While NBC already aired a few of their fall premieres back in August, this week unofficially marks the start of the 2012-13 TV season. So do you know which new shows you’re looking forward to watching? Are you ready for the return of your favorites? More importantly, has your TV/DVR been set?

To help, I’ve put together a list of the most anticipated new and returning shows you won’t want to miss. And if you’re hoping to catch up, I have you covered with the episodes you really need to see. Your Fall TV Preview begins now.

New for Fall 2012

Vegas

Premieres Tuesday, September 25 at 10pm on CBS

Who’s In It: Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis (The Shield), Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix), Jason O’Mara (Terra Nova)
What’s It About: Inspired by the true story of former Las Vegas Sheriff Ralph Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher tasked with bringing order to Las Vegas in the 1960s. Ralph Lamb (Quaid) wants to be left in peace to run his ranch, but Las Vegas is now swelling with outsiders and corruption which are intruding on his simple life. The Mayor appeals to his sense of duty to look into a murder of a casino worker – and so begins Lamb’s clash with Vincent Savino (Chiklis), a ruthless Chicago gangster who plans to make Vegas his own.

Last Resort

Premieres Thursday, September 27 at 8pm on ABC

Who’s in it: Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street), Scott Speedman (Felicity), Autumn Reeser (The O.C.), Robert Patrick (The X-Files), Dichen Lachman (Dollhouse), Jessy Schram (Falling Skies)
What’s It About: From the creator of The Shield, 500 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, the U.S. ballistic missile submarine Colorado receive their orders. Over a radio channel, designed only to be used if their homeland has been wiped out, they’re told to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan. When they refuse to fire without confirmation of the orders, the Colorado is targeted, fired upon, and hit. Now, with nowhere left to turn, Chaplin and Kendal take the sub on the run and bring the men and women of the Colorado to an exotic island. Here they will find refuge, romance and a chance at a new life, even as they try to clear their names and get home.

What Critics Are Saying:
HWShaunna: Don’t think I’ve been this excited by a network pilot since Lost. Last Resort is everything a pilot should be… and it has Scott Speedman.
charliejane: Really enjoyed @ShawnRyanTV’s Last Resort. Tense & fun & definitely “five minutes into the future.” Curious to see how sci-fi it gets.
televisionary: #LastResort: lived up to the tension and paranoia of the pilot script. Claustrophobic in the best way. Conspiracy vague enough to intrigue.

Arrow

Premieres Wednesday, October 10 at 8pm on CW

Who’s In It: Steven Amell, Katie Cassidy (Melrose Place), Susanna Thompson (Kings), Paul Blackthorne (The Dresden Files), Willa Holland (The O.C.)
What’s It About: After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal on the island. Most particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow – a vigilante – to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory.

What Critics Are Saying:
thetvchick: First thoughts on #Arrow: Definitely lives up to its strong script. Amell and Cassidy are magical. Can’t wait for more!
tbrick2: Arrow is kinda Revenge meets Batman Begins. Translation: I’m digging it.
televisionary: #Arrow promo looked slick with great stunts. I likely won’t watch beyond pilot, but it will do well for CW, especially paired w/Supernatural.

Nashville

Premieres Wednesday, October 10 at 10pm on ABC

Who’s In It: Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights), Hayden Panettiere (Heroes)
What’s It About: Chart-topping Rayna James (Britton) is a country legend who’s had a career any singer would envy, though lately her popularity is starting to wane. Fans still line up to get her autograph, but she’s not packing the arenas like she used to. Rayna’s record label thinks a concert tour, opening for up-and-comer Juliette Barnes (Panettiere), the young and sexy future of country music, is just what Rayna needs. Sharing a stage with that disrespectful, untalented, little vixen is the last thing Rayna wants to do, which sets up a power struggle for popularity.

What Critics Are Saying:
televisionary: I’m surprised by how much I loved the pilot for #Nashville. Fantastic cast, great sense of locale, intriguing characters. Will be watching.
travisyanan: I’ll be thrilled if there’s another network drama pilot I like as much as I liked #Nashville
jopinionated: Pilot watch: very pleasantly surprised by #Nashville. SO happy to see Connie Britton in this role & on this show vs AHS.

