The Rings Of Power, Andor, and Atlanta set the pace on our list of TV shows to watch in September 2022

The Rings Of Power has been five years in the making. Announced in 2017 as the most expensive TV show of all time, with a $1 billion budget and a five-season production commitment, this Lord Of The Rings prequel has a lot to live up to. Set in Middle-earth thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and LOTR, this show is designed to work both for those who have seen the movies and those who haven’t. Expect some major events like the rise of Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of the island kingdom Númenor, and the last alliance between Elves and Men. The cast that includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charles Edwards, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, and Maxim Baldry. [Saloni Gajjar]

Pantheon is AMC+’s first animated series, and it centers on a teen girl named Maddie (Katie Chang) who receives mysterious online messages from someone who seems to know a lot about her recently deceased father (Daniel Dae Kim) … because it is her recently deceased father—or at least his consciousness uploaded to the cloud after a fatal brain scan (something a real-life company was considering a few years ago). We’ll leave it to Pantheon to determine if there is any difference between “you” and “your consciousness uploaded to the cloud.” [Sam Barsanti]

Based on Daria Polatin’s book of the same name, this Netflix thriller follows a hospital psychiatrist (Emily Deschanel) who lets a mysterious and sweet teen (Madeleine Arthur)—no name! no ID! weird marks on her body!—stay at her house. Too bad said teen seems to be part of a local satanic cult. It’s tough to tell from just the trailer, but we’re getting some True-Detective-light-meets-Run vibrations. Sam Jaeger, Gerardo Celasco, and Xaria Dotson also appear. [Tim Lowery]

Matthew Fox is finally baaaaack. After a 12-year absence, the actor returns to the small screen in his first television role since playing Lost’s iconic spinal surgeon. This time, he stars as a petro-chemist desperate to reunite and protect his family after a disruption to the world’s oil supply causes sweeping global chaos. Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) and Tom Wlaschiha (Stranger Things) also star in this five-part miniseries. [Emma Keates]

In Wedding Season, Hulu’s newest entry in the poisoned-at-your-own-nuptials canon, Rosa Salazar and Gavin Drea star as Katie and Stefan, a couple having an affair who find themselves on the run after Katie’s brand-new husband and his entire family are murdered at her wedding—and no one knows who did it. Part murder mystery, part rom-com, the tone of Wedding Season appears to be one of outlandish fun peppered with more than a few moments of real tension … kind of like an actual wedding. [Emma Keates]

The boys are back in town. Literally. All the boys return for the fifth season of Cobra Kai, the sequel TV show to the Karate Kid film trilogy. This season features the return of the villainous Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), who has seized control of the Cobra Kai dojo from John Kreese (Martin Kove). Maybe it’s a karma thing, since John himself stole the dojo from his former mentee, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Are you keeping up? Johnny and his former rival, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), now unite to defeat all their other enemies. And their students/trainees are probably still battling each other, too. [Saloni Gajjar]

As a follow-up to their New York Times bestseller The Book of Gutsy Women, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton now embark on a journey to speak with pioneering female artists, activists, community leaders, and everyday heroes in this eight-episode documentary series. Tune in for visits with Dr. Jane Goodall, Law & Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay, mother-daughter duo Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson, Gloria Steinem, Megan Thee Stallion, and Kim Kardashian, among others. [Saloni Gajjar]

Fresh off a forceful performance in We Own This City and a brief pop-up in The Bear, Jon Bernthal heads back to the small screen in September with this adaptation of Paul Schrader’s neo-noir film. Bernthal will, of course, be taking on the Richard Gere role—that is, yes, an American gigolo who’s framed for murder—while Gretchen Mol will tackle the Lauren Hutton one as his lover. Rosie O’Donnell, Lizzie Brocheré, Gabriel LaBelle (as a young version of that aforementioned sex worker from the U.S. of A.), and Leland Orser round out the cast. Quick question, though: This series is set in the present but is anyone else getting heavy ’80s vibes? [Tim Lowery]

Starz’s latest royal subject in The Serpent Queen is Catherine de Medici (Samantha Morton), who came from nothing and went on to wield vast influence as the unlikely queen of France. From marrying into the court as an orphaned teen to ruling as a ruthless regent through her young sons, Catherine tells her life story here in fourth-wall-breaking fashion. The series also stars Liv Hill as a younger version of Catherine, along with Charles Dance, Sennia Nanua, Ludivine Sagnier, Colm Meaney, and Rupert Everett. [Mary Kate Carr]

