why "this is us" will give you all the feels

Last night, I was curled up in front of the fire,  watching TV with big tears rolling down my cheeks. L. walked in and paused, his brow furrowing. "What's going on? Is she OK" he said, looking over at Emma, our dog who was tucked into my side, oblivious, sleeping soundly through my heaving cries.

"She's fine. She's snoring," I said. "It's this." I pointed to the television. The end credits for "This is Us" were rolling. This pilot episode, which had just finished airing, was one of the most anticipated new series of the fall and it was over.  I may have been crying because I was so happy that it was as good (better) than I had hoped. Maybe it was because the twist ending I had heard about was brilliant and touching and I didn't see it coming. Whatever the reason, I hit restart on the remote and watched it again. I've never done this before, watched the same episode back to back but it was so cleverly written that I had to watch it again just to soak it all in. Kudos to creator/writer, Dan Fogelman.

In case you missed it, this emotionally fulfilling series, perfectly, brilliantly, beautifully written and cast,  is about people who share the same birthday. Unless you saw the show last night, that's all that I can say. That's all I want to say. Just watch it followed by this digital episode of the cast talking about the reveal and why they chose to make this series. While I'm excited about other new series premiering ("The Good Place"), "This is Us" was the "thing" that has been missing from television (especially after the final episode of "Parenthood" aired in January 2015. "This is Us" airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT on NBC. I can't wait for next week. I'll have the Kleenex ready.




When is your favorite (or anticipated new favorite) series debuting this fall? Check out this calendar of series premiere dates on TVLine.com.

Here's what's debuting the rest of this week:

Wednesday, Sept. 21

Blindspot (8 p.m., NBC)
The Goldbergs (8 p.m., ABC)
Lethal Weapon (8 p.m., Fox)
Survivor (8 p.m., CBS)
Speechless (8:30 p.m., ABC)
Empire (9 p.m., Fox)
Law & Order: SVU (9 p.m., NBC)
Modern Family (9 p.m., ABC)
Black-ish (9:30 p.m., ABC)
Big Brother (9:30 p.m., CBS)
Designated Survivor (10 p.m., ABC)
Chicago P.D. (10 p.m., NBC)

Thursday, Sept. 22

Grey’s Anatomy (8 p.m., ABC)
Rosewood (8 p.m., Fox)
Superstore (8 p.m., NBC)
The Good Place (8:30 p.m., NBC)
Chicago Med (9 p.m., NBC)
Notorious (9 p.m., ABC)
Pitch (9 p.m., Fox)
The Blacklist (10 p.m., NBC)
How to Get Away With Murder (10 p.m., ABC)
Debate Wars (Seeso)

Friday, Sept. 23

Caught on Camera With Nick Cannon (8 p.m., NBC)
Hell’s Kitchen (8 p.m., Fox)
Last Man Standing (8 p.m., ABC)
MacGyver (8 p.m., CBS)
Dr. Ken (8:30 p.m., ABC)
Dateline NBC (9 p.m., NBC)
The Exorcist (9 p.m., Fox)
Hawaii Five-0 (9 p.m., CBS)
Shark Tank (9 p.m., ABC)
Blue Bloods (10 p.m., CBS)
Transparent (Amazon)