2020 is underway, and you know what that means -- more televised content than any human being could reasonably consume. Hey, they don't our era "Peak TV" for nothing! Between the networks, cable channels and streamers (including new and emerging streamers like Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and NBC's Peacock,) there are countless upcoming TV shows to put on your radar for the year, across all genres and featuring some of the most exciting talents in the game, in front of and behind the camera.
With that in mind, we've put together a handy guide of the upcoming titles we're most excited about across the board. Some of them are high-profile continuations of ongoing franchises, some of them are prestige adaptations of celebrated novels, and some of them are a complete darn mystery beyond the creative talent on board. But all of them have something that's got the team excited, and with Winter TCA officially behind us, we've got a wide-ranging look at the most exciting titles on the upcoming schedule. And if you're wondering just how much TV these is these days -- we had to whittle the list down to a robust 40. So break out your calendar and get ready to mark down some key dates with 40 upcoming new TV shows we can't wait to watch.
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Premiere Date: January 7
Network: NBC
From show creator Austin Winsberg and executive produced by Paul Feig, the NBC series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist follows Zoey Clarke (Jane Levy), a computer coder who suddenly finds herself with the ability to hear the innermost thoughts and desires of those around her – whether family, co-workers or complete strangers – in the form of popular songs that are often accompanied by full-on performance numbers. While the jury is still out on her ability being an unwanted curse or an incredible gift, Zoey finds herself connecting with the world in a way that can’t help but deeply affect her.
Anytime a family member is sick, it’s tough on everyone, especially when that loved one needs full-time care and can no longer verbally communicate. The discovery that Zoey’s ability also works as a way to communicate with her father is so deeply meaningful that it makes emotional breakdowns from strangers or declarations of love from a friend that you didn’t know felt that way more bearable. The series tells a beautiful, delightful, sweet, heartbreaking and magical story that is easy to get attached to. – Christina Radish
The Outsider
Premiere Date: January 12
Network: HBO
The Outsider looks, to me, to be television catnip. Er, television-watcher-nip. I’m not a cat, I swear! Anyway, The Outsider looks good. It’s a somber crime drama (check) based on a Stephen King novel (check) with episodes written by gritty screenwriters and novelists like Richard Price and Dennis Lehane (check), directed by acclaimed filmmakers like Karyn Kusama (check), and starring an unreal ensemble cast featuring Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Jason Bateman, Bill Camp, and Paddy Considine (a big ol’ check next to all these names, honey).
The story will feel familiar to those who’ve enjoyed previous prestige TV crime dramas like Broadchurch -- Police detective Ralph Anderson (Mendelsohn) is on the case of the death of an 11-year-old boy. His prime suspect? Terry Maitland (Bateman), a beloved Little League coach in the community -- but the town isn’t having that accusation. So, with the help of private investigator Holly Gibney (Erivo), Anderson must sort through a litany of clues, false flags, biases, and purposeful obfuscations to find the truth. Trailers promise a much more grounded, human-scale King adaptation than the generally supernatural takes we’ve been getting in 2019 works like It Chapter Two or Doctor Sleep, and I am here for it. On a final note, I must reiterate, despite any vicious rumors you’re hearing, that I am not a human, I am a cat. Er, wait, reverse that, shit! -- Gregory Lawrence
Seven Worlds, One Planet
Premiere Date: January 18
Networks: BBC America, AMC, IFC, Sundance TV
Blue Planet II was perhaps the best TV series of 2017, not just among mini-series or documentaries, but on all of television. So we have high hopes that Seven Worlds, One Planet will be up to the challenge of clearing the admittedly high bar set by the incredible nature series. David Attenborough returns, so this show’s already halfway there. And early indications from its BBC premiere last fall suggest that we Americans are in for a treat when it arrives on BBC America this January.
