New TV shows are falling faster than autumn leaves this week on Netflix, Apple TV Plus and other streaming services, as well as broadcast and cable TV channels.
This week's new TV lineup features the highly anticipated returns of two fan-favorites: "Shrinking" season 2 and "The Lincoln Lawyer" season 3. Plus, the "NCIS" franchise gets a new entry in the prequel series "NCIS: Origins" and an old game show is up to new tricks in "Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?" Here's our guide on the top new TV shows to check out this week.
‘NCIS: Origins’ (CBS)
CBS’ flagship procedural franchise is still going strong. Its latest expansion doesn’t go to another city but rather back in time — to follow young Leroy Jethro Gibbs as an up-and-coming agent. Mark Harmon, who played Gibbs for years on the OG series, is narrating the show, while Austin Stowell stars as the younger version. In 1991, Gibbs starts his career at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by the legendary Mike Franks (Kyle Schmid).
Premieres Monday, Oct. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount Plus With Showtime
‘Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Special’ (Netflix)
It’s a given that the creator/star of the underrated musical-comedy series “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” bursts into song during her new special, which is based on her one-woman Off-Broadway production. Bloom muses on birth, death and cosmic uncertainty, issues that reared their ugly heads during the pandemic when she simultaneously lost longtime musical collaborator Adam Schlesinger to COVID and welcomed her first child. Weighty stuff, to be sure, but Bloom has a knack for finding humor in the most serious topics.
Premieres Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 3 a.m. ET on Netflix
‘Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?’ (Prime Video)
The popular game show “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” is revived with a new spin: celebrities! Contestants will rely on a classroom full of comedy, screen and sports stars to help them answer 11 questions on a range of subjects, pulled from elementary school curriculum, in the hopes of winning a $100,000 prize. Host Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end and Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, will oversee the rounds, which culminate a final question at the 6th grade level.
Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 12 a.m. ET on Prime Video
‘Shrinking’ season 2 (Apple TV Plus)
One of my favorite shows of 2023 returns for a second season of therapy-related humor and hijinks. Therapist Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) is still grieving his wife but has reached a tentative truce with daughter Alice (Lukita Maxwell). He’s still trying out the approach of just telling his clients exactly what he thinks, much to the chagrin of colleague Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford). Paul has his own issues to face, including the worsening of his Parkinson’s condition. Meanwhile, their other colleague Gaby (Jessica Williams) has to deal with her feelings for Jimmy.
Premieres Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 12 a.m. ET on Apple TV Plus
‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ season 3 (Netflix)
This time, it’s personal for lawyer Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo). At the end of season 2, Mickey learned former client Gloria Days (Fiona Rene), who helped with season 1’s Jesus Mendendez case, was dead. Now, he’s a man on a mission to find her killer. Mickey is wracked with guilt, wondering if he could’ve done something to save her. His personal tie to Gloria makes this one of his most important, but also dangerous, cases yet.
Premieres Thursday, Oct. 17 at 3 a.m. ET on Netflix
‘Rivals’ (Hulu)
Jilly Cooper’s soapy “bonkbuster” books were massive hits in the U.K. in the 1980s and ‘90s, thanks to their depictions of upper-class British society being very naughty. This adaptation of Cooper’s second novel harkens back to the days of “Dynasty,” “Dallas” and “Desperate Housewives” — think sex, scandals and shocking plot twists. The titular rivals are politician Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and television executive Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant). They absolutely loathe each other, though they hide their venom behind a cool, aristocratic facade.
Premieres Friday, Oct. 18 at 12 a.m. ET on Hulu
‘Hysteria!’
Every generation thinks the kids are up to no good. Sometimes, though, those generational divides can lead to, well, hysteria. Peacock’s new thriller is set in the late 1980s when the “Satanic panic” gripped the United States. In a small Michigan town, the disappearance of the beloved varsity quarterback stokes fears. A trio of teen outcasts in a struggling heavy metal band realizes they can capitalize on the surge of interest in the occult by rebranding as a Satanic metal band. But a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings and reports of “supernatural activity” triggers a witch hunt that targets them.
Premieres Friday, Oct. 18 at 3 a.m. ET on Peacock
