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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Kiese's Fall TV List: New Shows, Returning Series, Bengals Info

NBCUniversal
NBC's "Will & Grace" returns Thursday, Sept. 29.

Here's my Fall TV guide, as the season kicks off tonight with the first Thursday night NFL game.

My list includes:

Thumbnails descriptions for the 19 new prime-time shows, starting with Seth MacFarlane's "The Orville" Sunday, Sept. 10.

Returning shows season premieres.

Credit Fox Broadcasting
Seth MacFarlane (front right) created "The Orville," Fox's space travel drama debuting Sept. 10

Daytime and syndicated TV changes. Syndicated reruns of "The Goldbergs" and "Mom," plus a return of NBC's old "Friends" repeats, arrive Monday, Sept. 11.

Bengals' TV network/channels for September.

New show premieres are in BOLD ITALICS.

Print it out and circle your favorites.

You're welcome.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 7

7 p.m.: Football Night in America, NBC. Season premiere.

8:30 p.m., Sunday Night Football, NBC. Season opens on Thursday with Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 10-

1 p.m.: Cincinnati Bengals, CBS. Bengals open 50th season hosting Baltimore Ravens.

7 p.m.: Football Night in America, NBC.

8 p.m.: The Orville, Fox. PREMIERE. "Family Guy" Emmy-winner Seth MacFarlane created and stars in Fox's new drama set on a spacecraft called The Orville 400 years in the future. With Adrianne Palicki ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."), Penny Johnson Jerald ("24") Scott Grimes ("American Dad," "Justified") and Norm Macdonald ("Saturday Night Live"). (A second episode airs 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, then moves to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21.)

8:30 p.m.: Sunday Night Football, NBC. New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys.

Credit ABC Television
Repeats of ABC's "The Goldbergs" start national syndication on Sept. 11.

MONDAY, SEPT. 11

9 a.m. Jerry Springer, WSTR-TV/Channel 64. Season 27 premiere. 

12:30 p.m.: America's Court, WXIX-TV/Channel 19. Replaces Judge Alex.

11 p.m.: The Goldbergs, WXIX-TV/Channel 19. Debut of syndicated reruns.

11:30 p.m.: Mom, WXIX-TV/Channel 19. Debut on syndicated reruns.

12:30 a.m.: Friends, WXIX-TV/Channel 19. Return of syndicated reruns.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 12

8 p.m.: Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Harvey Relief. Telethon simulcast on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CMT.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13

9 p.m.: NOVA: Death Dive To Saturn, WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. Season premiere. The Cassini space probe dives into Saturn's atmosphere. 

THURSDAY, SEPT. 14

8:25 p.m.: Thursday Night Football, WLWT-TV/Channel 5, NFL Network.  Houston Texans at Bengals.

9 p.m.: Stan Lee: With Great Power, WCET-TV/Channel 48, PBS. Profile of legendary comic creator Stan Lee.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 15

10:30 p.m.: DailyMailTV, WSTR-TV/Channel 64. Preview of new fall syndicated news/entertainment show hosted by Jesse Palmer. (Premieres 10:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18.)

Credit CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Stephen Colbert hosts the "69th Annual Prime-Time Emmys" on CBS.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 17

6 p.m.: DailyMailTV, WSTR-TV/Channel 64: Preview of new fall syndicated news/entertainment show hosted by Jesse Palmer. (Premieres 10:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18.)

8 p.m.: 69th Prime-Time Emmy Awards, CBS. Hosted by Stephen Colbert.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. PREMIERE. Ken Burns' two-week history of the Vietnam War. (8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17-Thursday, Sept. 21; and 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 24-Thursday, Sept. 28).

8 p.m.: The Orville, Fox. Second episode. (Moves to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 21)

Credit E.W. Scripps Co.
Kellie Pickler and Ben Aaron launch their "Pickler & Ben" daytime show Sept. 18.

MONDAY, SEPT. 18

3p.m.: Pickler & Ben, WCPO-TV, Channel 9. PREMIERE. Kellie Pickler-Ben Aaron weekday entertainment/lifestyle series.

