The month of May means that the major television networks are announcing their fall line ups – aka the shows you won’t have time to watch during the semester and then will shamelessly binge watch during fall and winter breaks.
Here are some of the political dramas and comedies that will debut in the coming months.
CBS
The show: Madame Secretary
The pitch: Elizabeth McCord (Tea Leoni) is an ex-CIA officer and the newly minted Secretary of State. CBS says that she “gets things done, even if it means not always playing by the rules.” (Shocker!) Another shocker: she has to balance the needs of her job and her family.
Our verdict: Fake Hillary Clinton + West Wing high mindedness + Homeland internationalism = 7/10*
The show: Scorpion
The pitch: Genius computer guy and his semi-diverse band of nerds are employed by the Department of Homeland Security to fight bad guys and wear glasses with thick rims.
Our verdict: Seems like a 24 style thriller (the trailer features the group trying to prevent a plane crash), except the main character is more dashing than Keifer Sutherland. 6/10
NBC
The show: Bad Judge
The pitch: A ditzy judge (Kate Walsh) presides over an L.A. Superior Court, having sex with witnesses, sentencing convicts to wear embarrassing t-shirts, and engaging in other ridiculous antics. And then she tries to help some underprivileged children.
Our verdict: Plus: it’s produced by Will Ferrell. Minus: almost everything else. 3/10
The show: State of Affairs
The pitch: Katherine Heigl plays a CIA analyst who is in love with the son of the President of the United States (Alfre Woodard). The son is killed by a Bin Laden-esque terrorist and Heigl goes full maverick to catch the bad guys. As one character says to her with a dramatic flourish, “You don’t make policy. The president does.” We can assume that Heigl’s character totally ignores this advice.
Our verdict: The. President. Is. A. Black. Woman. 10/10
ABC, CBS, and FOX have, boringly enough, not added any new political shows. But you can still live-tweet Scandal, ignore NCIS and its spin offs (which apparently will never die), and forget that FOX exists.
*Full disclosure: these ratings are completely arbitrary.