The new fall television season is upon us! As a follow up to our article where we each picked our Top 5 new fall shows, we were going to write an article where we each picked our Top 5 returning fall shows. However, it turns out that our Top 5 lists overlapped too much, so we decided to just do one big Top 10 list! Caution: There may be some spoilers, so if you don’t already watch a particular show, you may want to skip that show’s description. Read on to find out our Top 10 Returning Fall Shows!
Our Top 10 Returning Fall Shows of 2013
1. The Walking Dead (Season 4 premieres Sunday, October 13 at 9/8c on AMC)
The Season 3 finale was a little anti-climactic since we didn’t get the showdown between the Governor and Rick that we were expecting. Instead, the Governor shot down his own people and drove off with a couple of guys, while Rick decided to let those left behind in Woodbury come live at the prison. However, if you watch the Season 4 trailer below, you’ll see that the upcoming season looks pretty intense, with more zombie attacks than ever, thanks to someone who is sabotaging the prison!
2. Homeland (Season 3 premieres Sunday, September 29 at 9/8c on Showtime)
Usually we aren’t really into political type shows, but this show is just too good not to like. We first got into it because it came on after Dexter, and were pleasantly surprised at how good it was! You never know what to expect with this show. The season finale left us with a car bombing at CIA headquarters, which Carrie and Brody narrowly miss. Carrie believes Brody when he says he didn’t do it, but she knows no one else will, so she helps him escape to Canada. They exchange a tearful goodbye before he crosses the border. Season 3 looks like it will be really intense, considering the aftermath of the bombing.
3. Supernatural (Season 9 premieres Tuesday, October 8 at 9/8c on CW)
We finally caught up with all 8 seasons of Supernatural this summer, just in time for the panel at Comic-Con. The Season 8 finale was actually really good and ended with a dramatic cliffhanger: all of the angels falling to Earth. We were able to watch the opening scene of Season 9 at Comic-Con (you can read our description of that scene here), which was pretty funny, and makes it look like this season will be a good one. Also, from the Comic-Con panel, it seems like one of the humorous highlights of this season will be Cas learning how to be human, and how to deal with everything that goes along with it.
4. Arrow (Season 2 premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 9/8c on CW)
Arrow was a show that we first learned about at Comic-Con 2012, when we got to watch the pilot, which we liked, so we made it a point to watch the show when it came on TV. It started out pretty good, got a little iffy towards the middle, but came back with a strong second half of its first season, especially the last few episodes. Sure, it has its cheesy “CW moments” at times, but we’re able to overlook those. We got a very powerful and unexpected season finale, where just when you thought the day was saved, you were wrong. We’re now left wondering what’s next for Starling City and the Glades, and whether Malcolm Merlyn lives. Also something to look forward to: Summer Glau joining the cast!
5. Revolution (Season 2 premieres Wednesday, September 25 at 8/7c on NBC)
After working towards the goal of reaching the Tower and turning the lights back on, they finally achieve that goal, although there were a few casualties along the way. Unfortunately, Randall Flynn takes advantage of the situation so he can launch some nukes at the East Coast. But wait, it also turns out that the “President” has been hiding out in Guantanamo Bay! And that’s where the season finale left us, with this cliffhanger of the nukes on their way, and seemingly no way of getting into the room in time to stop that from happening. Now we finally get to see what happens next! However, we’re a little worried about the time slot change. Revolution had been on Mondays at 10/9c, so they were able get away with more gory and violent stuff due to the later time slot. However, it’s been moved to Wednesdays at 7/8c, so we’re concerned that this much earlier time slot will force them to make things more family friendly and tamer, therefore possibly making the show lamer.
6. American Horror Story (Season 3 premieres Wednesday, October 9 at 10/9c on FX)
This could almost be considered a “new” show, since the story changes every season, and the seasons have nothing to do with each other, except for the fact that many of the actors are the same. This season, the show is called American Horror Story: Coven (last season was American Horror Story: Asylum), as it focuses on a coven of witches. It takes place in New Orleans, so there will also be voodoo involved. We both loved the first season, but we thought last season was just okay. It was pretty slow and the story didn’t make much sense. Hopefully this season will be better. Returning cast members include Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Taissa Farmiga, Frances Conroy, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe, while notable new cast members include Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, and Patti LuPone.
7. Once Upon a Time (Season 3 premieres Sunday, September 29 at 8/7c on ABC)
Josh and I watched the series premiere of the show when it first aired, but we thought the kid was kind of annoying. Josh wasn’t interested in watching it anymore, but I decided to give it another chance, considering that it was from the makers of Lost, a show we loved. After I watched the second episode, I thought that the show was pretty good, and mentioned to Josh that we should keep watching. But I wasn’t able to convince him, so I gave up on it for awhile. Then it showed up on Netflix last year, so I started watching it during my lunch hour at work, and got addicted. Luckily, I was able to catch up in time for Season 2! At this point, I’m not sure Josh will ever go back and catch up. In any case, Season 3 looks to be pretty exciting since we get to go to Neverland!
8. How I Met Your Mother (Season 9 premieres Monday, September 23 at 8/7c on CBS)
How I Met Your Mother returns for its 9th and final season, where Ted finally meets the kids’ mother. You won’t see any spoilers about Season 8 here, because to tell you the truth, we haven’t watched it yet! I (Violet) binge watched it on Netflix and caught up with Season 7 about halfway through Season 8, but the free streaming episodes didn’t go far enough back for me to catch up. So now I’m waiting for Season 8 to be added to Netflix so hopefully I can catch up to Season 9 before it’s too late! As for Josh, he hasn’t watched the entire series straight through like I have, just has seen a few episodes here and there, but what he has seen, he likes!
9. The Vampire Diaries (Season 5 premieres Thursday, October 3 at 8/7c on CW)
As I mentioned in my Top 5 new fall shows list, The Vampire Diaries is a guilty pleasure for me. I mean, I know it’s bad, but for some reason, I keep watching it… However, Josh would never be caught dead watching this show. With Elena as a vampire with her humanity switch turned off this past season, she was even more annoying than her normal self. However, Stefan and Damon managed to get her to flip the switch back on, so she’ll be back to her not-quite-as-annoying-but-still-annoying self. I’m hoping that with the girls in college now, the change of scenery will help mix things up a bit, and that with Jeremy alive again, things will be more interesting. Also, I’m curious to see what havoc Silas plans to wreak, considering that he is Stefan’s doppelganger, and Stefan is now MIA indefinitely. And what’s Katherine going to do now that she’s human?
10. Elementary (Season 2 premieres Thursday, September 26 at 10/9c on CBS)
This was another show that we started watching because we had seen the pilot at Comic-Con 2012. I know, I know, most geeks prefer the BBC show Sherlock as their Sherlock Holmes show of choice, and might view it as a betrayal to watch this show too. We like both shows, but Elementary is certainly a different take, considering that Watson is a female — Joan Watson, rather than John Watson, and played by Lucy Liu. Additionally, it takes place in present day New York City rather than London. However, Sherlock is still British and has the accent. Our only complaint is that it gets a little too formulaic at times (think House). Admittedly, we did fall behind several episodes last season, and still need to catch up!
So, what do you think? What returning shows will you be watching this fall? Are there any shows that you used to watch but decided to stop watching? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
