TV Heartbeat! Emmy Predictions! The New Fall Season begins!

So much to see! So little time! The flood of new and returning shows begins this week! Let’s hope it’s a good season since last year was pretty weak…

Gotham is back with promises of being less of a procedural and more epic in scale as the villains start to take power. Perhaps it’ll be less of the show that the network thinks fans need and more of the show fans deserve…

Speaking of power struggles, Empire is back with the Lyon clan at war over control of the company. Tune in for more music, mayhem and Cookie-isms as they’ll be visited by lots of guest stars including Marisa Tomei and Kelly Rowland in the first few episodes. Then look for Pitbull, Mariah Carey (in the finale), Chris Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Alicia Keys, Ludacris, Adam Rodriguez, Andre Royo and Tyra Ferrell.

The Doctor is back in the house! Doctor Who is back on BBC America!  Look for a guest appearance by Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams and, for the Christmas special, the return of fan-favorite River Song (Alex Kingston).

TV is hoping you want to see more of the movies with Minority Report and Limitless making the jump to TV this week. Both shows will pick up where the movies left off, though Limitless will focus on a different character with occasional visits by Bradley Cooper.

Fox’s horror/comedy, Scream Queens debuts this week. Expect a one-note Emma Roberts to lord it over the girls of her sorority (which includes Lea Michelle, Abigail Breslin, Billie Lord, Ariana Grande and Keke Palmer) and campus (including Nick Jonas and Diego Boneta) with a serious/creepy Jamie Lee Curtis as dean. I saw the first half of the two-hour premier and it was very Scream-like, without the charm/wit. Maybe that comes in the second hour when they set up the series, but the first half was shrill and flat.

NBC is hoping Blindspot will make as big a splash as the Blacklist. Jaimie Alexander plays an amnesiac whose tattoos are a treasure map to unravel a conspiracy. For added fun for viewers, the tattoos are actually solvable (unlike Prison Break where only Scofield understood his tattoos) so those who are studying her body intently may keep one step ahead of the story. Yep, that’s why people are studying her tattoos…

ABC is kicking off its comedy blocks on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you missed it last season, tune in to Fresh Off the Boat for the very funny and original Constance Wu in this fish-out-of-water comedy.

Tonight: South Park season premiere (Comedy)
Thursday: Thursday Night Football (CBS), Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll season finale (FX)
Saturday: Doctor Who season premiere (BBC America)
Sunday: Emmy Awards (Fox)
Monday: Gotham season premiere (Fox), Minority Report debut (Fox), The Voice season premiere (NBC), Blindspot debut (NBC), The Big Bang Theory season premiere (CBS), Life in Pieces debut (CBS), Scorpion season premiere (CBS), NCIS: LA season premiere (CBS), Castle season premiere (ABC)
Tuesday: NCIS season premiere (CBS), NCIS: New Orleans season premiere (CBS), Limitless debut (CBS), Scream Queens debut (Fox), The Muppets debut (ABC), Fresh Off the Boat season premiere (ABC)
Wednesday: Mysteries of Laura season premiere (NBC), Law & Order: SVU season premiere (NBC), Rosewood debut (Fox), Empire season premiere (Fox), Survivor season premiere (CBS), The Middle season premiere (ABC), The Goldbergs season premiere (ABC), Modern Family season premiere (ABC), black-ish season premiere (ABC), Nashville season premiere (ABC)

Emmy predictions

As the new fall season starts, Emmy crowns the winners of the past season! The Creative Arts Emmys were handed out last week so Game of Thrones and American Horror Story: Freak Show can already call themselves winners with 8 and 5 awards each.

The guest star acting awards went to Reg E. Cathey for House of Cards, Margo Martindale for The Americans, Joan Cusack for Shameless and Bradley Whitford for Transparent.

Outlander’s Bear McCreary was nominated for best score, but the trophy went home to House of Cards (sigh!).

The main awards will be announced in the big ceremony on Sunday. Here’s a look at some of the likely winners:

Outstanding Drama Series: Mad Men
In a final victory lap, Mad Men takes the big award home along with some other top prizes.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Jon Hamm, Mad Men
It’s hard to believe that Jon Hamm has never won for Mad Men so look for him to finally take home some hardware for his body of work in an iconic role.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Since she carries the show, Viola may have the edge over Empire’s scene-stealer Taraji Henson, her closest competition. Of course I would love it if Tatiana Maslany won for Orphan Black, but her award is really in the nomination and the swell of “it’s about time” sentiment.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama: Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Like Jon Hamm, the likely winner for her work across the seasons. (But she’ll also be Mrs. Malcolm Reynolds to me.) Congrats YoSaffBridg!

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama: Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
The best chance for the well-liked new series, he’s come a long way since playing the henchman in Beverly Hills Cop.

Outstanding Comedy Series: Veep
After Modern Family’s surprise, record-breaking year, it’s time to move on. If voters feel more adventurous, Transparent will be a winner, but it’s more likely that Veep will win this election.

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy: Jeffrey Tambour, Transparent
A win here is a perfect way to continue the wave of support for transgender folks.

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
An Emmy favorite and always a solid choice, she’s the likely winner although this is Emmy’s last chance to award beloved Amy Poehler a little something for Parks and Recreation and for being such a great award show host.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy: Allison Janney, Mom
Another voter favorite and a chance to actually reward a network TV show, Allison Janney will be the likely winner over Anna Chlumsky from Veep.

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy: Tony Hale, Veep
If voters are truly moving on from Modern Family, then this won’t be Ty Burrell’s night. That makes Tony Hale the likely winner for Veep again.

For the limited series category, look for HBO’s Olive Kitteridge to take home the lion’s share while Bessie should won’t be singing any blues in the TV movie categories.

There’s bound to be a few upsets to make things colorful so let’s see what happens on Sunday!

Stay tuned!

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