While Blue Planet II delved deep into the planet’s oceans and waterways, this series will visit each of the planet’s continents to explore their climates, terrain, and unique fauna. It aims to capture millions of years’ worth of not only tectonic activity and surface weathering but also how those landmass changes shaped the animal life that arose there. Documentaries like Seven Worlds, One Planet are essential to understanding life on Earth, how different it can be, and ultimately how alike we all are. – Dave Trumbore
Avenue 5
Premiere Date: January 19
Network: HBO
From British politics to American politics to Russian politics to… outer space? Avenue 5 is definitely a dramatic heighten for Armando Iannucci, the satirist responsible for pieces of vulgar, insult-driven, misanthropic brilliance like The Thick of It, In the Loop, The Death of Stalin, and Veep. Iannucci left Veep before its run was over to work on Avenue 5, and he brought many of his core writers with him, including Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, Ian Martin, and Will Smith (not that one).
“Avenue 5” is the name of a near-future space cruise ship, where the richest folks can hobnob among the stars. The ship is captained by Hugh Laurie (with a luxurious beard), assisted by crew members like Suzy Nakamura, Zach Woods, Lenora Crichlow, and Josh Gad having the time of his life as the eccentric owner. However, what happens to the ship’s passengers when a malfunction sends the whole thing wildly off course, with a long trip back to Earth on the horizon and not enough resources to sustain everyone until then? If you’re a fan of any of Iannucci and company’s previous work, you can guess they’ll devolve into base human squabbles, conflicts, and creatively worded flights of swearing fancy.
While Avenue 5 does promise to skewer late-stage capitalism and tech-bro venture capitalists with too much money and imagination to burn, trailers released thus far promise a slightly sillier affair than other Iannucci works. If neither Star Trek: Discovery nor The Orville have scratched your small-screen sci-fi spaceship itch, Avenue 5 may get you what you need -- and not just because Ethan Phillips is around to poke fun at his Star Trek: Voyager role.
9-1-1: Lone Star
Premiere Date: January 19
Network: Fox
Ryan Murphy just can't stop winning and one of his latest smash hits was the Fox series 9-1-1, co-created with Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, a soapy high-drama procedural about the first responders of L.A.. With 9-1-1: Lone Star, the hit series gets a spinoff that takes the action to Austin, Texas, led by the impossibly charming duo of Rob Lowe and Liv Tyler. Lowe stars as a fireman and 9/11 first-responder grappling with the long-term after-effects on his health when he and his son pick up and leave NYC for the Lone Star State. If you like the original series, you'll probably like this one too, jam-packed with "stranger than fiction" stunts of heroism you just know have to be based on a true story and plenty of scripted drama that could only come from the mind of a writing team. Indulgent and over-the-top but with just enough heart, this one could turn out to be a success on par with the breakout series that launched it. -- Haleigh Foutch
Aquafina Is Nora from Queens
Premiere Date: Jan 22
Network: Comedy Central
Fresh off her critically acclaimed, quieter than usual work in Lulu Wang’s dramedy The Farewell, Awkwafina’s next big project will feel more familiar -- she’s literally playing herself. Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens refers to her real name, Nora Lum. And the Comedy Central program, produced and written in part by Awkwafina, will tell a semi-fictionalized, louder-than-real-life story of her arrested development in her 20s, trying to figure out what to do with her life while living at home in Queens with several of her family members, all of whom are perfectly cast. Her dad? BD Wong, having fun playing with lower energy than usual. Her grandmother? Lori Tan Chinn, who recently crushed in Orange Is the New Black. And her cousin? The rising comedy superstar Bowen Yang, currently scorching the earth on Saturday Night Live.
