tori’s death. While Smollett remains tight-lipped about Jamal’s arc, the 35-year-old admits, “it’s a story line that I feel really proud of … it’s stuff that I want to act. Jamal’s dealing with real-life stuff.” (Fox, Wednesday, September 26, at 8 p.m. ET)

Credit: Elizabeth Sisson/NBC

Chicago Med

All three cliffhangers will be resolved in the first episode of Chicago Med, “but there will be more complications going forward,” executive producer Diane Frolov tells Us – especially in the romance department. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss) proposed to Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) at the worst possible moment during the finale, and he “will be both happy and sad” during the premiere. “They more forward, but there’s a lot of stumbling along the way,” Frolov adds. The same goes for Dr. Rhodes (Colin Donnell), as he’s taken on a new job and working on a separate floor than Dr. Bekker (Norma Kuhling). They two will continue their relationship. (NBC, Wednesday, September 26, at 8 p.m. ET)

Credit: NBCUniversal

Chicago Fire

Yes, Monica Raymund’s shocking absence from the show will be approached right away, cocreator Derek Haas tells Us. Casey (Jesse Spencer) will be feeling a mixture of emotions that mirror what the audience went through when Raymund announced she was leaving the show – “frustration, disappointment, anger and unresolved feelings,” Haas tells Us. “There’s going to be talk of how quick she left and how long it’s been and what is happening.”Dawson's departure will also have a large impact on Brett (Kara Killmer) who is a bit lost with her partner gone. “She probably regrets about the way it all went down so it’s awkward for her,” Haas adds. (NBC, Wednesday, September 26, at 9 p.m. ET)

Credit: Parrish Lewis/NBC

Chicago P.D.

The aftermath of Olinsky’s death continues when P.D. returns, as the season kicks off the morning after season 5 ended. “They’re all struggling with it in their own ways. There’s lots of conflict among the team. In particular, Ruzek and Upton are having problems with each other over what happened,” showrunner Rick Eid tells Us. However, the drama will also draw two people on the team closer. “There will be a romantic relationship explored in the very early part of the season,” Eid says. (NBC, Wednesday, September 26, at 10 p.m. ET)

Credit: ABC/Jack Rowand

A Million Little Things

Grab your tissues – for both sad and happy tears! ABC’s new drama is also filled with jokes thanks to the writing and cast. The story centers around four friends – Romany Malco, David Giuntoli, James Roday and Ron Livingston – and how their lives drastically change after one commits suicide. “We’re living in an era where we live quite vicariously through screens. So to actually have a show that depicts human emotion and human connection is actually a step in the right direction,” Malco, 49, tells Us. The show is a involves real-life issues and shows that even best friends have things they don’t share with each other. “Each character has a secret going on and with the loss of their friend, it kind of blows open their life,” Giuntoli, 38, adds. “My character has a secret and it’s unsustainable and he’s gonna have to come clean with his group of friends and the fallout that happens will happen.” (ABC, Wednesday, September 26, at 10 p.m. ET.)

Credit: ABC/Mitch Haaseth

Single Parents

How can you be a great parent and still have an adult life? That’s what the new comedy explores, with Taran Killam’s Will as the new guy in town who has sacrificed everything for his daughter. Other single parents – including Leighton Meester’s Angie and Brad Garrett’s Douglas – in town gather together to try and pull him out of his PTA-filled hole. “When she’s interrupted by Will’s introduction and his total wild, crazy, overzealous parenting, it throws her for a loop. But I think she can learn from him and I think vice versa,” Meester tells Us. Many of the stars pulled experiences from their own lives as parents, too. “I’d be like telling stories [on set] and then I’m like, ‘You’re gonna use this in the show, aren’t you?’” Messter, 32, says. “I think the character is similar to me in a lot of ways and being a mom and being able to come in and have those experiences and bring it to my work is actually really important to me and it kinda feels good.” (ABC, Wednesday, September 26, at 9 p.m. ET.)

Credit: ABC/Eric McCandless

Grey’s Anatomy

Season 15 is set to be the “season of love,” so it’s no surprise that it’s also “bringing the sexy,” Camilla Luddington tells Us, referring to the show’s new “Ortho God” Chris Carmack. “He’s super charming and everyone’s gonna fall madly in love with him,” the 34-year-old says. While Jo and Alex (Justin Chambers) are on their honeymoon when the series picks up, another couple is also enjoying each other: Maggie and Jackson.

