Summer TV Preview: 21 New Shows to Get Excited About

The 1-Sentence Pitch: “It takes place after the beautiful story we know and love, Romeo and Juliet, with the royal family of Verona deciding how to keep the Montagues and Capulets from breaking out into war because of what happened to their children,” explains Lashana Lynch, who plays Rosaline Capulet.

What to Expect: To ensure peace in his city, Prince Escalus (Sterling Sulieman) orders Rosaline, Juliet’s cousin, to marry Benvolio Montague (Wade Briggs), Romeo’s cousin. But “they hate each other,” Lynch says. Adds Briggs, “This is a future he doesn’t want. But there’s a fantastic amount of electricity between these two personalities, and they end up being a lot more to one another than they realized initially.” And complicating the whole plan is the fact that Rosaline and Prince Escalus are in love. “It’s a classic Shondaland love triangle,” Briggs notes.

Modern Love: Though it’s based on Shakespeare, Still Star-Crossed uses contemporary dialogue, and the characters are also updated. “Rosaline is bold and feisty and fierce, like a modern girl in the 16th century,” Lynch says. Of course, Shakespeare’s themes — like “lust and revenge and all of those human desires,” says Lynch — are timeless. — Kelly Woo

(Photo: Jose Haro/ABC)