8 p.m.: Dancing with the Stars, ABC. Season 25 premiere with Nick and Vanessa Lachey, and former Bengals receiver Terrell Owens among the contestants.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Second episode.

10 p.m.: The Good Doctor, ABC. PREMIERE. Shaun Murphy ("Bates Motel") plays "The Good Doctor," a brilliant young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome in a series from the creator of "House" and former "Hawaii Five-0" star Daniel Dae Kim.  Richard Schiff ("The West Wing") plays the only doctor at the hospital who trusts the young doctor.

10:30 p.m.: DailyMailTV, WSTR-TV/Channel 64. PREMIERE. Former NFL quarterback and ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer hosts a nightly syndicated show featuring content from DailyMail.com.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 19

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Third episode.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 20

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Fourth episode.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 21

8 p.m.: Gotham, Fox. Season 4 premiere.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Fifth episode.

9 p.m.: The Orville, Fox. Time period premiere.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 24

4:25 p.m.: Bengals-Packers, WKRC-TV/Channel 12, CBS. Bengals at Green Bay Packers.

7:30 p.m.: 60 Minutes, CBS. Season 50 premeire.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. Sixth episode. Second and final week of Ken Burns' new history of the Vietnam War continues 8 p.m. today through Thursday.

8:30 p.m.: Star Trek: Discovery, CBS. PREMIERE. The only scheduled broadcast for the newest "Star Trek" anthology starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Yeoh, before the series moves to the CBS All Access subscription service.

Credit NBC News
Megyn Kelly takes over the 9 a.m. hour of NBC's "Today" show Sept. 25.

MONDAY, SEPT. 25

9 a.m.: Megyn Kelly Today, NBC. PREMIERE. Megyn Kelly debuts at 9-10 a.m. "Today" host with a studio audience. Hoda Kotbe and Kathie Lee Gifford will continue to host at 10 a.m.

8 p.m.: The Voice, NBC. Season 13 premiere.

8 p.m.: Big Bang Theory, CBS.  Season 11 premiere. (Moves to 8 p.m. Thursday on Nov. 2)

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Seventh episode.

8:30 p.m.: Young Sheldon, CBS. PREMIERE. Iain Armitage (HBO's "Big Little Lies") plays 9-year-old Sheldon going to high school in east Texas. Jim Parsons, the Emmy-winning "Big Bang" star, narrates the comedy as adult Sheldon. Zoe Perry ("Private Practice," "The Family") plays Mary, Sheldon's very religious mother. (Moves to 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Nov. 2)

Credit CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Iain Armitage as "Young Sheldon" on CBS.

9 p.m.: Kevin Can Wait, CBS. Season 2 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: Me, Myself & I, CBS. PREMEIRE. A "This Is Us" style time-shifting show about a guy at 14 in 1991 (Jack Dylan Grazer), at 40 (Bobby Moynihan from "Saturday Night Live") and at 65 in 2042 (John Larroquette, "Night Court"). Sharon Lawrence and Jaleel White also are cast members.

10 p.m.: Scorpion, CBS. Season 4 premiere with a musical number.

10 p.m.: The Brave, NBC. PREMIERE. "The Brave" stars Mike Vogel ("Under the Dome") as head of the Special Operations undercover squad working for a deputy director (Anne Heche) based in Washington D.C.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 26

8 p.m.: NCIS, CBS. Season 15 premiere. Anderson Township native Chip Chinery guest stars as NCIS Agent Rodney Spence, who plays the recording of a strange phone call for Agent Ellie Bishop and Officer Clayton Reeves.

8 p.m.: Lethal Weapon, Fox. Season 2 premiere.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Eighth episode.

9 p.m.: This Is Us, NBC. Season 2 premiere.

9 p.m.: Bull, CBS. Season 2 premiere.

9 p.m.: The Mick, Fox. Season 2 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Fox. Season 5 premiere.

Credit NBCUniversal
Edie Falco as attorney Leslie Abramson for the Menendez brothers.

10 p.m.: Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, NBC. PREMIERE.  Edie Falco ("The Sopranos," "Nurse Jackie") plays attorney Leslie Abramson, who represented brothers Lyle and Eric Menendez after they shot and killed their rich parents in 1989, in this eight-episode fall series.

10 p.m.: NCIS: New Orleans, CBS. Season 4 premeire.

Credit CBS Broadcasting Inc.
David Boreanaz leads CBS' "SEAL Team."

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 27

8 p.m.: Empire, Fox. Season 4 premiere.

8 p.m.: The Goldbergs, ABC. Season 5 premiere.

8 p.m.: Survivor, CBS. Season 35 premiere. Louisville  nurse practitioner Jessica Johnston competes on the "Healers" tribe in this "Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers" edition.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Ninth episode.

8:30 p.m.: Speechless, ABC. Season 2 premiere.

9 p.m.: SEAL Team, CBS. PREMIERE.  David Boreanaz stars as the intense leader of a Tier One Navy SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) rescue team they juggle their home lives with dangerous secret missions.

9 p.m.: Star, Fox. Season 2 premiere.

9 p.m.: Modern Family, ABC. Season 9 premiere.

9 p.m.: Law & Order: SVU, NBC. Season 19 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: American Housewife, ABC. Season 2 premiere.

10 p.m.: Designated Survivor, ABC. Season 2 premiere.

10 p.m.: Criminal Minds, CBS. Season 13 premiere.

10 p.m.: Chicago P.D., NBC.  Season 5 premiere.

Credit ABC Television
Viola Davis from ABC's "How To Get Away With Murder."

THURSDAY, SEPT. 28

7:30 p.m.: Thursday Night Football Pre-game, CBS.

8 p.m.: NFL Thursday Night Football, CBS. Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers.

8 p.m.: Grey’s Anatomy, ABC. Two-hour Season 14 premiere.

8 p.m.: Superstore, NBC.  Season 3 premiere.

8 p.m.: The Vietnam War,  WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.  Tenth and final episode.

8:30 p.m.: The Good Place, NBC. Season 2 premiere.

9 p.m.: Will & Grace, NBC. PREMIERE. Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally return to NBC in this 16-episode revival which already has been renewed for a second season. Director Jim Burrows and "Will & Grace" creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan are also back behind the cameras.

9:30 p.m.: Great News, NBC. Season 2 premiere.

10 p.m.: How to Get Away with Murder, ABC. Season 4 premiere.

10 p.m.: Chicago Fire, NBC. Season 7 premiere

Credit ABC Television
"Marvel's The Inhumans" will play in theaters before premiering Sept. 29.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 29

8 p.m.: Marvel’s Inhumans, ABC. PREMIERE. Two-hour introduction for Marvel's Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Medusa (Serinda Swan) and this Royal Family of Inhumans .

8 p.m.: MacGyver, CBS. Season 2 premiere.

8 p.m.: Hell's Kitchen, Fox. Season 17 premiere.

9 p.m.: Hawaii Five-0, CBS. Season 8 premiere.

9 p.m.: Dateline NBC.  Season 26 premiere.

9 p.m.: The Exorcist, Fox. Season 2 premiere set in Seattle.

10 p.m.: Blue Bloods, CBS. Season 8 premiere.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30

10 p.m.: 48 Hours, CBS. Season 30 premiere.

11:30 p.m.: Saturday Night Live, NBC. Season 43 premiere with host Ryan Goslin and music guest Jay-Z.

Credit Fox Broadcasting Co.
Adam Scott and Craig Robinson star in Fox's "Ghosted."

SUNDAY, OCT. 1

1 p.m.: Bengals at Browns, WKRC-TV/Channel 12, CBS: Bengals at Cleveland Browns.

7 p.m.: The Toy Box, ABC. Season 2 premiere. (America’s Funniest Home Videos returns Nov. 26.)

7:30 p.m.: Bob's Burgers, Fox. Season 8 premiere.

8 p.m.: The Simpsons, Fox. Season 29 premiere.

8 p.m.: Shark Tank, ABC. Two-hour Season 9 premiere.

8:30 p.m.: Ghosted, Fox. PREMIERE. Craig Robinson ("The Office") and Adam Scott ("Parks and Recreation") play Los Angeles paranormal investigators in the fall's best buddy comedy.

8:30 p.m.: Wisdom of the Crowd, CBS. PREMIERE. Emmy-winner Piven plays a Silicon Valley entrepreneur who creates a social media crowd-sourcing app to solve his daughter's murders and other crimes – at least for a few weeks, before this show gets canceled.

9 p.m.: Poldark, WCET-TV/Channel 48; WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. Season 3 premiere.9 p.m.: Family Guy, Fox. Season 15 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS. Season 9 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: The Last Man On Earth, Fox. Season 4 premiere.

10 p.m., ABC. Ten Days in the Valley, ABC. PREMIERE. Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") stars as a TV producer and single mother whose life turns into a crime drama when her daughter vanishes. With Malcolm Jamal Warner ("Cosby Show").

10 p.m.: Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO. Season 9 premiere.

Credit Fox Broadcasting
Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker play parents of children with mutant powers on "The Gifted."

MONDAY, OCT. 2

8 p.m.:  Lucifer, Fox. Season 3 premiere.

8:30 p.m.: 9JKL, CBS. PREMIERE. Mark Feuerstein stars as a divorced actor who moves from Los Angeles back to a New York apartment building to be close to his family. Really close. His parents (Linda Lavin, Eliott Gould) live on one side; his brother and sister-in-law brother (David Walton, Liza Lapira) live on the other. This was better than "The Odd Couple?"

9 p.m.: The Gifted, Fox. PREMIERE. A suburban couple (Stephen Moyer, "Shots Fired," and Amy Acker, "Person of Interest") discover their children have mutant powers and seek help "from an underground network of mutants" to escape the "hostile government."  "TV Guide" calls this one a "taut family thriller."

Credit ABC Television
Brandon Michael Hall is "The Mayor" on ABC.

TUESDAY, OCT. 3

8 p.m.: The Middle, ABC.  Season premiere for 9th and final season.

8 p.m.: Finding Your Roots, WCET-TV/Channel 48; WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. Season premiere.

8:30 p.m.: Fresh Off the Boat, ABC. Season 4 premiere.

9 p.m.: black-ish, ABC. Season 4 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: The Mayor, ABC. PREMEIRE. "Hamilton" Tony-winner Daveed Diggs produces "The Mayor," about a rapper (Brandon Michael Hall, "Search Party") who runs for mayor as a publicity stunt -- and gets elected.  Helping him find his way are his best friend (Lea Michele, "Glee") and mother (Yvette Nicole Brown, "Community").

10 p.m.: Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, ABC. PREMIERE. Jason Ritter ("Parenthood," "Drunk History") plays a clueless guy who sees a meteorite land near his Texas home, and meets a "celestial guide" named Yvette (Kimberly Hebert Gregory) who announces he's been chosen to save the world.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4

8 p.m.: The Blacklist, NBC.  Season 5 premiere

8 p.m.: iHeartMedia Music Festival, CW.

8 p.m.: Nature: Naledi, One Little Elephant, WCET-TV/Channel 48; WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS.

10 p.m.: Frontline: North Korea's Deadly Dictator, WCET-TV/Channel 48; WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. Season premiere.

THURSDAY, OCT. 5

9 p.m.: Scandal, ABC. Seventh and final season premiere.

FRIDAY, OCT. 6

8 p.m.: Once Upon a Time, ABC. Season 7 premiere.

8 p.m.: iHeartMedia Music Festival, CW.

Credit CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Tea Leoni as CBS's "Madam Secretary."

SUNDAY, OCT. 8

1 p.m.: Bengals-Bills, WKRC-TV/Channel 12, CBS: Buffalo Bills at Bengals.

8 p.m.: To Tell the Truth, ABC. Season 3 premiere.

10 p.m.: Madame Secretary, CBS. Season 4 premiere. 

10 p.m.: The Collection, WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. PREMIERE. Paul Sabine wants to restore Paris as the fashion capitol after World War II.

MONDAY, OCT. 9

8 p.m.: Supergirl, CW. Season 3 premiere.

