All the best shows coming to TV in October: Interview With The Vampire, The Midnight Club, and more

The new season of Saturday Night Live will look very, very different, thanks to a mass cast exodus. Kate McKinnon, Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kyle Mooney, Alex Moffat, Chris Redd, Melissa Villaseñor, and Aristotle Athari have all departed, and when you tune in for the premiere you’ll be greeted with four fresh faces. Don’t worry, some old favorites like Kenan Thompson, Cecily Strong, and Bowen Yang still remain, while Michael Che and Colin Jost are somehow still hosting Weekend Update. The first three hosts for October are Miles Teller, Brendan Gleeson, and Megan Thee Stallion. Kendrick Lamar and Willow are the musical performers. It should be worth tuning in, well, live to see how SNL fares in this new era. [Saloni Gajjar]

Anne Rice’s iconic novel Interview With The Vampire, about a present-day vampire recounting his sexy adventures in old New Orleans, gets another adaptation, this time as a TV show. Game Of Thrones’ Jacob Anderson stars as Louis and Australian actor Sam Reid plays Lestat (the great Eric Bogosian is Daniel, the man conducting the titular interview). This is but the first of what could be many Anne Rice adaptations from AMC, so the rest of her Vampire Chronicles books are on the table if this is a hit. [Sam Barsanti]

Is it even CBS if the network doesn’t air a new police procedural every fall? This year, the honor falls on Jimmy Smits and Amanda Warren to lead East New York. Warren plays Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood, the recently promoted commanding officer of the 74th precinct in Brooklyn. She heads a diverse group of officers and detectives, who are mostly reluctant to pay heed to her creative methods as social upheaval and gentrification take over the neighborhood. Kevin Rankin, Richard Kind, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Lavel Schley, and Olivia Luccardi round out the cast. [Saloni Gajjar]

If you’ve watched the MCU’s Spider-Man trilogy and wondered why Jacob Batalan (a.k.a. Peter Parker’s BFF Ned) doesn’t have his own project, here you go. The talented young actor stars in Reginald The Vampire, which is based on Johnny B. Truant’s books. He plays Reginald Andres, who stumbles into a world full of beautiful but vain vampires. Reginald has to navigate obstacles like not being with the girl he loves (a classic vampire problem, am I right?), and enemies such as an undead chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own. [Saloni Gajjar]

Oscar winner Hilary Swank returns to network television—two decades after she appeared on Beverly Hills, 90210—to lead ABC’s new mystery drama Alaska Daily, created by Spotlight writer and director Tom McCarthy. Swank plays Eileen, an acclaimed journalist from New York City who’s trying to revive her career after a scandal. Looking for a clean start, she moves to Anchorage to work at a local newspaper. Eileen teams up with fellow reporter Roz (Grace Dove) to solve the tragic cold case of missing Indigenous women. The cast includes Jeff Perry, Matt Malloy, Ami Park, and Meredith Holzman. [Saloni Gajjar]

If your favorite part of The White Lotus’ first season was a certain harrumphing himbo, we have the show for you. Based on the wildly popular (and just plain wild) Netflix documentary Abducted In Plain Sight, A Friend Of The Family stars Jake Lacy as Robert “B” Berchtold, a friend of the Broberg family. B is a stand-up church member with a family of his own, so obviously, he’s also sinister and weird in some horrifyingly unique ways. This may be Lacy … pretty much exactly as you’ve seen him before, but there’s power in practice—nobody does “so nice it’s scary” better. McKenna Grace, Colin Hanks, and Anna Paquin round out the cast. [Hattie Lindert]

Katherine McNamara’s Arrow spin-off never left the quiver, so to speak, but she’s still part of The CW family. She’s now starring in Walker: Independence, a Yellowstone-style centuries-earlier prequel of Jared Padalecki’s modern Walker series. McNamara stars as Abby Walker, a woman from Boston who moved to Texas with her husband so he could start a new job as a small-town sheriff, only for him to be immediately murdered. So, rather than a modern-day guy who solves crimes, it’s an actual cowboy woman who does the crime-solving. [Sam Barsanti]

