14 Lesbian-Approved TV Premieres We Can't Wait to See This Fall

The summer season had a lot to offer us this year. First of all, there was the actual season of summer, but more importantly there were the TV programs that came with it. Orphan Black had our emotions flying every which way and, of course, provided us with a necessary weekly dose of Tatiana Maslany. The Fosters brought the tears this season and already has us begging for the next half of the season. While our past favorites gear up for more new episodes there's a near endless queue of brand new TV shows coming our way starting this month. In an unsurprising turn of events, it looks like a lot of the upcoming programs are the same-old brand of boy-meets-girl sitcoms and crime dramas that seem like they've been on TV a hundered times before (seriously, we challenge you to up the ante on LGBT representation, 2014-2015 TV season), but there are a few stand outs that have caught our attention. Here are our picks for this fall season, so gear up your DVRs and get ready for a good year.

American Horror Story: Freak Show (FX, premieres Wednesday, October 8): After weeks of creepy teasers and scattered bits of news, we've finally got a plot for our most anticipated show of the season. It was recently revealed that Jessica Lange, a Horror Story staple, will be playing German cabaret star Elsa Mars, who leads the freak show as its attendance and popularity wans. To boost cred, she hires conjoined twins Bette and Dot (Sarah Paulson), who are as different in personality as they are similar in body. Other freak show members include Evan Peters as a young man born with lobster-like hands, Kathy Bates as his bearded mom, and Angela Bassett as a three-breasted performer. For all this general weirdness, the villainy actually comes from a retired clown who's unhappy the freak show has rolled into his town. Throw in Emma Roberts and Denis O'Hare as a pair of con artists, Frances Conroy as a woman whose son wants to join the freak show, and Gabourey Sidibe as a socialite whose mother (Patti Labelle) goes missing, and we're more ready than ever to get this freak show started.

Gotham (Fox, premieres Monday Sept. 22 at 8/7 c): The Advocate's entertainment editor Jase Peeples says it best in this article about the awesome amounts of diversity and LGBT visibility Fox's new Batman-inspired comic book series is offering up this season. Gotham centers around the origin story of police commissioner Jim Gordon (played by THe O.C./Southland's Ben Mackenzie), but with a supporting cast that includes Jada Pinkett Smith, Victoria Cartagena, Zabryna Guevara, and Erin Richards, expect no dearth of strong female leads who are certain to have a major presence. From heroes to villains, the women of Gotham will play a big part in running the show and will hopefully influence more often white male-leaning superhero stories to follow suit.

How to Get Away with Murder (ABC, premieres Thursday, Sept. 25 at 10/9 c): Shonda Rhimes teaming up with Viola Davis definitely equals must-see TV. Following the (apparently endless) success of Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, we can pretty much bet on How to Get Away with Murder to keep us hooked. Viola Davis stars as a no-nonsense law school professor whose students end up involved in a murder plot and must figure out, well, how to get away with murder. Will it take one season? Will it take 15 years? Only time will tell, and we're looking forward to sticking this one out till the end.

A to Z (NBC, premieres Thursday, Oct. 2 at 9/8 c): Did you like How I Met Your Mother, but actually wish the entire show was about the mother instead? And probably that it didn't end the way it did? Well, then, A to Z might be just what you're looking for. Cristin Milioti, the adorable wide-eyed cutie who played said Mother, stars in this romantic sitcom that chronicles a relationship beginning to end, or...A to Z. Ben Feldman plays Andrew, a total romantic and the love interest of Cristin's character Zelda, so if you needed to know, once again, why the series is called A to Z, there you go. Call it How I Met Your Mother withdrawals, call it a mild obsession with Cristin, who stole our hearts first in the Broadway musical Once and next as the arguably mistreated mom in Mother, but we're really hoping to fall in love with this one.

