Entertainment

editor’s picks: new shows

the three television shows you can’t miss this fall. We promise.

by caitlin smith

Each week, an editor at NYLON will be picking her or his favorites. Think eyeliner, electro tracks, shoes for fall, or--as is the case this week--new TV shows. Editorial Assistant Caitlin Smith interviewed dozens of actors for our TV spread in the September Issue--and in the process watched hours and hours of television. Who who better to ask: What's the best new show on TV? Here are here top three picks.

I am not one of those people that will deny watching television. Like the majority of today's twentysomethings, I don't have cable, but I will go—and have gone—to great lengths to maneuver my way around that. This means downloading pirated episodes (and dodging the 12 million ads that pop up when doing so), lengthy searches on Google (“Girls HBO Season 1 episode 4 part 1”)—I even made sure that I knew which bar in my neighborhood would be screening season five of Breaking Bad weeks before the premiere. In preparation for our annual September TV Issue, I'm required to watch dozens of new shows. Some are good, some are mediocre, and some (to put it quite bluntly) are just plain painful to watch. But there are those rare few that intrigue me enough to tune in later to see how the show progresses after the issue is complete. Here are those special three.

NASHVILLE

To be honest, not much about the plot of this show intrigued me when I first heard about it. I never hopped onto the Glee bandwagon and—predictably—I'm not a big fan of country music. But, Connie Britton (as the seasoned country singer Rayna James) was reason enough to catch my attention (Oh, how I miss you, Friday Night Lights). I also found myself oddly hooked in by Hayden Panettiere's hot mess of a character, the bitchy and entitled country pop star Juliette Barnes who, as it turns out, is a much more complex than your average mean girl. And Scarlett (Clare Bowen) and Gunnar's (Sam Palladio) chemistry is nothing short of mesmerizing.

Premieres Wednesday, October 10 at 10 pm on ABC

EMILY OWENS M.D.

In Emily Owens M.D., our lead character (named Emily, naturally, and played by Mamie Gummer) is learning that, like high school, adult life is sometimes still divided up in to silly little cliques. At the hospital she's interning for, the orthopedic surgeons are the jocks, the mean girls are in plastic surgery, the stoners are in anesthesia, and surgery—where Emily is—is a “melting pot.” Emily's self-effacing and sweetly naive (and slightly Scrubs-like) inner dialogue and expressive face was enough to make me fall for the show. That, and Gummer just so happens to be the offspring of Meryl Streep and, if I do say so myself, her performance does her should do her mother proud.

Premieres Tuesday, October 10 at 9pm on The CW

BEN & KATE

This show is cute. There's really no other word for it. The equation may sound predictably quirky—single mother (Kate, played by Dakota Johnson) is trying to make it on her own until she has her goofy, rascal-of-a-brother (Ben, played by Nat Faxon) move in to help out; hilarity ensues—but it's lovable nonetheless. The dialogue is silly and natural and Judd Apatow-like, and Brit actress Lucy Punch, who plays Kate's raunchy best friend and co-worker BJ, who is ridiculously funny, might just be the best thing about this series.

Premieres Tuesday, September 25 at 8:30 pm on Fox

CAITLIN SMITH