Fall TV's Best New Bets | CBS | 'Supergirl' & 'Angel from Hell' - Plus, a Midseason Bonus Pick

It's that time of year again, new fall programming is getting ready to begin and Eclectic Pop has picked at least two of the most promising new series from each network. Find out which of the new shows from CBS made the cut...


Supergirl
Yes, the trailer was campy and another superhero TV show might not be what television as a whole needs but this show has something few can claim to have, the perfect casting of its lead. You couldn’t ask for a better actress to play Clark Kent’s super cousin than the fantastic Melissa Benoist. When “Glee” took on the challenge of recharging its underclassmen for its fourth season, they hit gold with the casting of Benoist as Marley, the vocally talented and lovable good-girl daughter of the cafeteria lady.


Benoist has a rare quality that’s missing in so many castings for “good” characters, her screen presence genuinely screams “good”. It's a crucial attribute that sets her apart playing a heroine. While it's easy to get caught up in the flashy nature of villains, their role is significantly compromised if the audience doesn't have a hero worth rooting for. Whether the show is super or not, it has definitely found a super actress to play the title role. Premiere Date: Oct 26, airs on Mondays
Angel from Hell
The hilarious Jane Lynch returns to scripted television with this fantasy sitcom from Tad Quill. It follows Lynch’s Amy, an eccentric guardian angel who watches over Maggie Lawson’s type A, Alison. At first hesitant to believe Amy’s claim of angel guardianship, Alison is eventually won over by the accuracy of Amy's out-there predictions and an odd couple friendship ensues.

Jane Lynch is the chief selling point here. She stole every scene she ever had on “Glee” and after playing supporting for a lot of her career, she is finally, rightfully playing the lead this time around. If Maggie Lawson’s previous work is any clue, she should be a great foil to Lynch’s sure to be outlandish antics and a comedy of opposites with legs should be the result. Premiere Date: Nov 5, airs on Thursdays Update: CBS recently announced "Angel from Hell" has been moved to a midseason premiere. Eclectic Pop will provide the date and time of the new premiere when it is made available.
Midseason: Rush Hour
“Rush Hour” is the latest movie to get the TV treatment and it’s not the only new show on CBS’ roster to boast that title. It joins “Limitless” as part of the ever growing trend. What makes an adaptation of “Rush Hour” far more appealing than a TV retread of "Limitless" is that "Rush Hour" was a much better movie; therefore providing the creative powers with superior source material to mount a series around. To refresh, “Rush Hour” follows the exploits of an L.A. cop (Justin Hires taking over the role played by Chris Tucker) and a Hong Kong detective (Jon Foo succeeding Jackie Chan) as they fight crime.

Given that the original movie had two sequels, the formula for a long standing series is definitely in the cards. “Scrubs” creator Bill Lawrence is that the helm and if the endurance of his 9 season-long medical comedy is any indication of his ability to keep a series going, “Rush Hour” is in good hands. This premiere is a ways off, as it is currently slated for the midseason of 2016. Hopefully it will be worth the wait and avoid going the route of CBS' other comedic movie-TV adaptation, “Bad Teacher”. Premiere Date: 2016

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