It's the best time of the year for TV fans.  The networks are slated to debut their new crop of shows to go along with their returning favorites starting Monday — even though NBC got a jump start Tuesday, when it aired the first episode of "Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris.”  New series are all-too-often cancelled and never make it past the network's initial order of 13 episodes — so it’s saying a lot to be back for a second season.  Here's a look at some of the new shows from last year that made it to season 2:  A perfect fit on CBS' Sunday nights that use the audience from late afternoon NFL games to launch a night of news and adult-themed dramas.  "Secretary," starring Tea Leoni as a sitting U.S. Secretary of State, was an immediate hit among older viewers, and drew a better rating with young adults — TV's key demographic — than the shows that aired before ("60 Minutes") and after ("The Good Wife").  It finished the season as the 10th most watched show among total viewers, scoring an obvious renewal.  "The Last Man on Earth"  While much of the buzz at Fox's midseason came from "Empire," this bizarre comedy from the mind of "SNL" star Will Forte certainly attracted attention and critical acclaim for an out there premise.  "Earth," which stars Forte as the formerly titular last man who leads a small group of survivors past the apocalypse, was behind only "Black-ish" among new series in the Adults 18-49 demographic and kept most of its "Family Guy" lead-in.  Sometimes pitching a CBS show can feel a little bit like mad libs. The show was immediately pegged by some as "The Big Bang Theory as an action drama" but it worked with viewers.  "Scorpion" was the third-most watched new series among total viewers and finished 15th overall for the season.  Last year may be known as the time for when the super hero craze finally transitioned to television, between Marvel's "Daredevil" burning up Netflix, the CW's "Arrow" rolling on as a hit as well as the successful debut of "The Flash," and this reimagining of the Batman mythos.  "Gotham" finished in the top 30 for the season among young adults and kept its audience hanging with the show for most of its first season.  While some shows are huge hits with viewers, some inspire passionate fan bases, critical acclaim and awards buzz. "Jane the Virgin" was absolutely a case of the latter.  Despite drawing only 1.5 million viewers a week — small by even The CW's standards — the show held universal critical acclaim and won series star Jane Rodriguez a Golden Globe, making it the first show in the network's history to do so.  Despite being criticized by the writer whose book the series adapts, "Fresh Off the Boat" became both a critical and ratings favorite after debuting at midseason.  "Boat," which derives its source material from celebrity chef Eddie Huang's memoirs, became a hit despite airing on its own at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays at ABC, drawing a solid 6.9 million viewers to along with solid demo numbers.  Some shows are no-brainers. The third iteration of the "NCIS" franchise held on to most of the original's lead-in and finished as 2014-15's fourth-most watched show among total viewers.  "New Orleans" out-performed the show's first spinoff, "NCIS: Los Angeles" in both total viewers and young adults.  ABC finally found a sitcom to fit with its biggest hit, "Modern Family."  "Black-ish," which stars Anthony Anderson and was originally co-written by now "Nightly Show" host Larry Wilmore, was TV's highest-rated new comedy among young adults and was one of ABC's best performers in the demo in that post-"Modern Family" slot.  Some shows just find an audience, even if they're not the audience that reviews TV shows.  Despite being a critical flop, the Debra Messing-starring "Laura" was a decent hit, drawing eight million viewers to a timeslot that's been historically hard to schedule if you're not able to slap "American Idol" there like Fox.  There hasn't been a TV show on any of the major networks in years to draw the buzz that "Empire" did in its first season.  The only show to draw higher ratings in the 18-49 demographic than the ensemble hip-hop drama was NBC's "Sunday Night Football."  When you're up there with the NFL (and nominated for several Emmy Awards) you know a show has taken over TV.  “How to Get Away With Murder”  Before "Empire" came along, this was becoming the TV season of Viola Davis' Shonda Rhimes-produced "Murder," which follows Davis as an ethically questionable law professor.  Both hugely acclaimed by critics and a natural fit with Rhimes' other two ABC Thursday dramas, "Grey's Anatomy" and "Scandal," "Murder" was TV's highest-rated new drama not called "Empire" among young adults.
With a new crop of fall shows set to debut, a look at how last season's debuts were able to get to season two.