The TV shows you don’t want to miss this fall

BREAKOUT STAR

Learning how to throw a baseball came naturally for Kylie Bunbury, star of Fox’s “Pitch.” She comes from a family of jocks: Her mom was an all-American in track in high school, her dad is in the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and her younger brother Teal plays for Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution. When the Hamilton, Ontario, native was cast as Ginny Baker, the fictional first female major-league pitcher (for the San Diego Padres), Bunbury, 27, knew she had to deliver — not only in terms of athletics, but also that sense of wonder that here is a life that’s about to change. You see it when she walks onto the field at Petco Park. It’s there on her luminous face, and her expression says, “I have arrived.” And so has Bunbury, who, after “Under the Dome” and “Twisted” has her first starring role, which let her show both the strength and vulnerability of a lifelong fighter. The extras in the stands cheer for her — and chances are you will, too. Says Bunbury, “Ginny’s a regular girl who has a dream, and she knows she has to work hard to attain it. And I think it’s imperative for my generation and generations younger. We need to work hard at things.”Premiere: Sept. 22, 9 p.m., Fox

COMEBACK KID

On “Sex and the City” (1998-2004), Sarah Jessica Parker and company expressed the social anxieties, longings and confusion of a generation of young women who moved to New York City to create meaningful lives for themselves. In HBO’s “Divorce,” Parker’s first series since “SATC,” she plays another woman at the crossroads — Frances, a wife and mother of two who decides to leave her husband (Thomas Haden Church). Created by the sardonic Sharon Horgan (“Catastrophe”), “Divorce” gives Parker, 51, her best role in years. Will she embrace the bittersweet side of Carrie Bradshaw’s romantic fantasies? Premiere: Oct. 9, 10 p.m., HBO

THE DOWNTON ABBEY FIX

PBS’s hit series cast a loving gaze on a family of fictional aristocrats and their humble, bemused servants. Now, following the “Downton Abbey” finale earlier this year, Anglophiles can rejoice in Netflix’s “The Crown.” This time the aristocrats are real: They’re the British royal family. The action starts with the 1947 wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Written by Peter Morgan, who’s built a career on Elizabeth II (the Oscar-winning “The Queen,” the Tony-winning “The Audience”), the series stars Claire Foy as QE II and Matt Smith as the Duke of Edinburgh. Jared Harris (the late Brit of “Mad Men”) will play Lizzie’s father, King George VI, the monarch made famous by Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech.” If scenery chewing is the only way you recognize good acting, there’s also John Lithgow as Winston Churchill. Premiere: Nov. 4, Netflix

BIG SCREEN, SMALL SCREEN

Despite some recent failures (“Rush Hour,” “Uncle Buck,” “Minority Report”), Hollywood still hopes familiar flicks can be spun into TV gold. This fall, “Lethal Weapon,” starring Damon Wayans Sr. and Clayne Crawford, and “The Exorcist,” starring Geena Davis, have the toughest challenge: to make viewers forget the blockbusters on which they’re based and fall in love with the story all over again. HBO’s controversial “Westworld” tries to make the adaptation sexy with orgy scenes, but its A-list stars (Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris) have seen better days. Premieres:“Lethal Weapon,” Sept. 21, 8 p.m., Fox; “The Exorcist,” Sept. 23, 9 p.m., Fox; “Westworld,” Oct. 2, 9 p.m., HBO

SOUNDS FAMILIAR

In certain parts of the country, folks are still laughing over plots like this one. Middle-aged white guy has no idea what his children are like or how his home functions, and now that he’s around a lot, he’s freaking out. On “Kevin Can Wait,” “The King of Queens” star Kevin James plays a retired cop whose plans for hanging with his buddies go kerflooey when he’s stuck looking after his three kids. On “Man With a Plan,” Matt LeBlanc plays a contractor who decides to help out at home now that his wife’s gone back to work. His children, he discovers, are the source of endless chaos — and, the network hopes, laughs. Premiers: “Kevin Can Wait,” Sept. 19, 8:30 p.m.; “Man with a Plan,” Oct. 24, 8:30 p.m.; both CBS

FEEL THE SEXUAL TENSION

Ever since Shonda Rhimes made ABC the go-to network for male-female friction, there are always a couple of flirtatious couples waiting in the wings. “Notorious,” based on the real-life relationship of criminal-defense attorney Mark Geragos and “Larry King Live” producer Wendy Walker, stars Daniel Sunjata (“Graceland”) and Piper Perabo(“Covert Affairs”). “Conviction” is obviously not based on real life. Lawyer and former first daughter Hayes Morrison (Hayley Atwell, “Agent Carter”) is about to accept a job offer from her sexy nemesis, NY District Attorney Wayne Wallis (Eddie Cahill, “CSI: NY”), to avoid jail time for cocaine possession. Premieres: “Notorious,” Sept. 22, 9 p.m.; “Conviction,” Oct. 3, 10 p.m.; both ABC

MORE TED DANSON

TV MATH

TV executives like to take the ideas behind two different series and combine them into a “new” show. To wit:

“Desperate Housewives” + “The Real Housewives” = “American Housewife”

This comedy pits one mother (Katy Mixon) against the “perfect” moms and kids of Westport, Conn. (Oct. 11, 8:30 p.m., ABC)

“Silicon Valley” + “ER” = “Pure Genius”

In this hospital drama, a techie billionaire (Augustus Prew) asks a renowned surgeon (Dermot Mulroney) to run his own shop, with a futuristic approach to medicine. (Oct. 27, 10 p.m., CBS)

WE’RE ALL CONNECTED

. . . and not only through Facebook. Two new shows channel the theme of the Oscar-winning 2004 film “Crash,” in which a group of seemingly unconnected LA residents are linked together through a series of events. On “This Is Us,”starring Sterling K. Brown (“The People v. O.J. Simpson”), Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, several people share the same birthday — and other things as well. In “Falling Water” (billed as a “mind-bending drama”), three strangers find they’re dreaming different parts of a single dream. What would Freud think? Premieres: “This Is Us,” Sept. 20, 10 p.m., NBC; “Falling Water,” Oct. 13, 10 p.m., USA Network.

THE SAVIOR (again)

As Jack Bauer on “24,” Kiefer Sutherland saved the world countless times. In the way that old shampoos return with new names, Sutherland is now a new kind of Jack, but he’s not working with a counterterrorism unit. On “Designated Survivor,” he’s Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet member who unexpectedly becomes president after a devastating attack on Washington. Premiere: Sept. 21, 10 p.m., ABC