The 50 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2019

10. “Fleabag” Season 2/“Killing Eve” Season 2 (Amazon/BBC America)
Synopsis: The further adventures of a young, messy woman navigating life in London, and of spy Eve and her hunt for an international assassin.
What You Need To Know: Her early series “Crashing” aside (not the Pete Holmes one, another one), Phoebe Waller-Bridge continues to go from strength to strength. She was even pretty much the best non-Donald Glover thing about “Solo.” And she’s about to have a big 2019, with both of her signatures series returning to the air, one after a substantial gap. It was the debut of “Fleabag” back in 2016 that made her name, and while many wondered if it would be a one-off, Waller-Bridge has now penned a second series that shot late last year. The entire cast will be returning, including soon-to-be-Oscar-nominee Olivia Colman, with “Sherlock” star Andrew Scott also joining for the second time around. Meanwhile, the production of that show means that Waller-Bridge isn’t directly writing for the second season of her brilliant reinvention of the spy thriller, but we’re sure her presence will be all over it. “The Mighty Boosh” star Julian Barratt joins the cast this time around. Waller-Bridge also has an HBO pilot, “Run,” in the works with Merrit Wever and Domhnall Gleeson starring, but that hasn’t yet been picked up to series so it’ll be 2020 before it’s on air, most likely.
Airdate: “Killing Eve” could feasibly be back around the same time it debuted last year, in April, “Fleabag” will probably be closer to the summer.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqxX_JnjUfC/

9. “Fosse/Verdon” (FX)
Synopsis: Biopic tracking the romantic and creative coupling of celebrated choreographer and director Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, one of Broadway’s most famous dancers.
What You Need To Know: As the success of “La La Land” and “The Greatest Showman” has continued to prove, musicals are massive draws to audiences these days, but they’ve historically been trickier to make work on TV, aside from a couple of exceptions like “Glee.” “Fosse/Verdon” isn’t a straight-ahead musical, but it looks to be immersed in that world, examining two legendary Broadway figures, and with the creative team behind two of the biggest shows of recent years — “Dear Evan Hansen” writer Steven Levenson and “Hamilton” director Thomas Kail (Lin-Manuel Miranda is also executive producing). And it’s hard to think of a more promising pair to play the central duo than Sam Rockwell, who’ll be Fosse, and Michelle Williams, who’ll play Verdon (Margaret Qualley, Norbert Leo Butz, Aya Cash, Nate Corddry, and Paul Reiser are also in the cast). Fosse’s own semi-autobiographical “All That Jazz” is one of the greatest movie musicals ever made — if this comes anywhere close, it’ll be one of the shows of the year.
Airdate: Probably the fall.

8. “Central Park Five” (Netflix)
Synopsis: The shocking true story of the five men who were wrongly convicted of the rape of a jogger in 1989, spending years in prison before eventually winning release.
What You Need To Know: After her foray into fantasy with “A Wrinkle In Time,” Ava DuVernay returns to Netflix, who released her terrific documentary “13th,” for another look at racism and the systematic biases of the criminal justice, this time in the form of a dramatic miniseries looking at an infamous case that, among other things, showed the racist colors of Donald Trump back in the day. Penned with “Benjamin Button” writer Robin Swicord, novelist Attica Locke and “The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister & Pete”’s Michael Starrbury, DuVernay will direct all four episodes, reuniting (excitingly) with DP Bradford Young as well. The cast is of the high caliber you might expect as well, with Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Aunjanue Ellis, Kylie Bunbury, Storm Reid, Joshua Jackson, Christopher Jackson, Adepero Oduye, Blair Underwood and Aurora Perrineau all involved.
Airdate: Filmed last summer, so could arrive this summer, but maybe more likely in the fall.

7. “Devs” (FX)
Synopsis: A young computer engineer infiltrates a tech company who she believes are behind the disappearance of her boyfriend.
What You Need To Know: It was always clear that Alex Garland was talented — you couldn’t write things like “28 Days Later” and “Sunshine” without being talented. But he’s really come into his own since he started directing his own scripts, first with Oscar-winning sleeper hit “Ex Machina,” then this year’s extraordinary “Annihliation.” And next, we’ll get to see what Garland can do on TV thanks to the FX sci-fi thriller that he’s written and will direct all eight episodes of. It’s set in the tech world — a promising setting for someone like Garland — and a very intriguing cast has been put together, with “Ex Machina” and “Maniac” star Sonoya Mizuno in the lead role, Nick Offerman cast intriguingly against type as the reclusive genius behind the central company, and Zach Grenier, Karl Glusman, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Alison Pill, and Cailee Spaeny in support.
Airdate: Probably later in the year.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/973933557344169985

