Never mind what the calendar or thermometer says, summer is over and so is summer TV.
Television-wise, the warm months for me were a time for warm-hearted shows, like “Sterling Point,” “Little House on the Prairie” and “My Brilliant Career” — but fall is looking a bit harder-edged, thanks to titles like the Canadian horror thriller “Yaga,” the Newfoundland-set monster series “Below” and the Stephen King classic “Carrie.”
Of course I’m eager to catch up on returning series like “North of North” (Sept. 8, CBC and APTN), “Slow Horses” (Sept. 16, Apple), “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” (Sept. 18, Starz) and “The Diplomat” (Oct. 15, Netflix).
But for this preview, I’ve picked 10 new shows listed in chronological order. Debut dates, of course, are subject to change.
1. Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence
The details: This is the first contemporary, English-language TV adaptation of an Agatha Christie work. In the books, Tommy and Tuppence were private detectives, friends turned lovers and spouses, who began solving crimes in the 1920s. In this modern-day version, Tommy is a crime novelist and Tuppence is an actress, and the erstwhile couple reunites to investigate a murder at a wedding.
Why it’s worth a look: Christie adaptations are legion, some very good (Netflix’s “Seven Dials”); some just OK (BritBox’s “Towards Zero,” although Matthew Rhys was wonderful). What this one has going for it are two charismatic leads — Josh Dylan (“The Buccaneers”) and Antonia Thomas (“The Good Doctor”) — plus the excellent Imelda Staunton as Tommy’s aunt Ada. Sept. 15, BritBox
2. Trespasses
The details: During the Troubles, in a small town near Belfast in 1975, a Catholic teacher (Lola Petticrew) falls in love with an older, Protestant barrister (Tom Cullen). It’s a dangerous indulgence in a place where everyone knows everyone’s business and mixed-religion relationships invite brutal violence.
Why it’s worth a look: The Northern Irish conflict has been the subject of some good TV shows, including FX’s “Say Nothing” and Channel 4’s “Derry Girls,” and this looks to be another. It boasts a skilled cast that, aside from Belfast native Petticrew (“Say Nothing”) and Welsh actor Cullen (“The Gold”), includes Gillian Anderson and Martin McCann of “Blue Lights.” Sept. 20, PBS
3. Brothers
The details: This comedy is based on a “true rumour”: the longtime conjecture that Texas-born actors Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are half-brothers. In the series, in which the stars play fictional versions of themselves, McConaughey’s mother (portrayed by Holland Taylor) reveals that they might really be related. McConaughey, meanwhile, explores a run for Texas governor, another plot line connected to real rumours.
Why it’s worth a look: Harrelson and McConaughey have long and lauded resumés as well as an easy chemistry together, as evidenced by the first and best season of “True Detectives.” They’re not shouldering all the comedy here, with a cast of able actors playing their families. Canada’s David West Read (“Schitt’s Creek”) is one of the series’ creators. Sept. 23, Apple TV Plus
4. Slo Pitch
The details: Jess Salgueiro (“Workin’ Moms”) plays the coach of a queer softball team with a losing record. She’s determined to turn that around, especially since her ex-girlfriend, the team co-founder, is playing for their rivals. The mockumentary is the first project from Elliot Page’s Pageboy Productions in a co-development deal with Bell Media.
Why it’s worth a look: Could this be the next sports-centred LGBTQ Canadian TV hit? It’s produced by Shaftesbury (“Murdoch Mysteries,” “Hudson & Rex”), which has a long track record in Canadian TV. Besides Salgueiro, it stars Emily Hampshire (“Schitt’s Creek”), Emma Hunter (“Mr. D”), Amanda Cordner (“Sort Of”) and Khadijah Roberts-Abdullah (“Revenge of the Black Best Friend”), as well as co-creators Gwenlyn Cumyn and Karen Knox. Sept. 25, Crave
5. Private Eyes West Coast
The details: In this spinoff of Global TV’s “Private Eyes” detective series, ex-hockey player Matt Shade (Jason Priestley) and his sleuthing partner Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson) reunite to solve crimes, but in Victoria, B.C., instead of their old Toronto stomping grounds.
