Running out of TV shows? Some good ones are heading our way this fall

My suggested marketing slogan for this fall's TV season: Not as bleak as you expected!

While the prime-time broadcast schedules must wait for a safe return to normal shooting schedules, the premium cable networks and streaming services are meeting the prolonged pandemic moment with several shows that I'd have been happy to recommend in any season. If you parse out all the episodes of the shows I've picked here, as well as the list of recently launched ones, it ought to last you through the holidays. What we'll be watching beyond that is anyone's guess.

"Flesh and Blood"

PBS, Sunday, Oct. 4

This four-part "Masterpiece" series, a little more adult-themed than usual, stars Imelda Staunton as Mary, the nosy but friendly next-door neighbor to recently widowed Vivien (Francesca Annis), who has found new love with a gentleman (Stephen Rea) that her adult children (Claudie Blakley, Russell Tovey and Lydia Leonard) don't exactly trust. The show is built around a tragic event that's being investigated by a detective (David Bamber), dragging some family secrets out into the light of day.

"Soulmates"

AMC, Monday, Oct. 5

Another unsettling if fascinating anthology series, sort of in the "Black Mirror" mode, set in the near future after the debut of a flawless analytical process that matches people up with their perfect soul mate. Messy complications abound, particularly for people (such as the vaguely unhappy wife played by "Succession's" Sarah Snook) who've already married the person they thought they'd spend the rest of their lives with. Other episodes (six in all) explore the shortcomings of these precise pairings, including impostor matches and an outmoded construct we used to call fate.

"Next"

Fox, Tuesday, Oct. 6

"Mad Men's" John Slattery stars in this 10-episode, techno-paranoia crime thriller as Paul LeBlanc, the arrogant founder of a high-tech firm that recently fired him as CEO. An FBI cybersecurity agent, Shea Salazar (Fernanda Andrade), enlists LeBlanc to look into the mysterious death of a computer scientist who feared he was being chased by an all-seeing artificial-intelligence program - and, yeah, that's exactly what's going on, all right, as LeBlanc's invention threatens to outsmart humanity by taking over all our precious devices.

"Deaf U"

Netflix, Friday, Oct. 9

Even if you live in Washington, D.C., the goings-on at Gallaudet University, the nation's top college for the deaf and hard of hearing, can still seem to be taking place in a different world. Not anymore, as this fast-moving, all-access, "Cheer"-like docuseries bursts forth with an intimate look at the lives of a group of students among the school's 1,100 undergrads who are busy with academics and a tangle of personal relationships, parties and some social customs that are unique to the deaf experience.

"The Haunting of Bly Manor"

Netflix, Friday, Oct. 9

I'm eager to see whether creator Mike Flanagan's follow-up to 2018's "The Haunting of Hill House" can get the juices jumping as well as the first one did - and maybe even with a less sappy ending this time. This new chapter, inspired by Henry James' supernatural stories, starts off in 1980s England, where an American nanny (Victoria Pedretti) is hired to look after two orphaned kids who live at an old family estate called Bly Manor, where the ghost stories go back centuries.

"The Right Stuff"

Disney Plus, Friday, Oct. 9

Originally destined for National Geographic and now set to launch at Disney Plus, this eight-episode adaptation of Tom Wolfe's classic book about the first American astronauts will have to work extra hard to reach the heights of the 1983 film version. Critics haven't seen the series yet, but I'll give it points for taking on a difficult mission. Cast includes Jake McDorman as Alan Shepard, Patrick J. Adams as John Glenn and Aaron Staton as Wally Schirra.

"Driving While Black"

PBS, Tuesday, Oct. 13

Historian Gretchen Sorin and filmmaker Ric Burns take viewers on an immersive two-hour journey through the story of Black Americans and the elusive dream of free mobility, beginning with the enslaved people who grew up seldom traveling farther than a mile from their White owners' homes and the slave-catching origins of the nation's earliest police forces. In the 20th century, as White Americans fell in love with the automobile and the liberating joy of road trips, Black Americans again found danger, fraught with Jim Crow restrictions and a straight route to present-day racism.

