Earlier this week I was asked to preview the coming fall TV season for CBC radio syndication. It is something I look forward to — a half-day marathon timed at ten minute intervals with radio markets right across Canada. Wednesday, they included radio hosts from Kelowna to St. John’s, with stops in Victoria, Vancouver, Whitehorse, Saskatchewan, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, London/Windsor, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City and Charlottetown.
While a robust Fall TV season may seem a thing of the past, this September is a very busy one. The hosts all wanted to know when some of my favourite shows will be returning this month and next.
I mentioned Only Murders in the Building first because it has already returned with Season Four episodes dropping every Tuesday. The second new one, “Gates of Heaven,” premiered this week and it ws terrific, a true return to form after a first episode over-stuffed with guest stars. Episode two arrives with a jolt as one murderous character from Season One sneaks back into the swank Manhattan apartment of Charles Haden-Savage (Steve Martin). The episode had some genuine thrills and allowed all three of the stars — Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez — to shine. It shed some light on the mysterious West wing of the Arconia and introduced some wacky new characters, especially “Stink Eye” played by the always hilarious Richard Kind.
This season is about the three podcasters investigating the murder of Charles long-time TV series double, Sazz Pataki. Tuesday’s episode was a showcase for the actress playing her, Jane Lynch. Only Murders is such a rich experience when it delivers laughs, pathos and heartache, sometimes all in the same scene. Lynch and Martin got to explore all of their range Tuesday, and what a treat for fans.
Hulu, the US streaming service where the series originated (the series is streamed in Canada on Disney+), wants more Murders. They announced Wednesday that a fifth season has already been ordered.
Another of my favourite shows has just returned for a fourth season: Slow Horses. Gary Oldman stars as notorious MI5 boss named Jackson Lamb who is shoved into the dark corners of the UK spy agency and must contend with a misfit band of spy screwups. Oldman, who looks like he ate and slept in his clothes, is at his curmudeon best as Lamb. The AppleTV+ series also features outstanding performances by Jack Lowden, River Cartwright, Kristin Scott Thomas, Diana Taverner, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, and Shirley Dander. The showrunner is a clever Canadian I knew back at the University of Toronto, Graham Yost, one of the most talented and prolific writer-producers in American television today — and I’m not just saying that because, a couple of years ago, he agreed to guest on my podcast.
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As I went down the list of other impressive returning shows the other day on the radio, I began to notice a pattern emerge. Back Sept. 15 is Sylvester Stallone with a second season of the retro-ish, punchy, Taylor Sheridan crime romp, Tulsa King. Also on Paramount+, Kelsey Grammer is back in the building as Frasier, a series rebooted to mixed reviews. He’ll be joined this season starting Sept. 19 by former sitcom co-star Peri Gilpin (Roz) as well as a few of the other radio station regulars from the original NBC series’ run.
Starting Sept. 12 on FX, Jeff Bridges is back as a retired but still active CIA spy in The Old Man. This season, he’ll act opposite a fellow spy master played by John Lithgow. Alia Shawcat from Arrested Development, Amy Brenneman and Joel Grey also star. A more lighthearted favourite is Shrinking. The Bill Lawrence-produced series about a therapy clinic stars Jason Segal (who co-created with Ted Lasso‘s Bret Goldstein), Christa Miller, Jessica Williams and Harrison Ford. It returns, after more than a year-and-a-half, October 16 on AppleTV+.
A few of these shows seem to have taken longer than usual to return. That’s because they really have, due to delays linked to the actors and writers strikes, or, because some drop their eight or ten episodes all at once and are binged quickly, and 365 days later just seem to have fallen off the radar.
The main thing I noticed in pulling together this radio rundown of returning favourites — age. This is a really great time to be a famous male actor in your seventies. Gary Oldman, ironically, is the youngest old man, at 66. Steve Martin (79) and Martin Short (74), are joined this season on Only Murders by Eugene Levy (77). Levy slowing down? Besides his day job on AppleTV+’s The Reluctant Traveler, he’s also co-hosting The Emmys Sept. 15 with his son Dan Levy.
Other TV all-stars drawing a pension include Jeff Bridges (74), John Lithgow (78), Sly Stallone (78), Kelsey Grammer (69) and Harrison Ford (82). Ted Danson, 76, is set to return as a spy in a nursing home in the latest from Mike Schur (The Good Place) That series is called A Man on the Inside (Netflix).
That they’re all kicking ass on TV and in podcasts (where Danson is teamed on Where Everyone Knows Your Name with his old Cheers mate Woody Harrelson) is pretty damn impressive. Martin and Short are ending careers at the top of their game.
Does this mean the audience is aging out of the traditional demos as well? Certainly it does at my house.
