25 of the most buzzworthy new shows for Fall 2018

The Cool Kids – FOX

What you’re watching: This is a show about four, older, assisted-living residents who aren’t ready to live out their golden years quietly following rules. Starring Martin Mull, David Allen Grier, Vicki Lawrence, and Leslie Jordan, it feels younger and more whimsical than half of the shows on this list. The top dogs of their community, Mull, Allen Grier and Jordan, are upstaged when a new, feisty female rebel, Lawrence, enters the group. The guys are mourning the recent death of a friend, and she comes to shake up their dynamic and cause trouble. Hijinks ensue.

What it reminds you of: If That ’70s Show was still airing in sixty years, it would be this show. This group of friends makes poor decisions, are irreverent, and hopes to buck stereotypes about people of a certain age in a certain geographical space. This isn’t Golden Girls, and I doubt they’ll be taking on any serious issues, but it’s good to see people who aren’t in their twenties on our screens.

Long-term potential:  I’m not sure how its humor and age-demographic will translate when it starts to air, but it’s got enough star power to be initially interesting. I have to hand it to FOX for experimenting with inclusion. I don’t see this show going the distance, but I predict it will garner some love at first. I’m rooting for it, for sure.