We know what you’re thinking: with all the new shows we’re excited for, surely we have already filled up our schedules! Somehow, we haven’t. We’ve all still got quite a few returning shows to keep up with, and believe it or not, we don’t even own a single time-turner between the three of us.
It’s alarming, really.
Since we are already familiar with these shows and the characters therein, we’re handling this post a little differently than last week’s new shows post. For each show, you’ll see a trailer for the new season as well as each of our thoughts on why we’re coming back, what we’re excited to see, and just how committed we are to keep watching through the season.
Considering the videos below are for either the upcoming season or the just-concluded season of each show, we recommend that you don’t click on them unless you’re caught up.
Agents of SHIELD
Lauren: I feel aggressively “meh” toward this show right now. I’ve watched the first two episodes of the new season, and while there were some good moments, it’s going to have to up its game in order to go head-to-head with all the other great shows this season. While I really am trying to stay invested, I already anticipate the episodes piling up on the DVR until I one day go “oh, hey, there are fifteen episodes on here and I don’t care.”
Sarah: I watched the premiere and also felt an overwhelming sense of “meh”. I am DVR-ing the entire series, but I haven’t felt a compulsion to watch the second episode yet. It seems like this is one that I will watch in bursts, unless something happens that really grabs me and pulls me all the way back in.
Teija: This show’s had some major ups and downs but overall I was pleased with the way the last season ended… the trailers for this season don’t have me clamoring for more, though. I’ll see how I feel as the season goes on. The premiere bored me to tears (I kept having to actively remind myself to pay attention to it) so it doesn’t look promising.
Arrow
Sarah: This is my hate watch show, mostly so I can update Teija and Lauren on that happenings so that they have background for the crossovers. But really, can’t we just move Felicity to Flash (I suppose Dig and Oliver can shift over to Legends of Tomorrow if they really insist) and cancel this show already?
Blindspot
Teija: I’ve been watching this for a whole season just because it gives me something to get my nitpicking snarky feels out once a week, why would I stop now? Also, after the season premiere, I’m wondering whether the writers took constructive criticism over the summer or I’m developing a Stockholm Syndrome situation with this show, because I actually seriously enjoyed the first episode of season two.
Bob’s Burgers
Sarah: I binge watched this entire show over the summer and I am so excited for new episodes that let me enjoy this quirky, unique family.
Teija: This is my favorite animated show of all time, I am so excited it’s back! It has the best written family dynamic of any animated show.
The Fall
Sarah: I am SO ready to know how everything will play out, cliffhangers on Netflix shows are the worst, because there is so long until new episodes. Let’s do this.
Lauren: FINALLY we will know the resolution to that maddening season 2 cliffhanger. I’m confused as to how exactly they’re going to have a whole new season after… certain events… but really I’m just here to find out whether Stella or Paul comes out on top in the end.
Teija: RIGHT! This is back! I had almost forgotten, it had been so long (how dare you, Netflix). I am so ready to find out the conclusion to that cliffhanger and see where this is going.
The Flash
Lauren: I’m in this one for the long haul. Last season was a bit of a mess, plot-wise, but I love the characters so much that I’ll stick with them until the bitter end. Plus this season they’re giving us alternate timelines and CSI Draco Malfoy, so there’s a lot to look forward to.
Sarah: I will continue watching this show until the bitter end because despite the plot issues from season 2, the characters remain some of my favorite on television. I cannot wait to see how they handle the Flashpoint story line and how it impacts everything.
Teija: Pretty excited to see how they deal with what they started last season, and hoping they fix the issues they’ve had with some of the characters (give Iris something to do, please). Hopeful for the season overall.
Gilmore Girls
Lauren: It’s a new show! It’s an old show! I don’t know how to categorize this one! All I know is that the Gilmores are BACK, baby, and I have a day blocked off with hearts scribbled in it on my calendar. I have VERY STRONG FEELINGS about what needs to happen in these final four episodes, so I am scaredcited to see how close I am.
Sarah: Ahhhhhhh has it really been NINE years since this show ended, but at the same time it feels like no time has passed since we last saw the Gilmores. I am READY for this and have blocked the entire day after Thanksgiving off in order to binge the entire season. While drinking coffee.
Teija: I’m anticipating this more than just about anything else for the entirety of 2016 (yes, including Rogue One), so I am BESIDE MYSELF waiting for this to release. I need so badly to visit Stars Hollow again and I cannot wait to see what they’ve come up with. I have also blocked off the day after Thanksgiving specifically for this.
Grey’s Anatomy
Lauren: I have stuck with this show for twelve seasons, and I am not about to stop now. And while I still really miss some of my favorite characters who have departed (the one who left at the end of season 12 has left a gaping wound in my heart), I’m still super invested in the ones who are still around.
How to Get Away with Murder
Lauren: I quit this show mid-season-1 and then picked it back up right before season 2 premiered. I can’t decide if that was a good decision or a terrible one because it completely sucked me in. It is so over-the-top and melodramatic and completely bonkers, yet I can’t stop watching.