“Their relationship with deepen and I think they’ll both be there for one another,” Kelly McCreary tells Us. “Jackson is in a transitional time in his life and Maggie is really coming into her own, so I think they provide support for one another.” She also notes that since they both – Maggie specifically – have made some poor choices in their dating pasts, they’re all-in with this relationship. “She’s found someone who is her equal and who respects and cares for her in a reciprocal way, in the same way that she does for him,” the 36-year-old actress says. (ABC, Thursday, September 27, at 8 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Robert Tractenberg/CBS

Murphy Brown

Murphy Brown was a hit from 1988 to 1998, and 20 years later, creator Diane English, Candice Bergen, Grant Shaud, Faith Ford and Joe Regalbuto are bringing the newsroom sitcom back. More timely than ever, Murphy now has a son – Avery – who is “working for an opposing network called the Wolf Network,” the 72-year-old star revealed, referencing Fox News. “She’s a fierce mom, but she’s a competitive mom. So Avery has his work cut out for him,” she says of Murphy now. The sitcom is also set to have an episode tilted #MurphyToo, to tackle the powerful movement. “In the writers’ room, we have a great collection of people. They are younger. They are older. They are male. They are female. They are gay. They are straight,” English says. “I don’t think there’s probably a woman out there who hasn’t had some experience, you know, with misogyny or misconduct. So it’s a powerful movement. We wanted to do it justice.” (CBS, Thursday, September 27, at 9:30 p.m. ET.)

Credit: ABC/Mitch Haaseth

How To Get Away With Murder

Although season 4 ended on a hopeful note, that won’t be the case for season 5, Liza Weil tells Us. “I think that’s been some interesting new color they’re adding this season, that it’s light and dark at the same time and it feels more threatening and dangerous than it has in the past because of being able to see these people happy for a brief moment,” she says. The cliffhanger of Bonnie’s baby will be approached this season as well, although Weil keeps mum on any spoilers — it is Shonda Rhimes land, after all. One thing she can say about the scripts she’s read: “I’ve been blown away and it’s been so exciting to execute them.” (ABC, Thursday, September 27, at 10 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Jackson Lee Davis/AMC

The Walking Dead

Get ready for another emotional season of The Walking Dead as season 9 marks the last for Andrew Lincoln’s Rick. The actor decided to leave the show and in a way, this season will be a tribute to him. “Obviously this is going to be some grief on the fans so we want to tell as wonderful and as exciting a story as we can while also telling the stories of the incredible ensemble around him, just do service to this great character that we all love so much and this man that we love,” showrunner Angela Kang tells Us. That includes some “incredible scenes” between Rick and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Carol (Melissa McBride), Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Michonne (Danai Gurira). This will also be a big season for Maggie who has taken over the Hilltop and is a single mother. “She has built Hilltop from what it already was into an even more thriving and dynamic community but she’s actively mothering this beautiful child that we’ve all been waiting for, the son of Glenn,” Kang says. “You see her balancing the things the way that working mothers do.” (AMC, Sunday, October 7, at 9 p.m. ET)

Credit: Katie Yu/The CW

Riverdale

Heading to the dark side! Season 3 of Riverdale will pick up three months after season 2, and it’s a “really hot” summer, Camila Mendes tells Us, which only means “less T-shirts around the Andrews house.” While Archie is on trial for murder at the start, it may cause some stress on his relationship with Veronica. “They are going to struggle … there might be someone else,” the 24-year-old says. Tension will also be building up with the adults, but FP and Alice fans will finally get some information on their background – and some steamy bedroom scenes of them together. “They’re like Bonnie and Clyde. They’re both fiery and strong and clearly something happened that broke them apart but I think they belong with each other. They’re each other’s soulmates,” Madchen Amick tells Us. Skeet Ulrich adds that even though his estranged wife Gladys is coming to town, he loves Falice’s “intense” dynamic. “Their chemistry is so unique,” the Scream alum says. (The CW, Wednesday, October 10, at 8 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Ray Mickshaw/The CW

All American

Taye Diggs was drawn to many aspects of The CW’s new football drama – “the politics that the show deals with, the identity, race, social economics, sexuality – those are all subject matters that are important to me,” Diggs, 47, tells Us. He plays Beverly Hills Coach Billy Baker who recruits a player from Crenshaw to play for him. However, the show’s not all about the sport, but instead focuses on the way it affects everyone involved. For those who immediately think Friday Night Lights, you may be surprised – but Diggs doesn’t mind the comparison. “I take that as a compliment. I'm watching Friday Night Lights and subsuming as much as I can from that coach,” he says. (The CW, Wednesday, October 10, at 9 p.m. ET)

