It’s that mad time of year again, the fall season rush. In film terms, it’s manic in terms of releases and film festivals. And while slightly less hectic in the world of TV, there are a host of new and returning shows coming this fall, plus the Emmys in September. But the era of what we used to routinely call #TooMuchContent has reduced in the drastically changing streaming wars. The Netflix stock market crash in 2002 had a ripple effect as Wall Street reevaluated streaming value; the 2023 strikes didn’t help, but the end result has been slightly less content, which has made it more manageable for writers like us and audiences, frankly, many of which didn’t have time to watch everything. Thus, several expensive projects that streamers put money behind (“Halo” being a recent one) were canceled.
READ MORE: 12 Shows To Watch In August: ‘Industry,’ ‘Only Murders In The Building,’ ‘Rings Of Power’ & More
What seems clear is that the era of everything getting a spin-off series is over. In the pandemic, companies like Disney, Marvel, and Lucasfilm went overboard and suffered the consequences of both quality and viewership. Now, all cable channels, streamers, platforms, and are scaling back. Marvel doesn’t release more than two live-action shows per year (this year it was “Echo” and the upcoming “Agatha All Along,” same with Lucasfilm (“Skeleton Key” is the one left), and the age of movie-sized blockbuster-like TV seems to have receded, which is great, frankly, because not everything needs to be a big tentpole event and character-driven material thrives on television.
Some event TV spin-offs from movies did get in under the wire once that gate changed, HBO and Max’s “The Penguin” spin-off and Max’s “Dune Prophecy,” but don’t be surprised if those are the last of their kind (for the most part, hence three ‘Batman’ spin-offs being developed, but only one likely taking off). HBO is in a post “Succession” world, but they are going all in on “Game Of Thrones” spin-offs, “House Of The Dragon” being a major success and one more series coming in 2025. While some big hits like “Stranger Things” won’t return until next year, Netflix has at least managed to get the global phenomenon of “Squid Game” back before the end of the year. Hulu likely won’t have “The Handmaid’s Tale” back until 2025, but they still have plenty of content for the fall, including “The Old Man” with Jeff Bridges and the final season of “What We Do In The Shadows.” Apple TV+ has several heavy hitters coming in the fall, Alfonso Cuaron’s “Disclaimer,” a second “Silo” season with Rebecca Ferguson, and the return of the spy series “Slow Horses” with Gary Oldman. Late August/early fall also sees the return of major shows like “Only Murders In The Building” and Prime Video’s “Lord Of The Rings: Rings of Power.” Let’s get to our Fall 2024 TV preview. 
“Pachinko” Season 2
Created by Soo Hugh, “Pachinko” follows four generations of a Korean family from 1915 to 1989 and details the poor living conditions and discrimination of Korean immigrants in Japanese society. Season two stars include Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn (“Minari”), Lee Minho, Minha Kim, Jin Ha, Anna Sawa (“Shogun”), and many more.
Premiere Date: August 23 on Apple TV+.

“Only Murders In The Building” Season 4
Everyone’s favorite snooping murder mystery podcasters return in the acclaimed comedic series “Only Murders in the Building.” Created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman, Martin and co-stars Martin Short and Selena Gomez all return. Always packed with terrific guest appearances, season four includes Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis,  Eva Longoria, Kumail Nanjiani, Molly Shannon, Richard Kind, and once again, Meryl Streep.
Premiere Date: August 27 on Hulu.

“Lord Of The Rings: The Rings of Power” Season 2
A prequel to the “Lord Of The Rings” films created by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay (“Star Trek Beyond”), the series is set thousands of years before and depicts the major events of Middle-earth’s Second Age. The cast is immense, but all the main players return: Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, Robert Aramayo as Elrond, Charlie Vickers as Sauron, plus Benjamin Walker, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Owain Arthur, and dozens more.
Premiere Date: August 29 on Prime Video.

“Kaos” 
Jeff Goldblum plays Zeus in a mythological dark-comedy from Charlie Covell (“The End of the F***ing World “). Janet McTeer plays Hera; Cliff Curtis is Poseidon; David Thewlis features as Hades, and Debi Mazar appears as Medusa. The series centers on six humans discovering their connection to an ancient prophecy while dealing with Greek mythology’s corrupt and arrogant gods.
Premiere Date: August 29 on Netflix.

“English Teacher”
Created by actor, comedian, and filmmaker Brian Jordan Alvarez (“Will & Grace”), he stars in a dramedy about a teacher who must navigate the intersection of personal, political, and professional aspects of working at a high school. Stephanie Koenig and Enrico Colantoni co-star.
Premiere Date: September 2 on FX and Hulu.

“Slow Horses” Season Four
A darkly comedic British spy thriller television series, “Slow Horses” centers on Slough House, essentially an administrative purgatory where MI5 rejects are sent after professional failures. They are led by the slovenly and miserable Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), who is much more canny than he looks and has a nose for trouble. Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rosalind Eleazar, Jonathan Pryce, Freddie Fox and more co-star. Season five is on the way, too.
Premiere Date: September 4 on Apple TV+.

“The Perfect Couple”
A lavish Nantucket wedding—where the bride (Eve Hewson) was marrying into a wealthy family at the mother’s (Nicole Kidman) disapproval —ends in disaster before it can even begin when a body is discovered in the adjacent harbor, and everyone in the wedding party is a suspect. Dakota Fanning, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor, Billy Howe, and Meghann Fahy co-star. Susanne Bier (“The Night Manager,” “The Undoing “) directs this six-part limited series.
Premiere Date: September 5 on Netflix.

“Fight Night: Million Dollar Heist”
Created by Shaye Ogbonna (“The Chi”), “Fight Night” follows the infamous story of how an armed robbery on the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight changed not only one man’s life but ultimately transformed Atlanta into the “Black Mecca.” A star-studded cast is led by Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, Terence Howard, and many more.
Premiere Date: September 5 on Peacock.

“The Penguin”
The era of PeakTV streaming where everything got a spin-off might be over, but just in under the wire is the Matt Reeves “The Batman” spin-off centering on Colin Farrell’s Oswald Cobblepot character. Picking up after the events of the last Batman, “The Penguin” centers on the power-grab that Gotham’s crime underworld all reach for in the vacuum created by Carmine Falcone’s (John Turturro’s) death. At the forefront of consolidating the crime syndicates is the Pegnuin, but he soon must grapple with Falcone’s ruthless daughter (Cristin Milioti). Created by Lauren LeFranc, the series also includes appearances by Rhenzy Feliz, Michael Kelly, Carmen Ejogo, Clancy Brown, and Mark Strong. Craig Zobel (“Mare of Easttown”) directs.
Premiere Date: September 8 on HBO and MAX.

“My Brilliant Friend”
After four seasons, the acclaimed HBO series, “My Brilliant Friend,” comes to an end. The series chronicles the story of two young friends whose stormy relationship evolves amidst the backdrop of post-WWII Italy. The story spans many decades, so Elena Greco is now played by Alba Rohrwacher, Irene Maiorino plays Lila Cerullo, and Fabrizio Gifuni stars as Nino Sarratore.  Based on the bestselling series by Elena Ferrante and created by Italian writer/director Saverio Costanzo (“Hungry Hearts”).
Premiere Date: September 8 on HBO.