2024 is upon us. It’s time to let 2023 go and cast our gaze forward into the distant—and not-so-distant—future. A whole bunch of TV shows are releasing this coming year. Some are second or third seasons to popular shows. Some are new shows within broader cinematic universes, or new seasons in anthology offerings. Still others are brand new or new adaptations based on popular books.
In the following list, I’m only including shows releasing in the first half of 2024, and I’m certainly not covering every possible base. Some shows that don’t have release dates yet—like Arcane, From, Slow Horses and The Dragon Prince—I’m saving for later. Will Severance’s second season get a release date? I sure hope so!
Bridgerton Season 3 will land on Netflix in the first half of 2023, as will a new season of The Bachelor, but I’m not including these in my list, either. This list is a curation of stuff that I’m personally interested in and think my readers will be interested in, too. Feel free to let me know if I’ve left something out that you think I ought to include. You can find me on Twitter or Facebook.
Now, without further adieu, here are the TV shows I’m looking forward to or am at least interested in, in the first half of 2024.
Echo — Disney+ (Jan. 10th)
Okay, so you know how I just said that this list is based on stuff I’m looking forward to or at least that is on my radar and that I’m interested in? Yeah. I’m not really looking forward to Echo, because I’m pretty much in total burnout mode when it comes to the MCU these days (the multiverse in particular has really killed it for me) but I did like Hawkeye well enough, and Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) made her debut there, as a deaf criminal badass out for revenge against Renner’s archer.
I’m curious because the show also has a TV-MA rating, which is wild for the MCU and Disney (and more along the lines of the Hell’s Kitchen Daredevil stuff on Netflix). Hopefully it’s good!
True Detective: Night Country — HBO (Jan. 14th)
I rewatched season 1 of True Detective a few months ago and was reminded just how brilliant that season was. It remains one of my top seasons of TV of all time. Season 2 was awful, but Season 3 was another great mystery and character drama, and I’m really hopeful that Season 4—aka “Night Country”—will be good. I like Jodie Foster, and I hope she pulls it off.
Set in Ennis, Alaska, Foster plays Liz Danvers alongside Kali Reis as Evangeline Navarro. The detectives are investigating the disappearance of eight men operating the Tsalal Arctic Research Station who’ve gone missing under suspicious circumstances. This turns the whole “male detectives investigate missing women” trope on its head, obviously, which we’ve seen done previously in Deadloch, though I doubt this will have that show’s sense of humor.
Masters Of Air — Apple TV+ (Jan. 26th)
If you’re a fan of Band Of Brothers or The Pacific, you won’t want to miss this latest limited series about the men of the 100th Bomb Group—aka The Bloody Hundredth—as they carry out missions over Nazi Germany during WWII. The series was created by the producers of both those shows—helmed by Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment—and looks absolutely stellar. The cast is led by Austin Butler, Callum Turner and Anthony Boyle. As a big WWII nerd, I can’t wait.
Mr. And Mrs. Smith — Amazon Prime Video (Feb. 2nd)
You may recall the 2005 film Mr. And Mrs. Smith starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie about a married couple that doesn’t realize they’re each spies (somehow) with a plot that’s clearly inspired by True Lies. Well, this upcoming spy show takes that premise but turns it on its head, having Donald Glover and Maya Erskine’s characters pretend to be husband and wife while running spy operations—which is sort of like taking Mr. and Mrs. Smith and blending it up with The Americans.
I love spy stuff, so I’m looking forward to this. Maya Erskine has yet to disappoint (her voice work in Blue Eye Samurai was so good!) and Donald Glover is always great. Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Dano, John Turturro and plenty of other interesting casting choices also have my interest piqued.
Avatar: The Last Airbender — Netflix (Feb. 22nd)
So far, I’m liking what I see of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Netflix’s big live-action adaptation of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series. The cynical part of me is worried because so many live-action adaptations have been butchered beyond recognition. The optimist thinks that maybe—just maybe—these studios are starting to learn from their mistakes.
The Ones Who Live — AMC (Feb. 25th)
Yeah, so I’m not really looking forward to this one, either, but I’ve always made it my holy mission to cover every Walking Dead show for the rest of eternity. So here we are, with the highly-anticipated return of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) in the worst-named spinoff series yet. Seriously, who thought “The Ones Who Live” was a good idea? I’m going to gag a little each time I have to type that out. Ugh. Still, I do hope this is good. Or at least watchable.
Shōgun — FX (Feb. 27th)
Based on the classic historical epic by James Clavell, Shōgun looks absolutely, positively epic and amazing. I think I’m even more hyped for this after watching the excellent Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix, which has me in the mood for more war and politicking in feudal Japan. Not that I’m not always in the mood for that! Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai and a stellar cast lead what has easily become one of my most highly-anticipated shows of 2024.
The Regime — HBO (March 3rd)
The last HBO show I saw with Kate Winslet in it was Mare Of Easttown, which was a brilliant, heart-breaking mystery in which Winslet showed off what a truly magnificent actor she truly is. She became that character in all her world-weariness and weird, Pennsylvania accent. The Regime looks like a totally different beast. It’s about a fictional totalitarian European regime which Winslet’s character is chancellor of as the whole thing starts to fall apart. It looks excellent and I have high hopes given it’s being showrun by Will Tracy, whose work includes The Menu and Succession.
3 Body Problem — Netflix (March 21st)
I’m debating whether I should finally get around to reading Cixin Liu’s The Three Body Problem before this comes out on Netflix or if I should go in blind. On the one hand, it’s always nice to read the book first. As a critic, it helps me make comparisons and analyze what works and what doesn’t in the adaptation. That’s also a curse, however, coloring my opinion in ways that impact my ability to judge the show on its own merits. I’m also struggling with a bit of bias. Game Of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are the creators of 3 Body Problem and nobody has ever broken my heart like they have—at least not when it comes to TV.
Fallout — Amazon Prime Video (April 12th)
I actually think this looks pretty good. I’m not a huge Fallout fan to begin with—the games are fine, but like all Bethesda games I feel rather lukewarm about them—but I do like my post-apocalyptic shows and this looks to scratch that itch. We shall see!
House Of The Dragon — HBO (Summer)
Finally, Season 2 of House Of The Dragon is slated for an early summer release, which is not a moment too soon if you ask me! The first season took a while to grow on me, but by the end I was absolutely riveted, reeled in by strong performances and the deliciously violent slow-burn. Season 2 promises a lot more action and, well, fire and blood. I can’t wait!
What shows are you looking forward to in 2024?
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