Credit: Corutesy of The CW

Charmed

Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery and Madeleine Mantock are ready to show the world their magical reboot – and they’re not focusing on any of the negativity and criticism they may have received. The actresses play Mel Vera, Maggie Vera and Macy Vaughn, respectively, three sisters who learn they have powers in the pilot. While it’s based off the 1998 drama, “we’re new characters living in a new world,” Mantock, 28, tells Us. They also bring a bit of their personalities to each role. Diaz, 34, says Mel is “very invested in politics” and “angry about politics right now,” something she relates to, while Mantock says she was thrilled Macy is a little all over the place: “It was nice to not always have to be a damsel in distress!” (The CW, Sunday, October 14, at 9 p.m. ET)

Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Camping

Making her TV return for the first time since Alias ended in 2006, Jennifer Garner absolutely loved taking on the role of Kathryn, a controlling wife who organizes a camping trip for her husband’s birthday and invites her sister, ex-best friend and a tagalong. “I mean, it was just a light, happy experience and it did bleed over. It's good for you to go and laugh for 12 hours a day,” Garner, 46, says of the show. “It's a good thing and I felt really ready for it and I felt light and funny and we did do that. We really were on the edge of, you know, getting ourselves in trouble all the time." (HBO, Sunday, October 14, at 10 p.m. ET.)

Credit: ABC/Tony Rivetti

The Kids Are Alright

In 1971, family dynamics were very different, especially in the Cleary home! The new comedy follows Mike (Michael Cudlitz) and Peggy (Mary McCormack) as parents of eight children, learning the ins and outs of parenting as they go. Their relationship is similar to those in real life, Cudlitz tells Us. “The husband in the relationship walks around acting like he’s in charge when the wife in the relationship is actually running things,” he says. “They learn from each other.” McCormack also notes that the show is perfect for today’s world: “It was a real time of change then and we’re living in a time like that right now so it’s comforting to think, family stays the same, and love does win, and we will win.” (ABC, Tuesday, October 16, at 8:30 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

Forget everything you knew about Sabrina Spellman. “It’s not what you’re expecting,” Ross Lynch, who plays Harvey Kinkle tells Us. “I’m really excited, more than anything, to just shock people with the darkness of the show.” The drama is created by Riverdale’s Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and based on the comic, beginning right before Sabrina’s (Kiernan Shipka) sixteenth birthday and dark baptism. While its magical and dark however, it does still have that element of teen romance between Harvey and Sabrina, something both Shipka and Lynch adore. “They’re so in love, it’s electric,” Lynch, 22, says. The Mad Men vet, 18, agrees, calling their scenes her favorite to film: “It’s so sweet and beautiful and pure. Their love for each other is really honest.” (Netflix, Friday, October 26)

Credit: Amazon

Homecoming

Based on Micah Bloomberg and Eli Horowitz’s podcast, Homecoming is a half-hour physiological thriller in which Julia Roberts stars as Heidi, a caseworker at a secret government facility where things are not at all as they seem. Directed by Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail, Roberts says she was drawn to the project because the “twists and turns are so subtle and clever.” It also has a heavy military themed as Heidi works closely with Walter Cruz (played by Stephan James), a military veteran eager to rejoin normal life. “Their relationship grows and they become very trusting of one another,” James says. “It’s a very, very special relationship that they manage to create.” (Prime Video, Friday, November 2)

Credit: Aimee Spinks/Starz

Outlander

Being in America doesn’t mean all’s safe for Jamie and Claire, but at least they’re together! “They have each other and are such a strong team. Every season has seen them fighting to be together but this season we get to seen them eventually relax and enjoy married life, for a short moment,” Sam Heughan tells Us. While the season once again will follow the books, fans can expect “one or two surprises” too, as well as the show’s “strongest finale yet.” (Starz, Sunday, November 4, at 8 p.m. ET.)

Credit: Courtesy of Jordin Althaus/Bravo Media

Dirty John

Bravo’s new drama is pulled from the headlines, based on a collection of Los Angeles Times reports and the podcast of the same title. Connie Britton takes on the role of Debra Newell, a wealthy California woman who falls for Eric Bana’s John Meehan, a charming man with a dark past. “One of the things that pains me the most is when people talk about ‘How could Debra be so stupid?’ and I actually think that that's a defense mechanism by people when they say that about Debra, because they like to believe that this wouldn't happen to them, and I know for a fact that it would,” executive producer and writer Alexandra Cunningham says. The series is set to premiere in late fall, and the first season will include eight one-hour episodes.

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