"The Undoing"

HBO, Sunday, Oct. 25

HBO wisely bumped this prestige six-part mystery from David E. Kelley (based on Jean Hanff Korelitz's novel "You Should Have Known" and directed by Susanne Bier) from its spring schedule to the fall. Nicole Kidman stars as a successful Manhattan therapist married to an oncologist (Hugh Grant), whose seemingly perfect life is upended by a disturbing event that happens after a fundraiser for her son's private school. The vibe is less frothy than Kelley and Kidman's hit series "Big Little Lies," but the refrain is similar: Perfection is a fragile state of being.

"Roadkill"

PBS, Sunday, Nov. 1

This four-part "Masterpiece" drama from David Hare stars Hugh Laurie as a former furniture salesman - "untroubled by guilt or remorse," according to PBS' character description - who rises to British political prominence on a populist reform agenda, dodging one political scandal while working to hide others. His world is tangled up in marital infidelity, scheming rivals and disloyal subordinates. Screeners were not available for this preview, but "Roadkill" looks messy and mesmerizing.

"A Teacher"

FX on Hulu, Tuesday, Nov. 10

Hannah Fidell's indie film of the same name came and went in 2013; here, Fidell has given "A Teacher" an extensive workover as a 10-episode miniseries, starring Kate Mara as Claire, an English teacher at an Austin high school who has a sexual relationship with one of her students, Eric (Nick Robinson). The series doesn't set out to glorify or sympathize with Claire's wrongdoing, nor does it take the tone of a lurid Lifetime movie. It's a portrait of a person in the midst of making a very bad decision.

"The Crown"

Netflix, Sunday, Nov. 15

Knowing "The Crown" is the most precious bauble left in a dry season, Netflix is sharing very little about the eagerly anticipated fourth season of its captivating series about Queen Elizabeth II (Olivia Colman). I know only what others know - mainly that the series covers a period from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, including the 1981 royal wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. Emma Corrin has been cast in that plum part, and, like the real-life princess, surely has some scenes to steal.

"No Man's Land"

Hulu, Wednesday, Nov. 18

In this tense, eight-episode war drama from the creators of the Israeli show "False Flag" and the original version of "Euphoria," a man named Antoine (Felix Moati) catches a glimpse of a woman in a TV news clip from the Syrian war and is convinced it's his estranged sister, who disappeared years ago. Driven to solve the mystery of what happened to her, Antoine travels from his home in Paris to Syria and encounters a band of Kurdish female fighters who are headed to battle in Isis-occupied territory.

"The Flight Attendant"

HBO Max, expected this fall

Kaley Cuoco wins the prize for most interesting swerve after "The Big Bang Theory" in this smart, suspenseful adaptation of Chris Bohjalian's best-selling novel about a party-girl flight attendant who has a Bangkok fling with a hot first-class passenger (Michiel Huisman), drinks her way to unconsciousness and wakes up to a gruesome surprise - and makes a series of panicked decisions from there. (Folks, we're experiencing a bit of a high-anxiety caper, so please check that your seat belts are fastened.) The strong supporting cast includes Rosie Perez and Zosia Mamet.

"Bridgerton"

Netflix, premiere date to be announced

A crunchy-gravel British period drama from producer Shonda Rhimes? You bet. Inspired by Julia Quinn's best-selling novels, this fast-paced series is set in early 19th-century London, smack in the middle of debutante season, where future marriages hang in the balance - all of it sharply observed by the pseudonymous Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews), who writes a high-society gossip column. Worth noting: a refreshing degree of casting diversity, once unheard of in this genre.

• • •

Already debuted

The following shows have debuted in the last month, but are worth checking out:

• "Woke" (Now streaming on Hulu; premiered Sept. 9)

• "We Are Who We Are" (HBO)

• "Ratched" (Netflix)

• "Wilmore" (Peacock)

• "The Amber Ruffin Show" (Peacock)

• "Tehran" (Apple TV Plus)

• "Utopia" (Amazon Prime)

• "A Wilderness of Error" (FX)

• "Fargo" (FX)

• "Emily in Paris" (Netflix)

• "Monsterland" (Hulu)