6. “Big Little Lies” Season 2 (HBO)
Synopsis: The women of Monterey must deal with the aftermath of the death that occurred at the end of season 1.
What You Need To Know: There was always a risk that something of the caliber of “Big Little Lies” would struggle to add up to more than the sum of its parts. But in fact, the first season of HBO’s drama was tremendous — entertaining, twisty, gorgeously acted and well directed. But the signs are that season 2 could turn out to be even better. Almost all the cast are back, this time joined by another titan in the shape of Meryl Streep, who’ll play the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s character, presumably in town in search of answers after his death. And while original helmer Jean-Marc Vallee isn’t returning, his boots are being filled by “Fish Tank” and “American Honey” director Andrea Arnold which is a significant upgrade (no offense to Vallee, who’s very good, but there are few directors alive more exciting than Arnold).
Airdate: Nothing confirmed, but we’d wager this sneaks in between “True Detective” wrapping up in February and “Game Of Thrones” starting in April.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1067106233759391745

5. “The Mandalorian” (Disney+)
Synopsis: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, this follows the adventures of a lone gunman in the far reaches of the galaxy between the end of the Empire and the birth of the First Order
What You Need To Know: After a few false starts (somewhere in a vault in Lucasfilm, there’s an entire season of George Lucas-commissioned scripts from A-list writers for a live-action TV series that was never made, partly due to the sale to Disney), 2019 is the year that we finally see a “Star Wars” live-action TV series, with “The Mandalorian” set to be the killer app for Disney+ when it launches later in the year. Created by Jon Favreau, the series seems to be steering into the Western elements of the franchise more (or even, if some speculation is true, a bit of “Lone Wolf & Cub” in the mix), with Pedro Pascal playing the Boba Fett-ish lead, ahead of an appealingly eccentric cast that includes Gina Carano, Omid Abtahi, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers (!), Nick Nolte (!!) and Werner Herzog (!!!). Favreau isn’t directing in the end, but there’s a talented bunch assembled in his place, including “Star Wars” animated veteran Dave Filoni, Taika Waititi, Rick Famuyiwa, Deborah Chow, and Bryce Dallas Howard.
Airdate: Probably Q4 of 2019.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1072957535227801600

4. “Too Old To Die Young” (Amazon)
Synopsis: A grieving police officer crosses paths with the man who killed his partner, finding himself in an LA underworld of hit men, Yakuza soldiers, cartel assassins, Russian mafia, and teen killers.
What You Need To Know: After “Drive” became an instant cult hit, Nicolas Winding Refn seemed primed to be a cine-bro favorite in a way that few filmmakers since Tarantino have managed. But his provocative nature instead led to “Only God Forgives” and “The Neon Demon,” films that at best were divisive and at worst actively audience-repelling. Nevertheless, mainstream success might well come calling again with his Amazon show, another sure-to-be-stylish crime drama that reteams him happily with DP Darius Khondji and composer Cliff Martinez. Miles Teller, John Hawkes and “Neon Demon” standout Jena Malone lead the cast, but perhaps the most reassuring team member is co-creator Ed Brubaker, maybe the best writer of crime comics (like “Criminal,” “Fatale” and “The Fade Out”) today, and someone who might give a little more narrative rigor than Refn’s last couple of movies.
Airdate: Probably the fall.

3. “Mindhunter” Season 2 (Netflix)
Synopsis: Holden Ford, Bill Tench, and Dr. Wendy Carr continue their investigations into the mind of the serial killer.
What You Need To Know: We needed another serial killer show like we needed another decomposing body under our porc- oh, uh, pretend we didn’t say that. Anyway, even in a saturated genre, David Fincher and Joe Penhall’s tremendous “Mindhunter” stood out with its psychological realism and filmmaking craft, and its good notices meant that a second season, already a likelihood, became a certainty. The BTK Killer teased across Season 1 likely won’t move to the fore yet unless Penhall and his writing team depart massively from history, but we’re likely to see some other real-life killers turning up, including the Atlanta child murders between 1979 and 1981, and Charles Manson himself (to be played by Damon Herriman, who also has the same role in Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”) this year. Fincher has returned to direct, joined this time by “One False Move” helmer Carl Franklin and, excitingly, “The Assassination Of Jesse James’s” Andrew Dominik.
Airdate: Unannounced, we’re guessing spring 2019 unless it sneaks up early in the new year.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1035195978440032256

