30. “The English” (BBC One/Amazon)
Writer/producer/director Hugo Blick, the multi-award-winning creator behind 2014’s political spy thriller “The Honourable Woman” featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal, returns with a new mini-series, “The English” that’s attracted some top tier talent. His latest is a Western drama, a BBC One/Amazon co-production, about an Englishwoman who arrives in the West in 1890 looking for revenge on the man she sees as responsible for the death of her son. Emily Blunt stars alongside Rafe Spall, Toby Jones, Chaske Spencer, Tom Hughes, Stephen Rea, Nicholas Aaron, Ciarán Hinds, and more.
Airdate: TBD via BBC One/ Amazon, but knowing their patterns it could hit early in the U.K. first and then later in the U.S. – RP
29. “Moon Knight” (Disney+)
Things got shifted around in the Disney+ MCU, as of late, so it seems (though not official), that the first Marvel series of 2022 could be the more grounded “Moon Knight,” a character that’s always been more on par with Batman (though with some key mental health differences). Oscar Isaac stars as an anti-hero who suffers from dissociative identity disorder and is drawn into a deadly war of gods with his multiple identities. Created by Jeremy Slater (2015’s “Fantastic Four“), directors include Mohamed Diab and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Ethan Hawke co-stars as the unnamed villain and May Calamawy (“Ramy”) also has a role.
Airdate: Expected in Q1 of 2022 on Disney+. – RP
28. “Super Pumped” (Showtime)
From creative duo Brian Koppelman and David Levien (“Billions”), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who seems to be mounting a comeback) plays former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, their new anthology series “Super Pumped,” dramatizing “the roller-coaster ride of one of Silicon Valley’s most successful and most destructive companies.” Also starring Kyle Chandler, Hank Azaria, Elizabeth Shue, and Uma Thurman, it is assumed that potential future seasons of the series will explore the fallout of other major entrepreneurship ventures, ones bringing both poison and progress to our culture in equal measure.
Airdate: February 22, via Showtime. – AB
27. “Our Flag Means Death” (HBO Max)
Created by playwright David Jenkins and exec produced/starring Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) as the infamous pilot, Blackbeard, “Our Flag Means Death” (fun title), is a swashbuckling comedy about an aristocrat who abandons his regal living circumstances to throw in his lot with a band of pirates. Semi-based on the “Gentleman Pirate,” Stede Bonnet, the period series features Rhys Darby, (Bonnet) Rory Kinnear (allegedly playing twin roles), Ewen Bremner, Leslie Jones, and Fred Armisen. It certainly sounds like a strange blend of tones but a farcical adventure comedy set on the high seas is not your run-of-the-mill, samey-feeling streaming era show, and that aspect alone (plus the talent) has piqued our interest in the HBO Max series.
Airdate: TBD, via HBO Max.
26. “Love and Death” (HBO Max)
David E. Kelley doesn’t stop. The creator of “Big Little Lies” is back on HBO, this time on the Max version with his new crime drama with a heck of a cast (Kelley has a habit of drawing the big names). This time the writer hands directing duties to Lesli Linka Glatter, who helms an adaptation of “Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs,” which tells the true story of a normal housewife named Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen) who chopped her friend Betty Gore (Lily Rabe) with an ax in Texas in 1980. Joining Olsen and Gore are Jesse Plemons, Patrick Fugit, Keir Gilchrist, Elizabeth Marvel, Tom Pelphrey, and Krysten Ritter. Whatever happens with the rest of the show, that may be the most promising ensemble of 2022.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – BT
25. “The Midnight Club” (Netflix)
Netflix loves Mike Flanagan. The creator of “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Midnight Mass” has several shows in the pipeline for the king of the streamers, including this adaptation of the novel of the same name by young adult writer Christopher Pike (although it will reportedly incorporate other Pike novels as well). “The Midnight Club” casts newcomers as seven terminally ill young adults who live in a place called Rotterdam Home, a residence for those in hospice. Every night, at midnight, they meet to tell scary stories, promising to communicate with one another from beyond the grave. And then it seems like one of them makes that promise come true.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – BT
24. “Pam & Tommy” (Hulu)
Lily James fans were understandably taken aback when the English actress was cast as Pamela Anderson opposite Sebastian Stan as Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, in “Pam & Tommy,” an upcoming drama miniseries based on the unauthorized sex tape scandal. Featuring an outstanding cast including Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, Taylor Schilling, and Andrew Dice Clay, Hulu’s upcoming scandal-laden celebrity drama (directed by Craig Gillespie “I, Tonya”) looks to be following in “American Crime Story’s” footstep, all the way down to assembling a cast that makes it unclear how much comedy and camp will be injected into the gossip column proceedings. James is a wonderful actor, but she does seem an odd choice. Color us intrigued.
Airdate: February 2, via Hulu. – AB
23. “WeCrashed” (Amazon Prime Video)
Thanks in part to its narcissistic showman CEO Adam Neumann, WeWork was one of the most valuable tech startups in the world, but absolutely tanked what should have been a huge public offering. “WeCrashed” follows the greed-filled rise and inevitable fall of the company and the chaotic love that made it all possible. And there’s a terrific cast involved, Jared Leto as Neumann, Anne Hathaway as his wife and WeWork chief brand officer Rebekah Neumann, plus Kyle Marvin, America Ferrera, O. T. Fagbenle, and more. Created by writers Lee Eisenberg (“Good Boys“), and Drew Crevello, the series is directed by John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, the filmmakers behind “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Focus” and an unmade Joker/Harley Quinn film.
Airdate: TBD via Amazon. – RP
22. “Shining Girls” (Apple TV+)
You get the big talent with big bucks. That’s how Apple TV+, who you will see all over this list, has coaxed so much talent to star in many of their intriguing-sounding shows. “Shining Girls” is a thriller based on a book about a time-traveling Depression-era drifter who must murder the “shining girls” in order to continue his travels (no joke). Two-time Emmy/Globes/SAG winner Elisabeth Moss is the big get, and co-stars include Wagner Moura, Jamie Bell, Phillipa Soo, and Amy Brenneman. TV veteran Michelle MacLaren (“Breaking Bad,” “Game of Thrones”) directs.
Airdate: TBD via Apple TV+. – RP
21. “Pistol” (FX)
Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle directed this six-part series from creator Craig Pearce, the Australian collaborator of Baz Luhrmann (he co-wrote most of his films). The title doesn’t refer to a gun. Think Sex Pistols. Pearce and Boyle chart the rise of the Sex Pistols through the eyes of guitarist Steve Jones (Toby Wallace). Anson Boon plays Johnny Rotten with Louis Partridge as the legendary Sid Vicious. FX ordered the series in January 2021 but the show faced a legal battle when John Lydon (aka Rotten) filed a lawsuit against his bandmates to reverse their agreement for the show to use the band’s music (he lost that battle in August 2021).
Airdate: TBD 2022 – BT