TV debuts a sure sign of Fall

By Mike Larmon

Fall is starting to rear its face, you know with the 85 degree temperatures and all.

Well, the weather is starting to feel like fall, but there is one sure way of knowing fall is just around the corner: The fall television season.

The major networks have worked hard to promote their new and returning television shows. Here’s a look at some of the new shows this fall.

NBC: John Larroquette returns to television in “Happy Family,” airing at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Larroquette, along with wife Christine Baranski, finally believe they are out of the parenting loop, but raising college kids is more difficult than imagined.

Love or hate her, Whoopi Goldberg has her own sitcom, “Whoopi.” Goldberg plays a wacky hotel owner who runs the business her way. “Whoopi” airs at 7 p.m. Tuesdays.

In Alicia Silverstone’s debut sitcom “Miss Match,” Silverstone works for her father’s law office and plays a matchmaker on the side. As word of her talent spreads, Silverstone becomes entangled in a web of true love and divorce. “Miss Match” airs at 7 p.m. Fridays.

FOX: Adam is a 17-year-old Latino from east L.A., and Jewel is a wealthy 16-year-old in “Skin.” In a Romeo and Juliet-esque plot, Adam’s mother and father work for the city’s judicial system. They are investigating and prosecuting Jewel’s father, one of the most famous adult entertainment producers in L.A. The show airs at 7 p.m. Mondays.

Norm MacDonald is back on television with “A Minute with Stan Hooper,” airing at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays. MacDonald plays Stan, an old-timer caught in a new world. He yearns to return to the conservative family life that he praises in his “minute segments” on “Newsline,” America’s highest-rated news magazine.

“Luis,” starring Luis Guzman, will debut during the treacherous Friday 8:30 p.m. time slot. Luis is a landlord/owner of a doughnut shop in Spanish Harlem. Hilarity ensues when Luis has run-ins with corrupt cops, a cardiologist, an old Irish woman and his ex-wife.

ABC: You’ll now be able to see Breckin Meyer on television every week on his show “Married to the Kellys,” airing at 7:30 p.m. Fridays. In the show, Meyer plays Tom, a shy man perfectly happy being a loner. All that changes when Tom meets Susan, a social butterfly from the Midwest.

It’s a family affair in “It’s All Relative,” where a family of Irish Catholics from Boston meet a family of Protestants raised by two dads. Yes, two dads. “It’s All Relative” stars Lenny Clark. It airs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays.

CBS: “The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H.” stars Randy Quaid in a drama about three brothers facing the challenges of their family and professional lives. Quaid is the town police captain, his brother is the mayor and the third brother is unemployed. Look for the show at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.

Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer team up to form “Two and a Half Men,” airing at 7:30 p.m. Mondays. Sheen plays a swinging bachelor whose life is changed when his younger brother (Cryer) moves in with his 10-year-old son.

There it is, a brief summary of what’s new on prime-time TV.