October TV Calendar

Welcome back for more of the 2011-2012 Fall TV season with more new shows debuting this month, a few cable shows returning and some ending their summer runs. And, there are a handful of made-for-TV movies that will be debuting as well. So, get your calendars out as it’s going to be another busy month:

October 1 – The two-hour series premiere of Terra Nova will reair on FOX; check local listings for airtime

October 1 – The season finale of Doctor Who will air on BBC America at 9 PM

October 1 – The new BBC America drama Bedlam will debut at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: This supernatural series is set in an apartment building converted from a pre-Victorian lunatic asylum – the inhabitants experience the darker side of the building’s history when former asylum spirits come back to claim what they believe to be theirs and seek revenge on those who have wronged them. The cast includes Will Young, Charlotte Salt, Theo James, Joanna Page and Ashley Madekwe.

October 1 – The Hallmark Channel movie Love’s Everlasting Courage will debut at 9 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: In this second prequel to the series of Love movies based on the book series by Janette Oke, Clark Davis (Wes Brown) struggles to maintain his land and support his wife, Ellen (Julie Mond), and young daughter, Missie (Morgan Lily), during a long drought. Worried they may lose the farm to the bank, Ellen agrees to take a job as a seamstress in order to pay off their debt. Soon after Ellen starts work, she becomes ill with scarlet fever and passes away. Devastated by the loss of his wife, Clark turns to his parents Irene (Cheryl Ladd) and Lloyd (Bruce Boxleitner) for support. As Clark struggles to find water in order to create a harvest and repay his debt, his daughter Missie has a difficult time coping with the loss of her mother. Clark is conflicted whether to send Missie to live a better life with his parents, or if she should stay with him. But when Missie runs away after accidentally setting the house on fire, Clark faces the possibility of losing the one person he loves most.

October 2 – There will be a Warehouse 13 marathon on Syfy (check local listings for airtime)

October 2 – Dexter will return with all new episodes at 9 PM on Showtime

October 2 – The new show Homeland will debut at 10 PM on Showtime

Show Synopsis: Who’s the hero – who’s the threat? When MIA Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) returns home to a hero’s welcome after eight years in enemy confinement, brilliant but volatile CIA agent Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) isn’t buying his story. She believes that Brody has been turned and is now working for Al Qaeda. What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse with nothing short of American national security at stake. Mandy Patankin and Morena Baccarin co-star.

October 2 – The Lifetime movie The Hunt for the I-5 Killer will debut at 8 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Based on author Ann Rule’s book and starring John Corbett (United States of Tara) and Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), the film recounts the haunting tale of the year-long manhunt for the killer who in 1981 brutally raped and murdered 44 victims throughout the I-5 corridor in California.

October 3 – House returns to FOX for another season at 9 PM

October 3 – The 2-hour season finale of Warehouse 13 will air on Syfy at 9 PM

October 3 – The Lifetime movie Girl Fight will debut at 9 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: This film is inspired by a true story and stars Anne Heche and James Tupper in the harrowing story of a 16-year-old, stellar high school student whose life spirals downward when a shocking video of her getting beat up by her former friends surfaces on the Internet.

October 5 – The new drama American Horror Story debuts on FX at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: The series revolves around The Harmons, a family of three who move from Boston to Los Angeles as a means to reconcile past anguish. The cast includes Dylan McDermott, Connie Britton, Taissa Farmiga, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Denis O’Hare, Frances Conroy and Alexandra Breckenridge.

October 7 – Sanctuary will be back with an all-new season at 10

October 10 – The Lifetime made-for-TV movie Five will air at 9 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: This film is a series of five short films directed by Jennifer Aniston, Alicia Keys, Demi Moore, Penelope Spheeris (who directed Wayne’s World) and Patty Jenkins (writer of the film Monster). Each tells a different story relating to breast cancer, starring Jeanne Tripplehorn (Big Love) as an oncologist and acts as the common thread in five parts.

The huge ensemble cast includes Rosario Dawson, Ginnifer Goodwin, Bob Newhart, Patricia Clarkson, Jeffrey Tambor, Josh Holloway, Lyndsy Fonseca, Josh Dallas, Xander Berkeley, Taylor Kinney, Jennifer Morrison, Kathy Najimy, Annie Potts, Tony Shalhoub, Bob Hewart and Jenifer Lewis.

October 12 – Psych will be back with new episodes on the USA Network at 10 PM

October 15 – The Hallmark movie Finding a Family will debut at 8 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Kim Delaney (Army Wives) stars in a film that is based on a heartrending, true story about Alex Chivescu, a talented, intelligent teenager who enters foster care after his mother is critically injured in a car accident. With dreams of a Harvard education, Alex is at a loss when budget constraints keep him from attending an academic high school outside his orphanage’s school district. Determined to succeed, Alex takes it upon himself to find an adoptive family so he can graduate with honors and fulfill his Harvard dreams.

October 16 – The Walking Dead will be back with new episodes on AMC at 9 PM (with a 90-minute season premiere)

NOTE: There will be only 6 new episodes week-after-week and then it will be back in February

October 19 – Marathon episodes of Pretty Little Liars will air from 11 AM to 8 PM on ABC Family, leading up to the special stand-alone Halloween episode of the show at 8 PM as part of their 13 Days of Halloween event.

NOTE: This will be a prequel/flashback episode to the Halloween before Allison went missing.