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for horror fans: Mike Flanagan is dropping another drama on Netflix. The creator of Haunting Of Hill House (and Bly Manor) and Midnight Mass switches things up a bit with The Midnight Club, which focuses mostly on teens. The show, an adaptation of Christopher Pike’s 1994 novel of the same name, follows eight young hospice patients at the Rotterdam Home, which is run by an enigmatic doctor. The patients meet each midnight to swap horror stories and make a pact that the first one to succumb to their disease is responsible for communicating with the others from beyond the grave. Sure enough, after one of them dies, bizarre occurrences begin. The cast includes Flanagan favorites like Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, and Zach Gilford, and we’re hoping Kate Siegal makes an appearance as well. [Saloni Gajjar]

Remember what we said about CBS’ slate being incomplete without a police procedural? Well, the network is adding another testosterone-heavy project to the lineup this fall, but this one revolves around the lives of firefighters. Fire Country is led by Max Thieriot (who also stars in the Paramount+ series Seal Team), and he based it loosely on his own experiences growing up in California’s fire country. Thieriot plays Bode Donovan, a young convict who hopes to shorten his prison sentence by joining a firefighting program. Of course, he’s assigned to his hometown and has to work with former friends and fellow inmates to put out all kinds of fires. Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Jordan Calloway, Michael Trucco, and Diane Farr co-star. [Saloni Gajjar]

Five-part documentary series The Lincoln Project follows a veteran group of former GOP operatives and strategists known as, yeah, the Lincoln Project. The show will take us inside the war rooms of the successful SuperPAC of elite Republican strategists and consultants who joined forces to help bring down Donald Trump and “defeat Trumpism” during the 2020 elections. However, in the wake of their triumph, no one could have predicted the subsequent implosion as they turned on each other when the organization was plagued by scandals and secrets. [Saloni Gajjar]

The 10-part drama Let The Right One In is based on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel of the same name, which received a stellar Swedish film adaptation in 2008. But we can never have enough vampires onscreen, right? The show follows Mark (Damián Bichir) and his daughter, Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez), whose lives were changed when she was turned into a vampire a decade ago. Locked in since age 12, perhaps forever, Eleanor lives a closed-in life. She goes out only at night, while her father does his best to provide her with the human blood she needs to stay alive. The cast includes Anika Noni Rose, Grace Gummer, and Ian Foreman. [Saloni Gajjar]

The CW isn’t letting go of one of its most popular dramas just yet. Supernatural might’ve ended after 15 seasons in 2020, but series star Jensen Ackles is taking us back. He co-created The Winchesters, a prequel set in the 1970s and Ackles returns to voice Dean Winchester, who narrates the story of how his parents, John (Drake Rodger) and Mary (Meg Donnelly), met and fell in love while fighting literal monsters together. Bianca Kajlich, Demetria McKinney, and Nida Khurshid also star. No word yet on whether other Supernatural actors will make an appearance, but never say never with Ackles’ involvement. [Saloni Gajjar]

Based on Gregory David Roberts’ 2003 novel of the same name, Shantaram is partly inspired by Roberts’ own experiences as an Australian bank robber who fled to India and had several life-changing experiences. It’s no Eat, Pray, Love, but it gets darker as Lin explores Mumbai. Sons Of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam leads the cast, while the ensemble includes Alexander Siddig, Radhika Apte, Richard Roxburgh, Alyy Khan, Shubham Saraf, and David Field. [Saloni Gajjar]

Fans of Tegan and Sara will enjoy this origin story of the sibling pop duo, based on the Quins’ 2019 memoir of the same name. Even if you’re not (yet) a fan of their music, the new young adult series offers a compelling family drama about two twins (Railey and Seazynn Gilliland) navigating their sexuality, discovering their musical passions, and finding their way back to each other after growing apart. Cobie Smulders and Kyle Bornheimer also star as the sisters’ parents. [Mary Kate Carr]