The Badass Blondes in Gracepoint, Intruders, Madam Secretary, and State of Affairs: (Gracepoint, Fox, premieres Thursday, Oct. 2 at 9/8c; Intruders, BBC America, premiered August 23; Madam Secretary, CBS, Sunday, Sept. 21 at 8/7 c; State of Affairs, NBC, premieres Monday, Nov. 17 at 10/9 c) Gracepoint stars Emmy winning Breaking Bad-ass Anna Gunn and Doctor Who fan favorite David Tennant as cops investigating the murder of a young boy that has thrown the small town he comes from into turmoil. Mira Sorvino stars in Intruders, a BBC America show with a synopsis gets weirder and weirder as it turns out the wife (Sorvino) of a former Los Angeles cop's dissappearence may have something to do with a secret society whose members attempt immortality by inhabiting the bodies of others. Tea Leoni stars in Madam Secretary as a former CIA Agent asked to step into the role of Secretary of State after its previous occupant is killed. On State of Affairs, Katherine Heigl returns to TV for the first time since Grey's Anatomy as a CIA attache responsible for putting together a briefing for the president (Alfre Woodard) on the greatest threats to national security while also trying to hunt the terrorist who killed her fiance, the president's son. So much plot, so little time! Keeping up with which famous, acclaimed actress is which will make for a fun game while watching these intense crime/CIA dramas (yeesh, no one gets a breather here), but we're up for the challenge.

The Returning Redheads of Bad Judge, The Mysteries of Laura, and Selfie: (Bad Judge, NBC, premieres Thursday, Oct. 2 at 9/8c; The Mysteries of Laura, NBC, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 10.9 c; Selfie, ABC, premieres Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 8/7 c) Kate Walsh of the Grey's Anatomy Kingdom returns once again as the titular Bad Judge, one of LA's best criminal court judges whose personal life is disastrous. Because women with on point professional lives and stressful family situations are apparently very in right now/always, Deborah Messing will be returning to her usual haunt, NBC, in The Mysteries of Laura as an NYPD homicide detective who spends her days solving crimes and her nights trying to keep her rowdy twin songs and soon-to-be ex-husband in line. Breaking the serious crime mold, however, is Doctor Who's adorable former companion Karen Gillan, now starring in Selfie, a modern day Pygmalion-esque tale of a social media obsessed young woman who seeks the help of marketer Henry Higenbottom (John Cho) to help her change her ways. Its preview isn't exactly about to win any awards for not looking desperately aggravating, but we'll give Karen the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Black-ish (ABC, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 9/8c): Anthony Anderson created and stars in Black-ish, a sitcom about Dre, a man trying establish a cultural identity for his family when he realizes his children don't have one. Tracee Ellis Ross plays his bi-racial wife Rainbow and Laurence Fishburne pops up as Dre's dad, so with a cast like this it's hard to go wrong. Additionally, there's a definite lack of diversity this season so we're looking forward to a show that actually acknowledges these issues in our entertainment media and society. Every year we hope a new sitcom will make make a splash and stick around, and Anthony's comedic star power + a premise in tune with today just might hit the jackpot.

Jane the Virgin (CW, premieres Monday, Oct. 13 at 9/8c): The CW's biggest conquest this year seems to be The Flash, a spin-off of its superhero hit Arrow, but we're more interested in this plot-heavy dramedy about a young woman who's accidentally artifically inseminated by her gynecologist. Gina Rodriguez stars as the virginal Jane whose life is clearly made much more difficult by this revelation and must decide how to proceed, especially after discovering the sperm specimen came from her former crush/current boss/cancer survivor Rafael (Justin Baldoni). This crazy pitch has gotten our attention, in addition to raising a lot of new fears about trips to the gynocologist...

Red Band Society (Fox, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 17): There are a few familiar faces joining the young cast of Red Band Society, Fox's dramedy about teenagers living in a pediatric hospital ward. Described as sort of "Breakfast Club"-esque, (though with considerably higher stakes) the show is definitely taking some interesting, dark risks - for example, it's narrated by a child in a coma - but the more we find out, the more hooked we've become. Recently, it was announced that Andrea Parker, Alison DiLaurentis' mom on Pretty Little Liars, will be joining the cast as Sarah, the mother of a high school cheerleader who ends up in the hospital. Deadline describes Sarah as, "A wealthy, driven, dedicated and fashionable woman who has connections and usually gets what she wants. She is the “alpha dog” in her lesbian relationship and is hellbent on finding a way to move her daughter up the organ-donation list to receive a new heart." We didn't get to know Andrea too well on PLL, so we're definitely looking forward to her dominating our screens a little more this season. Red Band Society features a strong cast of female leads, including Octavia Spencer as one of Ocean Park's nurses and Mandy Moore as the Chief of Staff.