25 of the most buzzworthy new shows for Fall 2018

Single Parents – ABC

What you’re watching: ABC knows how to load a show up with familiar faces. This half-hour sitcom has Leighton Meester and Brad Garrett as grouchy and put-upon single parents, and it just kind of feels right. Saturday Night Live-alum Taran Killian plays the try-hard, overachiever single parent, Will, who is so absorbed with his daughter’s life he’s forgotten his adult identity.

Meester plays Angie, another single parent in their class, who tries to help Will come out of the “vortex” of cargo pants, sparkly purses, and room parent duties. Garrett’s Douglas is the oldest parent in the bunch, and is subsequently the most set in his ways. We love it when Garrett gets to play the curmudgeon.

What it reminds you of: There’s been an onslaught of “single parent” shows on the air lately. ABC even has a different version of this called Splitting Up Together. NBC teamed up with Mindy Kaling for Champions in which a perennial bachelor learns he has a son just in time for the kid to move in with him. A few years ago, NBC tried its hand at adapting the ultimate single dad show, About A Boy. Sadly, it didn’t last, but it had the kind of  “treading water panic” the characters on Single Parents do.

Long-term potential: We like the chemistry among this ensemble cast. It feels like an unusual mix, but the show can coast on it for a while until it finds its comedic footing. We’re definitely rooting for this show to succeed. Who doesn’t want to see Blair Waldorf swill wine and do laundry?