The stakes are high for former "Friends" star Perry, who, with perhaps the exception of David Schwimmer, has made the least impact since the hit comedy ended in 2004. His last two TV outings, the 2011 ABC sitcom "Mr. Sunshine" and NBC's 2007 effort, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," tanked, while pals Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox have both had TV successes, and Jennifer Aniston, of course, brings in big box office. Still, the new comedy, about a recent widower who finds himself the sane one in a support group for grieving spouses, is helmed by former "Friends" writer-producer Scott Silveri, so perhaps Perry will manage to capture some of that old Chandler magic.
Barkin, the sultry star of big-screen hits like "Switch" and "Sea of Love," has made a gradual foray into TV via guest stints on "Modern Family" and "King of the Hill." Now 58, she'll settle in as the haute grandma this fall on the Ryan Murphy comedy "The New Normal," playing a disapproving parent to a young woman (Georgia King) who rents out her womb as a surrogate to a gay couple in order to provide for her young daughter. The show also features NeNe Leakes, hot off a stint on Murphy's "Glee," and "The Hangover" star Justin Bartha.
Her TBS comedy "My Boys" ran four seasons strong -- and she also scored meaty stints on "Dexter" and "Harry's Law" recently -- so there's no doubt that the small screen loves Jordana Spiro. But whether audiences believe her as a hard-edged Chicago doc in debt to the mob on the new FOX thriller "The Mob Doctor" remains to be seen. Perhaps bringing a bit more gravitas to the show is Shohreh Aghdashloo, who's done time on "24," "House" and "ER," playing a strong-willed surgeon who'll no doubt serve as a mentor to Spiro's newbie.
The new CBS 1960s Western "Vegas" is hedging all its bets, bringing former movie star Dennis Quaid -- whose only other TV stint was one episode of "Baretta" in 1977 -- to the small screen as Ralph Lamb, a former rodeo cowboy who becomes a Sin City sheriff. The show also hits the jackpot with a stellar supporting cast, featuring TV staple Michael Chiklis -- best known for "The Shield" and his more recent small-screen outing "No Ordinary Family" -- as mobster Vincent Savino, Jason O'Mara (late of "Terra Nova") as Quaid's deputy and Carrie-Anne Moss as assistant D.A. Katherine O'Connell.
At some point or another, every one of the Cosby kids has managed a follow-up TV stint or two. But perhaps none has remained as ubiquitous as Tempestt Bledsoe -- the droll Vanessa, you'll recall -- who's managed her own TV talk show, a run on "Celebrity Fit Club" and a gig hosting Style Network's "Clean House." Plus, she's done plenty of voice-over work, lending her chops to Disney's "The Replacements" and the recent big-screen animated comedy "ParaNorman." This time around, she's following in iconic Clair Huxtable's footsteps, playing harried wife and mama Marny on the NBC comedy "Guys With Kids," which also stars Anthony Anderson ("Law & Order"), Jamie-Lynn Sigler ("The Sopranos") and Jesse Bradford ("The West Wing"). After all, the execs know it's best to stock these ensembles with familiar faces.
As the adorably clueless Kelly Kapoor on "The Office," Mindy Kaling has endeared herself to audiences for eight seasons. But with the ninth and final season upon us, the writer-producer-actor got out while the getting was good, instead writing, directing, producing and starring in her own show, "The Mindy Project," on FOX. The show features Kaling as a young and single OB-GYN starting at a practice with a quirky cast of staffers, including two hunky colleagues in Chris Messina ("Damages") and Brit Ed Weeks, and Anna Camp ("The Good Wife") as the requisite married, all-knowing best pal. For good measure, her "Office" pal Ed Helms guests on the Sept. 25 premiere.
"Weeds" staple Justin Kirk is ditching Andy Botwin to go out on his own as a bit of a mad doc on "Animal Practice," which stars the actor as a veterinarian who loves animals but hates their owners. The comedy also features JoAnna Garcia ("Royal Pains," "Privileged") and Tyler Labine ("Mad Love," "Sons of Tucson"), but the show-stealer for sure is Crystal the Monkey, whom you'll best remember as the drug-dealing chimp from "The Hangover 2."
