September was an overwhelmingly crowded month of television as we entered the Fall 2014 TV Season, although the quality of the programs left much to be desired. October continues this trend of dozens of premieres from new and returning shows, but offers a more eclectic and more promising mix of programs, from our heroes at Bob’s Burgers through Laverne Cox’s touching transgender documentary to tween fashion designers. Here are the 10 TV events to keep on your radar this month.
October 5: Finally, Bob’s Burgers returns!
It doesn’t matter if Bob’s Burgers is gone for an entire season or just a week: I’m always overjoyed when there’s a new episode. On Sunday, the Belchers begin their fifth season on Fox, saving us all from what has been a fairly disappointing TV season. Bob’s Burgers is a show that just keeps getting better and I have no doubt that Season 5 will continue that trend.
October 7 (The Flash) & October 13 (Jane the Virgin): CW returns to drama
After a brief, ill-advised stint with comedy over the summer, the CW is picking itself back up and premiering two surprisingly great shows. First is the superhero Arrow-spinoff The Flash, which is entertaining for everyone. Second is Jane the Virgin, a dramedy about a virgin who gets accidentally artificially inseminated. It sounds utterly ridiculous but oddly enough? It’s good.
October 8: American Horror Story: Freak Show returns
Ryan Murphy’s wild anthology series returns for a fourth season on FX to get you in the mood for a freaky Halloween. Freak Show takes place at — surprise! — a freak show in the 1950s and stars Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson, and more. Here’s everything we know about the season and here’s our analysis of the Season 4 trailer.
October 12: The Affair premieres on Showtime
The Affair might sound like boring middle-class strife on paper: it takes place in the Hamptons, and it centers on four white people and the aftermath of an extramarital affair. However, the pilot is one of the best of the season. With an intriguing mystery, a talented cast (Joshua Jackson, Ruth Wilson, Dominic West, and Maura Tierney), and a unique approach that tells the same story from both a male and female perspective — “using the distinct memory biases to both misdirect and intrigue” — The Affair is the series we’ll be talking about all fall.
October 17: Season premieres of Comedy Bang! Bang! and The Birthday Boys
If you’re home alone on a Friday night, IFC is here for you with two amazingly weird comedies. Comedy Bang! Bang! is one of television’s most bizarre and surrealistic comedy programs, while The Birthday Boys excels at silly sketch comedy. Both are must watch programs, even if it’s just for the nonstop celebrity cameos.
October 17: Laverne Cox hosts documentary about transgender youth
Laverne Cox Presents: The T-Word follows the lives of seven transgender youths, aged between 12 and 24, as they share their personal stories about the obstacles they’ve encountered while also giving hope to other transgender youths in similar situations. The documentary will air simultaneously on MTV and Logo. (Also premiering this month: Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace’s AOL original series about the trans community, True Trans ).
October 23: Kids make clothes on Project Runway: Threads!
The newest Project Runway spinoff is Threads, in which talented teens and tweens compete to out-design each other. Sure, the insane creations these kids come up with will probably make you feel a little bad at your own inability to sew on a button, but it’s going to be cute! So cute! Adorable children sketching designs and using sewing machines and trying to cut fabric with child-proof safety scissors. They think they’re adults!
October 27: VH1 premieres the much-anticipated Drumline sequel
OK, so maybe I’m the only one anticipating this sequel, but my love for Drumline is strong, so strong that I’m totally into watching a direct-to-television sequel made 12 years after the original, a sequel that will probably just be a carbon copy of the original. Except this time, there’s a girl in the lead role! Also it’s called Drumline: A New Beat which is hilarious.
October 28: Benched premieres on USA
USA’s newest original sitcom doesn’t stray too far from the network’s standard offering — it a legal comedy — but it definitely has legs behind it. Starring Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings) and Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted), Benched follows a corporate lawyer who is bumped down to the Public Defender’s office. USA has had luck with comedies this summer (Sirens and Playing House were both good), so maybe it’ll get the hat-trick.
October 29: Rival Survival becomes your new favorite hate-watch
It wouldn’t be a month of television without at least one god-awful program that is impossible to ignore. The hilariously titled Rival Survival is Discovery Channel’s new special that strands two opposite senators (a Republican and a Democrat, naturally) on a desert island where they must learn to work together to survive. It’s going to be terrible and we’re all going to love it. Honestly, I can’t believe this is only just happening.