Along with crisp, cool days and beautiful foliage for all the leaf peepers out there, fall brings a crop of long-awaited new television series. Lots of new comedies and dramas are set to launch within the next couple of weeks, some starring actors you know and love, and some featuring folks you may not have seen in awhile. Here is a sampling of this fall’s new series that you’ll definitely want to watch.

The Mindy Project (9:30pm, Tuesdays, Fox)

In Fox’s new sitcom, Mindy Kaling (The Office) stars as a young doctor in love with the idea of love. She’s always looked to romantic comedies for guidance in her love life and can’t figure out why it hasn’t been working for her. Kaling’s channeled her own very strong comedic voice in a character who’s not quite like anyone else on television. If you miss Kaling in The Office, this is a show you’ll definitely want to catch. And with the time slot following New Girl, it will be easy to make a night of it and catch them back to back.

The Last Resort (8pm, Thursdays, ABC)

Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, the ballistic missile submarine USS Colorado receives its orders. Over a radio channel to be used only if the homeland has been wiped out, they’re told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan. Captain Marcus Chaplin, played by Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street and Men of a Certain Age), demands confirmation of the orders and is subsequently relieved of duty by the White House. XO Sam Kendal, played by Scott Speedman (Felicity), suddenly finds himself in charge and facing the same difficult decision. When he also refuses to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. Declared rogue enemies of their own country, the submarine and its crew are stranded on the ocean floor. Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and end up on an exotic island where they find refuge, romance, and a chance at a new life.

Nashville (10pm, Wednesdays, ABC)

Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights and American Horror Story) plays Rayna James, a country star fighting to stay on top in a business ready to push her aside for up-and-coming crossover artist Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), who is pretty much her worst nightmare. Her producers offer her a joint tour with the up-and-comer, but both singers are pursuing their own goals. Juliette wants to take Rayna’s place. Rayna thinks that a few songs written by a talented songwriter will help revive her success. Rayna's father is a powerful Nashville politician who forced her to marry a man who lives on her money. This sweeping, filmed-in-Nashville ensemble drama embraces music, politics, and a rapidly changing economy. There’s also family drama, humor, and sexual intrigue.

The New Normal (9:30pm, Tuesdays, NBC)

The Hangover’s Justin Bartha and Ellen Barkin (Drop Dead Gorgeous) lead the cast in NBC’s new comedy. Bryan and David (Justin Bartha) are a gay Los Angeles couple with successful careers. The only thing missing is a baby. They meet Goldie (Georgia King), a single mother and waitress from the Midwest, who has moved to LA with her eight-year-old daughter. Goldie’s grandmother Jane (Ellen Barkin) follows her family to LA against her granddaughter's wishes. Goldie, in need of money, decides to become Bryan and David's surrogate, and naturally, her family gets involved, and they all join forces to become one happy dysfunctional family.

Elementary (10pm, Thursdays, CBS)

In a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Jonny Lee Miller (Eli Stone) and Lucy Liu (Ally McBeal) star as Holmes and Watson in this series set in the United States. Miller is fun to watch as the brilliant British detective who, after fleeing rehab, moves to New York where he’s saddled with a “sober companion” who’s also his first-ever female sidekick. Set in modern-day New York, Holmes tracks serial killers, sex offenders, and other villains of the prime-time grotesque. This is a unique interpretation of the original stories—and definitely one worth watching.

Which show are you dying to see?