Hunted

Premieres Friday, October 19 at 10pm on Cinemax

Who’s In It: Melissa George (Alias), Adam Rayner (Hawthorne), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost)
What’s It About: From The X-Files writer and producer Frank Spotnitz comes this eight-episode drama set in the world of international espionage. Melissa George stars as an operative for an elite private intelligence firm who survives an attempt on her life that may have been orchestrated by members of her own team; when she returns to work, she doesn’t know who to trust.

What Critics Are Saying:
JimHalterman: SJ Clarkson directed the first 2 hours of show. (Having seen the first 2 episodes, it looks terrific. Cinematic and compelling)
tvoti: Hunted often feels like Alias, shot by Terrence Malick, edited by David Fincher. Very, very odd. But captivating.

Returning for Fall 2012

New Girl

Season 2 premieres Tuesday, September 25 at 9pm on FOX

What’s It About: Follows a young woman who, after a bad breakup, moves in with three single guys she doesn’t know, changing all of their lives in unexpected ways.

Five Episodes You Need to See:
Jess and Julia, Injured, Fancyman, Normal, See Ya

Scandal

Season 2 premieres Thursday, September 27 at 10pm on ABC

What’s It About: From the creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice comes a drama revolving around the life and work of a professional crisis manager and her dysfunctional staff. A former media relations consultant to the President, Olivia Pope dedicates her life to protecting and defending the public images of our nation’s elite. After leaving the White House, the power consultant opened her own firm, hoping to start a new chapter — both professionally and personally — but she can’t seem to completely cut ties with her past.

Five Episodes You Need to See:
Sorry, guys. There’s only 7 episodes, so you really need to watch them all. It’s good, I promise.

Fringe

Season 5 premieres Friday, September 28 at 9pm on FOX

What’s It About: A fantastical thriller from acclaimed writer/producer J.J. Abrams (Lost), Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III, Alias). Joshua Jackson, John Noble and Anna Torv star as an unlikely trio who uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

Five Episodes You Need to See…For Each Season:
Pilot, The Arrival, Ability, The Road Not Taken, There’s More Than One of Everything
August, Jacksonville, Peter, The Man From the Other Side, Over There
The Plateau, Entrada, Reciprocity, Subject 13, The Day We Died
Enemy of My Enemy, The End of All Things, Letters of Transit, Worlds Apart, Brave New World

Revenge

Season 2 premieres Sunday, September 30 at 9pm on ABC

What’s It About: Emily Thorne is the newest arrival in the Hamptons. By all appearances, she’s a friendly and sophisticated “girl next door,” but the exclusive world she’s immersed herself in is tied to a dark family history and Emily is anything but what she seems. Seventeen years ago, Emily’s father was framed for a horrific crime by neighbors he trusted, and was sentenced to a life in prison. Years later, Emily returns under an assumed identity with one endgame – revenge, every social overture a carefully planned chip at the foundation of her sworn enemies, until their lives come crashing down around them.

Five Episodes You Need to See:
Pilot, Charade, Duress, Chaos, Absolution, Reckoning

Homeland

Season 2 premieres Sunday, September 30 at 10pm on Showtime

What’s It About: From The X-Files writer and producer Howard Gordon, Carrie Mathison (Golden Globe winner Claire Danes), a CIA officer dealing with bi-polar disorder, becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Nicholas Brody (Golden Globe nominee Damian Lewis), a U.S. soldier who had been missing and presumed dead for eight years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al-Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.

Five Episodes You Need to See:
Pilot, The Good Soldier, The Weekend, The Vest, Marine One

The Vampire Diaries

Season 4 premieres Thursday, October 11 at 8pm on CW

What’s It About: Based on the best-selling book series, The Vampire Diaries is the story of two vampire brothers, obsessed with the same gorgeous girl, who are battling to control the fate of an entire town.

Five Episodes You Need to See…For Each Season:
Lost Girls, Haunted, Fool Me Once, Blood Brothers, Founder’s Day
Brave New World, Katerina, By the Light of the Moon, The Descent, The Sun Also Rises
The End of the Affair, The Reckoning, Our Town, Heart of Darkness, The Departed