Falling for new TV

Fall is an optimistic time for television viewers and studio heads alike. While established hits like “Modern Family” and “House” return for new seasons, there is a freshman class on each station, hoping to survive into the next season. Some of these shows will go on to become hits, while others will be cancelled after two or three episodes. Here is a small selection of the comedies, dramas and thrillers contending for best new program for the 2011-2012 television season.

“The Playboy Club”
NBC
Premieres Sept. 19 at 10 p.m.

Set in ’60s Chicago, “The Playboy Club” is one part period drama, one part mystery and one part mob drama. When Bunny Maureen (Amber Heard, “Zombieland”) accidentally kills a handsy mob boss in the club storage room, playboy Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian, “CSI: Miami”) helps her cover her tracks. Meanwhile, there are a number of minor characters with mysterious pasts, hidden agendas and big ambitions, each with the potential to spark dramatic story lines.

“Terra Nova”
FOX
Premieres Sept. 26 at 8 p.m.

Possibly the most conceptually ambitious new show this season, “Terra Nova” is a futuristic show set 85 million years in the past. Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara, “Life on Mars”) and his family are given the chance to leave behind the overdeveloped Earth of 2149 for the prehistoric colony of Terra Nova. The show promises to explore both the dynamics of the Shannon family and humanity’s attempt to start over on Earth. Plus, there will be dinosaurs.

“Person of Interest”
CBS
Premieres Sept. 22 at 9 p.m.

When J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Fringe”) is attached to a show, the odds are it will be complicated, addicting and frustrating, while always leaving viewers with more questions than answers. His latest show follows Reese (Jim Caviezel, “The Prisoner”), an ex-CIA agent presumed to be dead, and Finch (Michael Emerson, “Lost”), the billionaire who wants to use him to prevent violent crimes. Through the use of advanced software, surveillance technology, Reese’s CIA know-how and Finch’s bottomless pockets, the two stop crimes while also attracting the attention of the New York Police Department.

“Ringer”
CW
Premiered Sept. 13 at 9 p.m.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) returns to cable as Siobhan and Bridget, estranged twin sisters living polar opposite lives. Siobhan is wealthy, married and enjoying life in a world that knows nothing about her twin sister, a recovering drug addict. After witnessing a murder, Bridget flees to her sister’s home, where Siobhan goes missing just as they begin to reconnect. In the end it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener: Being Siobhan is just as dangerous as being Bridget.

“Pan Am”
ABC
Premieres Sept. 25 at 10 p.m.

Before plane travel was associated with long security lines and bad food, it had an air of luxury to it. Stewardesses were gorgeous and gracious and people dressed their best for a plane trip. “Pan Am” attempts to evoke the essence of that era, the Jet Age circa 1963. Christina Ricci (“New York, I Love You”) stars as Maggie, an artsy type with a taste for travel. Other Pan Am crew members include Dean (Mike Vogel, “She’s Out of My League”), the eager new pilot with something to prove and runaway bride Laura (Margot Robbie, “Neighbours”). And while comparisons to “Mad Men” are unavoidable, the addition of stewardesses moonlighting as spies gives this show something unique.

“Up All Night”
NBC
Premiered Sept. 14 at 10 p.m.

Starring Christina Applegate (“Anchorman”) and Will Arnett (“Arrested Development”) as Reagan and Chris Brinkley, NBC’s “Up All Night” explores what happens when an outgoing career woman and her husband raise their first child. Reagan (Applegate) is a new mother determined to not let her new baby disrupt her career or her nightlife. With the help of her husband Chris, a stay-at-home dad, she navigates the waters of her demanding boss Ava (Maya Rudolph, “Bridesmaids”), midnight feedings and the challenge of learning not to curse in front of an infant.

“2 Broke Girls”
CBS
Premieres Sept. 19 at 9:30 p.m.

Kat Dennings (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist”) stars as Max, a sassy, veteran broke girl all too familiar with living from paycheck to paycheck. She works at a Brooklyn diner frequented by hipsters and elderly Russians (who remember when the diner was owned by the Russian mob). There she meets Caroline (UCLA alumna Beth Behrs), a newly broke girl looking for work following the destruction of her trust fund and her father’s arrest for embezzling. Bonded by their desire for a source of income that does not require a hideous yellow waitress outfit, the two begin saving for a cupcake shop.