Our 10 Most Anticipated New TV Shows of Fall 2016

Every year, the Fall TV season gets longer and longer. Though we're not quite at the point of doing away with it entirely (that's probably a distant one or two years off), shows are debuting so often, it's hard to pick which of the new crop you need to add to your DVR (or appointment calendar) ... particularly when you're trying to balance the 50 or 60 returning shows you're watching, too.

Don't worry: TVGuide.com is here to help. We've sifted through the dozens of new pilots debuting through the end of November, and our editors have narrowed the list down to 10 shows we're eager to see more of.

So check out our ranked list below, and also be sure to check out the list of your most anticipated shows of the Fall, based on data from TVGuide.com users who added new shows to their Watchlist.

10. Lethal Weapon

We know what you're thinking. A Lethal Weapon remake on Fox? Most anticipated? We're not drunk, we swear. Thanks to a captivating performance from Clayne Crawford (Rectify) as the crazed but somehow still grounded Martin Riggs, Lethal Weapon exceeded our admittedly low expectations. With a helping hand from the chemistry between Crawford and Damon Wayans, Sr. as Murtaugh, Fox has actually managed to grab our attention and make us sort of forget about those Mel Gibson and Danny Glover guys. -- Kaitlin Thomas

9. This is Us

The show already got your attention with its blockbuster trailer earlier this year, which has racked up more than 90 million views now, but the drama will deliver on it's feel-good premise. There's no over-the-top idea or big explosions here, just a well-acted drama about love, life and family. Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia make for immediately endearing leads, and Sterling K. Brown continues his breakout year in a primetime drama that will finally fill the Parenthood hole in your heart. This Is Us is equally deft at balancing tear-jerking emotional monologues with humor and joy. With all of the bleak news and dark shows on television, This Is Us will be the bright spot in your TV calendar. -- Megan Vick

8. No Tomorrow

Tori Anderson and Joshua Sasse are infectiously charming in this offbeat romantic comedy about a woman who discovers that her dream man is an apocalypse truther. It's a weird premise, sure, but No Tomorrow leans into its own absurdity, populating the show with surreal, strange characters (including one who speaks so quietly he needs subtitles) and delightful prop comedy that is rarely seen in one-hour shows. And while it's unlikely that No Tomorrow will help the CW continue its Golden Globes streak, it fits in perfectly on the network alongside fellow genre-pushing rom-coms Jane the Virgin and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. -- Sadie Gennis

7. Speechless

ABC has another worthwhile addition to its strong lineup of modern families with Speechless. The sitcom stars Minnie Driver as the fierce matriarch of a family of five, one of whom is a teenager with cerebral palsy. It's a clear-eyed and empathetic exploration of life in a special needs family that makes plenty of room for hilarity. -- Liam Mathews

6. Insecure

Never mind that Insecure is another leap ahead for diversity on TV. It also represents something much more universal: the very real struggle of being awkward in a world where everyone else seems so confident. Taking on dating, office weirdness, adult friendships, sex and yes, being a black woman who doesn't want to be seen as just that, Insecure is funny and relatable because we all know what it's like to feel a little bit out of place. -- Malcolm Venable

5. Westworld

If you're like me, when pressed on what kind of show you'd watch if you could only watch one more show, you stumble back and forth between "It has to have robots!" and "It has to have cowboys!" Well, Westworld has both, ensuring that it will be an exciting mashup of genres that will disrupt a television landscape that typically says we can only have or the other. An adaptation of the 1973 Michael Crichton film about a theme park loaded with lifelike androids, Westworld will explore a topic that is quickly becoming science fact: the rise of artificial intelligence. The look of the show and its fine cast (which includes Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden) swing open the saloon doors, but the real treat will be the intelligent discussion of whether or not robots will eventually kill us all. Thankfully, creator Jonah Nolan already showed us he's the go-to guy for A.I. with Person of Interest. -- Tim Surette

4. Pitch

Not since Friday Night Lights have we seen a "sports" show that managed to deliver week after week, making viewers feel as invested in the characters' personal dramas as we were in the final scores of the games. Fox's new drama Pitch has the potential to pick up that torch. Look for charismatic newcomer Kylie Bunbury to be a breakout star, not to mention her (fictional, for now) character Ginny Baker, the first woman to pitch in the MLB, to be a role model for young female athletes everywhere. -- Liz Raftery

3. Marvel's Luke Cage

Netflix has hit home runs with its first two Marvel superhero efforts, Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and there's no reason to expect anything different this time. Luke Cage doesn't look or feel or even sound like your average superhero show. The drama -- which follows Luke Cage (Mike Colter), the indestructible hero we met on Jessica Jones, as he grapples with his heroism while defending Harlem -- is armed with a smooth swagger and a pulsating soundtrack carefully curated by showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker to bring the streets of Harlem to life. (You saw the trailer backed by Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," right?) More importantly, though, the series promises to explore black culture and the black experience through a superhero prism we've never had before. And in times like these, Luke Cage is the superhero we need. -- Joyce Eng

2. The Good Place

NBC's new comedy has an impressive pedigree: it's created and executive-produced by Mike Schur, the comedy mastermind who's worked on numerous great shows including The Office and Parks & Recreation, and stars effervescent actress Kristen Bell alongside Ted Danson, arguably the greatest sitcom actor of all time. The hope is that their combined star power can restore NBC's tarnished comedy brand to its former glory. It won't be the next Friends, but it's something even better: a network comedy that feels different than anything that's come before. -- Liam Mathews

1. Designated Survivor

ABC's Kiefer Sutherland anchored drama Designated Survivor is the rare show that delivers on the hype, and surpasses it. When Sutherland's low(ish) ranking government official Tom Kirkman finds himself thrust into the role of President of the United States after the Capitol gets blown up during the State of the Union, the show delves into a white knuckle balance of family drama and West Wing-esque policy-based intrigue, with a compelling conspiracy thread running throughout. It's shocking that a show can balance all of these elements, but credit a magnetic cast that hits the ground running, a crack script that makes the first hour feel like 10 minutes and, of course, Sutherland as the anchor that keeps it all grounded. You can't get more over-the-top than murdering the entire United States government and blowing up the Capitol building in the first five minutes, but Designated Survivor actually gets by on a shockingly relatable premise: what if you were suddenly made President of the United States?

There's a reason Designated Survivor wasn't just the top pick across all of our Editors' lists, but also on the list compiled from TVGuide.com viewers' Watchlist adds: this is a show that delivers on its premise, feels timely, and most importantly, is a ton of fun. -- Alexander Zalben

Don't forget to keep adding shows to your Watchlist to stay up to date on when every new show is launching -- and when older shows are returning!

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS, one of the CW's parent companies.)