New Boys? New Star Trek/Wars? A Succession successor? Color us interested.
We’re already two weeks into the year, and this list already feels a bit redundant. The TV landscape has already laid down two absolute bangers in 2024’s initial fortnight — the Jodie Foster-starring continuation of True Detective, Night Country, and AMC’s patient, wry Monsieur Spade — so that’s plenty to sort you for now. But just you wait: in the coming days, weeks, and months, there is a glut of fantastic television for all appetites to feast on.
In a year where the ripple effects of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes will surely be felt, it’s at least comforting to know we’ve got plenty of amazing shows awaiting us. (This list doesn’t even get into the returns of The Bear and Tokyo Vice, which are certainly some vulgar omissions but we can only fit so much!) We’ve got a new Ryan Murphy series, the end of Larry David, ambitious genre series galore, and the next wave of Star Trek and Star Wars seasons to tide us over. Release dates and details are subject to change, but as a snapshot of what 2024 has in store for us, the future is looking pretty bright.
Death and Other Details (Hulu)
RELEASE DATE: January 16
Mandy Patinkin, in a role he was born to play, is a Poirot-like detective in Hulu’s new series that wisely capitalizes on America’s love for both cozy mysteries and rumpled dads.
Hazbin Hotel (Prime Video)
RELEASE DATE: January 19
Financed largely on Patreon and drawn by freelance animators, on that alone Prime Video’s Hazbin Hotel is coming in hot. And that’s before you get to the unique, perhaps slightly complicated plot, in which the princess of Hell opens a hotel in the hopes of redeeming sinners to address Hell’s overpopulation problem.
The Woman in the Wall (Showtime)
RELEASE DATE: January 19
The tragic legacy of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries informs this mystery. Lorna (Ruth Wilson) struggles to uncover if she murdered someone while in a dissociative episode caused by trauma from her time in the Laundries.
In the Know (Peacock)
RELEASE DATE: January 25
NPR gets some ribbing in this new comedy from Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that combines stop-motion animation and live-action. A pompous public radio host interviews real-life celebrities (including Hugh Laurie, Nicole Byer, and Ken Burns) to often cringe-worthy results, in what feels like a take on Zach Galifianakis’s Between Two Ferns: except the celebrities don’t seem to be on the joke.
Sexy Beast (Paramount+)
RELEASE DATE: January 25
Set in the ’90s, (yes you are that old), this prequel series seeks to elucidate the relationship between Gal (James McArdle) and Don (Emun Elliott)–played by Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley in the 2000 film of the same name–in their earlier years.
Expats (Prime Video)
RELEASE DATE: January 26
Nicole Kidman continues her run of prestige TV with Expats, playing a member of a group of wealthy expats living the good life in Hong Kong, and the drama that ensues. One may think we’ve had our fill of “out of touch rich people overseas” dramas, but trust The Farewell director Lulu Wang to make something worthwhile out of it.
Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)
RELEASE DATE: January 26
Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are back at it again, producing another World War II tale. This one centers on the United States Army Air Forces 100th Bomb Group and calls upon the talents of Barry Keogan, Austin Butler, and Ncuti Gatwa — rising stars back when this started filming in 2021, who have now fully arrived.
FEUD: Capote vs. the Swans (FX)
RELEASE DATE: January 31
Ryan Murphy’s love of gaudy, gossipy Hollywood stories continues with this new season of FEUD, which chronicles Truman Capote’s saucy 1975 expose of the scandalized high-society “swans” (Naomi Watts, Demi Moore, Diane Lane, Chloe Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Molly Ringwald) he associated with. If you’re still on Murphy’s melodramatic wavelength, this ought to warm the cockles of your gay heart (or will at least make you want to see Tom Hollander camping it up as Truman himself).
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
RELEASE DATE: February 2
If you found yourself thinking recently “Gosh, I wish someone would have made a TV show out of the 2005 action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” Donald Glover has heard your plea. He produces and stars with Maya Erskine in a series of the same name, playing spies who are ordered to disguise themselves as a married couple for an assignment. Glover’s signature dry, quirky humor can only enhance a somewhat pedestrian premise, making it into something special.
Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12 (HBO)
RELEASE DATE: February 4
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the bagel shop, Larry David is back as the grumpiest man in show business for one last season, one that we expect will go out with a wildly uncomfortable but funny bang.
Abbott Elementary Season 3 (ABC)
RELEASE DATE: February 7
TV’s most likable series returns for its third season, as idealistic schoolteacher Janine Teague continues her fight against clueless bureaucrats and budget cuts in the job she loves.
Halo Season 2 (Paramount+)
RELEASE DATE: February 8
2023 was the year that finally broke the streak of the bad video-game adaptation. Unfortunately, it was via HBO’s The Last of Us, not Paramount+’s too-cheap, too-late take on the long-running Halo series. Still, we’re curious if new showrunner David Wiener will help right the ship and turn the workings of Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) into something we should work into our weekly rotation.