FOX’s new music drama Monarch is led by none other than Susan Sarandon. She plays Dottie Cantrell Roman, who leads a massive, multigenerational country music family along with Albie Roman (Trace Adkins). Together they’ve created a music dynasty, but the origin of their success isn’t what everyone believes. Nicolette “Nicky” Roman (Anna Friel) will stop at nothing to protect her family’s legacy and stardom when their reign is jeopardized. The show will feature plenty of original songs, so strap in. [Saloni Gajjar]

Are we as a society ready for more close-up shots of Elisabeth Moss glaring at the camera in The Handmaid’s Tale? We’ll find out when Hulu’s dystopian drama returns for its fifth season, which sees June (Moss) face consequences for killing Commander Waterford and struggle to redefine her identity and purpose. Meanwhile, a widowed Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) attempts to raise her profile in Toronto as Gilead’s influence creeps into Canada. Zawe Ashton has joined the cast as Moira’s (Samira Wiley) new girlfriend. Season five will premiere with two episodes, with the remaining airing weekly. [Saloni Gajjar]

As well-documented vampire lovers, The A.V. Club has a certain highbrow standard for our viewers when it comes to recommending bloodsucking content: Namely, are the vampires wearing lace collars? Are they dramatic and fashionable? Are we going to see them make out? Peacock’s adaptation of Richelle Mead’s adored YA series Vampire Academy essentially chronicles a Hogwarts-style school for royal vampires and hopefully meets the aforementioned criteria with flying colors. We’ll be the first to sit down and tune in for a regularly scheduled dose of pure camp. [Hattie Lindert]

After a season abroad (one with plenty of anthology-style detours), Atlanta goes back to Atlanta for its fourth and final season (and back to the goings-on of its main quartet). There’s a lot of anticipation to see how this envelope-pushing comedy decides to bow out—as always, we’ll recap episodes weekly—but judging from that preview above, at least we can rest assured that Donald Glover & Co.’s soundtracking game is as on-point as ever. [Tim Lowery]

All good things must come to an end, but not in Hollywood, where all good things get rinsed and repeated. Next up in that vein is the Quantum Leap reboot, which is set 30 years after the original show (which ran for five seasons from 1989 to 1993). Three decades after Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished, a new team led by Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) is assembled to restart the project. The cast includes Caitlin Bassett, Ernie Hudson, Nanrisa Lee, and Mason Alexander Park. [Saloni Gajjar]

Hulu’s Reboot is a sitcom about Hulu, er, rebooting a sitcom. The meta premise, about an early-2000s TV family reuniting and navigating each others’ egos and behind-the-scenes drama, is already pretty delicious. And so is the cast, which includes Keegan-Michael Key, Judy Greer, Johnny Knoxville, Paul Reiser, Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy, and Krista Marie Yu. [Mary Kate Carr]

It took only one season for Quinta Brunson’s hilarious Abbott Elementary to win over audiences, critics, and Television Academy members, with the show nabbing five Emmy noms this year, including one for Outstanding Comedy Series. It’s a relief then that season two is almost here and that it will be a full 22 episodes. Brunson stars as Janine Teagues, a public school teacher in Philadelphia with a passion for improving the education system who (mostly) gets help from her coworkers. [Saloni Gajjar]

Rogue One introduced a ragtag gang of likable Star Wars rebels who were all doomed to die in a fiery explosion because it was a prequel. But this is Star Wars, so what’s the harm in a prequel to a prequel? Disney+’s Andor is about Diego Luna’s eponymous character going from desperate survivor to still-desperate freedom fighter. It also stars Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, and Genevieve O’Reilly (as future Rebel Alliance bigshot Mon Mothma). [Sam Barsanti]

It was only a matter of time before the rescue story that captivated worldwide audiences in 2018 would see a high-profile adaptation. Thai Cave Rescue is among several recent projects doing just that, chronicling the operation that saved a dozen boys on the Wild Boars youth soccer team and their coach from Thailand’s flooded Tham Luang cave system. In comparison to previous documentaries on the incident, like 2021’s The Rescue and Ron Howard’s recent film Thirteen Lives, the series promises to dive further into the inner workings and lived-in experiences of each character. The cast features all local actors from Thailand, many of whom filmed scenes in their own homes. [Hattie Lindert]

