Wednesday, October 15 was a momentous day for digital media. With streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime giving networks a place for past episodes (and in some cases, new episodes day after air) of their series to live on and gain new viewers, there was a seismic shift that was felt throughout the lands of Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner and other cable providers when HBO announced it would launch its own stand-alone streaming service in 2015.

HBO currently provides HBO GO for cable subscribers which includes a library of movies, and complete series both new and old, including Game of Thrones, Veep, The Sopranos, Girls, The Wire and more. Amazon Instant members also have access to HBO programs, but only past seasons (current seasons will take up to three years to land on Amazon). The new streaming service will not require a cable subscription and will include basically the same content as cable subscribers get with HBO GO (sister channel Cinemax content may also be included). It’s rumored Showtime will follow suit at some point in the near future.

And that future may not be too far away with today’s announcement that CBS (Showtime is a corporate sibling) is also going to offer its own exclusive subscriber streaming service. As far as streaming content goes, CBS has been notoriously stingy in offering new episodes of its current season shows on any platform save for its own mobile app and website (and even there, finding complete episodes of your favorite shows is a dicey proposition although the network does offer current episodes of Under the Dome and Extant on Amazon).

CBS All Access is a new pay service that gives subscribers access to most of the network’s current programming and classics from its vaults. For $5.99 a month, users have access to full current seasons of 15 CBS primetime shows, including The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, CSI, Elementary, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, The Mentalist, NCIS, Person of Interest and Survivor, with new episodes available day after air. (CBS is the one major network that does not offer new episodes of its shows on Hulu Plus.)

You also get the ability to live-stream your local CBS station (initially in 14 markets with more to be added, and some sporting events will not be available), full past seasons of 8 CBS shows including The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, and Survivor (with more to come), 5,000 episodes of “CBS Classics” including Cheers, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, and CSI: Miami, and Big Brother 24/7 live feeds. Extra content for special events like the Country Music Awards and The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will also be available.

With more options becoming available to stream just the shows and networks you want, are the cable companies in danger of becoming obsolete, or will this force them to drop prices to keep subscribers plugged in? The new streaming options, of course, won’t kill cable — just yet — but they will certainly force the companies to re-examine their current models. With subscribers cutting the cord and relying on OTA local network channels, streaming services, Roku, Apple TV and Google Chrome, the cable companies are going to have to start offering something other than their tiered packages.

One popular solution, something demanded by cable subscribers in general, is an ‘a la carte’ option, allowing customers to choose what channels they want to pay for and not be forced to pay for channels they never watch. So far, though, cable companies and content providers have been less than enthusiastic about that option simply because it would cost them millions. But with many cable channels offering their programming online (hardly any of the big ones like HGTV, Lifetime or Discovery offer current programs on Hulu Plus like the major networks do), cord-cutters could force them to re-evaluate their own streaming strategies, especially those that do require a cable subscription log-in (like MTV and TNT) to access their shows. If subscribers start to flee cable en masse, those networks will have to adapt to survive.

With CBS All Access priced at $5.99 a month, Hulu Plus at $7.99, Netflix at $8.99 (and that recent $1.00 price increase really hurt their bottom line), Amazon at about $8.25 a month and the HBO service projected to cost perhaps as much as $15 (totaling less than $50 a month), would you be willing to ditch cable and watch everything streaming and over the air in the case of local channels?

Once you build a successful comic-book based series on a network that loves you, the natural thing to do is to build a spinoff. The Flash, along with “parent” show Arrow, represent much about what’s right on The CW these days. Grant Gustin is a perfect Barry Allen, and producers Geoff Johns, David Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg have surrounded him with an outstanding cast, including Broadway star Jesse L. Martin (Joe West), TV heavyweight Tom Cavanagh (Harrison Wells), newcomers like Danielle Panabaker (Caitlin Snow) and they have even brought in someone who knows what it’s like to be under the cowl in John Wesley Shipp (Henry Allen).