The New Look (Apple TV+)
RELEASE DATE: February 14
In what will likely be the most lavishly appointed series of 2024, Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche star as iconic fashion designers Christian Dior and Coco Chanel, as they rise to fame against the backdrop of World War II. Even if the plot turns out to be less than compelling, the production design and clothes will more than make up for it.
Constellation (Apple TV+)
RELEASE DATE: February 21
Things don’t typically go well for Noomi Rapace in space, but boy do we love to watch her survive them. The same is true for her new Apple TV+ series, in which she plays an astronaut who returns to Earth to find that bits of her life are missing. Jonathan Banks, Barbara Sukowa, and James D’Arcy costar in a series featuring Game of Thrones‘ Michelle MacLaren as a director and executive producer.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: February 22
Okay, so live-action adaptations of Avatar: The Last Airbender don’t seem to go well. But Netflix seemed to nail the formula of the anime adaptation with One Piece, so maybe lightning will strike twice! (Or at least avoid the same lightning that struck Cowboy Bebop.) At least there’s a cast of familiar names here, from Mae Whitman as Katara to Daniel Dae Kim as General Fong. Even Dante “RU-FI-O!” Basco is here as Prince Zuko. Perhaps it’s best not to get our expectations too high, but let’s hold out hope that this turns out watchable.
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (Prime Video)
RELEASE DATE: February 23
In a season rich with new animation, a potential standout is this Prime comedy about an outer space hospital in which alien doctors confront everything from anxiety-hungry parasites to STIs. Created by the maker of Russian Doll (and co-starring its lead Natasha Lyonne), it will hopefully reflect that show’s unexpected poignancy behind the humor.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC+)
RELEASE DATE: February 25
Details are thin on this one but what we know is enticing. It’s set after the events of the original series and features the return of Andrew Lincoln and fan favorite Danai Gurira. Gurira is also a co-creator with Scott M. Gimple, The Walking Dead‘s showrunner for seasons 4 through 8.
Shogun (FX)
RELEASE DATE: February 27
Forty-four years after television first tried to adapt the James Clavell novel, Hulu gives it another go. Will it replicate the critical and rating success of the 1980 effort?
Elsbeth (CBS)
RELEASE DATE: February 29
Another spinoff from The Good Wife, Elsbeth turns its camera to fan-favorite character Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), whose unconventional attitude gives her a unique eye on her cases. Sure, it’s the same kind of premise that tanked The Good Doctor spinoff The Good Lawyer, but Preston’s effervescent comic energy (catch her in The Holdovers, if you haven’t) should help make this one sing. Wendell Pierce co-stars.
The Regime (HBO)
RELEASE DATE: March 3
This series created by Will Tracy (The Menu, Succession) series takes viewers inside a fictional authoritarian state as it falls apart as Americans face the prospect of an election involving one candidate facing a raft of criminal charges who likes to occasionally promise that he’ll be a dictator for a little bit. If that sounds like too much, it does star Kate Winslet and makes everything easier to watch.
Girls5eva Season 3 (Netflix)
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We last saw the Girls preparing to go off on tour for the first time since reuniting. Now they also must wrestle with making the leap from Peacock to Netflix for their third season. To ease the transition, series creator Meredith Scardino is writing or co-writing half the scripts this time out.
Manhunt (Apple TV+)
RELEASE DATE: March 15
A conspiracy thriller based on the book by James L. Swanson, Manhunt chronicles the search for John Wilkes Booth in the wake of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. The cast includes Hamish Linklater (as Honest Abe!), Tobias Menzies, and Brandon Flynn, turning the chase to catch Lincoln’s killer into a riveting mystery.
Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
RELEASE DATE: March 21
Apple TV sets the dial to 1969 in a comedy starring Kristen Wiig as a woman who hopes to work her way into upscale Palm Beach society, helped (or hindered, it remains to be seen) by a powerhouse cast that includes Laura Dern, Allison Janney, and Carol Burnett.
3 Body Problem (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: March 21
The Three-Body Problem is arguably one of the most important works of international science fiction of the 21st century. The challenge of adapting it for television inspired writers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss to team up on their first series since Game of Thrones. They’ve teamed with writer Alexander Woo on the show’s creation.
Fallout (Prime Video)
RELEASE DATE: April 12
The beloved video games series comes to television in this post-apocalyptic Los Angeles-based show. Westworld collaborators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan developed the series alongside co-creators Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 (Paramount+)
RELEASE DATE: April
The first phase of modern Star Trek is coming to an end, between the finale of Picard and the upcoming final season of the show that kicked off this new trend: Discovery. According to Paramount’s synopsis for the premiere’s airing at the upcoming SXSW Film Festival, this final run for the 31st century’s most dedicated explorers will involve an 800-year-old Romulan vessel and an epic chase across the universe — one that will hopefully prove an entertaining bow for Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her ever-shifting crew of loyal officers.
Bridgerton Season 3 (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: May 16
Rip open your bodices: Netflix has brought back Bridgerton for an increasingly rare third season because audiences can’t get enough of the ins and outs (in all manner of the phrase) of Regency society. Look for it to be split into two parts, with part one premiering in May, and the second half later in the summer.
