2015 Fall TV Odds – Which Shows Will Reach Season 2?

Get your DVR ready, the new fall TV lineup is here!

Just as in past years, it’s time to preview the latest crop of network shows that could be chopped at a moment’s notice, and set the odds on which offerings will survive the ratings battle royale. (As we’ve noted before, about 65-percent of new shows don’t reach season two.)

The favorites, once again, either star huge names (like Neil Patrick Harris) or are affiliated with shows that are already massively successful (like The Walking Dead). Last year, Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul was our odds-on favorite. And we don’t mean to brag, but we kinda do..

Enough living in the past, though. Let’s get back to the futures!

Odds on Being Renewed for a Second Season:

The Bastard Executioner (FX)
Odds: 3/2
Airing: Premieres Tuesday, Sep. 15 at 10:00 PM
Synopsis: From the mind that brought you Sons of Anarchy comes FX’s less than stellar answer to HBO’s Game of Thrones. In this bloody historic drama, Wilkin Brattle, a 14th century knight serving Kind Edward I, trades in his sword for an executioner’s ax. We’re assuming business is good. Starring: Lee Jones (what, they couldn’t afford the “Tommy”?), Stephen Moyer, Brían F. O’Byrne, and Flora Spencer-Longhurst.

Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris (NBC)
Odds: 1/1
Airing: Premieres Tuesday, Sep. 15 at 10:00 PM
Synopsis: Neil Patrick Harris is starting his own variety show featuring a colorful combo of skits, stunts, improv, games, and pranks. Based on the British show Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, audiences should be ready for anything. Whether it smashes or crashes, you’ll be entertained.

Chicago Med (NBC)
Odds: 3/2
Airing: Premieres Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 10:00 PM
Synopsis: NBC pumps out yet another hospital drama with its latest spin off from Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise. Viewers will get a fictional look into the halls of the Windy City’s busiest hospital. Expect heavy medical terminology, inter-office romances, and the occasional visit from the Chicago Fire Department. Starring: Oliver Platt, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Laurie Holden.

Dr. Ken (ABC)
Odds: 3/1
Airing: Premieres Friday, Oct. 2 at 8:30 PM
Synopsis: Community‘s Ken Jeong plays a brilliant physician with a poor bedside manner in Dr. Ken, a new comedy series by ABC. Dr. Ken Park tries his best to balance work and home life, with hilarious consequences. The show is loosely based on Jeong’s career as a physician before his move to acting. Co-starring: Suzy Nakamura, Dave Foley, and Tisha Campbell-Martin.

Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)
Odds: 1/5
Airing: Premieres Sunday, Aug. 23 at 9:00 PM
Synopsis: This spin-off of The Walking Dead hopes to capitalize on the franchise’s smashing success. Set in L.A., the show takes place before the events of The Walking Dead. But that’s where the similarities stop. The sluggish pace of this drama will most definitely seem tame when held up to the original. Still, die-hard fans of the franchise – of which there are legion – should see it through to a second season. Starring: Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, and Frank Dillane.

The Grinder (FOX)
Odds: 5/1
Airing: Premieres Tuesday, Sep. 29 at 8:30 PM
Synopsis: Rob Lowe stars as Dean Sanderson, a TV actor on a hit legal drama who returns home to work at his family’s real-life law firm. Hilarity ensues. Lowe is a big enough name to carry the show, but it feels akin to one of Matthew Perry’s several post-Friends flops. Co-starring: Fred Savage as Stewart Sanderson, Dean’s real-life attorney brother.

Heroes Reborn (NBC)
Odds: 10/1
Airing: Premieres Thursday, Sep. 24 at 8:00 PM
Synopsis: If you enjoyed the original, you’ll love this Heroes reboot starring Jack Coleman, Ryan Guzman, and Zachary Levi. Set after the events of Heroes, the mini-series takes place one year after a terrorist attack in Odessa, Texas. Blamed for the attack, our heroes come out of hiding to save the world. Expect some familiar faces along with some new ones. The fact that it’s a mini-series – and thus may not even have a second season planned – keeps it at long odds.

The Muppets (ABC)
Odds: 1/1
Airing: Premieres Tuesday, Sep. 22 at 8:00 PM
Synopsis: The Muppets make their return to the small screen with this grown-up take on a family favorite. Presented in a documentary style, the show takes a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of Miss Piggy, Kermit, and the rest of the gang. Expect a lot of cheeky, family-friendly fun.

The Player (NBC)
Odds: 3/1
Airing: Premieres Thursday, Sep. 24 at 10:00 PM
Synopsis: In an ironic twist of fate, Wesley Snipes goes from tax evader to pit boss in this Vegas-set thriller. Philip Winchester co-stars as a military operative turned security expert tasked with preventing crimes before they happen. We can overlook the complicated schemes and unlikely plot twists because Wesley Snipes is finally back in action!

Quantico (ABC)
Odds: 6/1
Airing: Premieres Sunday, Sep. 27 at 10:00 PM
Synopsis: This fall thriller featuring a sexy cast of FBI recruits follows a similar formula to How to Get Away with Murder. Full of twists and turns, not everyone is who they seem. It gets an A+ for eye candy as there are plenty of fresh faces to ogle. But that won’t be enough to see it through to a season two.

Scream Queens (FOX)
Odds: 5/2
Airing: Premieres Tuesday, Sep. 22 at 8:00 PM
Synopsis: Part horror, part comedy, part murder mystery, Scream Queens is one of the most anticipated shows of the fall. Featuring a killer cast (Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele, Emma Roberts, and Ariana Grande) and set in a stuck-up sorority, a serial killer is on the loose, wreaking havoc at Kappa Kappa Tau. 

Supergirl (CBS)
Odds: 3/2
Airing: Premieres Monday Oct. 26 at 8:30 PM
Synopsis: CBS is jumping on the superhero bandwagon with Supergirl, a TV adaptation of the popular DC Comic. Starring Melissa Benoist as Kara Zor-El, the show follows Supergirl’s quest to save National City. Calista Flockhart returns to the small screen as Kara’s nightmare boss, Cat. Given the success of other comic-based shows – like Arrow and The Flash – Supergirl has a decent chance to beat the odds and make it to a second season.

(Photo Credit: By User:David Shankbone [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped)