By the time you read this, you’ll have survived Premiere Week, one of September’s greatest traditions for television fans. Every year, there’s a week where the Big Four broadcast networks dump a majority of their season and series premieres, delighting and overwhelming anyone who pays attention to television. On the one hand, it made up for a slower first half of the month, which had a trickle of premieres amid a sea of summer finales, and it’s always nice to have your shows return; on the other, we’re already in a time of Too Much TV, so Premiere Week can feel less like TV Christmas and more like this scene from Matilda.
However, October is the time when the TV season first begins getting its bearings. The vast majority of broadcast premieres still happen in September, so once you separate the wheat from the chaff, welcoming back the veteran shows you like while figuring out which newbies to sample and when to sample them, you can look for October to have some straggler broadcast premieres and focus primarily on cable. To be certain, October is far from a dead month on the television calendar, but it has a different purpose than September and can sometimes serve as the space necessary to tweak your television schedule as we go barreling toward midseason.
Bob’s Burgers, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, and Jane the Virgin, as well as the series premieres of Ten Days in the Valley, White Famous, and Ghost Wars.
Sunday, October 1st
7:00 The Toy Box (ABC)
7:30 Bob’s Burgers (FOX)
8:00 Hawaii Life (HGTV)
8:00 Shark Tank (ABC) – Two-Hour Season Premiere
8:00 The Simpsons (FOX)
8:30 Ghosted (FOX)
8:30 Wisdom of the Crowd (CBS)
9:00 Alaska: The Last Frontier (Discovery)
9:00 Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (CNN)
9:00 Family Guy (FOX)
9:00 Halloween Wars (Food)
9:00 Keeping Up with the Kardashians (E!)
9:00 Poldark (PBS) – Two-Hour Season Premiere
9:30 The Last Man on Earth (FOX)
9:30 NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)
10:00 Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
10:00 Ten Days in the Valley (ABC)
10:00 This is Life with Lisa Ling (CNN)
11:00 Startalk (NGC)
Monday, October 2nd
8:00 Lucifer (FOX) – Photos
8:30 9JKL (CBS)
9:00 The Gifted (FOX) – Advance Review
9:00 Family Time (Bounce TV)
9:30 Grown Folks (Bounce TV)
10:00 Ed Gordon (Bounce TV)
10:00 The Halcyon (Ovation)
Tuesday, October 3rd
8:00 Finding Your Roots (PBS)
8:00 The Middle (ABC)
8:30 Fresh Off the Boat (ABC)
9:00 Bitchin’ Rides (Velocity)
9:00 Forged in Fire (History)
9:00 Black-ish (ABC)
9:30 The Mayor (ABC)
10:00 Cyberwar (Viceland)
10:00 Counting Cars (History)
10:00 Ink Master: Angels (Spike TV)
10:00 Kevin (Probably) Saves the World (ABC)
10:00 Queen Sugar (OWN) – Special Night
Wednesday, October 4th
8:00 Nature (PBS)
9:00 The Real Housewives of New Jersey (Bravo) – 75-Minute Season Premiere
9:00 Little Women: Dallas (Lifetime)
9:00 Unusual Suspects (ID)
9:00 Wheeler Dealers (Velocity)
10:00 Queen Sugar (OWN) – Time Slot Premiere
Thursday, October 5th
8:00 This Old House (PBS)
9:00 Scandal (ABC) – Final Season
9:00 Van Helsing (Syfy)
10:00 Ghost Wars (Syfy)
10:00 Real Estate Wars (Bravo)
10:00 Sex.Right.Now with Cleo Stiller (Fusion TV) – Preview
10:30 Shade: Queens of NYC (Fusion TV) – Preview
11:00 Vintage Flip (HGTV)
Friday, October 6th