Why it’s worth a look: Lord knows we’ve had a dearth of original dramas made and set in this country, so I’m all for giving the ones that exist a chance. The original series had a lot of fans, and Global TV is promising “bigger risks, higher stakes and plenty of unexpected twists” in this one. Plus the partners will “rely on each other more than ever” in their new surroundings, which will make the Matt/Angie shippers happy. Sept. 30, Global/StackTV
6. Yaga
The details: Playwright Kat Sandler is the showrunner for this adaptation of her 2019 play inspired by the myth of the witch known as Baba Yaga. The wonderful Seana McKenna played the lead role of a smart, sexually voracious older woman on stage; here, Carrie-Ann Moss (“The Matrix”) takes it on. She’s joined by megastar Hudson Williams of “Heated Rivalry” as a fishery heir who goes missing, Noah Reid of “Schitt’s Creek” as a private detective and Clark Backo (“Letterkenny”) as a local police detective.
Why it’s worth a look: This sounds like the TV premiere of the season: a sexy, scary Canadian-made thriller from an acclaimed playwright, boasting alumni of three famous Canadian TV shows plus a Canadian movie star to boot. It was shot in Victoria, B.C., with a Canadian cast. October, Crave
7. East of Eden
The details: This adaptation was created by Zoe Kazan, granddaughter of Elia Kazan, who directed the 1955 movie version — which made a star of the doomed James Dean. It’s said to encompass even more of the John Steinbeck novel about two families whose lives intertwine in California’s Salinas Valley, spanning a period from the American Civil War to the First World War.
Why it’s worth a look: The period drama has epic written all over it. Florence Pugh (“Oppenheimer,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”) takes the lead role of troubled matriarch Cathy Ames. Christopher Abbott (“Girls”) and Mike Faist (“West Side Story”) play her husband Adam and his brother Charles Trask, respectively. (Cal Trask, the part played by Dean, is taken on by Joseph Zada of “We Were Liars.”) Oct. 1, Netflix
8. Tip Toe
The details: Alan Cumming (“The Traitors,” “The Good Wife”) plays a gay bar owner in Manchester and David Morrissey his intolerant next-door neighbour and father of a closeted gay son in this drama from “Queer as Folk” creator Russell T. Davies (“It’s a Sin”) that begins with the aftermath of a monstrous act of homophobic violence.
Why it’s worth a look: I am a massive Morrissey fan and have been since I first saw him in “Blackpool” (2004) opposite David Tennant. The limited series has already aired in the U.K., where the critical consensus seemed to be that it has flaws but that Cumming and Morrissey give career-best performances. Oct. 2, Starz via Crave
9. Carrie
The details: This is the first TV series adaptation of the 1974 Stephen King novel about a teenage girl who unleashes her telekinetic powers on the bullies who’ve been tormenting her at her school prom. The teaser doesn’t explicitly replicate the famous bucket-of-gore drop from the 1976 movie starring Sissy Spacek, but trust me: there will be blood.
Why it’s worth a look: While King TV adaptations are a mixed bag, this one has been channelled by horror master Mike Flanagan (“The Haunting of Hill House,” “Midnight Mass,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”), who serves as writer, showrunner and co-director. Shot in Vancouver, it stars Manitoban Summer H. Howell as Carrie with fellow Canadians Joel Oulette (“Trickster”) and Alison Thornton (“Nancy Drew”) as high school hunk Tommy and chief bully Chris, respectively. Oct. 7, Prime Video
10. Below
The details: Newfoundland gets to play itself in this horror drama set in a small fishing community that’s being terrorized by a sea creature. American actor Josh Hartnett (“Oppenheimer,” “Penny Dreadful”) and Brit Charlie Heaton (“Stranger Things”) are the marquee stars, but the cast is loaded with Canadians, including Mackenzie Davis (“Halt and Catch Fire”) , Rohan Campbell (“The Hardy Boys”), Labrador native Willow Kean and Newfoundlander Joel Thomas Hynes in a small but impactful role.
Why it’s worth a look: Horror is a hot genre these days and this series has the advantage of its idiosyncratic Newfoundland setting. The series was created by Toronto’s Jesse McKeown, a writer on “The Umbrella Academy,” “19-2” and the late, lamented “Da Vinci’s Inquest.” And it has the imprimatur of the Toronto International Film Festival, where it’s making its world premiere this month, alongside “Carrie” and “Yaga.” Oct. 8, Netflix