Created by Raamla Mohamed and produced by Kerry Washington, the legal drama Reasonable Doubt is led by Emayatzy Corinealdi, who plays Jax Stewart. She comes off as having ethical problems and wild interpretations of the law, but she’s a brilliant and fearless defense attorney who bucks the system every chance she gets. The cast includes Michael Ealy, Sean Patrick Thomas, McKinley Freeman, and Aderinsola Olabode. Reasonable Doubt is the first scripted series by Onyx Collective, a new content brand created by Disney to give a platform to creators of color. (Their other venture on Hulu is the Oscar-winning documentary Summer Of Soul.) [Saloni Gajjar]

Veteran detective Danny Naylor (James Nesbitt) is devastated to discover the corpse of his estranged daughter at the morgue during a routine ID check. Refusing to accept she committed suicide, Danny sets out on a dangerous mission to uncover how she died. Each episode of Suspect follows Danny cross-examining a different person of interest or witness as the investigation unfolds in real-time. Richard E. Grant, Sam Heughan, and Joely Richardson also star. [Saloni Gajjar]

Nathan Fillion’s ABC procedural The Rookie gets a spin-off with The Rookie: Feds. If you’re apprehensive about what this might look like, know that it’s led by queen Niecy Nash. She plays high school counselor-turned-FBI trainee Simone Clark, who helped Fillion’s John Nolan nab a bombing culprit in season four of The Rookie. Now she gets her own show in which Simone becomes the oldest trainee to attend the FBI Academy. The cast includes Britt Robertson, Frankie Faison, James Lesure, Felix Solis, and Kevin Zegers. [Saloni Gajjar]

In the year 2022, CBS is putting out a sitcom with a title as cheesy as So Help Me Todd. Let’s try to move past that quickly and get into the synopsis. The show follows the titular Todd (Skylar Astin), a down-on-his-luck private investigator who is desperate to turn his life around. To that end, he agrees to take up a case for his recently divorced mother, attorney Margaret Wright (Marcia Gay Harden), and the two have to put their differences aside to investigate a tough case. Madeline Wise and Scott Prendergast also star. [Saloni Gajjar]

Kid Cudi and Black-ish’s Kenya Barris team up for a new Netflix animated project that seems to blend Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse with Insecure. Entergalactic is set in New York and centers on Jabari (Kid Cudi), a charming streetwear-clad artist on the cusp of success. But when he meets a cool photographer and new neighbor Meadow (Jessica Williams), he has to figure out if he can also make space for love in his burgeoning professional life. The voice cast includes Ty Dolla $ign, Laura Harrier, Vanessa Hudgens, Christopher Abbott, and Macaulay Culkin. [Saloni Gajjar]

Rick And Morty season six (Adult Swim, Sept 4)

American Dad season 20 (TBS, Sept 5)

The Good Fight season six (Paramount+, Sept 8)

Central Park season three (Apple TV+, Sept 9)

Los Espookys season two (HBO Max, Sept 16)

Fate: The Winx Saga season two (Netflix, Sept 16)

Star Wars: The Bad Batch season two (Disney+, Sept 28)

Mighty Ducks: Game Changers season two (Disney+, Sept 28)

Ramy season three (Hulu, Sept 30)

Sept 19: 9-1-1 season six, The Cleaning Lady season two (FOX), Bob Hearts Abishola season four, The Neighborhood season five, NCIS season 20, NCIS: Hawai’i season two (CBS)

Sept 20: FBI season five, FBI: Most Wanted season four, FBI: International season two (CBS), New Amsterdam season five (NBC), The Resident season six (FOX)

Sept 21: Big Sky season three, The Goldbergs season 10, The Conners season five, Home Economics season three (ABC), Chicago Fire season 11, Chicago Med season eight, Chicago P.D. season 10 (NBC)

Sept 22: Law & Order: SVU season 24, Law & Order season 22, Law & Order: Organized Crime season three (NBC)

Sept 25: The Rookie season five (ABC), The Simpsons season 34, The Great North season 3, Bob’s Burgers season 13, Family Guy season 21 (FOX)

Sept 27: La Brea season two (NBC)

Sept 29: Call Me Kat season three, Welcome To Flatch season two (FOX), Young Sheldon season six, Ghosts season two, CSI: Vegas season two (CBS)