A guide to the biggest shows ready to drop this fall

Believe it or not, there is a lot of new TV coming this fall. You might be incredulous: Aren’t we in the middle of historic strikes from both the Writers and Screen Actors guilds? Correct! But for now, TV’s output continues apace, swamping all of us in plenty of new stuff to watch.

The good news is that so much of it looks very (very!) promising. This fall in television has a little something for everyone, whether it’s a matter of high fantasy (like the return of Prime Video’s The Wheel of Time) or high intrigue (like FX’s Hulu series A Murder at the End of the World). There are old standbys making their annual autumn returns — like Bob’s Burgers season 14(!) or American Horror Story, returning with Delicate this year. But there are also new shows spun off of popular delights, like Gen V (in the Boys universe), or Echo (based on the MCU character featured in Hawkeye).

That is just a brief glimpse into the plethora of offerings in the fall TV slate. Below you’ll find some of our returning favorites, as well as some of the most important, eye-catching, and promising television shows on deck for fall 2023.

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The Wheel of Time season 2

On Prime Video Sept. 1

Genre: High fantasy epic
Showrunner/creator: Rafe Judkins
Cast: Josha Stradowski, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Marcus Rutherford, Zoë Robins, Madeleine Madden, Fares Fares, Barney Harris

Season 1 of The Wheel of Time left its characters in a rough spot — most notably Rand (Josha Stradowski). He may have defeated the Dark One (Fares Fares), but, fearing madness, told Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) to tell everyone he loves that he died in the process. So now most everyone is mourning, scattered to the wind, or both. But, uh-oh, the Dark One isn’t actually defeated.

So where does that leave season 2? With a lot of pieces to pick up and, as the wheel of time wonts, weave back together. When episode 1 picks up, most everyone is unhappy, with Moiraine cut off from the One Power, Lan (Daniel Henney) trying his best to keep up with her grief, Nynaeve (Zoë Robins) and Egwene (Madeleine Madden) training to be Aes Sedai, and Mat (Barney Harris) glowering about his choices in season 1. Of course, it’s Perrin (Marcus Rutherford) who might end up with the worst time, facing down season 2’s main antagonists, the Seanchan. Times may be bad, but the good news is: The Seanchan are badass. —Zosha Millman

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4

On Paramount Plus Sept. 7

Genre: Sci-fi comedy
Showrunner/creator: Mike McMahan
Cast: Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Dawnn Lewis

The trailer for season 4 of the popular animated Star Trek spinoff Lower Decks promises a bigger arc than ever before, with the low-status Federation ship Cerritos getting involved as a series of attacks targets ships across the sector, Federation ships included. Creator and showrunner Mike McMahan has teased that this season will include a wedding and the return of a few fan-favorite characters, including the Vulcan T’Lyn and the rogue Exocomp Peanut Hamper, but most details about what’s new this season are being kept on ice. —Tasha Robinson

The Changeling

On Apple TV Plus Sept. 8

Genre: Horror fantasy
Showrunner/creator: Kelly Marcel
Cast: LaKeith Stanfield, Adina Porter, Clark Backo

This adaptation of celebrated author Victor LaValle’s novel looks like one of the strangest and most intriguing new shows of the fall calendar.

In The Changeling, a young couple in love faces crisis when one of them suddenly disappears. The other (LaKeith Stanfield) goes on an arduous journey to bring her back, finding himself in an alternate universe in this beguiling dark fantasy fairy tale. The trailer promises stupefying visuals and plenty of intrigue, and the direction of award-winning music video director Melina Matsoukas (“Formation”) adds another layer to what should be another exciting television event from the remarkably consistent Apple TV Plus. —Pete Volk

Welcome to Wrexham season 2

On FX Sept. 12

Genre: Sports docu-series
Showrunner/creator: John Henion
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Wrexham AFC players and fans

Soccer fans know what happens in Welcome to Wrexham season 2, but fans of the show may not. We’ll keep you in suspense here, but there will be plenty of drama and high-pressure matches to keep viewers interested throughout the season.