The show comes in part from Lucia Aniello, who serves as executive producer and directed the pilot. Her last Comedy Central show was Broad City, and it’s not hard to see some of that influential show’s DNA in the first looks at Nora from Queens -- bright colors, loud voices, bold attitudes, and a light touch of the surreal. But Awkwafina’s work looks to be uniquely personal, an examination of her own life and family situation that’s about as one to one as a family sitcom can get (just look at the family members she name-checked in her Golden Globes speech and see how much they line up with who’s in this show). Awkwafina has been a relentlessly engaging, interesting voice in the comedy sphere since she first blew up, and I’m looking forward to seeing her drive her own vehicle. -- Gregory Lawrence
Star Trek: Picard
Premiere Date: January 23
Network: CBS All Access
To be honest, I haven’t gotten much out of the post - J. J. Abrams era of Star Trek. The recent reboot trilogy featured some delightful performances (in particular Karl Urban absolutely crushing a subtle DeForest Kelly impression to play Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy), but the shift of focus from traditional science fiction to Star Wars-style action really disappointed me. Star Trek was never an action franchise, and that’s not what I liked about the Original Series or The Next Generation. I experienced the same lukewarm response to Star Trek Discovery, the first CBS All Access Star Trek series that sticks more closely to the Abrams formula of solving every conflict with epic space battles and phaser fights. Again, these things are objectively awesome, but they aren’t what I like about Star Trek (for example, in TOS and TNG, the phasers are rarely used and almost never effective against the episode’s threat).
Star Trek: Picard seems aimed more at curmudgeonly old Trek fans like myself; it’s a nostalgia grab on its face, and it’s peppered with cameos of popular characters from TNG and Voyager, including Ryker (Jonathan Frakes), Troi (Marina Sirtis), Data (Brent Spiner), and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). But Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard didn’t become one of the most beloved Star Trek characters of all time for no reason, and I’m genuinely pretty excited to see him return. Even though the trailers tease a very Star Wars story, in which Picard seems to be occupying an Obi-Wan Kenobi role mentoring a young “chosen one” warrior, I can’t wait to watch this goddamn show if for no other reason than to see Picard hang out on his sweet, sweet vineyard. -- Thomas Reimann
Briarpatch
Premiere Date: February 6
Network: USA
I’m a sucker for limited series mysteries, so if you’ll excuse the phrase, Briarpatch is extremely my shit. It’s based on a novel by Ross Thomas that I 100% refuse to read; nothing against Mr. Thomas, but it’s way more fun going into a mystery show knowing absolutely nothing about what is going on (Gillian Flynn received the same treatment from me when I started watching Sharp Objects, and I intend to give Stephen King the identical kiss-off when The Outsider premieres this month). Rosario Dawson stars as Allegra Dill, a detective investigating the murder of her sister in the small Texas town where they grew up. Judging by the trailer, the show promises to be an appealingly bizarre pulpy thriller, and Dawson has historically kicked the shit out of every role she’s ever inhabited. I can’t wait to watch her sleuth her way through this grimy Texas town and blow the ten-gallon lid off of whatever conspiracy is hidden underneath. -- Thomas Reimann
Mythic Quest
Premiere Date: February 7
Network: Apple TV+
From It's Always Sunny creator and star Rob McElhenney and Community and Modern Family producer Megan Ganz, Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet is an absolutely hilarious workplace comedy about the insane world of game development. McElhenney stars as Ian, the brilliant but mercurial creator of a popular shared-world video game. Co-stars include Charlotte Nicdao, Danny Pudi, the great F. Murray Abraham, and David Hornsby (who also co-produces, as does fellow Sunny star Charlie Day), and with that arsenal of talent, Mythic Quest promises to be one of the best new comedies of the year. -- Haleigh Foutch
Locke & Key
Premiere Date: February 7
Network: Netflix
The Netflix original series Locke & Key is the long-awaited adaptation of the best-selling comic book series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez for IDW comics. I first saw a TV adaptation of Locke & Key back when I got my hands on the 2011 Fox pilot that was directed Mark Romanek (which also happened to be one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen) but never picked up to series, and then the source material went into limbo for a bit while it was looked at for a possible multi-movie adaptation. That also didn’t work out, along with other networks that considered a TV version but eventually passed, before finally making its way to Netflix.
Now with Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel) and Meredith Averill (The Haunting of Hill House) spearheading it, this coming-of-age mystery about the unbreakable bonds of family follows the Locke siblings – Kinsey (Emilia Jones), Tyler (Connor Jessup) and Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) – and their mother, Nina (Darby Stanchfield), who move into their ancestral home, Keyhouse, after their family patriarch is gruesomely murdered under mysterious circumstances. When they discover the house is full of magical keys and they explore their unique powers, a demon awakens that will stop at nothing to get what it wants.
