TV Heartbeat! The X-Files is back! More Black Sails! Legends of Tomorrow begins now!

It’s a busy week on TV with some huge debuts and a farewell (not that anyone may notice).

The big news is that The X-Files is back! The first episode will air on Sunday after the NFC Championship game (so make sure your DVR has wiggle room if the game goes long) and also on Monday which is its normal timeslot. The first and last episode of this season will be a part of the greater X-Files story, but the 4 episodes in between will be stand alone. Not only is the main cast back, but the original writers are back too! Some early reports say that the first episode is terrific and at least one of the standalone episodes is a new classic. Are they right? The Truth is out there!

The X-Files premiere red carpet afterparty Gillian Anderson David Duchovny 19

Black Sails is also back! This show seems so underrated, but it’s definitely worth a viewing. The story focuses on several different players all trying to survive and take control of Nassau. Terrific sets and locations, a hard-core cast and lots of big action scenes (this is on cable), make for really good TV. This season we’ll see John Silver with a peg leg (but maybe not for the seafood lover in you) and we’ll also finally get to meet Blackbeard since Ray Stevenson (Rome, Punisher, Thor) joins this season.

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Syfy is launching another one of its big shows with The Magicians. This new series is based on the best-selling books by Lev Grossman. Now Magicians isn’t about Criss Angel trying to out-illusion David Copperfield. Magicians are wizards in modern day New York. Quentin Coldwater is quietly recruited to attend a very secret college which trains magicians. His friend Julia Wicker also shows talent, but is denied entry and seeks to hone her skills through other methods. Check back for my upcoming interview with the producer and star of this show!

Magicians

We’re exchanging superhero teams this week with the end of Heroes Reborn (does anyone care? Bueller? Bueller?) and the start of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. A medley of assorted villains and heroes from Arrow and The Flash team up with time-traveler Rip Hunter (Doctor Who’s Arthur Darvill) to prevent an apocalypse that could destroy everything as we know it. (Granted, that’s a worst case scenario…)

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The 100 is back and though it has a lot of loyal fans and critics, ratings are soft so let’s hope that it starts off with a strong audience. With My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Golden Globe win for Best Actress, something with higher ratings will have to be on the chopping block. Gulp.

the 100

And if the excellent War and Peace adaption that debuted on Monday whetted your appetite for more great literature on TV, then check out Esquire’s new series Beowulf. Kieran Bew plays Beowulf who must defend his kingdom. The cast also includes Ed Speleers, Joanne Whalley and David Ajala.

[Beowulf]

Baskets is about a failed French clown who became a rodeo jester and his return to his home town of Bakersfield. (Seriously, that’s the pitch.) Clearly it’s a comedy and it starts this week on FX.

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Based on a spin-off character in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman opus, Fox is debuting Lucifer. Lucifer aka Satan (Tom Ellis) is alive and well in the City of Angeles aka Los Angeles. He’s bored and gives up his throne to pass the time as a consultant for the LAPD. DB Woodside plays an angel trying to persuade Lucifer to return and Lauren German (Shay from Chicago Fire) is an LAPD detective he works with. The cast also includes Lesley-Ann Brandt and Kevin Alejandro

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Thursday: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow debut (The CW), The 100 season premiere (The CW), Heroes Reborn series finale (NBC), London Spy debut (BBC America), Portlandia season premiere (IFC), Dark Net debut (Showtime), Baskets debut (FX)
Friday: Mad Dogs debut (Amazon)
Saturday: Black Sails season premiere (Starz), Beowulf debut (Esquire),
Sunday: The X-Files season premiere (Fox)
Monday: The X-Files regular time slot debut (Fox), Lucifer debut (Fox), The Magicians debut (Syfy), The Fosters season premiere (Freeform), Recovery Road debut (Freeform), American Dad season premiere (TBS)
Tuesday: Outsiders debut (WGN America)
Wednesday: Suits season premiere (USA)
Health Check

The Shannara Chornicles and Shadowhunters both had strong starts. Shannara picked up a ton of viewers over the course of the week so it looks like word of mouth is doing its job!

Shannara teaser poster

Shadowhunters started big for the newly named Freeform channel. It’ll be interesting to see if the show has legs as the adaption made some different choices from the books. Some details in the plot have changed as well as characters. It’s particularly hard for genre shows to set up their world and to find the right tone so I’ll be curious to see how the show settles in the next couple of episodes.

Shadowhunters poster

There’s been a slew of news about renewals and such so here are a few highlights:
· Empire is coming back (Duh)
· Scream Queens is also getting a second season (a bubble show that gets the edge due to social media presence, the power of Ryan Murphy and a bad year at Fox).
· Fox is reviving The Rock Horror Picture Show and Tim Curry will be joining in. Feel the antici…pation.
· 24 will be back, but no Jack Bauer. They are looking for more diversity this time so yeah!
· NBC is looking to secure the rights for Hairspray as its December live musical.

There’s also more news about Jessica Jones, Poldark and the Lemony Snicket series (A Series of Unfortunate Events) that I tweeted about so you can check that out online (@Cambear)

Stay tuned!

Comment below or email me at Erica@MikeTheFanboy.com
For more adventures, follow me on twitter: @Cambear

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