For the uninitiated: In 2020, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham AFC, a soccer club in Wales that at the time was competing in the fifth tier of English soccer. The show follows their journey as new sports teams owners, as well as the team’s journey to work their way up the English soccer pyramid in the midst of more attention than they’ve ever faced before. —PV

The Morning Show season 3

On Apple TV Plus Sept. 13

Genre: Drama
Showrunner/creator: Charlotte Stoudt; Jay Carson
Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup

Love it or hate it, there’s no telling where The Morning Show will go next, and for that, it’s one of the most indelibly watchable shows streaming, even when it’s driving off a cliff. (That’s a joke for real Morning Show heads.) The new season about the trials and travails of the cast and crew of a top morning show gets some new talent (Jon Hamm as a scheming investor) and a wonderfully over-the-top new dilemma, as a cyberattack on the network means years of dirty laundry getting aired out. —Joshua Rivera

Sex Education season 4

On Netflix Sept. 21

Genre: Sex comedy
Showrunner/creator: Laurie Nunn
Cast: Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa

Well folks, it’s finally time: Sex Education is coming to an end. The series has been holding it down for (soon to be) four seasons with humor and heart, and now, like so many of the high school parties it depicts, it’s time to get out while the getting is good.

In any other series, I’d say Maeve (Barbie’s Emma Mackey) and Otis (Asa Butterfield, one of the few actors not in Barbie) seem like they’ll be riding off on his bike into the sunset together. But the show has been smart about making them jump through very grounded hoops of intimacy and high school; perhaps their version of a happy ending is something more nuanced than just romance. Or maybe Eric (Barbie’s Ncuti Gatwa) will crack their heads for being dumb. Either way, I’m down. —ZM

The Continental

On Peacock Sept. 22

Genre: Crime drama
Showrunner/creator: Greg Coolidge
Cast: Colin Woodell, Mel Gibson, Ayomide Adegun

The John Wick franchise shoots its way to streaming television in this show, set in the 1970s, that tells the origin of Ian McShane’s Winston character and his beloved hotel, the New York Continental. There’s plenty of reason to be skeptical here: It’s hard to imagine the same attention to detail that made the Wick franchise so successful being applied to straight-to-streaming TV, and Mel Gibson showing up in the trailer was a definite jump scare for me.

But! But. I’m happy to report the show is quite fun. The three-episode limited series has a great score, and clearly sets itself within the Wick universe without trying too hard to imitate what the movies were doing on a much bigger budget. The action for the series is led by legendary stunt performer and choreographer Larnell Stovall, who directed a lot of the great action on Titans and has worked on too many terrific action movies to name. Just like the movies, the secret is bringing in the right people.—PV

Castlevania: Nocturne

On Netflix Sept. 28

Genre: Dark fantasy
Showrunner/creator: Clive Bradley
Cast: Edward Bluemel, Thuso Mbedu, Zahn McClarnon

It’s been a long two and a half years since Netflix’s animated adaptation of the Castlevania video game franchise last whipped its way across television screens, but it’s back with Castlevania: Nocturne. Set several decades after the events of the original series, Nocturne centers on the story of Richter Belmont — a fan-favorite protagonist known for his appearances in 1993’s Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and its 1997 sequel, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

The last living descendant of the Belmont clan, Richter is recruited by a small band of warriors to stop a conspiracy of vampiric aristocrats from plunging the world into eternal night. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, Castlevania: Nocturne promises the return of not only the explosive action and Gothic aesthetic of the original series, but also a deeper story featuring a cast of new characters, including Maria Renard and Annette, as well as the possible return of Alucard Tepes — Dracula’s half-human son.