House of the Dragon Season 2 (HBO)
RELEASE DATE: Summer
It’s 2024 and The Winds of Winter still isn’t done yet, but George R.R. Martin fans at least have season 2 of House of the Dragon to look forward to this summer. While viewers complained about pacing issues in the first season, season 2 promises a dazzling spectacle of fantasy special effects and more palace intrigue.
Arcane Season 2 (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: November
One of the most well-regarded animated series (based on League of Legends) returns for a second season, as two sisters continue to find themselves on conflicting sides in a war over technology.
Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2 (Paramount Network)
RELEASE DATE: November
While it is still unclear if Kevin Costner will be back for this second half of season 5, we do know that this stretch of episodes is the last for the incredibly popular series that has spawned several spinoffs.
Star Wars: The Acolyte (Disney+)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
Leslye Headland (Russian Doll)’s take on the Star Wars universe is at least more ambitious than the recent spate of cameo-friendly tie-ins we’ve had of late: a show set centuries before the events of the regular Star Wars Universe, The Acolyte sends us back to The High Republic and the height of the Jedi for untold adventures. The cast includes Amandla Stenberg, Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Carrie-Anne Moss and more.
The Jinx Season 2 (HBO/Max)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
The burp heard round the world: 2015’s The Jinx was a watershed moment for true-crime TV, probing into the mysterious deaths of the women around New York real estate mogul Robert Durst — deaths that Durst himself inadvertently laid claim to in the show’s final minutes. Nearly a decade later, Andrew Jarecki and crew are returning to the case with new material to cover the years in between — including prison calls from Durst himself.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
In the wake of its abrupt removal from Paramount+, the Nickelodeon-coproduced spinoff of Star Trek beheld an uncertain fate. But as luck would have it, Netflix would rescue the misfit crew of the Protostar from limbo, and its completed second season should air earlier this year. Trek fans who slept on it because it seems like it’s “for kids” are missing out: It’s some of the most invigorating, visually-exciting Trek we’ve seen in years.
Ripley (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
If Saltburn got you longing for a fresh take on The Talented Mr. Ripley, you’re in luck with Netflix’s lush series Ripley, featuring Andrew Scott as a version of deceptively dangerous hanger-on Tom Ripley that hews a bit more closely to Patricia Highsmith’s original version.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (Disney+)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
The Star Wars train keeps rolling with Skeleton Crew, a coming-of-age story that overlaps with the Mandalorian timeline, but that’s unlikely to mean a special appearance by Grogu as the mysterious new kid in school (though maybe??).
Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC/BBC America)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
If you’re in Australia, then you’ve already gotten to see the first season of this spin-off of the wildly popular sci-fi series. For the rest of the world, you’ll have to wait sometime later this year to see Krysten Ritter star in a story that takes place years after the original, playing a woman who wakes up from surgery to discover that she’s a clone.
Interview with the Vampire Season 2 (AMC)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
AMC’s campy, sexy delight returns for a second season, as mopey Louis and hammy Lestat continue their unholy, drama-filled relationship in this lavish adaptation of Anne Rice’s elaborate world of vampires, witches, and other very horny creatures of the night.
What We Do in the Shadows Season 6 (FX)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
All good things must come to an end, and so too must the best sitcom of the past decade. After its sixth season, What We Do in the Shadows will end on top. It remains to be seen whether Nandor and Guillermo will finally admit their love for each other, but even if not, the loss of the series will leave a hilariously cheeky hole in the TV schedule for years to come.
Death in the Dorms Season 2 (Hulu)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
Perhaps you’re feeling too cheerful about the state of the world. If so, give Hulu’s Death in the Dorms a try. Recounting the (unrelated) murders of college students across the country, it continues into a second season, because apparently there’s a bottomless well of tragedy in college dorm rooms.
The Boys Season 4 (Prime Video)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
Strap in for the best superhero media around right now, as The Boys rides into a gloriously gruesome fourth season. It may seem unlikely that they could top last season’s, uh, explosive sight gag involving Termite, but they’re undoubtedly going to try, to the audience’s delight and horror.
Squid Game Season 2 (Netflix)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
One of the most talked about TV series of 2021 returns for a second season, just in time for America to continue its steady slide into dystopia.
X-Men ’97 (Disney+)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
In the 90s, the X-Men animated series was key to the birth of lots of fans of the mutants, if not the comics starring them. The formative series returns for at least 10 episodes, with much of the original voice cast still onboard.
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries (Disney+)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
The people loved Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness in WandaVision. They loved her so much, they propelled her theme song onto the charts. Will they love her in her own series? Disney+ is betting on it and bringing back WandaVision writer Jac Schaeffer to make it happen.
The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 (Apple TV+)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
AppleTV+’s most-watched series to date may have exhausted its source material, but the streamer thinks there are still stories to tell with those characters. Jennifer Garner deserves a proper showcase that lets her be more than a patient wife and mother. This promises to be that for her.
Evil Season 4 (Paramount+)
RELEASE DATE: TBD
Nothing on network television makes sinning look this good or fun. We at The Spool may reject evil in real life, but we love it on our small screens.