The 5 New and Under-the-Radar Shows You Can’t Miss This September

It used to be that September was the most wonderful time of the year in the television world. Network shows returned from their long summer’s nap, and a slew of new series premiered. The triple-sized TV Guide Fall Preview issue (IYKYK) would arrive in my mailbox, and I would read and study it harder than I probably ever read a textbook.

So yes, times have changed. Sur,e there’s technically still a network premiere week, which will begin September 21 (kind of).  But CBS, for example, is only debuting two new dramas this Fall, and they are both spin-offs that don’t premiere until October 17—Boston Blue follows Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) from New York to Boston, while Sheriff Country is set in the same world as, yes, that’s right, Fire Country.

Of course, many of our existing favorites will return as well, but that too will be spread out over months instead of weeks. My beloved Grey’s Anatomy, which returns for a 22nd season on October 9 (I’m still waiting for “never has missed an episode of Grey’s” to be a Guinness Book of World Records category.)

And, of course, streamers are going to stream this September. Only Murders in the Building returns for a fifth season with new cast members Renee Zellweger and Dianne Wiest beginning September 9 on Hulu. The Morning Show, a series we love to hate and hate to love, is back for a fourth season on September 17 on AppleTV+.

But, as always, with so much TV to consume, we want to make sure you don’t miss these five under-the-radar new shows this month. 

1. The Paper

Stars:  Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore, Chelsea Frei, Melvin Gregg, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Alex Edelman, Ramona Young, Tim Key, and Oscar Nuñez 

Premiere Date:  All ten episodes premiere September 4 on Peacock

This one hits close to home. More than 12 years after The Office ended, the documentary crew that followed the staff of Dunder Mifflin returns with a brand new subject. But don’t call it a spin-off! Yes, Greg Daniels, who created the American version of The Office, is the co-creator, co-showrunner, executive producer, writer, and director on the series. And, yes, Oscar Nunez, who played Oscar on The Office, is in The Paper. But it’s not a spin-off. It’s merely set in the Office multiverse.

This time, the paper product is an actual newspaper (remember those? Like I said, this one hits close to home!). Sabrina Impacciatore takes over from Steve Carell as the clueless boss Esmeralda. Esmeralda’s world is disrupted when Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives as the new (and very competent!) editor-in-chief. Ned thinks he can make the Toledo Truth Teller a paper of record again. Mare (Chelsea Frei), whose job as a journalist has been reduced to copying and pasting wire stories, is delighted (although a little bit cynical) about this possibility. [Full review.]

2. Task

Stars:  Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Jamie McShane, Sam Keeley, Thuso Mbedu, Fabien Frankel, Alison Oliver, Raúl Castillo, Silvia Dionicio, Phoebe Fox, and Martha Plimpton.

Premiere Date: September 7 at 9 p.m. on HBO. A new episode will premiere every Sunday and also be available on HBO Max. 

Brad Ingelsby, the man behind the fantastic drama Mare of Easttown, is back with a new series set in a Philadelphia suburb. Mark Ruffalo, who has cornered the market on world weariness, stars as FBI Special Agent Tom Brandis. After a family tragedy that will be revealed over the course of the series’s seven episodes, Tom returns to work to head up a task force investigating a string of robberies.

Family man and city employee Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) is the unlikely criminal caught up in this enterprise.  Keep an eye out for Emilia Jones (so excellent in CODA) as Robby’s niece, Maeve, who is helping him raise his children after his wife left him. 

3. The Girlfriend

Stars: Robin Wright, Olivia Cooke, Laurie Davidson, Waleed Zuaiter, Tanya Moodie, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Karen Henthorn, Anna Chancellor, Leo Suter, and Francesca Corney

Premiere Date: All six episodes premiere September 10 on Prime Video.

Based on the 2017 Michelle Frances’ novel of the same name, The Girlfriend follows what happens when Laura’s (Robin Wright) beloved son Daniel (Laurie Davidson) brings his new girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke) home to meet his parents. “This one is different,” he tells his mom. “She’s perfect . . . I actually think you’d really like her.” But, alas, Laura does not. Soon there’s a missing bracelet and a missing cat and Laura is hot on the trail of who her son is really dating.

4. Black Rabbit

Stars: Jason Bateman, Jude Law, Cleopatra Coleman, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Amaka Okafor, Troy Kotsur, Abbey Lee, Odessa Young, Robin De Jesus, Dagmara Dominczyk, Chris Coy, Amir Malaklou, Don Harvey, Forrest Weber, Francis Benhamou, Gus Birney, John Ales and Steve Witting

Premiere Date: All eight episodes premiere on September 18 on Netflix

Jason Bateman and Jude Law star as brothers Vince and Jake Friedken in this eight-episode series. Jake (Law) owns one of the hottest restaurants in New York City, but every time he thinks he’s out of criminal activity, Vince (Bateman) pulls him back in.  The series flashes back and forth in time as the fractured relationship between the two brothers unfolds. Fun fact: Laura Linney, Bateman’s Ozark co-star, directs the third and fourth episodes of the season. 

5. The Lowdown

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kaniehtiio Horn, Tim Blake Nelson, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kyle MacLachlanyan Kiera Armstrong

Premiere Date: September 23 at 9 p.m. on FX and streaming the next day on Hulu

This new series, set in Oklahoma, hails from Sterlin Harjo, who created the beloved and too-short-lived Reservation Dogs. Ethan Hawke stars as Lee Raybon, a self-proclaimed truthstorian who is “chronically unemployed and always broke.” Lee rattles around in a trash-filled van chasing the latest story. “I read stuff. I research stuff. I drive around and I find stuff. And then I write about stuff,” is how he explains it.  When Dale (Time Blake Nelson),  the son of a wealthy and powerful family, is found dead, Lee has his next big story. Especially since Dale’s brother Donald (Kyle MacLachlan) is running for governor. 

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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