Powerhouse Animation Studios will return to handle animation production for the series, while Clive Bradley and Kevin Kolde will assume the reins of showrunner and lead producer respectively for Castlevania: Nocturne from Castlevania co-creators’ Warren Ellis and Adi Shankar. —Toussaint Egan

Gen V

On Prime Video Sept. 29

Genre: Superheroes… in college!
Showrunner/creator: Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg, Eric Kripke
Cast: Jaz Sinclair, Chance Perdomo, Lizze Broadway

The Boys goes to college in the Prime Video spinoff about the students of the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting, a feeder school for superhuman young adults looking to catch the eye of Vought International, the megacorporation behind all things super in the world of The Boys.

A little bit Euphoria, a little bit The Boys, and likely to constantly push the boundaries of good taste, Gen V looks like it’ll keep the satirical edge of the original show but with some zoomer flair. The sprawling cast includes many familiar faces for fans of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and also The Boys cast members Jessie T. Usher, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, P.J. Byrne, and Jensen Ackles. —JR

American Horror Story: Delicate

On FX and Hulu this September

Genre: Horror
Showrunner/creator: Ryan Murphy, Halley Feiffer
Cast: Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Kim Kardashian

American Horror Story has been overwhelmingly meh since season 3, and under normal circumstances I probably wouldn’t say I’m particularly excited about this season. But last season absolutely blew me away. The remarkably restrained AHS: NYC was less of the fantastical (and horny) supernatural romp AHS has turned into and more of an elegiac allegory about the struggles of being queer in the middle of the AIDS crisis. It was a good, thought-out season of American Horror Story, redeeming the show in my mind and making me tentatively curious for this upcoming season.

Can Ryan Murphy pull it off again? Well, actually, he doesn’t have to. This season is the first time the show will be helmed by someone else, playwright Halley Feiffer. It’s also the first time that the show has source material, in this case Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine, a horror novel described as a feminist Rosemary’s Baby. Like the book, this season will follow an actress (played by AHS mainstay Emma Roberts) who is desperately trying to get pregnant but failing. The first teasers revealed a lot of spider imagery, which combined with pregnancy just seems like a terrifyingly uncomfortable fate. We’ll have to see if this season holds up to the last, or if it even manages to sustain momentum after the first episode (AHS rarely does land the ending). But hey, at least Kim Kardashian will be there! — Petrana Radulovic

Lupin season 3

On Netflix Oct. 5

Genre: Heist thrills
Showrunner/creator: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, Etan Simon

Everyone’s favorite gentleman thief returns, as Omar Sy’s Assane Diop finds himself as the most wanted man in France after the events of the second season. Lupin is always a fun time, and the third installment should be no different.

In hiding and separated from his family, Assane returns to Paris to try and reunite with them and start fresh. But things are never that simple for a wanted man, and if he wants a peaceful life, he will have to confront some demons from his past.

And yes, this was the season of Lupin where a real heist happened while they were filming. Now that’s viral marketing. —PV

Loki season 2

On Disney Plus Oct. 6

Genre: Sci-fi/fantasy/superhero
Showrunner/creator: Michael Waldron
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Ke Huy Quan

There’s been a fair bit of fan debate about what, if anything, Disney and Marvel Studios should do in response to the domestic violence charges levied against Jonathan Majors, the star they’ve built the latest phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe around. With his trial currently scheduled for September, Marvel has downplayed his role in season 2 of Loki, where he continues to play Kang, a time-traveling, multiverse-crossing genius with so many incarnations across the MCU that killing him off in Loki season 1 and again in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania wasn’t even a speed bump for the Kang-centric stories to come in the MCU’s Phase Five. Expect that conversation to continue as season 2 of Loki takes up where season 1 left off, as humbled Norse god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), now trapped in an alternate timeline, tries to understand what’s going on with Kang while looking for his own alternate-universe equivalent, Slyvie (Sophia Di Martino).

Returning from the last season: Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, and Tara Strong as Miss Minutes, with Everything Everywhere All at Once star Ke Huy Quan joining the cast as an agent of the Time Variance Authority. —TR

The Fall of the House of Usher

On Netflix Oct. 12

Genre: Horror
Showrunner/creator: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli

Mike Flanagan’s got a pretty stellar track record. The horror auteur and Netflix golden boy behind The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass, and the sadly underrated Doctor Sleep is back with his latest series for the streaming service: The Fall of the House of Usher, adapted from the Edgar Allan Poe short story about a mansion whose fate is said to be tied with that of the family that occupies it… and what happens when a crack begins to form in the house.

