 |
| Scott Bakula, of “Enterprise” |
By Scott Huver, Hollywood.com Staff
UPN
All times EST/PST
Returning Shows
Enterprise
The Players: Scott Bakula, Connor Trinneer, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, John Billingsley, Linda Park, Anthony Montgomery
Major Changes: Transporter technology may become more commonplace in Enterprise’s pre-Kirk era.
What’s Ahead: Following last season’s cliffhanger which left him trapped in the time-ravaged 31st century, Captain Archer tries to restore the erased 22nd century timeline; the crew discovers that Vulcans may have had their eyes and pointy ears on Earth since the ’50s; the captain’s beloved beagle Porthos gets sick; and expect a first encounter with the Romulans (with a twist based on the fact that humans never set eyes on them until Capt. Kirk’s day).
Premieres: Sept. 18; airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Players: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendan, Anthony Stewart Head, James Marsters, Emma Caufield; Michelle Trachtenberg
Major Changes: Ex-demon Anya will take more of the spotlight; Buffy’s little sis Dawn gathers her own “Scooby gang” at newly rebuilt Sunnydale High School; Giles will return for 10 episodes as plans for his BBC spinoff Ripper continue.
What’s Ahead: Spike’s reclaimed his soul, but may not go running to tell Buffy; all of the series’ nasty “big bad” villains will unite in one episode; Eliza Dushku will return as alterna-Slayer Faith for the last five episodes (she’s also doing three Angel eps); and the deceased Tara (Amber Benson) will appear again.
Premieres: Sept. 24; airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m.
Notable New Show
The Twilight Zone
The Players: Host Forest Whitaker; an ever-changing cast of “known actors”
The Upshot: Rod Serling‘s classic anthology series resurrected for the 21st century.
The Down-Low: You’ve just crossed over into the “TV-Execs-Will-Try-to-Sell-Anything-With-A-Familiar-Label” zone. Weren’t Serling‘s scripts the secret of the original’s appeal?
Premieres: Sept. 18; airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
More Newbies:
Half and Half (Sept. 23) features two radically different half-sisters (Rachel True and Essence Atkins) who share the same roost clashing on Mondays at 8:30 p.m.; Haunted (Sept. 24) stars Matthew Fox as a private eye whose near-death experience allows him to see–and get help from–lost souls on Tuesdays at 9 p.m.
The Rest of the Schedule:
The Parkers (Sept. 2) raise the roof Mondays at 8 p.m. followed by One on One (Sept. 2) at 8:30 p.m. and Girlfriends (Sept. 23) at 9 p.m.; WWF Smackdown (premiere date TBA) lowers the boom Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Bryson York contributed to this story
