The ones to watch for: The fall TV season’s top new shows

By TMS Writers © Zap2it

It’s a quandary every fall, as new shows come rushing at viewers: Which ones should I watch?

With a few weeks left until the 2012-13 season officially begins, here’s some early help. The pilot episodes for upcoming series have been available to industry insiders, and — based on those first blushes that also sold the programs to their respective networks — here, in alphabetical order, are Tribune Media Services TV writers’ recommendations for the ones to keep an eye on.

“Elementary” (CBS, Thursdays, premieres Sept. 27): Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 19th-century consulting detective is already a hit in the 21st century with PBS’ London-set “Sherlock,” but Holmes and Watson hit the streets of New York in this sharp take on the oft-adapted tale. British actor Jonny Lee Miller gets to keep his native accent as a drug-addicted Sherlock Holmes, and “Southland” veteran Lucy Liu genderswitches Dr. Watson — now named Joan — who’s Holmes’ sober-living companion.

The American series doesn’t go for the whiz-bang visual effects of the British show, but Holmes is just as irascible here, while Watson may be prettier if a bit grumpier. Asked if a man and a woman can really be friends, Miller said he thought they could but added that it may mean “friends with benefits.” There’s no indication of any sort of romance in the pilot, but executive producer Rob Doherty promises archnemesis Moriarty and Sherlock’s dad. Fast, fresh and fun. (Kate O’Hare)

“Last Resort” (ABC, Thursdays, premieres Sept. 27): In a world on the brink of war, a U.S. nuclear submarine in the Indian Ocean connects with Navy SEALs on the run from an unseen enemy. The sub’s captain receives orders to fire warheads at Pakistan, but it comes via a channel to be used only if the U.S. homeland is destroyed. Skeptical, the captain questions the order and is subsequently relieved of command, after which the sub is fired on by a U.S. warship.

Crippled, the vessel crawls to a rustic tropical island, where the crew members soon find themselves at odds with the corrupt mayor and at war with their own country. But where, exactly, did the order to fire come from? And why is their own country trying to kill them?

From executive producers including Shawn Ryan (“The Shield,” “The Unit”), “Last Resort” plays like an addictive thriller with a hint of island whimsy, though the mixture of the two can seem a bit incongruous at times. The ensemble cast includes Andre Braugher (“Homicide: Life on the Street”), Scott Speedman (“Felicity”), Daisy Betts (“Sea Patrol”), Autumn Reeser (“Entourage”) and Robert Patrick (“The Unit”). (George Dickie)

“Nashville” (ABC, Wednesdays, premieres Oct. 10): It’s too easy to call this a country version of “All About Eve” or another rendition of “A Star Is Born,” which is some of the buzz. The drama — starring Connie Britton (“Friday Night Lights”) as a country singer whose star is on the descent, and Hayden Panettiere (“Heroes”) as one whose star is on the rise — is its own show.

Beautifully written by Callie Khouri (“Thelma & Louise”), the series portrays believable tension between the women. Both actresses really sing, and the city of Nashville is featured prominently. Unlike in the Bette Davis classic, Rayna (Britton) never takes the younger Juliette (Panettiere) under her wing. Rayna knows how nasty and dangerous this woman is from the start, and after working her way up, certainly not without a few bumps, Rayna is not going to abdicate her crown so easily to an overly confident upstart. (Jacqueline Cutler)

“The New Normal” (NBC, Tuesdays, premieres Sept. 11): Reflecting a growing national acceptance of gay parenting, this new sitcom from Ryan Murphy

(“Glee”) revolves around committed male couple Bryan and David (Andrew Rannells, Justin Bartha), who decide to have a baby with a sweet single mom (Georgia King) as their surrogate ... to the unmitigated horror of her narrow-minded grandmother (Ellen Barkin).

Murphy’s clearly on Team Gay here, but he’s even-handed enough to show (at least initially) that Bryan is a shallow preppie who views the prospective child as the ultimate accessory, one he wants to customize like a new car. Barkin, meanwhile, barks outrageously bigoted lines that would make Archie Bunker blush. The conservative group One Million Moms — the folks who tried to get Ellen DeGeneres fired as the face of JCPenney — have called for a boycott of the show sight unseen, not that they were Murphy’s target audience anyway. Did we mention the series is very, very funny? (John Crook) “Vegas” (CBS, Tuesdays, premieres Sept. 25): To start with, there’s the title — which always makes the imagination leap, on television or otherwise, with visions of glittering marquees and high-kicking showgirls. In this case, though, the subject is largely how Las Vegas became Las Vegas as mirrored by the experiences of real-life Sheriff Ralph Lamb. Played in perfectly stolid style by Dennis Quaid, he’s tasked with instilling a sense of law and order in a region suddenly teeming with newcomers looking to stake their own claims.

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Across

1. Actress on “Desperate Housewives” (2)

10.

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16.

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Down

1. Word in the title of Josh Radnor’s series

2. Actress Larter

3. ... DDE, JFK, LBJ, __ ...

4. “Charlie & __.” (1985-86)

5. Arthur with a racket

6. Word following Rice, Corn or Wheat

7. Acuff’s initials

8. Foreboding signs

9. “__ Susan” (1996-2000)

13. Initials for Cloris

15. “__: Life in the E.R.”

16. “__ This Old House”

17. Actress Paquin

18. Gellar and Parker

19. “__ __ __ Lifetime”; 1985 Ellen Burstyn film

21. Ax handle

24. Bart’s Grampa

26. Poisonous substance

29. “Happy __”; animated ’06 film about penguins

30. “__ __ Wonderful Life”

31. “The Bernie Mac Show” setting: abbr.

34. Mean Amin

35. Sermon topic

36. Ryan, for one

38. Initials for actor Kiefer

39. Series for Julie Bowen, once