Welcome to the busy part of the year in TV. The 2010-11 TV season, as defined by Nielsen, doesn’t technically begin until Sept. 20, but nearly two dozen notable new and returning shows will be premiering before then, and then things get really crazy from the 20th onwards.
I’m still waiting for final versions of pilots before I feel comfortable weighing in on a lot of the rookies, but if you want a sense of some of the new stuff I’m looking forward to, you can read my post on the best shows I saw at press tour. Given the premiere crush, I can’t promise to review everything myself, but Fienberg and I are going to try to hit as much as we can combined, and if I don’t bother reviewing something (say, the CW’s “Hellcats”), it’s because I wasn’t interested enough to spend time writing about it.
But for pure calendar purposes, here’s a list of premiere dates for the notable new and returning show premieres planned between now and early October (note that ABC’s “Body of Proof” and “Secret Millionaire” don’t yet have premiere dates, while “V” is set to debut sometime in November):
Sept. 7
Returning: “Sons of Anarchy” (10 p.m., FX)
Sept. 8
Returning: “America’s Next Top Model” (8 p.m., CW)
New: “Hellcats” (9 p.m., CW), “Terriers” (10 p.m., FX)
Sept. 9
Returning: “Vampire Diaries” (8 p.m., CW)
New: “Nikita” (9 p.m., CW)
Sept. 11
Returning: “Cops” (8 p.m., FOX), “America’s Most Wanted” (9 p.m., FOX)
Sept. 12
Returning: “Football Night in America” (7 p.m., NBC)
Sept. 13
Returning: “90210” (8 p.m., CW), “Gossip Girl” (9 p.m., CW)
Sept. 14
Returning: “One Tree Hill” (8 p.m., CW), “Life Unexpected” (9 p.m., CW), “Parenthood” (10 p.m., NBC)
Sept. 15
Returning: “Survivor: Nicaragua” (8 p.m., CBS)
New: “Outlaw” (previews at 10 p.m., NBC; regular timeslot is Fridays at 10)
Sept. 16
Returning: “The Apprentice” (two-hour premiere 9 p.m., NBC, regular timeslot is Thursdays at 10), “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (10 p.m., FX), “The League” (10:30 p.m., FX)
Sept. 19
New: “Boardwalk Empire” (9 p.m., HBO)
Sept. 20
Returning: “Dancing with the Stars” (8 p.m., ABC), “How I Met Your Mother” (8 p.m., CBS), “House” (8 p.m., FOX), “Chuck” (8 p.m., NBC), “Rules of Engagement” (8:30 p.m., CBS), “Two and a Half Men” (9 p.m., CBS), “Castle” (10 p.m., ABC)
New: “Lone Star” (9 p.m., FOX), “The Event” (9 p.m., NBC), “Mike & Molly” (9:30 p.m., CBS), “Hawaii Five-0” (10 p.m., CBS), “Chase” (10 p.m., NBC)
Sept. 21
Returning: “NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS), “Glee” (8 p.m., FOX), “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m., NBC), “NCIS: LA” (9 p.m., CBS)
New: “Raising Hope” (9 p.m., FOX), “Running Wilde” (9:30 p.m., FOX), “Detroit 1-8-7” (10 p.m., ABC)
Sept. 22
Returning: “The Middle” (8 p.m., ABC), “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m., FOX), “Modern Family” (9 p.m., ABC), “Criminal Minds” (9 p.m., CBS), “Law & Order: SVU” (9 p.m., NBC), “Cougar Town” (9:30 p.m., ABC)
New: “Undercovers” (8 p.m., NBC), “Better With You” (8:30 p.m., ABC), “The Whole Truth” (10 p.m., ABC), “The Defenders” (10 p.m., CBS)
Sept. 23
Returning: “The Big Bang Theory” (8 p.m., CBS), “Bones” (8 p.m., FOX), “Community” (8 p.m., NBC), “30 Rock” (8:30 p.m., NBC), “Grey’s Anatomy” (9 p.m., ABC), “CSI” (9 p.m., CBS), “Fringe” (9 p.m., FOX), “The Office” (9 p.m., NBC), “Private Practice” (10 p.m., ABC), “The Mentalist” (10 p.m., CBS)
New: “My Generation” (8 p.m., ABC), “(Shit) My Dad Says” (8:30 p.m., CBS), “Outsourced” (9:30 p.m., NBC)
Sept. 24
Returning: “Medium” (8 p.m., CBS),”Smallville” (8 p.m., CW), “Dateline NBC” (8 p.m., NBC), “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS), “Supernatural” (9 p.m., CW), “The Good Guys” (9 p.m., FOX), “20/20” (10 p.m., ABC)
New: “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS)
Sept. 25
Returning: “48 Hours Mystery” (10 p.m., Ch. 2), “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.)
Sept. 26
Returning: “America’s Funniest Home Videos” (7 p.m., ABC), “60 Minutes” (7:30 p.m., CBS, usual timeslot is 7, give or take football), “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (8 p.m., ABC), “The Simpsons” (8 p.m., FOX), “The Amazing Race” (8:30 p.m., CBS, usual timeslot is 8, give or take football), “The Cleveland Show” (8:30 p.m., FOX), “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., ABC), “Family Guy” (9 p.m., FOX), “Dexter” (9 p.m., SHO), “Brothers & Sisters” (10 p.m., ABC), “Undercover Boss” (10 p.m., CBS, usual timeslot is 9, give or take football), “Bored to Death” (10 p.m., HBO), “Eastbound & Down” (10:30 p.m., HBO)
Sept. 28
Returning: “Stargate Universe” (9 p.m., Syfy), “The Good Wife” (10 p.m., CBS), “Sanctuary” (10 p.m., Syfy)
New: “No Ordinary Family” (8 p.m., ABC)
Sept. 29
New: “Law & Order: Los Angeles” (10 p.m., NBC)
Oct. 1
Returning: “Human Target” (8 p.m., FOX)
Oct. 3
Returning: “American Dad” (9:30 p.m., FOX), “CSI: Miami” (10 p.m., CBS)
Alan Sepinwall may be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com