Usher seems like a perfect fit for Flanagan, who relishes in psychological and implied horror, while carefully adding a few scares of his own to his adaptation material to keep audiences on their toes.

Like all Flanagan productions, his regular cast of Netflix players will be returning this time around, including Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, Henry Thomas, Bruce Greenwood, and more. There are a few new faces here too, though, like Mark Hamill, Mary McDonnell, and Willa Fitzgerald. —Austen Goslin

Life on Our Planet

On Netflix Oct. 25

Genre: Docuseries
Cast: Critters and creatures of many varieties

From executive producer Steven Spielberg, narrator Morgan Freeman, and the team behind Our Planet, Life on Our Planet hopes to wow you with this series about the rise and fall of various species on this planet we call home, starting from the very beginning of life on Earth.

If you like nature docuseries that have a bigger scope, this is the show for you this fall. —PV

Pluto

On Netflix Oct. 26

Genre: Sci-fi
Showrunner/creator: Osamu Tezuka, Naoki Urasawa
Cast: Shinshu Fuji, Yōko Hikasa, Minori Suzuki

Naoki Urasawa’s acclaimed manga Pluto is notable for two reasons: It’s a gripping sci-fi mystery from one of the best thriller mangaka out there, and it’s also a gritty retelling of one of manga legend Osama Tezuka’s Astro Boy stories. Its anime adaptation doesn’t look like a slouch either, a great introduction to Pluto’s white-knuckle tale about a society where robots and humans live in harmony — until a serial killer starts destroying the world’s greatest robots, leaving a grisly signature behind at every scene. We don’t know much about this production yet, but what we know is plenty to get us excited about it. —JR

Our Flag Means Death season 2

On Max this October

Genre: Pirate romantic comedy
Showrunner/creator: David Jenkins
Cast: Rhys Darby, Taika Waititi, Matthew Maher

It’s been a long year and a half since Our Flag Means Death fans last got to hang out with Stede, Ed, and the whole crew, but fret not: More pirate adventures await!

We already have some idea of what the second season of Max’s smash-hit comedy will touch on, thanks to comments from showrunner David Jenkins. Stede and Ed will start the season separated after last season’s breakup, having learned a little more about who they are and who they want to be. Darby, Waititi, and pretty much the entire rest of the cast are returning for the second season.

That’s all well and good, but the question on everyone’s mind remains: Is Lucius OK?? Seriously, is he? —PV

The Enfield Poltergeist

On Apple TV Plus this October

Genre: Nonfiction
Showrunners: Al Morrow, Stewart le Maréchal, Nicole Stott, Jonathan Silberberg, and Davis Guggenheim

The Enfield haunting is a real-life haunting that took place in England in the 1970s. The haunting mostly focused on two young girls in the Hodgson family who seemed to exhibit strange, almost possession-like behavior. The case was investigated by all kinds of researchers, media, skeptics, and supernatural experts (including Ed and Lorraine Warren, which provided bits and pieces of the basis for The Conjuring 2). What makes this case especially interesting is that no one ever really got to the bottom of what was going on, or provided a substantially convincing argument for or against the extremely strange occurrences around the Hodgson family.