We sat down with these folks at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and as the show is set to premiere next week, we share what they told us is coming up in season one:

Grant Gustin

You can tell that Gustin really likes Barry, “He’s just full of hope and optimism. He’s easily relatable.” He’s played so many characters that he wouldn’t want to be in the same room with (we’re looking at you, Sebastian Smythe) that it is refreshing to play someone who people like. He grew up a big (very big, says the tattoo he showed us) Superman fan, so he’s had to learn a lot about the character he now portrays. He’d originally thought about reading the entirety of the run of Flash books, until he saw just how many there were. The New 52 series seems to be similar to what they’re trying to do, and Gustin points to just how knowledgeable and accessible the producers have been in helping build the character grounded in the canon.

Gustin is looking forward to delving into some of the Flash’s extended powers, specifically time travel. They tease it a little in the Pilot, but he wants more. “I think it just presents a lot of fun storylines.”

John Wesley Shipp

Shipp hasn’t yet felt that moment of weirdness seeing someone else in the suit, but the following week was to be his first scene with Grant in the Flash costume. If that moment of “weirdness” was to happen, he expected it then. But his Flash was much different tonally then this Flash. “I can’t imagine Emmet Walsh killing Priscilla Pointer [the actors who played his parents], you know?”

You can tell that Shipp is still disappointed that his show was cancelled after just one season. “Although for a one season show, it has had an incredible life … but how often do you get to come back?” He called it an extraordinary opportunity for healing.

When asked about watching the evolution of superhero properties in popular culture since 1990, Shipp talked about how audiences are more informed, “It’s a smarter sensibility … so we can address the fact that The Flash is about speed and needs to be aerodynamic.” But he kids that the landscape is saturated with comic shows and movies now. He joked with our table that we were too young to remember it used to be all about westerns, and lately it’s CSI and Law & Order.

Shipp is taken by Grant Gustin. “He’s really sincere … he’s very real.”

Shipp says he doesn’t want the character to be “Dawson’s dad thirteen years later.” Obviously prison has changed Henry, but he thinks that it is more important to demonstrate that impact in a nuanced way, “If you don’t [see how prison changed him] that’s my bad, that’s my failure.” One of the most difficult things he experienced in prison was that no one – save Barry – believed him, including specifically Joe West, his neighbor and friend … and the man who raised Barry in Henry’s absence. That’s a reunion I’m looking forward to seeing.

Shipp points to the audience’s thirst for darker shows like Constantine and The Walking Dead as to why there’s been difficulty getting another Flash property off the ground. And while this The Flash tends to be a little darker in some areas – specifically in the Allen family backstory – it is still very much rooted in the tone of the comics. Gustin’s sense of comedy: running into himself, tripping over his feet balanced with his power, demonstrates an everyman quality that is endearing.

Tom Cavanaugh

Cavanaugh was asked about what research he might have done with folks who are wheelchair-bound. He dodged the question specific to The Flash, but talked about the work he did for a little-seen independent film called Sublime. After that, he said, working in a motorized wheelchair was a big improvement. He said that the differences in the two wheelchairs were symbolic of the differences of working on a big-budget production like the show, and a much tighter-budgeted small film.

Cavanaugh was attracted to the different layers the characters portrayed, especially Harrison Wells. You could tell too, that he was a bit taken aback by fast-paced storytelling that occurs in the first nine episodes. If there is anything that The CW should get credit for, it is helping to usher in shows that tell stories at a breakneck speed, and it looks like The Flash is going to be one of them. “Things that you might want to keep in your quiver, they’re firing those things off in a hurry.”

Cavanaugh thought he had a pretty good understanding of The Flash’s stories from the comic books, but after taking the role, he realized he was a neophyte. But producers Kriesberg and Geoff Johns have been incredibly helpful, informative and – almost more importantly – welcoming to someone who wants to learn the canon.

Danielle Panabaker

Panabaker is excited to be a part of a superhero franchise with a preexisting fan base, “It’s so cool! It’s so great because people are excited about The Flash.” Playing Caitlin Snow, who brings a lot to the table, is a big part of that. “It’s great to have a really smart woman on board who also brings that emotional, sensitive perspective.” Snow is fresh from the trauma of losing her fiancé in the accident, so has that drive to keep Barry safe. That trauma has also made her much more serious than she was pre-accident (a side of her we will get to see in flashbacks early in the season).

