The 50 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2019 - Page 4 of 5

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20. “Watchmen” (HBO)
Synopsis: Sequel series to Alan Moore’s comic-book classic, picking up years after the events manipulated by Ozymandias.
What You Need To Know: Damon Lindelof’s “The Leftovers” never quite made the pop-culture impact of his previous, game-changing show “Lost,” but it’s also a strong contender to be the best drama series of the past decade, and one that feels likely to inspire people for decades to come. For Lindelof’s next trick, he takes on what might be his toughest task to date: Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal superhero epic “Watchmen,” maybe the most beloved graphic novel of all time, and one that received an adaptation not long ago from Zack Snyder. Snyder proved that directly translating a comic to the screen didn’t necessarily make it good, and Lindelof seems to have learned from his mistakes — the new version doesn’t follow the plot of the original, instead, using it as a jumping off point for an all-new story seemingly set years later. It’s still top-secret, but Lindelof has assembled an intriguing cast, with a mix of veterans — Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr, Frances Fisher, Jean Smart, soon to be Oscar-nominee Regina King and, as Ozymandias, Jeremy Irons — and fresher faces like Adelaide Clemens, Tom Mison and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It should sound fascinating too, thanks to a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
Airdate: Shooting got underway in October, so this could be HBO’s big offering in the fall.

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19. “The OA” Season 2 (Netflix)
Synopsis: The mysterious prairie, otherwise known as The OA, is battling for her life after helping to avert a school shooting. But was she really who she says she was?
What You Need To Know: Few TV shows in the streaming era were as bold, ambitious, or divisive as Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling’s “The O.A.” And while we can understand those who couldn’t get on board with it, we kind of adored it, flaws and all. It’s taken a while for Season 2 to reach our screens — the first one hit fully two years ago, and there’s no date for the return yet. But the show’s wrapped and well into the edit, and while we have no idea what to expect, that only makes us more excited. Particularly with the new additions this time around — “The Florida Project” breakout Bria Vinaite has joined the cast, and Batmanglij is joined in the directing line-up this time by “42 Years” helmer Andrew Haigh, and “The Fits” breakout Anna Rose Holmer, who feel like perfect fits for the show’s distinct universe.
Airdate: The first season dropped by surprise with only a few days notice, so this could literally arrive any day now.

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18. “Top Of The Morning” (Apple)
Synopsis: An look behind the scenes of one of America’s most popular morning TV shows, and the jostling for power that goes on behind the scenes.
What You Need To Know: Apple’s push into TV comes with the tech giant having an advantage over some of the competition: namely, that they have more cash on hand than most actual countries. And that certainly shows with what looks likely to be their signature series, which has a cast that would be considered ‘incredibly star-studded’ even if it was an Oscar-bait movie. Created by “The Front Runner” writer Jay Carson (who was replaced as showrunner before production began — “Bates Motel” veteran Kerry Ehrin is now the woman in charge, with Mimi Leder directing), it sounds like something between Aaron Sorkin and “House Of Cards,” set in a “Today Show”-type environment, which definitely sounds like fun. And that cast is just nuts: Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston (who’ll both be exec producing too), Steve Carell, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass and Bel Powley are all on board.
Airdate: Filming began in October, so later on next year.

17. “The Crown” Season 3 (Netflix)
Synopsis: The story of Queen Elizabeth II enters the second half of the 1960s.
What You Need To Know: So far, Peter Morgan’s “The Crown” has done a good job of holding the interest of even those of us who think the British royal family should be abolished. But Season 3 faces a tougher task when it comes to continuity, given that it features the first major cast switch-up in the show (which will reset every two years rather than make performers go through old-age makeup). Fortunately, Morgan and co couldn’t have found a better replacement for Claire Foy in Olivia Colman, while Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Daniels step in for Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby and Matthew Goode. And if you’re concerned that the show will be lacking in sexy young royals with the switch up, expect a steady shift of focus to the younger generation, with “God’s Own Country” breakout Josh O’Connor joining the cast (and perfectly cast at that) as Prince Charles.
Airdate: All wrapped now – we’d bet that Netflix is keen to have it out before the Emmy window closes in the summer.

16. “Stranger Things” Season 3 (Netflix)
Synopsis: The gate is closed and the demodogs defeated, but the Upside Down still has plans for the town of Hawkins…
What You Need To Know: The risk in taking a year off when you’re the hottest TV show around is that the pop culture conversation can move on without you. But “Stranger Things” was lucky in that 2018 was not a banner year for new TV, or at least in terms of shows that could overtake it as a genuine popular smash. The competition looks fiercer in 2019, but the show’s return is getting closer, so expect the mania around the Duffer Brothers’ ’80s sci-fi fantasy to return in a big way. Details remain under wraps at this point, but Maya ‘son of Uma and Ethan’ Hawke has joined the cast alongside Cary Elwes and Jake Busey, and with the setting moving to 1985, expect lots of “Back To The Future” references (as well as, according to star David Harbour, a lot of “Fletch” references, which is more unexpected…)
Airdate: Filming began way back in April so this could be on us sooner than expected.