This makes the The Enfield Poltergeist’s approach to the story particularly interesting. Rather than an overly dramatic, almost superhero-like story out of the haunting, this quasi-docuseries will try to recreate the events of the haunting as exactly as possible. The series will attempt to get to the bottom of the haunting, while giving time to both skeptics and believers in the supernatural. —AG

Invincible season 2

On Prime Nov. 3

Genre: Superhero
Showrunner/creator: Robert Kirkman, Simon Racioppa
Cast: Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, J.K. Simmons

The first season of Invincible was the definition of a roller coaster: a slow climb before a steep plummet, over before you could fully process the story’s shockingly violent escalation. Prime Video’s adaptation of Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley’s beloved superhero comic marches on after the crushing shift in status quo in season 1, with fledgling superhero Mark Grayson/Invincible fully aware of his father Omni-Man’s villainous nature, and that he is woefully incapable of stopping him. While you wait, watch the excellent special that aired between seasons. —JR

The Buccaneers

On Apple TV Plus Nov. 8

Genre: Drama
Showrunner/creator: Katherine Jakeways
Cast: Kristine Froseth, Alisha Boe, Christina Hendricks

There is a lot of pop culture based off IP, and in a way, The Buccaneers is no exception. The Apple TV Plus show is based on an unfinished Edith Wharton novel of the same name, published in 1938 after her death. But the show makes a case for itself, thanks to its plucky cast of young ingenues staking out their place in the world.

In the case of The Buccaneers, their place is London, where they’re navigating debuts and fancy balls and the attention of both worthy and wanton men. Plus, being a group of American women abroad, they’re navigating the culture clash of old English money and new U.S. upstart sensibilities. The gaggle of girls fits firmly into archetypes — the beautiful, insecure bitch! The shy girl! The headstrong married lady! The incandescent lead! — but The Buccaneers makes them more than that by never letting their stories settle into a predictable rhythm. There is drama, love triangles, high-society backstabbing, and more. As the saying goes: [Rihanna voice] We found love in a period piece! —ZM

A Murder at the End of the World

On FX on Hulu this Nov. 14

Genre: Murder mystery
Showrunner/creator: Brit Marling, Zal Batmanglij
Cast: Emma Corrin, Brit Marling, Clive Owen

A murder mystery set in a wintry retreat hosted by an eccentric billionaire, A Murder at the End of the World at first comes across like Glass Onion played stylishly straight. However, it’s also the latest project from creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the team behind mesmerizing psychological thrillers like The Sound of My Voice, The East, and the cult hit Netflix series The OA — which means there might be a lot more to this series than meets the eye. —JR

Fargo season 5

On FX Nov. 21

Genre: Crime comedy
Showrunner/creator: Noah Hawley
Cast: Jon Hamm, Juno Temple, Joe Keery

A new season of Fargo is always worth checking out, as Noah Hawley’s anthology series based on one of the Coen brothers’ most famous films routinely attracts top-tier talent for a tale of Midwestern crime. This time, Jon Hamm (big year for that guy), Juno Temple, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Keery, and Lamorne Morris star in a story that kicks off when Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Temple), a seemingly average housewife, suddenly gets tangled in a world of crime. —JR

Echo

On Disney Plus Nov. 29

Genre: Superhero
Showrunner/creator: Marion Dayre
Cast: Alaqua Cox, Zahn McClarnon, Vincent D’Onofrio, Charlie Cox

Following up on her introduction in Hawkeye, Echo will follow Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), who fans first met as a deadly lieutenant in the Tracksuit Mafia squaring up against the Avenging Archer. Echo will follow Lopez back home to Oklahoma and her Native roots — and feature appearances from Daredevil and the Kingpin as well. The MCU’s Disney Plus shows have been hit-or-miss recently, but Hawkeye was one of the strong spots, and the great cast (including multiple members of the terrific Reservation Dogs ensemble) make this one worth looking out for. —JR

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

On Apple TV Plus this November

Genre: Sci-fi with monsters
Showrunner/creator: Chris Black
Cast: Kurt Russell, Wyatt Russell, Kiersey Clemons

There’s a new Godzilla show coming to Apple TV Plus in which Kurt Russell and his son Wyatt Russell (two phenomenal beacons of charm, stardom, and on-screen charisma) play the older and younger versions of the same character.

I’ve been told these entries need to be longer than that, but honestly you shouldn’t need anything more to make you excited for this series.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters will follow two siblings as they uncover their family’s secret connection to Monarch, the organization that, in the Monsterverse, deals with all things kaiju. Meanwhile, the Russells’ character, Army officer Lee Shaw, has his own history with Monarch, which we’ll see from two different time periods.