2. “Atlanta” Season 3 (FX)
Synopsis: The continuing story of Earn, Paper Boi, Darius, and Van
What You Need To Know: Following up one of the most praised TV series in living memory had to be a tricky job, but the second season of Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” didn’t skip a beat. In fact, it was arguably more consistent and surprising even than the first, and in “Teddy Perkins” produced one of the most distinctive things on screens of any kind in 2018. With the show continuing to be an awards magnet, a renewal for a third season came quickly, with a promise that there wouldn’t be as long a break as the eighteen month gap between Season 1 and Season 2 (a gap caused in part by the extended shoot that Glover was caught on for “Solo.” That said, there’s been no exact date or details on Season 3, so it’s possible we’re in for another wait. When it does come, Glover’s brother Stephen has promised more stories focused on women this time around.
Airdate: In theory, Glover just wrapped up a Childish Gambino tour and doesn’t have any pressing movie bookings, so this could shoot imminently if the scripts are ready, which would put it on the air in the fall.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1006595294069309440

1. “Game Of Thrones” Season 8 (HBO)
Synopsis: An animal-hating veterinarian’s life is shaken up when his ex-girlfriend takes over his workplace. Wait, no, sorry, that’s the premise for the short-lived 2012 NBC sitcom “Animal Practice.”
What You Need To Know: It’s a marker of the ways that the pop-culture landscape has shifted that a live-action “Star Wars” TV show debuts in 2019, and “Game Of Thrones” is still expected to be a far, far bigger deal. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’s adaptation of George R. R Martin’s books literally changed TV, showing that blockbuster-style scope and convoluted plotting could work on a mass scale on the small screen, and it’s now one of the biggest things in entertainment. But all good things must come to an end (even if this particular good thing has several spin-offs being planned, one of which, starring Naomi Watts, will shoot a pilot in 2019), and the story will finally wrap up in the eighth season (which is nominally shorter at only six episodes, but each episode is expected to run at more or less feature length). Can Benioff and Weiss truly satisfy every fan? Probably not, because fans are mental, but they’ve earned more than enough credit over the years that we’re confident they can wrap things up in a satisfying manner.
Airdate: April, though the exact date is TBC.

Bonus Entry:

The “Deadwood” and “Breaking Bad” movies
2019 looks to be the year of Peak TV nostalgia (something of a weird concept, we’ll admit), with three of the most loved prestige cable dramas all getting one-off continuations. You might have spotted “Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints Of Newark” on our Anticipated Movies list, given that that’s confirmed for a theatrical release, but there are two other probably going small-screen that need attention (and we’d figured we’d put them in their own little section at the end here). David Milch’s Western series “Deadwood” is one of our all-time favorite shows, and one that was brutally cut down with threads left dangling after its third season. Now, after almost a decade of speculation over a movie to wrap up things, it finally began filming at the end of this year, with the entire surviving cast, including Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, and John Hawkes, all back for more. It’ll air on HBO sometime in 2019. Meanwhile, “Better Call Saul” still continues, but Vince Gilligan isn’t done with the “Breaking Bad”-verse: he’s got a movie on the way (which could be a theatrical release, but seems more likely to be headed for TV) that, if rumors are true, will reveal what happened to Aaron Paul’s Jesse after the events of the series finale. Things are more mysterious on this front but it’ll be a huge event whenever it arrives.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1075443416157147136

Honorable Mentions:

Of course, we only have room for so many, and we didn’t want to just stuff this list with returning shows. But rest assured that some of our 2018 favorites including “Sorry For Your Loss,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “The Good Place,” “Better Call Saul,” “The Chi,” “Succession,” “The Good Fight,” “Bojack Horseman,” “G.L.O.W,” “The Terror” and “The End Of The F***ing World” are all set to return in 2019, as is comedy favorite “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (though after the lightly underwhelming last season, we’re hoping for an uptick again).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXnSTTUPm9U

