With the start of a new semester and the kickoff of football season, many entertaining television shows are also beginning this fall.

The second season of popular drama “Empire,” a series about hip-hop artist and CEO of Empire Entertainment Lucious Lyon, premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 8 p.m. “Empire” stars Bryshere Gray, Jussie Smollett, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard and Trai Byers.

Also premiering next week, the second season of “How to Get Away with Murder” premieres Thursday, Sept. 24 at 9 p.m. on ABC. The drama stars Academy-Award Nominee Viola Davis, Billy Brown, Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Katie Findlay, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, Karla Souza, Charlie Weber and Liza Weil.

The season premiere of “American Horror Story: Hotel” is Oct. 7, just in time for Halloween. “American Horror Story: Hotel” is at 9 p.m. every Wednesday on FX. This is the fifth season of the spooky series and will be set in a Hotel. This season stars Lady Gaga for the first time, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock.

Ashtyn Bryant,  junior architecture major from Bellefontaine, Mississippi, said she is very excited for the new season of “American Horror Story: Hotel” to start.

“My biggest curiosity about ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ is to see a new series of backstories and to see what role Lady Gaga will play,” Bryant said.

Another series beginning just in time for Halloween is the new show “Scream Queens.” According to its website, “Scream Queens” is a murder mystery set on a college campus. The show premieres Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. on Fox. It has the same producers as “American Horror Story” and “Glee” and has a star-studded cast including Emma Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Michele, Abagail Breslin, Nasim Pedrad, Nick Jonas and Ariana Grande.

“The Walking Dead,” popular television series about a zombie apocalypse, is also returning this fall. The premiere of the sixth season is Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. on AMC.

Many reality television shows are beginning again this fall as well. The singing competition “The Voice” returns on Sept. 21 on NBC. The shows in on Mondays and Tuesdays at 7 p.m. The celebrity coaches for this year are Blake Shelton, Pharrell Williams, Gwen Stefani and Adam Levine.

The 21st season of dancing competition show “Dancing with the Stars” also returned this month. Catch up on the first elimination on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. The shows comes on ABC every Monday at 7 p.m. and Tuesday at 8 p.m. Just some of the celebrity competitors this season are Nick Carter, Bindi Irwin and Paula Deen.

The 41st season of the live sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live” begins on Oct. 3 at 10:30 p.m. on NBC. Miley Cyrus will be the host and musical guest for the series premiere.

Fall is an exciting time of year, and this is just a small portion of all the television shows starting soon. There is plenty to keep everyone entertained this fall semester.