The series is co-developed by Chris Black (Severance) and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye), while the first episode is directed by Matt Shakman (WandaVision). —AG

Lawmen: Bass Reeves

On Paramount Plus this fall

Genre: Western
Showrunner/creator: Chad Feehan
Cast: David Oyelowo, Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck

The Taylor Sheridan-verse continues apace with Bass Reeves, dramatizing the story of the former slave who became the first Black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi. Last seen played by the great Delroy Lindo in The Harder They Fall, this time Reeves will be portrayed by David Oyelowo, best known for his moving portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma.

We don’t know much else about the show, besides many of Oyelowo’s co-stars: Dennis Quaid, Forrest Goodluck (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Barry Pepper, Garrett Hedlund, Donald Sutherland, Shea Whigham… The list goes on. The majority of the episodes will be directed by Sheridan-verse regular Christina Voros. —PV

For All Mankind season 4

On Apple TV Plus this fall

Genre: Sci-fi alternate history
Showrunner/creator: Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, Ben Nedivi
Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Wrenn Schmidt, Krys Marshall

It all started with a simple question: What if the space race never ended?

From there, Apple TV Plus’ For All Mankind has launched into orbit as one of the best shows on television, with complex characters, big-picture questions, and an attention to detail that makes it irresistibly appealing to those of us who love to watch alternate histories with Wikipedia open in a second window.

We don’t know much about the fourth season, besides the departure of Jodi Balfour as Ellen Waverly. There’s no trailer yet, but considering the time jumps in the series so far, it’s a safe bet this season will take place in the 2000s, as we get closer and closer to the present day. —PV

Slow Horses season 3

On Apple TV Plus this fall

Genre: Spy thriller
Showrunner/creator: Will Smith (not that one)
Cast: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves

Everyone’s favorite dysfunctional spy team returns for Apple TV Plus’ Slow Horses, a show equally funny and thrilling. The series effectively combines veteran TV drama directors with veteran TV comedy writers, creating a unique cocktail that makes it one of the best spy shows currently running.

Based on Real Tigers, the third entry in Mick Herron’s Slough House series of books, the third season of the show will follow the team as they try and rescue Standish (Saskia Reeves) after she mysteriously goes missing. Expect a lot of tension, misdirection, and Gary Oldman farts. It’s that kind of good time.

And yes, a fourth season is on the way! —PV

Fright Krewe

On Hulu and Peacock this fall

Genre: Older-kid-friendly horror
Showrunner/creator: Eli Roth, James Frey
Cast: TBD

We don’t know much about DreamWorks’ upcoming animated series. But from what we do know, it sounds like a sharp departure from its usual fare (in a good way). It’s a horror series tailored toward older kids that comes from director Eli Roth (Hostel) and YA science fiction author James Frey (I Am Number Four). It’s also 2D animated, which we haven’t seen a lot of from DreamWorks since the days of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.

There is no voice cast or character information attached just yet, but the show takes place in New Orleans. It follows a group of misfit teens who must come together and save the city from a demonic entity. But as is the case with a lot of misfit teens coming together to save the world, learning to get along and be friends might just be the harder task at hand. The show is set to premiere on Hulu and Peacock this fall. —PR

The Curse

On Showtime this fall

Genre: Nathan Fielder spoof
Showrunner/creator: Nathan Fielder, Benny Safdie
Cast: Nathan Fielder, Emma Stone, Benny Safdie

We don’t know much about The Curse, but what we do know is more than appealing enough.

An HGTV spoof from the minds of Nathan Fielder (fresh off the brilliant The Rehearsal) and Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time)? Sign us up, immediately.

Produced by A24, Fielder and Emma Stone will play a married couple who flip houses in New Mexico, and Safdie will play their overbearing producer. No word on what the titular curse is, but there’s a good chance it will be the funniest thing you’ll see all year. —PV