When, really, does new TV season start?

For TV viewers, there are pressing questions:
1) When will the new season start?
2) Will there actually be a new season?
The second answer is a firm “sort of.” Flattened by the writers’ and actors’ strikes, networks have put together makeshift line-ups. It won’t be pretty, but it will be TV.
And the first one has several answers. Some details (especially from ABC) are missing, but most are here, especially with the dominant role of football (shown here). For the broadcast networks, let’s consider one of these to be the starting date for a rickety season:
— Aug. 31, with the first full weekend of college football. More than ever, the networks need sports events. That’s why we’ll find a flood of primetime games on broadcast. Fox has Nebraska (shown here) and Minnesota at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday (Aug. 31) … ABC, CBS and NBC all have games at 7:30 p.m. Saturday … and there’s even one Sunday, with LSU and Florida State at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
— Sunday, Sept. 3, when three mysteries start their six-week seasons on PBS. It’s “Professor T” at 8 p.m., “Unforgotten” at 9 and “Van der Valk” at 10. They have different approaches – one six-week story for “Unforgotten,” three two-parters for “Van der Velk,” six separate tales for “Professor T” – but each has smart stories and crisply layered plots.
— Sept. 5, when the CW network has the first show in its makeshift season. That’s “Inside the NFL,” which in previous years was confined to cable.
— Sept. 6, when PBS launches the first of its fall non-fiction shows. “America Outdoors with Baratunde Thurston” is an amiable jaunt through natural areas, from Maine to Oregon.
— Sept. 7 and 10, when pro football takes over. NBC opens the NFL season with the Lions-Chiefs game at 8:20 p.m. ET Thursday; it has Cowboys-Giants at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, following doubleheaders on both CBS and Fox.
— Sept. 10, when Fox will follow its football double-header with the season-opener of “The Masked Singer.” The show will then resume in its regular spot (8 p.m. Wednesdays) on Sept. 27.
— Sept. 12, when CW launches “The Swarm,” an international whales-gone-wild thriller.
— Sept. 14, when CBS debuts “The Buddy Games,” a Josh Duhamel game show.
— Sept. 16-17, when CBS’ news magazine start their seasons. “48 Hours” will be 9-11 p.m. on some Saturdays, but not when there’s college football. “60 Minutes,” a ratings powerhouse, will be at 7 or 7:30 p.m. (varying with football) on Sundays.
— Sept. 19, when Fox has the season-openers for “Name That Tune” and “I Can See Your Voice.”
— Or Sept. 24, when Fox resumes normal life for fans of cartoons, which are written and voiced far in advance. The first night will have two episodes of the new “Krapopolis” as soon as the football doubleheader ends; subsequent Sundays will have “Simpsons” at 8 p.m., “Krapopolis” at 8:30, “Bob’s Burgers” at 9 and “Family Guy” at 9:30.
That’s the week when the season will feel a bit more complete.
That Monday (Sept. 25), NBC launches a new season of “The Voice,” followed by the 10 p.m. debut of “The Irrational,” one of the few series filmed before the strikes.
Fox counters that week with most of its a schedule. Among others, it launches the seasons for two Gordon Ramsay shows – “Kitchen Nightmares” at 8 p.m. Mondays, “Hell’s Kitchen” at 8 p.m. Thursdays – and debuts David Spade’s “Snake Oil” game show, at 9 p.m. Wednesdays.
And CBS has two perennial powers in the reality world, with 90-minute versions of “Survivor” and “The Amazing Race” on Wednesdays, starting Sept. 27. By then, we’ll feel the season has sort of started.