The New and Returning Faces of the Fall TV Season

The 2012-2013 fall TV season will be back in full swing next week and it’s time to take a look at some of the new faces who will be cropping up in the new shows that will be debuting over the course of the next few weeks as well as welcoming back some familiar faces who are returning to the fall TV fold.

First, let’s take a look at the new faces (they appear in alphabetical order):

Stephen Amell

Stephen Amell – Stephen will play the lead role in the new CW series Arrow that is, of course, based on the comic book character Green Arrow aka billionaire playboy Oliver Queen, who returns to Starling City five years after being presumed dead in a violent shipwreck that took the lives of everyone else on board, including his father. He keeps up the pretense of being the spoiled philanderer that he was before going missing, but his stay on a mysterious island changed him permanently and he sets out to restore his hometown to its former glory via his Arrow alter ego. Stephen has previously appeared in episodes of Hung, Private Practice, Heartland and The Vampire Diaries.

Daisy Betts

Daisy Betts – Daisy will play Lt. Grace Shepard on the new ABC drama Last Resort that focuses on the U.S. ballistic submarine Colorado that is ordered to fire nuclear weapons on Pakistan. The sub’s captain refuses the order, causing a chain reaction that puts all those onboard the sub in jeopardy. They eventually take refuge on an exotic island, taking their stand against the U.S. who targets them as enemies of the state. Daisy is an Australian actress who has previously starred in the short-lived series Persons Unknown, the Australian series Sea Patrol and in episodes of Harry’s Law.

Clare Bowen

Clare Bowen – This Australian beauty will star as Scarlett O’Connor on the new ABC soap Nashville that focuses on Rayna James, a legendary country music superstar, whose star has begun to fade. This causes her producers to offer her a joint tour with up-and-comer Juliette Barnes, the young and sexy future of country music. But, Rayna thinks that a few songs written by talented songwriter Scarlett will help to revive her success. Clare is a relative unknown here in the U.S., but has a flourishing career in TV, film and theatre in Australia.

Dean Geyer

Dean Geyer – Dean will star in the new season of the FOX musicomedy Glee as Brody Weston, a new love interest for Rachel Berry, who is now on her own in New York City, attending the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYADA). Brody is an upperclassman at NYADA, who is attracted to Rachel physically and by her talent. Dean has appeared in the Australian soap opera Neighbors and the short-lived FOX drama Terra Nova as well as participating in Australian Idol in 2003.

Aja Naomi King

Aja Naomi King – Aja is a relative newcomer, who will star alongside Mamie Gummer and Justin Hartley in the new CW medical dramedy Emily Owens, M.D. The series, of course, focuses on Emily Owens, a first-year intern at Denver Memorial Hospital, where she realizes that real life is just as awkward as high school. She will star as Cassandra Kopelson, the high school nemesis of Emily. Aja has previously appeared in episodes of Blue Bloods and Person of Interest.

Helena Mattsson

Helena Mattsson – This Swedish beauty will appear as Alexis Blume in the ensemble cast of the new ABC thriller series 666 Park Avenue that focuses on the premiere apartment building, The Drake, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, owned by mysterious Gavin Doran and his wife Olivia who hire a young Mid-Western couple to manage the complex where Alexis is one of the residents. But soon enough the new manager discovers that The Drake has a very dark secret. Helena ha previously appeared in episodes of Nikita and Desperate Housewives.

Janet Montgomery

Janet Montgomery – Janet will star as Martina Garretti, a New Jersey-bred, working-class woman who uses her street smarts in order to compete among her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues at a prestigious New York law firm in the new CBS legal drama Made In Jersey. Janet is actually a British actress who has previously appeared in the second season of Human Target and episodes of Entourage.

Jay Ryan

Jay Ryan – Jay will star in The CW remake of the 1980’s series Beauty and the Beast as Vincent Keller, a former doctor who enlisted after 9-11. He ended up as part of a military team who were enhanced into super-soldiers and then targeted by the government, being presumed dead for 10 years. That is until his fingerprints show up in a murder investigation run by Detective Catherine Chandler, whom Vincent saved years earlier after the brutal murder of her mother. Jay is a New Zealand native who appeared in the Australian shows Neighbors and Sea Patrol as well as episodes of the short-lived drama Terra Nova.

Tracy Spiradakos

Tracy Spiradakos – She will star as Charlie Matheson in the new NBC drama Revolution, which focuses on what would happen if the lights went out all over the world? Without any modern technology, everything stops. Fifteen years later the story clues in on Charlie whose life is dramatically changed when a local militia arrives, kills her father and takes her brother Danny. She and some others from their small farming community set out to Chicago to find her uncle, who her dying father says can help them get Danny back. Tracy has appeared in episodes of Supernatural, Psych, Hellcats and Syfy’s Being Human.