After waiting so long to finally see this material brought to the screen, I’m excited to see what this team, in front of and behind the camera, does with it, and I’m grateful that it’s in the longer form of TV series, as it’s not a story that can be told with one film. – Christina Radish
High Fidelity
Premiere Date: February 14
Network: Hulu
Inspired by the film of the same name (out in 2000), which itself is based on the 1995 British novel by Nick Hornby, the Hulu TV series High Fidelity (developed by writers Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka) centers on Rob Brooks (Zoë Kravitz, who’s also an executive producer), a female record store owner in the gentrified neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. As Rob revisits past relationships through music and pop culture, in the hopes of understanding why her relationships continue to fail, she realizes that she may have to eventually face some harsh realities, if she’s ever going to truly sort out her life.
Zoë Kravitz stepping into the lead role in this story is an inspired choice, especially fresh off of her great run on two seasons of Big Little Lies and before we get to see her take on Catwoman in The Batman, as a female take on the character played in the movie by John Cusack. – Christina Radish
The Good Lord Bird
Premiere Date: February 16
Network: Showtime
Vague title aside, The Good Lord Bird may end up being as socially and culturally relevant as Mrs. America. Or maybe not. It’s likely got more in common with Mark Twain’s style of storytelling than it is beholden to historical accuracy. In other words, it should make for good TV.
Ethan Hawke and Mark Richard adapted James McBride’s 2013 award-winning fiction novel for this eight-episode Showtime series from Blumhouse Television. Albert Hughes, one half of The Hughes Brothers (The Book of Eli), directs the majority of the episodes following abolitionist John Brown (Hawke) and his eventual raid on Harper’s Ferry. For many, this series may be the first time they’ve heard the term “Bleeding Kansas” since high school, so we’re willing to grant some poetic license if it means revisiting this tough but pivotal time in American history. – Dave Trumbore
Hunters
Premire Date: February 21
Network: Amazon
We’ve already seen a trailer for Hunters, and Amazon’s stylized Nazi-hunting drama series is more than willing to pull back the curtain on all the talent and insanity packed into it. Hunters hails from creator David Weil, with executive producer Jordan Peele and Weil’s co-showrunner Nikki Toscano (24: Legacy). It stars Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, Kate Mulvany, Tiffany Boone, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Louis Ozawa Changchien, and Josh Radnor, and features Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (The Current War) as the pilot’s director. But honestly, it had me at “hunting Nazis.”
With the rumored rise of the Fourth Reich in late 1970s New York City, a ragtag band of vigilantes is tasked with taking down the no-good Nazis before they can reorganize. I’d love to say it sounds like Amazon has a bloody fun alt-history take to replace The Man in the High Castle, but LOL you’ve seen the headlines. It’s basically a how-to documentary at this point. And we’re taking notes. – Dave Trumbore
Dispatches from Elsewhere
Premiere Date: March 1
Network: AMC
Executive produced, created by, and starring Jason Segal, AMC's new 10-part anthology series Dispatches from Elsewhere is a whimsical dose of magical realism built around the story of four strangers who find themselves teamed up on a quest to solve a puzzle "hiding just behind the veil of everyday life." With an ensemble that stars Segel, Sally Field, Andre Benjamin, Richard E. Grant and Eve Lindley (poised to be the breakout), Dispatches from Elsewhere promises a charming dive into the existential with a powerhouse cast of diverse performers and characters. At the AMC TCA panel, Segel described his work on the series as a "creative check-in," and considering the combination of heart and comedy we've seen from his previous writing works a la Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Five-Year Engagement (not to mention his underseen, extraordinary performance in The End of the Tour), Dispatches from Elsewhere looks to pack some depth into the delights. -- Haleigh Foutch
Devs
Premiere Date: March 5
Network: FX on Hulu
Alex Garland has written novels, penned screenplays, and directed stunning sci-fi films Ex Machina and Annihilation, and with FX's Devs he makes the leap to TV with another complex, challenging, and somewhat terrifying take on a science fiction tale that's as much about the science as the fiction. This time around, Garland is digging into determinism vs. free will through the lens of a tech startup working on a mysterious operation called Devs (and featuring a seriously unsettling sky-high monolith of a young girl at the heart of their campus.) The cast includes Nick Offerman, Sonoya Minizu, and Allison Pill, and while much of the show remains mysterious, there's no doubt Garland is going to spin a mind-bending tale that muddles up human nature and hard science, captured with his visionary eye.. -- Haleigh Foutch
Amazing Stories
Premiere Date: March 6
Network: Apple TV+
Steven Spielberg‘s beloved sci-fi/fantasy anthology series Amazing Stories is getting a reboot on Apple TV+ and Spielberg himself is on board, returning to executive produce the new take. “A reimagining of the original anthology series, each episode of Amazing Stories will transport the audience to worlds of wonder through the lens of today’s most imaginative filmmakers, directors and writers," per the official materials.
