As the fall season approaches, major TV networks are gearing up for another hopeful primetime season. In the wake of American idols Ruben and Clay, new shows are stepping up to the plate, hoping to get into the spotlight.
Rest assured, everyone will still love Raymond, the Simpsons will never die, our sides still will ache from the hilarious Will and Grace and, later this season, we will tune in to watch Simon Cowell demoralize another poor soul.
Along with the return of everyone’s favorites, different faces will try their luck in an effort to become primetime gold. Some of these faces we’ve seen before, and some are new faces we may never see again.
Here’s a rundown of America’s fall primetime TV lineup:
CBS
The comedy lineup for CBS will deliver many returning favorites, such as the all-star “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The King of Queens” and Ted Danson’s “Becker.”
Making its debut this fall on the comedy lineup is Charlie Sheen’s (yeah, he’s still around) new sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” Returning to the TV spotlight after ABC’s “Spin City,” Sheen plays a wealthy, self-absorbed bachelor whose nephew and newly-divorced brother invade his Malibu home.
Despite their problems, Sheen and his brother try to provide a good environment for Sheen’s young nephew and frequently lock horns along the way.
In the drama category, viewers will see the return of big-timers such as the popular military drama “JAG” and crime drama phenomenon “C.S.I.” along with its counterpart “C.S.I: Miami.”
A newcomer to the CBS drama lineup is the coming-of-age story “Joan of Arcadia.” A young small-town girl (newcomer Amber Tamblyn) begins getting strange directions and signs from what she believes to be a higher power.
Capitalizing on “JAG” fame, CBS welcomes the new military drama “NAVY: NCIS.” This series chronicles a team of agents that investigate crimes connected to the U.S. Navy and Marines.
Joe Pantoliano (from “The Matrix” and “Daredevil”) headlines the upcoming crime drama “The Handler.” The show profiles Joe Renato (Pantoliano), an FBI agent who trains undercover agents to solve crime in the cultural jungle that is Los Angeles.
NBC
NBC returns for the fall 2003 season with another solid comedy lineup. Millions will be glued to their television screens thanks to the return of “Frasier,” “Will & Grace” and “Friends.”
Joining NBC’s golden comedy bill is veteran comedy diva Whoopi Goldberg in her self-titled comedy “Whoopi.” Goldberg plays a rundown ex-singer who has invested in a small New York City hotel. A variety of unique characters make her venture anything but boring.
Another new NBC sitcom is “Happy Family,” with former TV big shots John Larroquette (Night Court) and Christine Baranski (Cybill). This is the story of a middle-aged couple preparing to celebrate an empty nest after the children have grown.
The couple’s new romantic life is short, however, as they soon are bombarded with their children’s crazy antics.
NBC’s killer track record continues in the drama category.
Viewers can go back to the White House with another season of “The West Wing” and into the emergency room with “ER.”
Newcomers to the drama lineup include the likes of Alicia Silverstone and Rob Lowe.
From the producer of Melrose Place, “Miss Match” stars Silverstone (“Clueless”) as the daughter of a hotshot divorce attorney. While working under her father, she must work with divorcees while looking for love.
NBC also is adding a new legal drama to the lineup with “The Lyon’s Den.”
Hoping to take his “West Wing” fame on the solo track, Rob Lowe plays a small-time attorney who takes a job as the head of a larger law firm.
A newcomer to big-league law, Lowe must combat big-time treachery while keeping his smalltime practice at heart.
ABC
Many familiar ABC titles will be returning to the network’s fall primetime lineup. Viewers can expect another season from “8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter,” “According To Jim” and “My Wife & Kids.”
Hoping to share this primetime success is the new romantic comedy “I’m With Her.”
A young high school teacher falls for a famous actress and must deal with the glamour and attention of the spotlight while pursuing love.
The upcoming comedy “It’s All Relative” tells the story of a young bartender and his Harvard med student fiancee.
Sounds romantic, right? The best is yet to come … the bartender’s parents are staunch Irish Catholics and his fiancee’s parents are homosexual men.
It will be interesting to see how this will turn out.
The drama lineup for ABC will see the return of favorites such as “NYPD Blue,” “The Practice” and Jennifer Garner’s “Alias.”
The network also added “Threat Matrix,” a new action drama about a group of elite agents of the Homeland Security Agency who defends the United States from foreign terrorist threats.
In the new police drama “10-8,” a young New York inner-city criminal-to-be is sent by his older cop brother to Los Angeles to change his ways.
He enlists as an Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy, and soon discovers the only thing tougher than inner-city punks are the ones who wear a badge.
FOX
“The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill,” “That 70’s Show” and “The Bernie Mac Show” are just a few shows returning to Fox’s stellar primetime comedy lineup.
Debuting this season, “A Minute With Stan Hooper” casts Norm MacDonald as a network news commentator who wants to experience small-town life.
He and his wife move to a small Wisconsin community and encounter a cast of wacky characters that make the couple’s life all too interesting.
While Bernie Mac returns for another season of his primetime success, stand-up comic Cedric the Entertainer steps up to the plate with his new variety show “Cedric the Entertainer Presents.”
Cedric brings back the popular variety show format of the 1950s with a half-hour of dancers and “Saturday Night Live”-type skit comedy.
In the drama category, the fall season will be an intense one for Fox with returning favorites “Boston Public” and the primetime smash “24.”
Adding to this list is the Romeo and Juliet-ish “Skin,” which tells the story of two young lovers in the middle of a war between their families.
Another new drama that has high hopes is “The O.C.”
A poor inner-city teen is taken under the wing of his lawyer, who brings the young bad boy to live with him and his family in rich, prestigious Newport Beach, Calif.
The young man’s life becomes more interesting as he encounters family problems and the pressures and obstacles of being accepted in his new environment.
On Fox’s popular reality circuit, the choice between love and money will again test a group of young women in another season of “Joe Millionaire.”
America will have to wait until midseason for Randy, Paula and Simon to return to help America select a new pop sensation in season three of “American Idol.”