15. “Fargo” Season 4 (FX)
Synopsis: In 1950s Kansas City, rival African-American and Italian-American crime families are raising each other’s sons in an attempt to maintain a fragile truce. But that truce is broken when a boss dies during routine surgery.
What You Need To Know: “Fargo” should have been a disaster — Coen’s karaoke based on one of their most beloved films. But in the hands of Noah Hawley, it became one of the best shows of recent years, and one that’s been amazingly consistent across the three seasons (I know many were underwhelmed by the Ewan McGregor-led third run, but I kind of loved it). Hawley’s been busy, leading to an extended gap after the end of Season 3, but it was announced in August that the fourth is in development, with Chris Rock the surprising but intriguing choice to star. It marks a return to a period setting, which led to the high-point of Season 2, and while the disappointing second season of “Legion” suggested that Hawley was over-extending himself somewhat, we’re hopeful that the good run continues.
Airdate: This hasn’t started filming yet and Hawley’s been busy with feature debut “Pale Blue Dot” and the third “Legion” season so it’s possible this slips out of 2019. But FX are still targeting a bow this year as far as we know.

14. “True Detective” Season 3 (HBO)
Synopsis: Season 3 of this American crime anthology tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods.
What You Need To Know: Creator/showrunner/writer Nic Pizzolatto‘s acclaimed show took the Peak TV world by storm in 2014 but stumbled rather hard with the critically maligned second season that Pizzolatto and HBO admitted was rushed. With some time off, season 3 sounds like it will be mammoth and extremely ambitious as it juggles three time periods. Pizzolatto is writing nearly every episode, with some spiritual guidance from legendary TV writer David Milch (“Deadwood“). He’s also making his directorial debut this time around, though that side of things wasn’t without tumult: “Green Room” helmer Jeremy Saulnier was on board to direct a large chunk of the show, but left the production after creative differences with Pizzolatto (though he’ll retain credit on the first two). Still, the cast is strong: Mahershala Ali takes the lead role this time, with Stephen Dorff, Carmen Ejogo, Ray Fisher, Mamie Gummer, Scoot McNairy, and Sarah Gadon in support.
Airdate: Rolls out on HBO from January 13th.

13. “Barry” Season 2 (HBO)
Synopsis: Barry continues to try and turn his life around and make a living as an actor, but his old life as a hitman won’t let him out that easy…
What You Need To Know: He’s so often the best thing in whatever he’s in, but Bill Hader finally got the showcase he’s always deserved with his HBO comedy “Barry,” co-created with Alec Berg. Combining the sharp comedy you’d expect from the ‘SNL’ veteran with some of the best TV plotting since “Breaking Bad,” it was perfectly paced, tonally bold, and beautifully made (some of the best-directed TV of 2018 was on this show). It wasn’t a ratings smash, but it was beloved by critics and awards voters so thankfully Season 2 went into production in the summer. Few concrete details have emerged so far, but most of the survivors of the first season should be back, though Hader won’t confirm the fate of the characters involved in the cliffhanger. Expect things to get tougher for our anti-hero rather than easier, though… Hader, Berg and MVP Hiro Murai are all returning to direct episodes too.
Airdate: Nothing confirmed, but hopefully around the same March date as it had last year.

12. “Lovecraft Country” (HBO)
Synopsis: A young man joins his uncle for a road-trip across Jim Crow-era America in search of his missing father, but finds that America has real demons as well as metaphorical ones…
What You Need To Know: Understandably, Jordan Peele took a little time after the enormous success of “Get Out” to work out his next steps, but he’ll be all over 2019 on screens both big and small. “Get Out” follow-up “Us” hits early in the year, and alongside his “Twilight Zone” reboot (see above), he also teamed up with J.J. Abrams and Misha Green, creator of the underrated “Underground,” for this racially-charged horror series for HBO. Based on the (excellent) book by Matt Ruff, this will tell stories of the supernatural set against the backdrop of the discrimination and worse faced by African-Americans in the 1950s, which is a potent combination. And Peele, Green, Abrams and director Yann Demange (“’71,” “White Boy Rick”) has assembled a killer cast with Jonathan Majors, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Wunmi Mosaku, Aunjanue Ellis, Michael Kenneth Williams, Courtney B. Vance and, as the sort of villain, Elizabeth Debicki.
Airdate: Production began in the summer — we’d bet good money that HBO use “Game Of Thrones” final run to trial this and launch it straight after.

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11. “The Eddy”
Synopsis: The story of a jazz club in modern-day Paris and its multi-cultural staff and clientele.
What You Need To Know: The unstoppable rise of Damien Chazelle hit a minor speed bump this year when “First Man” unexpectedly underperformed at the box office, and looks unlikely to get the awards traction that many expected it to get (and that, frankly, it deserves: it’s Chazelle’s best movie). Long before that film went into production, though, Chazelle was planning to go back to the subject matter of his two breakthrough movies — jazz. This Netflix series, penned by the extremely busy Jack Thorne, takes a multi-lingual, multi-cultural spin on the subject matter, and like “La La Land” will seemingly be a full-on musical, with songs by Alanis Morisette/Michael Jackson songwriter Glen Ballard. It could be the next “Get Down,” yes, but few would bet against Chazelle and Thorne at this point.
Release Date: Hasn’t started filming yet as far as we know, but we know it was casting in the summer, so that’s probably happening soon, and it should be on Netflix before the end of the year.