The Plot Against America
Premiere Date: March 16
Network: HBO
Firmly filed in the "timely" category of HBO's upcoming drama slate, The Plot Against America adapts Phillip Roth's acclaimed novel of the same name for a six-part miniseries from The Wire creator David Simon. Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan, and John Turturro star in the alt-history series, which explores what might have happened if Charles Lindbergh, an aviator-hero and xenophobic populist, defeated Franklin D. Roosevelt in the election and turned America towards fascism. -- Haleigh Foutch
Little Fires Everywhere
Premiere Date: March 18
Network: Hulu
My excitement for Little Fires Everywhere mostly stems from the source material. Author Celeste Ng drew raves for her 2017 novel about two families living in 1990s Shaker Heights who are brought together through their children. The limited series adaptation stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, two great talents who bring some star power to this particular property. But Witherspoon, in particular, has a penchant for great taste in books (see: Wild, Big Little Lies) and I can’t wait to see what Little Fires Everywhere brings to the table. – Adam Chitwood
The Walking Dead: World Beyond
Premiere Date: April 12
Network: AMC
The Walking Dead will go down in history for changing the way comics and horror stories were portrayed on cable TV and how audiences responded to them; the flagship series was a game-changer for sure. One wonders, however, just how far the franchise can stretch. It’s already seen the usual glut of multimedia releases expanding Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s original tale, including a sister series Fear the Walking Dead and ambitious plans to continue the story of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in three films. But this year, TWD will also go … Beyond!
The Walking Dead: World Beyond aims to advance the story of the post-apocalypse a little further down the road. 10 years further, to be precise. 10’s a magic number since that’s the episode order that AMC has given to the younger-skewing spinoff, for now. It centers on the first generation of kids who come of age in the post-apocalyptic era, specifically following the lives of two young female protagonists. So, it’s kinda like The CW version of The Walking Dead, which could be interesting. We’ll give this one a fair shake and check out the Jordan Vogt-Roberts-directed pilot at the very least; any TWD title deserves that much. – Dave Trumbore
Mrs. America
Premiere Date: April 15
Network: FX on Hulu
Normally a series like Mrs. America wouldn’t be on my list, but there’s something about the subject matter that’s got me interested. Emmy-winner Dahvi Waller, who’s written and produced for Eli Stone, Mad Men, and Halt and Catch Fire, created this original series about the Equal Rights Amendment movement of the 1970s. Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett) opposed it, in line with her socially and politically conservative views.
Countering those views are famous feminist Gloria Steinem (Rose Byrne); Shirley Chisholm (Uzo Aduba), the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination; Jill Ruckelshaus (Elizabeth Banks); Brenda Feigen (Ari Graynor); Betty Friedman (Tracey Ullman); and many more pro-feminism icons. I’m expecting this series, which will arrive on FX on Hulu, to be a crash course in 70s feminism for most folks, along with the interesting wrinkle that it features a staunch conservative opponent of the movement at the core of the storytelling. – Dave Trumbore