It doesn’t look like Caitlin is being set up as an immediate love interest for Barry, but there’s a triangle dynamic that might develop with the two of them and Iris. “Barry has always pined for Iris but he can’t have her, so he’s got to figure out what’s next? The sad scientist over here?”

Andrew Kreisberg

Kreisberg was taken by one of the decisions that Smallville made early on, showing how Clark had trouble adjusting to his powers. There is something to be said too about having too much power and becoming god-like. “We’re going to try and keep [his powers] – at least early on – as limited as we can.” But there is definitely a desire (as is apparent in the Pilot) to eventually get to some of the Flash’s more dynamic powers like phasing through matter and (gasp!) time travel. Expect a Smallville-esque difficulty in learning to contain those powers.

There was a conscious decision early on on Arrow to ground the stories in reality as much as possible (thus the mirakuru storyline). The Flash, however, represents an ability to go a step farther and open the world up a bit. Berlanti came up with the idea of the particle accelerator as a way of “building” a group of super-humans all tied to the same event. “The thing that will keep it like Arrow is the way in which people view these impossible, miraculous things,” explains Kreisberg. “We’ll never have a show, especially early on, where people are just like, ‘oh yeah … guy’s flying.’”

Kreisberg doesn’t see a lot of competition between Arrow and The Flash and the other new DC Comics properties coming to television this season. “One of the things that DC did really well this year is for all of the shows they’re doing, they are so completely different. Even Arrow and Flash are two very different shows; one is a grounded, crime, revenge, Shakespearian drama and Flash is more blue skies, superpowers.” Their approach is that they are only in competition with themselves to make quality television. But a “rising tide lifts all ships,” and he’s looking forward to seeing Gotham and iZombie.

It’s a big week for TV on home video as the new fall season starts to roll out. This week, you have the opportunity to catch up on several of last season’s shows before the new season starts, including Arrow, About a Boy, Awkward, The Big Bang Theory, Bones, Castle, Grimm, Hannibal, Hawaii Five-O, Sleepy Hollow and South Park. For those whose cable systems don’t yet carry Robert Rodriguez’s El Rey channel, the first season of From Dusk Till Dawn makes its home video debut, while streaming series Alpha House and Burning Love also get home video releases. Classic TV fans can now get The Carol Burnett Show Ultimate Edition from retailers other than Time Life, and Highway to Heaven and Tour of Duty also get new season releases. For kids and families, there’s Ben 10 Omniverse, Denver the Last Dinosaur, Dragon Ball Z, Marvel Knights, Slugterra and more. For a look at the September 16 highlights, check out our alphabetical shopper’s guide after the jump. Click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information.

CBS has announced its fall schedule, and with the network having the most returning new shows from the previous season, they really didn’t have too much to change. Until the network acquired Thursday Night Football and spin-offs from the popular CSI and NCIS franchises. In fact, a good portion of their returning programs are benched until football ends its run.

With the Thursday schedule disrupted and the new additions taking old favorites’ time slots, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, Undercover Boss, and newcomers Battle Creek and The Odd Couple won’t be seen until 2015. Other shows like The Amazing Race and The Big Bang Theory are moving to make room for the new additions. CBS’ biggest change is the end of its 2-hour Monday comedy block, something that’s been in place since 1986! The 9 PM hour now belongs to new thriller Scorpion while the troubled 10 PM spot hopefully gets a boost from NCIS: Los Angeles.

Monday will now lead off with The Big Bang Theory, which will return to its Thursday slot after football (and then 2 Broke Girls will return to Monday), with Mom moving to 8:30. CBS did not pick up HIMYM spin-off How I Met Your Dad. Tuesday starts off with NCIS which leads into the third hour of NCIS shows on the network, this one taking place in New Orleans. Wednesday adds Kevin Williamson’s psychological thriller Stalker starring Dylan McDermott and Maggie Q. Thursday’s new addition is the comedy The McCarthys, about an Irish Catholic, sports-crazed family and the gay son who just doesn’t want to spend that much time with them. Friday welcomes The Amazing Race to the 8 PM timeslot, which should make fans of the show very happy. Why? Because the show will now always start on time! No more football and golf delays (makes setting a DVR so much easier).