But there’s also plenty of brand new shows that we were waiting to see a little more about, or are a touch skeptical of, before we really get amped for them. Among the headliners are Showtime’s ’80s Wall Street comedy “Black Monday” starring Don Cheadle, Amazon’s superhero parody “The Boys” with Karl Urban (both of those shows hail from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, coincidentally), Mindy Kaling’s “Four Weddings And A Funeral” reboot on Hulu, Orlando Bloom in fantasy noir “Carnival Row” on Amazon and not one but two Joel Kinnaman shows — an adaptation of Joe Wright’s “Hanna” for Amazon, and an untitled sci-fi show for Apple about the space race from the showrunners of the “Battlestar Galactica” reboot (Kinnaman isn’t returning for “Altered Carbon” but the show is — Anthony Mackie is taking over his role).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2u4nCtyBCo

Among Netflix’s offerings for 2018 including British teen comedy “Sex Education” (which we hear is great), sci-fi “Another Life” with Katee Sackhoff, dark comedy “Dead To Me” starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, Japan-set thriller “Giri/Haji” with Kelly Macdonald, ice skater drama “Spinning Out” with Kaya Scodelario,” the “Groundhog Day”-ish comedy “Russian Doll” with Natasha Lyonne, Ryan Murphy’s “The Politician” with Gwyneth Paltrow, Sacha Baron Cohen as a Mossad agent in drama “The Spy,” animation “Tuca & Bertie” from Bojack co-creator Lisa Hanawalt, with the voices of Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, and Idris Elba sitcom “Turn Up Charlie.” There’s a few others that are question marks for 2019, including ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ prequel “Ratched” with Sarah Paulson, the “Dracula” reboot from the “Sherlock” creators, Guillermo Del Toro anthology series “Ten After Midnight” and the strangely resilient “Locke & Key” finally making it to TV after two earlier pilots.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1001837109223686144

Amazon’s slate is slimmer, but also includes the “Black Mirror”-esque sci-fi drama “The Feed” starring David Thewlis, and New York Times column-adaptation “Modern Love” from “Once” director John Carney. There are a few other tantalizing shows that would definitely be on this list if we were sure they were coming this year, but are more likely for 2020 – these include Jordan Peele’s Nazi-hunter drama “The Hunt” starring Logan Lerman, one-time Fincher project “Utopia,” Barry Jenkins’ “The Underground Railroad” (which is seemingly next for the director, but doesn’t shoot for a little bit we believe) and Wong Kar-Wai’s “Tong Wars,” which might be dead as we haven’t heard about it for a while, but is hopefully still alive.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1004379086372794369

HBO has shows from a couple of TV legends that similarly won’t be on air till 2020 — J.J. Abrams’ “Demimonde” and Joss Whedon’s “The Nevers.” Their other offerings include a “Catherine The Great” miniseries starring Helen Mirren, teen drama “Euphoria” with Zendaya, Fred Armisen-starring Spanish-language comedy “Los Espookys,” and Danny McBride and Jody Hill reunited again for “The Righteous Gemstones.”

Showtime has Ben Affleck-produced Boston crime drama “City On A Hill” with Kevin Bacon and UK comedy remake “The Wrong Mans” with Ben Schwartz and Jillian Bell, but their “Halo” adaptation looks like 2020 after losing director Rupert Wyatt. Similarly, FX doesn’t look to have schedule room for Cate Blanchett-starring feminism drama “Mrs. America” and Hannah Fiddell’s adaptation of her own “A Teacher,” now starring Kate Mara, until 2020.

https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1057315473178521600

Apple has several new shows launching, including a show about a girl detective starring Brooklyn Prince from “The Florida Project,” a comedy about Emily Dickinson starring Hailee Steinfeld, and true-crime podcast drama “Are You Sleeping?” with Octavia Spencer and Aaron Paul. Chris Evans and Morten Tyldum are also teaming up for “Defending Jacob,” but Evans’ schedule means it’s 2020 for sure.

AMC is staying in the horror game with Zachary Quinto-starring Joe Hill adaptation “NOS4A2,” and also have Jason Segel-penned anthology drama “Dispatches From Elsewhere,” while Facebook will debut podcast adaptation “Limetown” with Olivia Wilde and Stanley Tucci. “American Gods” will return to Starz alongside paranormal drama “The Rook,” created by “Twilight”’s Stephenie Meyer, while Cinemax has the Bruce Lee-derived “Warrior” and “Jett” starring Carla Gugino. And Hulu will host the return of “Veronica Mars,” Kat Dennings comedy “Dollface,” its own rival take on Catherine The Great to HBO’s with “The Great” (from the writer of “The Favourite” and starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult)  and biopic “Wu-Tang: An American Saga.”

And this being Peak TV, there’ll be a load more too, of course…