Jane the Virgin
Lauren: I’ve been on pins and needles about that season 2 finale for MONTHS now. I adore this show with my whole heart, and I would love for it to just go on forever. Jane and I can grow old together. It will be fine.
Sarah: I JUST finished my two-seasons-in-one-week binge of this show and I AM READY for the season 3 premiere. The Villanueva women burrowed deep into my heart and I need this weekly dose of charm and delight and drama and Jane to complete me.
Teija: GIVE IT TO ME NOW. I am here FOREVER, the Villanuevas are so charming and lovely and I love this family too much to ever let it go. And unlike Sarah and Lauren, I saw the season finale when it aired, so I’ve been waiting all summer for the resolution. I need it now!
Legends of Tomorrow
Lauren: I am woefully behind on this show. I have no PROBLEMS with it, but it just didn’t become must-watch TV for me, and so I have almost a whole season piled up on my DVR. I have grand intentions to catch up because I’m really intrigued by the 4-show crossover they’re going to do… but who knows if I actually will.
Sarah: I’ll admit, I mostly continue to watch this show solely because I adore Victor Garber. It does keep me entertained, but for the most part I’m still watching because of my compulsive need to know everything that’s going on in the entire DCTV universe so I am adequately informed for cross-overs.
Quantico
Sarah: I started this show mostly expecting it to be an amusing guilty pleasure that I didn’t really care about, but I ended it super invested in the characters and the plot. I love the setup at the end of season 1 and I am super excited to see how that plays out for everyone involved.
Teija: This show amuses me. I started out warily watching it and picking at it a lot because it started off really rocky, but once it got going, it got good. I’m excited to see where they go with season 2, especially since they have brought on Conrad Grayson–er, I mean, Henry Czerny.
Supergirl
Lauren: I am not entirely caught up on S1, but I am working on it. This show is such a delight, and now that it’s on the same network as The Flash, I am super excited to see where they take it (the Supergirl/Flash crossover was my favorite episode of television last season, bar none).
Sarah: Supergirl and Flash are my favorites of the returning TV shows, I love the way they balance the funny and light-hearted with the emotional and dramatic. I am absolutely committed to following Kara and the gang to the very end.
Teija: I am so desperately trying to finish season 1 in time to not fall so far behind on season 2 that I can’t catch up. I’m loving season 1 so far, so I’m hopeful! Let’s see if I can pull it off.
Teen Wolf
Lauren: I fell behind last season and let’s be real, I probably won’t catch up, but this show is so wackadoodle that I doubt it matters. I’m sure the plot is still pretty much monsters-monsters-lacrosse-friendship-monsters. Besides, I’m going to be watching this final season solely to see if my ship sails (AND IT BETTER), so I don’t mind being a little out of the loop on all the supernatural happenings of Beacon Hills. .
Sarah: This show is terri-bad BUT I AM SO INVESTED IN MY SHIP THAT I DON’T EVEN CARE. All I need is for them to end up together and it will have all been worth it. Every crazy, dread doctors, were-cheetahs, alpha pack moment of it.
The Vampire Diaries
Lauren: IT’S THE FINAL SEASON. sob I have stuck with this show through all its unevenness, and while I still think the first few seasons were the best, I am still super invested in knowing where all the core characters wind up. I have a lot of hope going into this final season that it’s going to end on a high note (which, by my definition, means that it finally lets Alaric be happy). Don’t let me down, Vampire Diaries.
Sarah: I binged the first six seasons of this last summer and having to wait to watch season 7 was torture. I’m honestly not sure how I’ll be able to get through the roller coaster of emotions that is sure to take place in the final season. But I am so invested in these characters that I would literally follow them into the fire to ensure their happiness. PLEASE LET THEM BE HAPPY.
Vikings
Lauren: Technically we are still mid-season-4 (longest. mid-season. hiatus. ever.) but it FEELS like we’re about to start a new season. Despite still stinging a little — okay, a lot — from That Thing In Season 3 (not over it, never over it) I am totally intrigued with how things ended in the mid-season finale, and am excited to see where it goes from here.
Sarah: I’ll admit, I was still a bit “meh” on the show after the event Lauren speaks of from Season 3, but the mid-season finale had me excited again and I can’t wait to see where they take things.
Teija: I think I’m finally ready to start season 4 after a long and tumultuous grieving-and-anger period following That Which Shall Not Be Discussed Right Now Lest I Rage Anew. Let’s see how quickly I can catch up to the rest of the world.
The Walking Dead
Lauren: Confession: I did not watch the season 6 finale because I was a chicken. Then I heard about the awful cliffhanger ending and decided not to watch it until right before the season 7 premiere. So while this is a show I’ll be watching to the bitter end (it’s one of the few currently airing shows my husband and I watch together, and he is all in), right now the best words to summarize my feelings about the upcoming season are “braced for impact.”