Saturday sticks with the Crimetime/48 Hours block, and Sunday sees Madame Secretary, with Tea Leoni, Tim Daly and Bebe Neuwirth, take over the 8 PM slot, and CSI moves to the 10 PM slot until the spin-off CSI: Cyber takes over later in the season. And in case you’re wondering, CBS has confirmed that this will be the final season of Two and a Half Men. The one positive outcome of football disrupting the fall schedule is that the network will have enough original programming to cut down on or eliminate reruns throughout the season. CBS seems to be in a good position heading into fall with a roster of hit shows, newcomers that follow the CBS crime drama formula (so should be successful) and has more powerhouses waiting in the wings. Here’s what the fall schedule looks like:

Monday
8 p.m. — The Big Bang Theory/2 Broke Girls
8:30 p.m. — Mom
9 p.m. — Scorpion
10 p.m. — NCIS: Los Angeles

Tuesday
8 p.m. — NCIS
9 p.m. — NCIS: New Orleans
10 p.m. — Person of Interest

Wednesday
8 p.m. — Survivor
9 p.m. — Criminal Minds
10 p.m. — Stalker

Thursday
8 p.m. – Thursday Night Football

Thursday (after NFL)
8 p.m. — The Big Bang Theory
8:30 p.m. –The Millers
9 p.m. — Two and a Half Men
9:30 p.m. — The McCarthys
10 p.m. — Elementary

Friday
8 p.m. — The Amazing Race
9 p.m. — Hawaii Five-O
10 p.m. — Blue Bloods

Saturday
8 p.m. — Crimetime Saturday/48 Hours

Sunday
7 p.m. — 60 Minutes
8 p.m. — Madame Secretary
9 p.m. — The Good Wife
10 p.m. — CSI/CSI Cyber

Of the many shows I’ve watched or plan to watch, one genre is barely on my radar: “thrillers.” Kidnappings, spies, traitors, and plots to kill the president do not catch my attention unless it’s a movie, and even then you’d have to pay for the ticket. The primary reason I decided to use up what little space I have on my DVR for Hostages was because of the cast. I absolutely adore Toni Collette … it’s her eyes. They just pull me in and I am instantly on her side. I want everything to go well for her character in whatever role she plays. Then there’s Dylan McDermott who’s super nice to look at. And lastly, Tate Donovan. He’s a fantastic actor who radiates kindness; no matter how much of a jerk his characters may be, he redeems himself. His acting makes that redemption believable.

The actors, the producer, and the time slot: that’s how I was tricked into watching Hostages.

The first few minutes of the show I was already rolling my eyes. Dylan McDermott’s opening scene as Agent Duncan Carlisle was all about showing what a badass he was. Unfortunately that is not what his character came off as. Instead, he came off as super corny. After taking over a hostage situation — very rudely I may add — he shoots a “hostage” that turns out to be the criminal in disguise. When the cop asks him, “What if you’d been wrong?” Duncan replies smugly, “I wasn’t.” Wow. Superb writing! After he struts away from the cop towards the camera, I immediately wanted to hit stop and delete it off my DVR. But I didn’t … I kept going, hoping it would live up to all the promoting CBS put into this show. C’mon … Toni Collette?! The show must get better, right? No. No, it really didn’t.

As the show goes on, I realize the director really wanted this to be fancy. The camera angles and the panning were truly overdone. There really is something to be said about simple camera work. Maybe if the story had done a better job drawing me in, I would have appreciated the choice instead of finding it distracting.

Hostages’ plot is so predictable and cliché. Before each family members secrets were revealed I had already guessed what they were: pregnant daughter with a douchey boyfriend, drug dealing son, cheating husband. And of course, the bad guy is really not a “bad” guy. His wife is sick, and he helped the pregnant daughter hide her secret … how sweet. And don’t forget, someone in the President’s circle is working with the bad guys. Surprise, surprise.

The acting was not at all what I was expecting from seasoned actors who usually shine brightly. I felt that Collette was barely trying. Her shocked face seemed forced and when she was told she had to kill the President or her family dies, she looked around with her mouth open, and looked just… silly. That’s the only word to use. Silly.