October 21 – Chuck will be back for its fifth and final season on NBC at 8 PM

October 21 – The new NBC drama Grimm will debut at 9 PM

Show Synopsis: Detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) thought he was ready for the grim reality of working homicide in Portland, Oregon. That is, until he started to see things he couldn’t quite explain. Like a gorgeous woman suddenly transforming into a hideous hag, or an average Joe turning into a vicious troll. Then, after a panicked visit from his only living relative, he discovers the truth about his visions: he’s not like everyone else, he’s a descendant of an elite group of hunters known as “Grimms” who are charged with stopping the proliferation of supernatural creatures in the world. And so begins his new life journey as he solves crimes with his partner (Russell Hornsby) who knows something about Nick has radically changed but can’t quite put his finger on it. Along the way, Nick finds himself unexpectedly getting help on some of the more difficult cases from Monro (Silas Weir Mitchell), a guy who seems normal at first but is soon revealed to be the Big Bad wolf. The cast includes Bitsie Tulloch, Sasha Roiz and Reggie Lee.

October 21 – The new Starz series The Boss will debut at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: Kelsey Grammer plays power-hungry Chicago mayor Tom Kane, who navigates backroom dealings while battling the effects of a degenerative brain disorder that threatens to topple everything that he has built. The cast includes Connie Nielsen, Kathleen Robertson, Jeff Hephner, Martin Donovan and Troy Garity.

October 22 – Oliver’s Ghost is the new Hallmark Channel movie that will debut at 9 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Eleven year-old Oliver (Nicholas Stargel) has a unique ability to see ghosts so when his family moves from the bustling city to an older home in the suburbs, only Oliver is able to see the spirit of Clive Rutledge (Martin Mull), the previous owner. Clive causes every manner of destruction to force Oliver and his family to leave. But in the end, it will be Oliver, with the help of a kind neighbor (Rhea Perlman), who shows Clive how to finally release all his earthly regrets so he can leave the house in peace. The cast includes Cameron Daddo, Bridget White and Daniela Bobadilla.

October 23 – The new fairy tale drama Once Upon A Time will debut on ABC at 8 PM

Show Synopsis: Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) knows how to take care of herself. She’s a 28-year-old bail bonds collector who’s been on her own ever since she was abandoned as a baby. But when the son (Jared Gilmore) she gave up years ago finds her, everything starts to change. Henry is now 10 years old and in desperate need of Emma’s help. He believes that Emma actually comes from an alternate world and is Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming’s (Josh Dallas) missing daughter. According to his book of fairytales, they sent her away to protect her from the Evil Queen’s (Lana Parrilla) curse, which trapped the fairytale world forever, frozen in time, and brought them into our modern world. Of course Emma doesn’t believe a word, but when she brings Henry back to Storybrooke, she finds herself drawn to this unusual boy and his strange New England town. The cast includes Robert Carlyle, Jamie Dornan and Raphael Sbarge.

October 26 – Whitechapel will debut on BBC America at 10 PM

Show Synopsis: This six-part crime drama is set in modern day East London where police are forced to face the brutal, bloody history of their streets. The murder rate is on the rise with present day killers copying infamous crimes of the past. The cast includes Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton.

RESCHEDULED:
October 29 – The Lifetime movie Possessing Piper Rose will debut at 8 PM [New Date and Time]

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: The film tells the story of a couple (Rebecca Romijn and David Cubitt) who are so desperate to adopt a child that they might even bend the rules to get one. But when the three-year old little girl of their dreams arrives, strange, inexplicable events begin to happen that threaten the couple’s lives.

October 29 – The Hallmark Channel movie The Good Witch’s Family will debut at 9 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Life is becoming routinely good for Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell) as she settles into marriage with Middleton Police Chief Jake Russell (Chris Potter) and as stepmom to Brandon (Matthew Knight) and Lori (Hannah Endicott-Douglas). But not everything in Middleton is good; in fact, some things are downright bad. Evil blows into town in the form of Cassie’s long-lost cousin Abigail, who whips up wickedness like a tornado darting across the Plains. The once peaceful Russell family bickers night and day; Jake is fired after an argument with the Mayor over a bridge expansion; and Martha (Catherine Disher), the Mayor’s wife and town busy body, who is also at odds with her husband over the bridge issue, walks out on their long marriage. As the town divides further over neighborhood expansion, Cassie is drafted to run for Mayor. There is friction in her once-happy marriage, her family is unraveling, and Abigail’s diabolical “double, double, toil and trouble” is the apex of Cassie’s misery.

October 29 – The Syfy original movie Zombie Apocalypse will air at 9 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Months after a zombie plague has wiped out 90 percent of the American population, a small group of survivors fight their way cross-country to a rumored refuge on the
island of Catalina. Stars Ving Rhames.

REVISED:
October 30 – The Lifetime movie The Killing Game will debut at 8 PM

MOVIE SYNOPSIS: Based on the best-selling crime novel by Iris Johansen, the film follows forensic sculptor Eve Duncan (Laura Prepon), who 10 years after the disappearance and murder of her seven year old daughter, is contacted by a man claiming to be the child’s killer. Taunted by the man’s mysterious clues about the case and his threats to kill again, precious memories of her daughter haunt Eve once more. Caught in a web of deceit, she gambles with her own life as she throws herself into her work to finally close the case and bring her daughter’s murderer to justice. The film co-stars Naomi Judd.

Mark your calendar!