9 p.m.: Valor, CW. PREMIERE.  Christina Ochoa ("Animal Kingdom"), Melissa Roxburgh ("Supernatural") and Matt Barr ("Sleepy Hollow," "One Tree Hill") dramatize the lives of U.S. helicopter pilots.

TUESDAY, OCT. 10

8 p.m.: The Flash, CW.  Season 4 premiere.

9 p.m.: DC's Legends of Tomorrow, CW. Season 3 premiere.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 11

8 p.m.: Riverdale, CW. Season 2 premiere.

9 p.m.: Dynasty, CW. PREMIERE. The Carringtons are back! The CW remakes the 1980s ABC prime-time soap with Grant Show ("Melrose Place") as Blake Carrington and Nathalie Kelley ("The Vampire Diaries") as Cristal Jennings. The cast also includes Brianna Brown ("NCIS: New Orleans," "General Hospital"), Elizabeth Gilles ("Victorious," "Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll"), Alan Dale ("NCIS," "Once Upon A Time"), Robert Christopher Riley ("Elementary," "The Bourne Legacy"), Chelle Ramos ("Saints & Sinners") and Fiona Hardingham ("Nashville").

THURSDAY, OCT. 12

8 p.m.: Supernatural, CW. Season 13 premiere.

9 p.m.: Arrow, CW. Season 7 premiere.

FRIDAY, OCT. 13

8 p.m.: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW. Season 3 premiere.

9 p.m.: Jane The Virgin, CW. Season 4 premiere.

9 p.m.: Great Performances: Grammy Salute To Music Legends 2017, WCET-TV, PBS. Premiere. Salutes to Charley Pride, Shirley Caesar, Jimmie Rodgers, Nina Simone, Ahmad Jamal and others.

FRIDAY, OCT. 27

8 p.m.: Blindspot, NBC.  Season 3 premiere.

MONDAY, OCT. 30

8 p.m.: Kevin Can Wait, CBS. Moves to 8 p.m. time slot.

9:30 p.m.: Superior Donuts, CBS. Season 2 premiere.  (Moves to 9:30 p.m. Thursday on Nov. 2.)

Credit CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Shemar Moore commands CBS' "S.W.A.T." revival.

THURSDAY, NOV. 2

8 p.m.: Big Bang Theory, CBS. Thursday time period premiere.

8:30 p.m.: Young Sheldon, CBS. Thursday time period premiere.

9 p.m.: Mom, CBS. Season 5 premiere.

9:30 p.m.: Superior Donuts, CBS. (Thursday time period premiere)

10 p.m.: S.W.A.T, CBS. PREMIERE. Shemar Moore leaves "Criminal Minds" to become CBS' "S.W.A.T." commander in Los Angeles  With Stephanie Sigman, Jay Harrington, Alex Russell, Lina Esco, Kenny Johnson and Peter Onorati.

THURSDAY, NOV. 9

8:25 p.m.: Thursday Night Football, NBC.  Games move to NBC through December starting with tonight's Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals.

9 p.m.: Cincinnati LEEDS The Nation, WCET-TV/Channel 48.  Documentary about Cincinnati Police District 3's new energy efficient building.

THURSDAY, NOV. 16

9 p.m.: Music Hall: The Next Movement, WCET-TV/Channel 48.  PREMIERE. CET looks at the $135-million Music Hall renovations from start to finish.

MONDAY, NOV. 20

8 p.m.: David Letterman: The Mark Twain Price, WCET-TV/Channel 48, WPTD-TV/Channel 16, PBS. PREMIERE. Taped in October. 

SUNDAY, NOV. 26

7 p.m.: America’s Funniest Home Videos, ABC. Season 28 premiere.

MONDAY, DEC. 4

8:30 p.m.: Monday Night Football, WLWT-TV/Channel 5, ESPN: Pittsburgh Steelers at Bengals.

SUNDAY, DEC. 17

7 p.m.: A Christmas Story, Fox. Live broadcast of a musical adaptation of the Jean Shepherd holiday classic with Maya Rudolph.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.