By the end of the episode I found myself laughing at all of the little things. I’m pretty sure Hostages is not a comedy, but it sure felt like it. I don’t think the pilot was captivating enough for it to stick around for too long. What the show has going for it is that Jerry Bruckheimer’s name and it’s on CBS. Being on CBS a good thing for any show. The network tends to keep shows around for a while, giving them a chance to find their voice and connect to an audience. However, my instinct tells me that all the time in the world won’t get this series a strong fan base.

After finding this out, how they could make this particular story into a television series instead of a movie made sense. That excited me. I wanted to get so into a series that I can’t stop watching it and — lucky me — I wouldn’t have had to wait too long for the next episode. I s that they didn’t do a very good job making this show suspenseful or interesting enough to hook me.

I’m the type of person who will give a new show a few episodes before I give up; it’s rare that I only watch a pilot. And maybe I’m a bit biased because thrillers aren’t usually what I watch anyways, but the thing is… if a show is amazing, it doesn’t matter what genre it is. I will watch it. This show was just not great … not even close. For that, I am truly sad, because I wanted to like Hostages. I just hope it ends quickly so that these actors can move onto other projects that are actually worth taking up some of my DVR space.

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I don’t know what was more awkward on last night’s Emmy Awards: The parade of CBS television actors pimping their own shows before doling out awards or Shemar “Well it’s me again” Moore’s delivery of his other catchphrase, “Only CBS.” Let’s get Shemar out of the way first.  He was drunk, right? Or he sustained a concussion minutes before the telecast launched and they threw him out there anyway. He acted like C3PO without the clever dialogue. I kept flashing back to the scene in Talladega Nights when Will Ferrell didn’t know what to do with his hands.

This CBS brings me to the other CBS problem with the CBS night where all CBS presenters felt compelled CBS to mention the network CBS and their television program CBS as much as possible CBS. Ummm, CBS … you won. You’re the most popular network. I don’t particularly like most of your lowest common denominator sitcoms or NCISs or CSIs, but I realize that apparently a lot of other people do, so congratulations. You’re like McDonald’s, and as Jerry Seinfeld said in one of his bits, just put up a sign saying “we’re doing very well” instead of all the constant promotion. It was awkward. When an overly tan Will Arnett came out with his new TV mom, Margo Martindale (who is great in The Americans, and I hope she still has time to guest on that show), and did their bit where she guilted him into pimping their new show, he said during the bit that it wasn’t appropriate. And it really isn’t appropriate.

But in this day and age, where people are streaming shows and fast forwarding through commercials on their DVRs, networks have to do more to get their advertising revenue. And that has spilled over into program promotion. Gone are the days of the “And now a word from our sponsors…” advertisements. They have been replaced with “product integration.” Chuck loves Subway and their “$5 foot longs.” New Girl is not only “adorkable” but it also teaches us how to use the foot-activated liftgate on the Ford Escape. Ray Donovan’s cell phone gets more screen time than Bunchy. It’s distracting. I expect product integration on shows like American Idol or Project Runway because that’s the only way to force it down the viewer’s throats, but blatantly working it into plot lines on scripted comedies and dramas makes it hard to suspend my disbelief. This was the technique used by CBS during the Emmys. Want to know if Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston gets robbed? Well, first let’s hear about the new comedy Mom starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney. Only CBS.

Maybe this is common now for these types of live broadcasts; I really only tuned in to see Neil Patrick Harris work his magic. But I find it annoying that in this renaissance of television programming when one hour dramas are far richer in depth and character than 99% of the films in the theaters, that blatant product/program integration is so heavy handedly shoved in our faces. Although, considering the in your face, no-thinking required comedy that is the paradigm that most of CBS’s sitcoms employ, I guess I should have expected it.

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The 2013 Fox fall season is off and running with the premiere of Sleepy Hollow from a bevy of producers including Alex Kurtzman (Fringe), Robert Orci (Xena, Alias, Fringe) and Len Wiseman (the Underworld films), who also directed the pilot. I think, though, that the show was sold as kind of a police procedural with a fish out of water, Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), somehow transported 250 years into the future — our present — to help solve crimes. And deal with that pesky Headless Horseman. But it turned out to be much more than I bargained for … but probably should have expected considering the pedigree behind it.