It’s finally happening! Documentary Now! returns for a fourth season after a long three-year gap. Created by Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, Fred Armisen, and Rhys Thomas, the mockumentary parody spoofs famous documentaries through its fictitious subjects. The new season will see guest stars like Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Michael Keaton, Natasha Lyonne, John Mulaney, Michael C. Hall, Taran Killam, and Richard Kind, among others. [Saloni Gajjar]

In contrast to all the big franchise work Zoe Saldana has been up to lately, her new Netflix series From Scratch is a small, contained romantic drama set firmly in the real world. Based on the memoir of actor Tembi Locke, the limited series gives shades of Eat, Pray, Love and This Is Us. An American (Saldana) living in Italy falls in love with a chef (Eugenio Mastrandrea), and the pair begin a new life together, one complicated by geography, family, and foreboding health issues. From Scratch also stars Danielle Deadwyler, Keith David, Kellita Smith, Judith Scott, Lucia Sardo, Paride Benassi, and Roberta Rigano. [Mary Kate Carr]

Chloe Grace Moretz stars in The Peripheral, an adaptation of William Gibson’s book, which is set in a technologically advanced world where, with the right headgear, alternate realities are at humanity’s fingertips. The specifics of the “peripheral” world are a little confusing (it’s the future, but it’s also not?), but Moretz has a damn good time there. Unfortunately, she soon realizes alternate universes have dark sides too. Expansive initial trailers give The Peripheral a lot to live up to, but if there’s anyone worth trusting with a futuristic concept, it’s executive producers Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, the creators of Westworld. [Hattie Lindert]

What would October be without a little bit of mystery? Guillermo del Toro’s Netflix horror anthology Cabinet Of Curiosities features eight different stories from eight different filmmakers with decidedly different tastes, from The Babadook’s Jennifer Kent to Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke. It’s a bold undertaking from an even bolder visionary, and despite the vagueness of the series’ promos so far, there’s plenty to get excited about no matter where your taste in terror leans. After all, del Toro himself has said each episode is “a whole world” unto itself, filled to the brim with practical effects. [Hattie Lindert]

Are we, as a society, ready to enter the luxurious, fascinating, and incisive world of The White Lotus again? HBO’s award-winning anthology returns for its second season, this time transporting audiences to Italy instead of Hawai’i. Emmy-winner Jennifer Coolidge will reprise her role as Tanya McQuoid, who takes a trip to Sicily with her husband and somehow chooses to stay at another White Lotus resort. The new cast for season two includes Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Theo James, and Meghann Fahy. [Saloni Gajjar]

The Walking Dead season 11 (AMC, Oct 2)

Chucky season two (Syfy/USA, Oct 5)

Bling Empire season three (Netflix, Oct 5)

Pennyworth: The Origins of Batman’s Butler season three (HBO Max, Oct 6)

The Problem With Jon Stewart season two (Apple TV+, Oct 7)

Derry Girls season three (Netflix, Oct 7)

Avenue 5 season two (HBO Max, Oct 10)

Big Shot season two (Disney+, Oct 12)

Somebody Feed Phil season six (Netflix, Oct 16)

The Vow season two (HBO, Oct 17)

One Of Us Is Lying season two (Peacock, Oct 19)

Acapulco season two (Apple TV+, Oct 21)

Sherman’s Showcase season two (IFC, Oct 26)

The Mysterious Benedict Society season two (Disney+, Oct 26)

Big Mouth season six (Netflix, Oct 28)

Oct 2: The Equalizer season three (CBS),

Oct 3: The Good Doctor season six (ABC)

Oct 5: Kung Fu season three (The CW)

Oct 6: Grey’s Anatomy season 19, Station 19 season six (ABC), Walker season three (The CW)

Oct 7: Blue Bloods season seven, S.W.A.T. season five (CBS)

Oct 9: NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

Oct 10: All American season four, All American: Homecoming season two (The CW)