8:00 Don’t Be Tardy… (Bravo) – One-Hour Season Premiere
8:00 Once Upon a Time (ABC)
9:00 Live PD (A&E)
9:00 Texas Flip n Move (DIY)
9:00 Million Dollar Matchmaker (WE)
9:00 Marvel’s Inhumans (ABC) – Time Slot Premiere
10:00 Superstition (Syfy)
11:00 Choccywoccydoodah (Cooking)
Saturday, October 7th
9:00 Austin City Limits (PBS)
9:00 First Time Flippers (DIY)
9:00 The Wonder List with Bill Weir (CNN)
Sunday, October 8th
8:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos (ABC)
9:00 Shark Tank (ABC) – Time Slot Premiere
9:00 90 Day Fiancee (TLC)
9:00 XTreme Screams (Travel)
10:00 Edge of Alaska (Discovery)
10:00 Haunted USA (Travel)
10:00 Madam Secretary (CBS)
Monday, October 9th
8:00 Supergirl (The CW)
9:00 Valor (The CW) – Photos
10:00 Southern and Hungry (Cooking)
Tuesday, October 10th
8:00 MasterChef Canada (Cooking) – Special Time
8:00 The Flash (The CW) – Photos
9:00 DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) – Photos
9:00 MasterChef Canada (Cooking) – Time Slot Premiere
10:00 Adventure Capitalists (CNBC)
10:00 Tales (BET)
10:00 Undercover High (A&E)
Wednesday, October 11th
8:00 Man’s Greatest Food (Cooking)
8:00 Riverdale (The CW) – Photos
9:00 Dynasty (The CW) – Photos
9:00 The Story of Us (NGC)
9:00 Property Brothers (HGTV)
10:00 Mr. Robot (USA)
10:00 The Shannara Chronicles (Spike TV) – Season 2 Details
Thursday, October 12th
8:00 Supernatural (The CW) – Photos
9:00 Arrow (The CW) – Photos
11:30 The Comedy Get Down (BET)
Friday, October 13th
8:00 Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (The CW) – Photos
9:00 Gold Rush (Discovery) – Two-Hour Season Premiere
9:00 Jane the Virgin (The CW) – Photos
9:00 Marriage Boot Camp (WE)
Saturday, October 14th
9:00 Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (BBC America) – Trailer
Sunday, October 15th
8:00 Air Disasters (Smithsonian)
8:00 The Durrells in Corfu (PBS)
8:00 Guy’s Grocery Games (Food)
9:00 Berlin Station (Epix)
9:00 Make It Out Alive (Smithsonian)
10:00 Good Behavior (TNT)
10:00 The Platinum Life (E!)
10:00 White Famous (Showtime) – Watch the Series Premiere
Monday, October 16th
10:00 Fast’n Loud (Discovery)
10:00 Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner (VH1)
10:00 Pawn Stars (History)
Tuesday, October 17th
10:00 Gucci Mane & Keyshia Ka’oir: The Mane Event (BET)
10:00 Hit the Road (Audience)
10:00 Strange Evidence (Science)
10:30 Loudermilk (Audience)
10:30 Weediquette (Viceland)
Wednesday, October 18th
8:00 Undeniable with Joe Buck (Audience)
Thursday, October 19th
9:00 Flip or Flop Vegas (HGTV)
9:00 The Eleven (A&E) – Special Time
10:00 The Eleven (A&E) – Time Slot Premiere
10:00 Beat Bobby Flay (Food)
Sunday, October 22nd
9:00 The Walking Dead (AMC)
10:00 Graves (Epix)
10:00 Talking Dead (AMC)
10:00 Food: Fact or Fiction? (Cooking)
Monday, October 23rd
9:00 Scared Famous (VH1)
Tuesday, October 24th
10:00 The Last O.G. (TBS) – One-Hour Series Premiere
10:30 At Home with Amy Sedaris (truTV) – Sneak Peek
Wednesday, October 25th
10:00 The Job Interview (CNBC)
Thursday, October 26th
9:00 Carnival Eats (Cooking)
10:00 Drop the Mic (TBS)
Friday, October 27th
8:00 Blindspot (NBC)
8:00 Andi Mack (Disney) – One-Hour Season Premiere
Monday, October 30th
8:00 Kevin Can Wait (CBS) – Time Slot Premiere
9:00 Me, Myself & I (CBS) – Time Slot Premiere
9:30 Superior Donuts (CBS)
Tuesday, October 31st
9:00 Major Crimes (TNT)