Whereas I thought the show was going to be “CSI: Sleepy Hollow,” it’s actually more like a cousin to Supernatural, especially when you see the preview for what’s coming this season. What this definitely isn’t is Washington Irving’s tale of Ichabod Crane. In the original story, Crane is a schoolmaster in 1790 who is trying to win the affections of socialite Katrina Van Tassel, who also has another suitor in Abraham Van Brunt, aka “Brom Bones.” Failing to win Katina’s hand, Crane returns home after a night of ghost stories that play on his imagination. He is confronted by a headless horseman (who hurls his detached noggin at Crane) and never seen again. It’s implied the horseman was Brom as the only things found in the woods are a smashed pumpkin, his horse and a trampled saddle. The locals believe Crane was taken by the evil spirits in the forest.

The very, very basics of the story are present in the series, but Crane is no longer a nervous school teacher (as portrayed not long ago by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow). Now he is actually a Brit who switched sides during the Revolutionary War (which sets the story back a couple of decades) and became a spy for General George Washington. Crane beheads a large man dressed as a Redcoat, wearing a strange black mask and with an odd brand on his hand. The Redcoat also succeed in inflicting a fatal wound to Crane, but other forces come into play as Crane awakens in a cave, digging himself out of a shallow grave and into the world of the present. But he’s not alone as the Headless Horseman has followed.

And here’s where things get even more strange. After several decapitations, most notably of the big name guest stars, the town’s police force (led by Orlando Jones) begins to believe that Crane is not the killer, especially when he’s in the custody of Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) at the time of the murder of a local reverend … who Crane somehow recognizes from 1776. Crane is committed to a mental hospital for observation, but is visited by his wife Katrina (yes, that Katrina) in a dream or vision and it’s revealed that this is not going where we thought it was going.

Turns out Katrina was tried and burned as a witch, the police chief (Clancy Brown) had hidden away files of investigations into supernatural occurrences in Sleepy Hollow, and the Headless Horseman in the Redcoat uniform was actually Death himself, preparing for the coming of the other three Horsemen of the Apocalypse! Now, instead of a police procedural, Sleepy Hollow has become a battle against good and evil in an attempt to stave off the end of the world. My interest level in the show certainly spiked at this point, and the previews of various demons and monsters to come will have me glued to the TV as long as they can keep it interesting. The Winchester boys have put the Apocalypse on hold once already, so now it looks like the future of the world is in the hands of one Ichabod Crane.

The pilot episode has set up the series’ mythology pretty well, just giving us enough enticing morsels to keep us coming back for more, and have hinted through a line of dialogue that there is a seven season plan in the works. Will the show actually survive that long? I believe it does have a shot, especially since Fox didn’t stick it in the Friday death slot. The main cast is engaging even if Mison’s Crane is a little too aware of the world around him. Some comments about Lt. Mills being a black female officer … and an emancipated one at that … could have been eyebrow-raising, but Beharie’s response to the potentially sexist and racist comment defused the situation. While Crane is still unfamiliar with the modern gadgets that surround him, and how the town has changed in 250 years (asking if there is a law that requires a Starbucks on every corner!), he’s not quite the complete fish out of water that I expected. He seems to fit right in, even though he’s still dressed in 1776 garb by the end of the episode, and is still fascinated with the power windows in Mills’ vehicle.

I like Beharie’s sass, and the episode revealed that Mills also has a sister and they are all connected to Crane by the same vision of the Four Horsemen. Mills and Crane are pretty much the Sam and Dean of the show. Jones is the stereotypical skeptic, but as heads keep rolling he has no choice to but allow Mills and Crane work together. We’ll see how long he’ll remain skeptical. I can see him becoming the Broyles of the show (fitting coming from the Fringe team). We haven’t met many other regular cast members as most of the supporting players were dispatched in the pilot, but we can assume we’ll see Katrina as a recurring character to deliver more clues to Ichabod, as well as Abbie’s sister.

Production design on the show was spectacular, with the town of Sleepy Hollow having a real New England feel to it and some beautiful aerial shots of the town … even though the series is filmed in North Carolina. The Headless Horseman is also very well done, looking proportioned properly (not just built up shoulders to hide the stuntman’s head underneath the costume), and the beheadings are handled tastefully and without a ton of blood (the blade is apparently heated — as the Horseman is a demon — so that the wounds are instantly cauterized), but still manage to make you gasp when one happens on camera.

