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Nowhere is safe on the new shows of Monday night: Gotham City is festering in crime. Washington, D.C., is hunting Katherine Heigl. America's corrupt computer network could bring down every plane in the sky.
Luckily for you, conflict means content for your DVR. Here, a rundown of the shows heading your way on Mondays.
8 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Gotham (NEW): How do you take a well-worn comic book (reminder: Batman turned a ripe old age of 75 this summer) and make it feel fresh to TV audiences? You do what Gotham does solidly in its pilot: Take the deep mythology, add a thick layer of noir tones, and wrap the whole package in a harsh police drama. Sure, it uses some less-than-subtle imagery (young Catwoman stops to stroke a cat, because of course) and some scenes feel heavyhanded, but the show boasts a strong cast: Ben McKenzie's Jim Gordon is magnetic, Donal Logue's Harvey Bullock is aptly gruff, and Jada Pinkett Smith's excellent original villain Fish Mooney expertly walks the fine line between gritty and campy. [Premieres 9/22 on FOX]
The Big Bang Theory/2 Broke Girls: The gang returns for an eighth season of nerd jokes punctuated with the Chuck Lorre Laugh Track Machine. Well, not the whole gang — the juggernaut sitcom picks up after Sheldon (Jim Parsons) leaves Pasadena on a soul searching journey, and his friends, including the recently engaged Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting), must deal with his departure. Later this fall, Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs return as the still-broke still-girls Max and Caroline, who may have found a new business venture involving — what else? — cupcakes. [Big Bang Theory premieres 9/22 on CBS; 2 Broke Girls replaces it 10/27]