TV Talk: ‘Elevated procedurals’ redeem an unscripted-heavy fall season

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers viewing tips for the 2024-25 TV season.

The fall broadcast TV season isn’t what it used to be as budgets shrink, forcing networks to add more unscripted (re: cheaper) fare in place of the scripted shows they were once known for.

With corporate priorities shifted to investing in expensive scripted shows on affiliated streaming services, there are more unscripted series airing on broadcasters’ fall schedules than ever before.

While CBS and NBC are pretty consistent with their recent past scripted output, Fox, ABC and The CW have notably fewer scripted shows compared to past fall TV seasons.

Broadcasters also continue their retrenchment into non-serialized, episodic scripted programs, but there’s also an effort to make these shows more sophisticated.

Each episode of so-called “elevated procedurals” still has a beginning, middle and end but they also have some running serialized elements, often around character backstories and/or relationships. At least two of the new elevated procedurals end their pilots with unexpected twists.

Fall’s three best new one-hour shows on broadcast are all elevated procedurals: CBS’s “Matlock,” ABC’s “High Potential” and NBC’s “Brilliant Minds.”

On the comedy front, NBC’s “St. Denis Medical” and CBS’s “Poppa’s House” are worth a look but this fall’s best new comedy is on cable/streaming with FX’s “English Teacher,” which premiered two weeks ago.

Here’s what’s new night-by-night:

SUNDAY

“Universal Basic Guys” (8:30 p.m., Fox, WPGH-TV): Another patented Fox animated comedy aimed at guys who like to watch dumb characters do dumb, funny things. (Premiered Sept. 8)

MONDAY

“Poppa’s House” (8:30 p.m., CBS, KDKA- TV): Sure, the situations are stock sitcom tropes, but the comedy is better as Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. play a father and son. Senior is a radio deejay who gets paired with a younger woman (Essence Atkins, who holds her own opposite Wayans Sr.) while Junior struggles in a career he doesn’t love. A lot of the humor lands well and the pilot’s end-credit bloopers are a scream. The show gets retooled in episode two with the radio station disappearing as Poppa starts recording from home; we’ll see what impact that has on the series. (Premieres Oct. 21)

“Rescue Hi-Surf” (9 p.m., Fox): Lifeguard drama set and filmed in Hawaii. Some character arcs, but largely it’s all about the rescues. Much less wild (and less entertaining) than “9-1-1.” (Previews 8 p.m. Sept. 22; time slot premiere 9 p.m. Sept. 23)

“The Wranglers” (9 p.m., The CW, WPNT-TV): Docu-series following the personal and professional lives of staff at a Montana dude ranch. Not available for review. (Oct. 14)

“Brilliant Minds” (10 p.m., NBC, WPXI-TV): Pittsburgh native Zachary Quinto stars as Dr. Oliver Wolf. He’s Dr. House with a better bedside manner but Wolf is still a rule-breaker who vexes his bosses at the last New York hospital that would hire him to solve medical mysteries. The role suits Quinto. Wolf is a bit of a loner but having him work with his longtime friend, Dr. Carol Pierce (Tamberla Perry), and oversee a batch of interns who serve as audience stand-ins makes this series work quite well in early episodes made available for review. (10 p.m. Sept. 23)

“NCIS: Origins” (10 p.m., CBS): Mark Harmon, the original actor to play Leroy Jethro Gibbs on “NCIS,” will narrate this prequel series about a young Gibbs (Austin Stowell) set in 1991 at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office. Not available for review. (Oct. 14)

TUESDAY

“St. Denis Medical” (8 p.m., NBC): Mockumentary series most reminiscent of “American Auto,” this one’s set at an Oregon hospital and benefits from the presence of stars Wendi McLendon Covey and Alison Tollman (in her first comedy since the filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Downward Dog”). This one features a good mix of humor and heart. (Nov. 12)

“Murder in a Small Town” (8 p.m., Fox): Dull crime procedural based on the Karl Alberg book series by author L.R. Wright. Karl (Rossif Sutherland) moves to a seaside village to get away from big-city police work and falls for a local librarian (Kristin Kreuk) while investigating local crimes. (Sept. 24)

“High Potential” (10 p.m., ABC, WTAE-TV): Sometimes all it takes is the right casting to make a show that on paper sounds “meh” turn out so much better. That’s the case here thanks to the likeable lead performance by Kaitlin Olson (“Hacks,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) as Morgan, a single mom with keen observation skills she leverages to help the cops solve crimes. Add in Judy Reyes (“Scrubs”) as the top cop who takes a shine to Morgan and this elevated procedural looks like it can live up to its title. (Sept. 17)

WEDNESDAY

“Joan” (9 p.m., The CW): The fall season’s only purely serialized show, this lackluster limited series is based on the true story of Joan Hannington (Sophie Turner, “Game of Thrones”), a single mother who became a jewel thief in mid-1980s England. (Oct. 2)

“The Summit” (9:30 p.m., CBS): Manu Bennett hosts a reality competition where 16 strangers reach the peak of a mountain in the New Zealand alps. The overlong 90-minute premiere deploys many predictable tropes of the genre. (Sept. 29)

“Scamanda” (10 p.m., ABC): Docu-series adaptation of the real story of a woman who faked her cancer diagnosis. (Oct. 9.)

THURSDAY

“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” (8 p.m., CBS): “Young Sheldon” sequel series following Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) as they raise their young family. Not available for review. (Oct. 17)

“Scrabble” (8 p.m., The CW): Raven-Symone hosts a game show based on the game. Not available for review. (Oct. 3)

“Trivial Pursuit” (9 p.m., The CW): Levar Burton hosts a game show based on the game. Not available for review. (Oct. 3)

“Doctor Odyssey” (9 p.m., ABC): It’s “9-1-1” meets “The Love Boat” as Joshua Jackson (“Dawson’s Creek”) stars as the new doctor on a luxury cruise ship captained by Don Johnson. Not available for review. (Sept. 26)

“Matlock” (9 p.m., CBS): Kathy Bates stars as Madeline “Maddie” Matlock, an unassuming elderly lawyer who’s wilier than her grandmotherly looks suggest. Developed by “Jane the Virgin” creator Jennie Snyder Urman, this “Matlock” isn’t really the reboot it appears to be. Unlike many CBS procedurals, this one’s lighter and while the lawyering isn’t always in the realm of reality, the show’s breezy tone should win over CBS viewers with ease. Bonus points for using the original “Matlock” theme song as incidental music and a dream sequence in episode two that pays homage to Andy Griffith’s wardrobe. (Previews 8 p.m. Sept. 22; time period premiere 9 p.m. Oct. 17)

FRIDAY

“Happy’s Place” (8 p.m., NBC): Bobbie (Reba McEntire) inherits her father’s restaurant with the half-sister (Belissa Escobedo) she never knew she had. McEntire’s entertaining “Reba” co-star, Melissa Peterman, plays one of the bar’s employees and Pablo Castelblanco, a series regular on “Alaska Daily,” makes a positive comedic impression. Cute enough traditional sitcom in the “Reba” mold but half-sisters squabbling threatens to get old fast. (Oct. 18)