Once the show revealed itself to be more of a supernatural thriller than oddball police show, I was hooked. If they do have a seven year plan mapped out with a beginning, middle and end then, based on the pilot, I’m ready to immerse myself in this world to see how it all plays out. The question is, will this be another Fringe-like show on Fox with a small but loyal following, or will the masses tune in to see if the world will be saved in seven years’ time? What do you think?

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The fall TV season is here and many of last season’s shows are about to return with all-new episodes! But if you missed any of the past season you can catch up with shows like Arrow, The Mentalist, Grimm, Nashville, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and many more with this week’s home video releases! The Emmy nominated HBO movie Behind the Candelabra also makes its home video debut, with wrestling, reality, TV classics and kids shows making this a week with something for everyone. Have a look at our handy shopper’s guide to see all of the September 17 DVD and Blu-ray releases, and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

The fall TV season is upon us and if you missed any of last season’s shows, now is the time to get caught up! The home video releases for September 3 feature many of last season’s shows that will be returning for a new season within the next couple of weeks, including The Vampire Diaries, Scandal, Revolution, Haven, Parks & Recreation and many, many more. For a full look at the premiere dates for the fall season, be sure to check out our fall premiere calendar. If you missed all the Sharknado fuss, then you’re in luck as the movie hits home video this week as well. Classic TV like Cagney & Lacey, and kids shows and animation round out the week’s new releases. We’ve also got a peek at some upcoming TV titles for pre-order, so be sure to check those out as well. To see all of this week’s video releases and some hot titles for September, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

And check out these other titles coming in September available for pre-order:

To subscribe to the below schedule in iCal, copy this link and paste into the “Subscribe…” menu item in iCal. You can also just click it to open iCal or even click to add to your iPhone calendar. The same link will work in a Google Calendar as well! Or see the calendar as a web page (also embedded at the bottom of this post). The calendar will update as new shows are added/changed.

* All times are in EDT PM, unless otherwise mentioned.
* New series premieres are in Bold Italics

SERIES PREMIERES/RETURNS

SEPTEMBER

Tuesday, September 3

10:00 Cold Justice (TNT)

10:00 Luther (BBCA)

10:00 Tosh.0 (Comedy)

10:00 We’re The Fugawis (History)

10:30 Brickleberry (Comedy)

Wednesday, September 4

9:00 Inside the NFL (Showtime)

10:00 Ghost Mine (Syfy)

10:00 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX)

10:30 The League (FXX)

11:00 Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell (FXX)

Thursday, September 5

8:30 Sunday Night Football (NBC)

Friday, September 6

10:00 20/20 (ABC)

Saturday, September 7

8:00 Cupcake Wars (Food)

Sunday, September 8

9:00 Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Monday, September 9

8:00 The Million Second Quiz (NBC)

Tuesday, September 10

10:00 Sons of Anarchy (FX)

12:00AM The Heart, She Holler (Adult Swim)

Wednesday, September 11

8:00 The X Factor (FOX)

9:00 Restaurant Stakeout (Food)

10:30 Thieves, Inc. (Food)

12:00AM Derek (Netflix)

Friday, September 13

10:00 Haven (Syfy)

10:00 Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Sunday, September 15

10:00 The Great Santini Brothers (History)

Monday, September 16

8:00 Bones (FOX)

8:00 Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

9:00 Sleepy Hollow (FOX)

Tuesday, September 17

8:00 Dads (FOX)

8:30 Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX)

9:00 New Girl (FOX)

9:30 The Mindy Project (FOX)

10:00 The New Atlanta (Bravo)

Wednesday, September 18

8:00 Survivor (CBS)

10:30 Key & Peele (Comedy)

Friday, September 20

8:00 Last Man Standing (ABC)

8:30 The Neighbors (ABC)

9:00 Shark Tank (ABC)

Sunday, September 22

11:30 China, IL (Adult Swim)

Monday, September 23

8:00 How I Met Your Mother (CBS)

8:00 The Voice (NBC)