Hunk alert! Fans of "Felicity" have been mourning the show since it ended in 2002, and its resident hunk, Scott Speedman, who played Ben Covington, hasn't really committed to TV since then. (His "Felicity" romantic rival, Scott Foley, has done stints on "True Blood" and "Grey's Anatomy" and appears on FOX's midseason comedy "The Goodwin Games.") But Speedman, who's spent time doing film fare like "Duets," "Underworld" and, most recently, "The Vow," is finally returning to the small screen on the ABC ensemble drama "Last Resort," as a naval executive officer whose captain (Andre Braugher, "Men of a Certain Age") decides to take the crew rogue on a deserted island.
OK, so sudsers "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Cashmere Mafia" didn't quite stick. But that's not keeping Lucy Liu, who earned her keep as the sassy Ling on "Ally McBeal," off the small screen. This season she plays the curious Joan Watson on CBS' Sherlock spin "Elementary." Her Holmes on the show will be Jonny Lee Miller, himself a familiar face from "Dexter" and "Eli Stone," and Aidan Quinn, who's done short stints on "Third Watch" and "Weeds," steps up as captain of this crew. Given the smart casting -- and hopefully smart writing -- this show's success will hardly be a mystery.
Kyle MacLachlan's long and storied history on TV extends far beyond his stint as stiff Manhattanite Trey MacDougal on "Sex and the City." The actor played special agent Dale Cooper on the iconic "Twin Peaks" in 1991, then did stints on "How I Met Your Mother" and "Desperate Housewives" before landing as the mayor on "Portlandia" earlier this year. On the new CBS legal drama "Made in Jersey," he plays Donovan Stark, the top exec at a Manhattan law firm and the foil to the company's newest hire, a brash Jersey-bred upstart played by Janet Montgomery ("Entourage").
Fresh off her three-season stint as Renee on "Desperate Housewives," Vanessa Williams, who is perhaps best remembered for her turn as the cruel and crisp Wilhelmina Slater on "Ugly Betty," hits up another uber-posh address. This time she lands at "666 Park Avenue," playing stunning-but-sinister Olivia, the co-owner of an apparently haunted Upper East Side apartment building in Manhattan. Terry O'Quinn ("Lost," "Hawaii Five-0") stars as her equally evil husband, and David Annable ("Brothers & Sisters," "Reunion") is one of their unsuspecting tenants.
On ABC's "Nashville" -- the network's apparent response to "Glee" and "Smash" -- "Friday Night Lights" star Connie Britton plays a has-been country crooner who pairs with a fresh young thing -- "Heroes" hottie Hayden Panettiere, naturally -- to revive her flailing career. Britton, of course, just wrapped up a role on FX's horror drama "American Horror Story," but Panettiere has steered clear of the small screen since "Heroes" ended in 2010, so playing the Taylor Swift-esque "it" girl on this musical drama should help viewers forget the cheerleader.
Let's just face it: Katie Cassidy will always be a CW staple. After all, the blond bombshell -- yes, she's David's daughter -- has now done meaty stints on four CW shows: "7th Heaven," "Supernatural," "Melrose Place" and "Gossip Girl." So it's no wonder she's front and center in the network's DC Comics adaptation "Arrow," which features the actress as Laurel Lance, the comic book icon from the "Green Arrow" series.
Kristin Kreuk will always be Lana Lang to fans of the long-running CW series "Smallville," but the network is hoping that means some built-in fans for their latest romantic drama, "Beauty and the Beast." This beauty is no damsel in distress, though. The stunner, who recently did a quick stint on the dearly departed "Chuck," plays Catherine Chandler, a cop out to find her mother's murderer, in the fairy-tale reboot.
Country crooner Reba McEntire proved she could make the transition to TV star with her Southern-fried hit "Reba," which ran for six seasons before ending in 2006. So her return to TV land might seem like a sure bet, but "Malibu Country," which features the singer-actress as a former country star who moves from Nashville to the California beach town when she finds her husband cheating on her, is well-padded with familiar faces, just in case. Rounding out the cast are TV vets Sara Rue ("Rules of Engagement"), Jai Rodriguez ("Queer Eye") and Lily Tomlin ("Damages," "Desperate Housewives"), who steals the show as Reba's brash, bold mama.
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