Lots of Choices for October TV

With the TV season just getting underway, there is SO much to watch on the major and cable networks. The programming options for October are jam-packed with returning shows, new dramas and lots of made-for-TV movies celebrating fall and getting ready for – GASP! – Christmas.

Where has the year gone?

Here are my top choices, many though they are:

WELCOME BACK

Out of all of the dramas coming back, I’m most anxious to see the following:

The Blacklist on NBC on October 4 at 8 PM
The Flash on The CW on October 8 at 8 PM
Supernatural on The CW on October 10 at 8 PM
Arrow on The CW on October 15 at 9 PM
Impulse on YouTube on October 16

LET’S CELEBRATE FALL

The Hallmark Channel has these new offerings as part of their Fall Harvest:

Over the Moon in Love on October 5 at 9 PM, starring Jessica Lowndes and Wes Brown

Love, Fall & Order on October 12 at 9 PM, starring Erin Cahill and Trevor Donovan

Good Witch: Curse From a Rose on October 19 at 9 PM, featuring the cast of the series in their annual Halloween special

SAYING GOODBYE

The debut season of the new drama When Hope Calls will come to an end on Hallmark Movies Now on October 25.

INTRODUCING THE NEW

Netflix is bringing the comic book Raising Dion to the small screen on October 4, featuring Shadownhunters actress Alisha Wainwright as a single mom who must hide her young son’s superpowers to protect him from exploitation while investigating their origins and her husband’s death.

The CW is adding Batwoman to the fold of DC based dramas that are airing on the network. Debuting on October 6 at 8 PM, the series stars Ruby Rose (Orange Is the New Black) in the lead role of Batwoman/Kate Kane (cousin of Bruce Wayne) as well as Dougray Scott (from one of my all-time fave movies Ever After) as Kate’s father Jacob, Rachel Skarsten (Reign and Lost Girl) as psychotic Alice (Batwoman’s nemesis) and Meagan Tandy (Teen Wolf) as Kate’s ex-girlfriend Sophie.

The perennial teenaged detective Nancy Drew will be revisited by The CW, with a bit of a supernatural element, starring newcomer Kennedy McMann in the title role with Party of Five alum Scott Wolf appearing as her dad and a cast of mostly newcomers as Nancy’s band of friends. It’ll debut on October 9 at 9 PM.

The world of Jason Bourne is coming to the small screen on the USA Network, focusing on Treadstone, the infamous covert program that uses behavior modification protocol to turn recruits into nearly superhuman assassins. Stargate fans will be pleased to see Brian J. Smith back on the screen in one of the lead roles as well as Michelle Forbes (Battlestar Galactica, True Blood and Berlin Station), Michael Gaston (Blindspot, The Man in the High Castle and Madam Secretary).

The new streaming series Looking for Alaska will debut online on Hulu on October 18, starring a cast of mostly newcomers in a story, based on the John Green novel, that is set in 2005 and centers around teenager Miles “Pudge” Halter, as he enrolls in boarding school. As he tries to gain a deeper perspective on life, he falls in love with Alaska Young and finds a group of loyal friends. But after an unexpected tragedy, Miles and his close friends attempt to make sense of what they’ve been through. The most notable cast member is Ron Cephas Jones, of This Is Us fame.

Also on October 18, the new Amazon streaming series Modern Love will debut online, featuring an ensemble cast that boosts the likes of Tina Fey, John Slattery, Catherine Keener, Andy Garcia, Brandon Victor Dixon, Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel and Cristin Milioti [among many others]. Inspired by a real-life personal essay from the New York Times column, the stories will focus on an unlikely friendship, a lost love resurfaced, a marriage at its turning point, a date that might not have been a date, and an unconventional new family.

Then on October 20 HBO will finally debut the small screen adaptation of Watchmen that will include among its cast Regina King, Tom Mison, Jeremy Irons, James Wolk, Don Johnson, Jean Smart and Louis Gossett, Jr. Like the comic book on which it’s based, the series takes place in an alternative, contemporary reality in the United States, in which masked vigilantes became outlawed due to their violent methods.

HIGHLIGHTING LEGENDS

Lifetime is paying tribute to country music legends in their original telefilm Patsy & Loretta on October 19 at 8 PM, starring Broadway stars Megan Hilty and Jessie Mueller in the title roles. Based on the untold true story of the friendship between icon Patsy Cline (Hilty) and Loretta Lynn (Mueller), the made-for-TV movie will focus on how the two legends met: at the height of Patsy’s career and when Loretta was just starting out through the devastation of Patsy’s untimely death and everything in between.

CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY (AGAIN)

The holidays they are a’coming; and Lifetime and Hallmark are leading the way with early celebrations of the Yuletide:

Sweet Mountain Christmas will air on Lifetime on October 25 at 8 PM, starring Megan Hilty and Marcus Rosner.

The Road Home for Christmas will air on Lifetime on October 26 at 8 PM, starring Marla Sokoloff, Rob Mayes and Marie Osmond.

Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses will air on the Hallmark Channel on October 26 at 8 PM, starring Jill Wagner and Matt Davis.

No Time Like Christmas will air on Lifetime on October 27 at 8 PM, starring Kyla Pratt, Rachel McLaren and Ed Ruttle.

Our full TV calendar for October, covering dramas and movies, will be posted at the end of this week. Please share what programming you are most anxious to watch.