9:00 2 Broke Girls (CBS)

9:30 Mom (CBS)

10:00 The Blacklist (NBC)

10:00 Hostages (CBS)

10:00 Castle (ABC)

Tuesday, September 24

8:00 Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

8:00 NCIS (CBS)

9:00 The Goldbergs (ABC)

9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

9:30 Trophy Wife (ABC)

10:00 Chicago Fire (NBC)

10:00 Fangasm (Syfy)

10:00 Lucky 7 (ABC)

10:00 Person of Interest (CBS)

Wednesday, September 25

8:00 The Middle (ABC)

8:00 Revolution (NBC)

8:30 Back in the Game (ABC)

9:00 Criminal Minds (CBS)

9:00 Law & Order: SVU (NBC)

9:00 Modern Family (ABC)

10:00 CSI (CBS)

10:00 Nashville (ABC)

10:00 South Park (Comedy)

Thursday, September 26

8:00 The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

8:00 Parks & Recreation (NBC)

9:00 The Crazy Ones (CBS)

9:00 Glee (FOX)

9:00 Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

9:00 The Michael J. Fox Show (NBC)

9:30 Two and a Half Men (CBS)

10:00 Elementary (CBS)

10:00 Parenthood (NBC)

Friday, September 27

8:00 Masterchef Junior (FOX)

8:00 Undercover Boss (CBS)

9:00 Dateline (NBC)

9:00 Hawaii Five-0 (CBS)

10:00 Blue Bloods (CBS)

Saturday, September 28

10:00 48 Hours (CBS)

Sunday, September 29

8:00 The Amazing Race (CBS)

8:00 Once Upon a Time (ABC)

8:00 The Simpsons (FOX)

8:30 Bob’s Burgers (FOX)

9:00 Family Guy (FOX)

9:00 The Good Wife (CBS)

9:00 Homeland (Showtime)

9:00 Revenge (ABC)

9:30 American Dad (FOX)

10:00 Betrayal (ABC)

10:00 Eastbound & Down (HBO)

10:00 Masters of Sex (Showtime)

10:00 The Mentalist (CBS)

10:30 Hello Ladies (HBO)

Monday, September 30

8:30 We Are Men (CBS)

OCTOBER

Wednesday, October 2

9:30 Super Fun Night (ABC)

10:00 Ironside (NBC)

10:00 Top Chef (Bravo)

Thursday, October 3

8:00 The Vampire Diaries (CW)

8:30 The Millers (CBS)

8:30 Welcome to the Family (NBC)

9:00 The Originals (CW)

9:00 Sean Saves the World  (NBC)

10:00 Scandal (ABC)

Sunday, October 6

9:00 Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime)

9:00 The Paradise (PBS)

Monday, October 7

8:00 Hart of Dixie (CW)

9:00 Beauty and the Beast (CW)

Tuesday, October 8

8:00 The Biggest Loser (NBC)

9:00 Supernatural (CW)

Wednesday, October 9

8:00 Arrow (CW)

9:00 The Tomorrow People (CW)

Thursday, October 10

8:00 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (ABC)

Sunday, October 13

9:00 The Walking Dead (AMC)

10:00 Talking Dead (AMC)

12:00AM Comic Book Men (AMC)

Tuesday, October 15

10:00 Real Husbands of Hollywood (BET)

Thursday, October 17

9:00 Reign (CW)

9:00 White Collar (USA)

10:00 Covert Affairs (USA)

Saturday, October 19

10:00 Dancing on the Edge (Starz)

Tuesday, October 22

9:00 Ravenswood (ABC Family)

10:00 Awkward (MTV)

Friday, October 25

8:00 The Carrie Diaries (CW)

9:00 Grimm (NBC)

10:00 Dracula (NBC)

NOVEMBER

Sunday, November 3

8:00 It Takes a Choir (USA)

Monday, November 4

8:00 Almost Human (FOX)

Friday, November 8

9:00 Raising Hope (FOX)

9:30 Enlisted (FOX)

Saturday, November 23

10:00 Atlantis (BBCA)

Monday, November 25

9:00 Major Crimes (TNT)

Tuesday, November 26

9:00 Boston’s Finest (TNT)