Tom Weston-Jones

Tom Weston-Jones – Tom appears in the lead role of Detective Kevin Corcoran on the BBC America period drama Copper that debuted a few weeks ago. The series follows a young Irish cop in New York City in the 1860’s, who deals with the dangerous and unruly immigrant neighborhood while interacting with the uptown Manhattan crowd and the black community. Tom has a theatre background and appeared in the U.K. series MI-5 and the upcoming mini-series World Without End (that has already aired in Canada and will be airing here in the States next month).

Then, there are the actors and actresses, who have been away from the small screens for an amount of time, making it really nice to see them back. They also appear in alphabetical order:

JoAnna Garcia Swisher

JoAnna Garcia Swisher – JoAnna will appear as Dorothy Crane, the new director at her family business, Crane Animal Hospital, in the new NBC comedy Animal Practice. The series will center on a top veterinarian at the hospital where it seems the patients are running the place rather than the staff. JoAnna has appeared in the long-running sitcom Reba, the short-lived shows Privileged and Better With You and recently a short stint on Royal Pains.

NOTE: I don’t normally focus on comedies in my writing, nor do I think this particular sitcom will last for long; but I am pleased that JoAnna is back on TV again; even if it is for a very brief time.

Kristin Kreuk

Kristin Kreuk – Kristin will appear as Detective Catherine Chandler in the CW remake of Beauty and the Beast, who witnessed the brutal murder of her mother by two gunmen. She would have also been killed if not for some sort of “being” who saved her life. Years later, she finds a clue that leads her to the discovery of a handsome doctor named Vincent Keller, presumed dead in 2002 while serving in Afghanistan. For the last ten years, Vincent has kept a low profile in order to hide the fact that when he becomes angry, he turns into a beast…the same beast that saved Catherine’s life years ago. Kristin, of course, starred in the long-running series Smallville, the Canadian series Edgemont and several episodes of Chuck.

Lucy Liu

Lucy Liu – Lucy will star in the CBS drama Elementary, a modern-day telling of the legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes. She will star in the reversed role of Dr. Joan Watson, Sherlock’s sober companion, who ends up working alongside him while he works with the police in Manhattan where he has been forced to live by his wealthy father. Lucy, of course, is best known for her role on Ally McBeal as well as the short-lived shows Cashmere Mafia and Dirty Sexy Money and her recent stint on Southland.

Kyle MacLachlan

Kyle MacLachlan – Kyle will star in the new CBS legal drama Made In Jersey as Donovan Stark, the founder of the law firm Stark & Rowan, where New Jersey born and bred Martina Garretti practices law, using her street smarts against her pedigreed Manhattan colleagues. Kyle is best known for his work in the classic TV series Twin Peaks and more recently for his ongoing role in Desperate Housewives.

Elizabeth Mitchell

Elizabeth Mitchell – Elizabeth is taking over the role of Rachel Matheson, the mother of Danny and Charlie Matheson from Andrea Roth in the new NBC drama Revolution, which will chronicle the aftermath of what happens when the power simply goes out one day all over the world and the affect that has on one particularly important family: The Mathesons. Elizabeth, of course, made her mark on TV in the juggernaut known as Lost as well as the short-lived remake of the 1980’s series V.

Hayden Panettiere

Hayden Panettiere – Hayden will return to TV in the role of up-and-coming singer Juliette Barnes, who is being groomed as the future of country music, in the ABC soap Nashville. Juliette will be put on tour with legendary country music superstar Rayna James, who is not happy about the double-billing, and has some plans of her own. Hayden is best recognized for her role as cheerleader Claire Bennett in Heroes, but also appeared in last season of Ally McBeal and in the soaps One Life to Live and Guiding Light when she was a child.

Scott Speedman

Scott Speedman – Scott returns to primetime TV as XO Sam Kendal in the new military themed ABC drama Last Resort that focuses on the U.S. ballistic submarine Colorado that is ordered to fire nuclear weapons on Pakistan. The sub’s captain refuses the order, causing a chain reaction that puts all those onboard the sub in jeopardy. They eventually take refuge on an exotic island, taking their stand against the U.S. who targets them as enemies of the state. Of course, Scott is best known for his role of Ben Covington on the cult favorite series Felicity; and he has focused his time on box office films since leaving that show.

So there you have it, my review of the new faces to look out for this fall and the returning faces that are a welcome sight back on the small screen again. Who are you looking forward to seeing again this fall and do you have any new faces that you are looking forward to learning more about?