Okay, I waited as long as possible. People, can we talk about the new pilots? Great. What? You said, “No?”  Too bad. I warned you multiple times that this was the blog of a TV addict.   I’ll have you know I have shown great restraint. I’ve had my fall TV spreadsheet made for a good month at least, and I am only just now submitting you to a series of posts about the new pilots. Yes, you read that correctly. Series. Disney villain laugh. Disney villain laugh.

For the sake of timeliness, I’m going to ignore any new show that I already know is not coming on until midseason. There seem to be a great number of these. Much to my consternation, some of the most promising pilots aren’t debuting until after January. Still, there is plenty to talk about now.

5. Dracula: NBC has a surprising amount of shows that look promising this season. They’ll need them. Parks and Rec is always wonderful, and they got a pretty solid hit out of Revolution last year, but once again the Peacock is nearly starting from scratch. Dracula isn’t arriving at the best time. Most of the public is suffering from vampire fatigue. However, I’m not one of them, and this show has two other strong pluses. Jonathan Rhys Myers is playing the title role, and he’s got a Downton Abbey producer at the helm. I imagine the NBC pilot most people are exited about is The Blacklist. I intend to watch it, too, but I’m never going to be as excited about James Spader smirking as Jonathan Rhys Myers in period costume. Premieres Fri. Oct. 25 @ 10:00 p.m. EDT on NBC

4. Sleepy Hollow: The trailers for this look semi-amusing, but they aren’t really what have me excited about this time-travel/crime drama mash-up from Fox. What sent me into a fangirl frenzy were the names Kurtzman and Orci. For those unfamiliar with Alex and Roberto (I like to think of us being on a first name basis), they are the amazing writing team that brought us the last two Star Trek movies and Fringe. Sniff, sniff. Sorry, I need a minute. I almost asked for a moment of silence in our household when I had to delete Fringe from last year’s spreadsheet. If the power duo are back writing and producing Sleep Hollow, I’m going to expect great things; I don’t care how convoluted the premise sounds. Also, they have Len Wiseman of the Underworld movies directing. When I read that, I almost got giddy. I don’t really know any of the actors in this apart from Orlando Jones, but I have always found him funny. Premieres Mon. Sept. 16 @ 9:00 p.m. EDT on FOX

3. Almost Human: This Fox pilot edges out Sleepy Hollow for me because the trailer is just so much more compelling. The premise of a cop in the future with an android partner is interesting. It’s also one of the pilots that has critics practically foaming at the mouth. I’m admittedly jealous every time I read an article about how amazing the pilot is when I know I have to wait until November. I do like Karl Urban, who plays the main character, but once again, it’s the people behind the show that have me excited. J.J. Abrams is producing, which after Alias, Fringe, and Lost used be enough to get me to watch anything with the man’s name attached. But then I saw Undercovers, Alcatraz, and Person of Interest. I’ve become a bit more discriminating in my Abrams’s TV series since. Now I check who else he’s doing the series with, knowing that Abrams is likely lending some money, but not much time. He does have a Star Wars franchise to produce, after all. The good news here is that the name partnered with Abrams for Almost Human is J.H. Wyman of Fringe fame, so I know I’m in good hands. Premieres Mon. Nov. 4 @ 8:00 p.m. EDT on FOX

2. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. : I’m not sure I even need to talk about this, because I’m not sure there’s a person on the planet who doesn’t already have their DVR programmed. Agent Colson is alive and solving cases with a team of young whipper snappers. I’m sure the guest stars will be epic. All of that would be enough, but I’ve got two more words for you: Joss Whedon. Premieres Tues. Sept. 24 @ 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC

1. The Originals: Did I just lose all of my credibility with my number one pick? Sorry, I’ve got to be honest. The Vampire Dairies has been the show I have to watch the day it comes on for the last two years. One of the reasons TVD is so good is the amazing villain they’ve had in Klaus. Creator Julie Plec and actor Joseph Morgan have done a wonderful job creating a rich character whom I despised at first and now adore. The CW wanted to give The Originals their own spin off a year ago, but Plec asked for time to transform Klaus from villain to at least the beginnings of a hero. I am eager to see where they will go with the character now that Klaus is the lead of his own show. My only fear is that by giving the Originals their own series, the end result could be two great shows, or it could mean they gutted my favorite hour of television and replaced it with two mediocre shows instead. The Originals also gets bonus points because I’ve got my fingers crossed that Price Peterson will write the recaps of the show for TV.com. There’s no way he won’t watch it, so he might as well make some money while he does. Premieres Thurs. Oct. 3 @ 9:00 p.m. EDT on the CW before moving to Tues. @ 8:00 p.m.

I’ll report back on these to let other TV junkies know if the pilots lived up to my expectations. Other drama pilots I intend to give a try:

• The Blacklist: Premieres Mon. Sept. 23 @ 10 p.m. EDT on NBC
• The Tomorrow People: Premieres Wed. Oct. 9 @ 9 p.m. EDT on the CW
• Reign: Premieres Thurs. Oct. 17 @ 9 p.m. EDT on the CW

What new shows are you looking forward to?