14 Fall TV Shows You Should Watch

Connie Britton stars in "Nashville." — Photo by Katherine Bomboy Thornton

Nashville
ABC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m., premieres Oct. 10

Connie Britton, one of TV's most likeable actresses (Friday Night Lights, American Horror Story,) plays Rayna James, a Shania Twain-esque country music star with deep family and political ties to the country music capital. Her country queen status is challenged by rising young starlet Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere). Nashville is a fresh setting for a TV drama, veteran actor Powers Boothe is nicely menacing as Rayna's cutthroat businessman dad, and the music's pretty good, too.

Elementary
CBS, Thursdays at 10 p.m., premieres Sept. 27

This modern-day take on Sherlock Holmes transports the famous detective from Scotland Yard to Manhattan. But here's the twist: Watson is a woman. CBS has always done well with detective dramas so dusting off history's most famous sleuth is a solid bet. Jonny Lee Miller (Dexter, the TV miniseries Emma) makes for a rakish Holmes, while Lucy Liu is the lady Watson. Comparisons to BBC's currently popular Sherlock are probably inevitable, but there's room for more than one take on this tale.

Also of Interest: 11 celebrity couples.

Partners
CBS, Mondays at 8:30 p.m., premieres Sept. 24

This sitcom centers on two lifelong best friends and business partners, Joe (David Krumholz) and Louis (Michael Urie). Joe's straight and about to get engaged and Louis is gay and living with his partner. It's not much of a premise, but the odd-couple pairing is good for more than a few laughs in the pilot. Also, it's from the team behind the successful old series Will & Grace and has a prime slot in CBS's Monday comedy lineup, so it'll likely get room to grow.

Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis go toe-to-toe in the CBS drama "Vegas." — Photo by Lorey Sebastian/CBS via Getty Images

Vegas
CBS, Tuesdays at 10 p.m., premieres Sept. 25

Dennis Quaid makes his first regular TV appearance as a reliably gritty and stoic Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb. It's a drama based on a true story about the fledgling development days of Las Vegas in the early 1960s and Quaid squares off against Chicago gangster Vincent Savino (Michael Chiklis) for control of the dusty desert town. Guess we know who wins.

Next: The Office actress gets her own sitcom. »