5 New Shows You Can’t Miss in October
The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh Photo: Amazon Prime. Rivals Photo: Hulu.
Your guide to the most interesting new shows of October.
Fall is in the air. Pumpkin lattes. Apple cider donuts. Halloween decorations. Cute kids in even cuter costumes. Leaf-peeping.
AppleTV+ celebrates the season by streaming It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for free on October 19 and October 20. Peacock brings the horror with its new series Teacup on October 10. (I’m going to be honest with you: I could barely make it through the trailer of that one). Fox’s The Simpsons spoof the movie Venom in their 35th annual Treehouse of Horror on October 27. Freeform has its 31 Nights of Halloween. NBC’s Found, network TV’s most entertaining and crazy show, returns for a second season on October 3. And, perhaps scariest of all, Travis Kelce hosts Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? premiering October 16 on PrimeVideo.
Scares aside, this month also continues the roll out of this Fall’s new shows. As always, we’ve scoured through all that’s coming your way this month, to pick the five new shows you can’t miss this October.
Joan
Stars: Sophie Turner, Frank Dillane, Kirsty J. Curtis, Gershwyn Eustache Jr., and Laura Aikman
Premiere Date: October 2 at 9 p.m. on the CW
Sophie Turner leaves dragons behind and enters the 1980s in this series based on infamous international jewel thief Joan Hannington. In the premiere, Joan must place her daughter in foster care to escape her abusive husband and the men who are after him. Come for the plot. Stay for the awesome ’80s fashion and soundtrack. If you miss the series on the CW, Joan will also air on Britbox starting December 19.
Where’s Wanda
Stars: Heike Makatsch, Axel Stein, Lea Drinda, Leo Simon, Nikeata Thompson, Palina Rojinski, Kostja Ullmann and Harriet Herbig-Matten
Premiere Date: The first two episodes premiere October 2 on Apple TV+ followed by a new episode every Wednesday through November 13.
One of Apple TV+’s most promising new shows of October is also its first German series. Where’s Wanda follows parents Dedo and Carlotta Klatt (Axel Stein and Heike Makatsch) as they desperately search for their missing teenage daughter Wanda (Lea Drinda). They have some very unauthorized ways of trying to get to the truth in this surprisingly dark comedy. The trailer above is dubbed but the series will only be available with subtitles making for a much more enjoyable (and less awkward) viewing experience.
NCIS: Origins
Stars: Austin Stowell, Kyle Schmid, Mariel Molino, Tyla Abercrumbie, and Diany Rodriguez
Premiere Date: October 14 at 9 p.m. on CBS
NCIS will kick off its 22nd (!!) season October 14 at 8 p.m., right before this prequel premieres. Set in 1991—when people still used pay phones—the series follows a young Jethro Gibbs (Austin Stowell) as he arrives at Camp Pendelton. Mark Harmon, who played Gibbs until he departed NCIS in 2021, executive produces Origins and narrates the series. “This is a story I don’t tell,” Gibbs says as the series kicks off. But one that CBS probably hopes he tells for many years to come.
The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh
Stars: Naveen Andrews, Sahana Srinivasan, Arjun Sriram, Ashwin Sakthivel, Nicholas Hamilton, Ethan Suplee and Megan Hilty
Premiere Date: All eight episodes premiere October 17 on PrimeVideo
Loosely based on creator Vijal Patel’s life, this eight episode comedy follows the Pradeep family as they move from India to Pittsburgh so their father Mahesh (Naveen Andrews) can launch his rocket company. It’s a rocky transition as their mom Sudha (Sindhu Vee), a brain surgeon in India, can’t get her medical license approved and their youngest son Vinod (Ashwin Sakthivel) becomes enamored with garbage. Almost immediately they clash with their next door neighbors (played by Megan Hilty, Ethan Suplee and Nicholas Hamilton) and the series weaves in and out of time, telling the story of the Pradeep’s time in America from different perspectives. “We’re not in a feud with our white trash neighbors who we hate,” Sudha says matter-of-factly.
Rivals
Stars: David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Nafessa Williams, and Bella Maclean
Premiere Date: All eight episodes premiere October 18 on Hulu
We continue to go back in time this month with this Hulu series based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Dame Jilly Cooper (Cooper also serves as an executive producer on the series). The drama, which gives serious prime time soap vibes, tells of the television production rivalry between Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) and Tony Baddingham (David Tennant). The opening scene is a couple (very loudly) joining the mile high club as “Addicted to Love” blasts. Cooper wrote 10 books set in this world so there is plenty of fodder for future seasons.
Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance writer and a member of the Television Critics Association. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on Twitter (@AmyTVGal).
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