With 2018 just about in our rearview, it’s time to start looking to the new year. Of all the things we’re excited about in 2019 (there are many), we’d be lying if we said that a crop of potentially great new TV shows wasn’t one of them. Whether you’re a devout cord-cutting streamer enthusiast, a network TV kinda person, or someone caught in between, there are tons of new shows coming in the new year, and we’re frothing at the mouth over a few of them. Here are our most anticipated shows of 2019.
Black Monday
Showtime
Black Monday is on everybody’s list, and for good reason. This comedy series, starring Don Cheadle and helmed by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jordan Cahan, and David Caspe, is about the infamous 1987 Black Monday, the worst stock market crash in the entire history of Wall Street. The story is about a group of outsiders who took on the big brokerage firms and old boys’ clubs of Wall Street. Cheadle is at his best as Rod “The Jammer” Jaminski, a fast-talking stockbroker who looks to work with his “colleagues” Blair Sherman (Andrew Rannells) and Dawn Darcy (Regina Hall) to engineer the decline.
Good Omens
Amazon Video
The end of times is nigh, ladies and gentlemen. Or, at least, that’s the premise of this Amazon Prime Original. Crowley (David Tennant) is a demon who’s lived on Earth since the dawn of time. Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) is an angel who’s lived on Earth as long as Crowley. With the apocalypse approaching, Crowley and Aziraphale realize their time on Earth is almost at an end. Which is a bummer, because they really like it here. Deciding they’re not going to let Earth go down with a fight, the two—representing good and evil—decide to come together to save the Earth from its impending doom.
City On a Hill
Showtime
City On a Hill is a period crime drama set in Boston in the ‘90s (which, as everyone knows, was the heyday for American crime drama TV), produced by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The show is supposed to follow the less-than-honorable criminal justice system in the city. We don’t know too much about it, but really, what more do you need to know?
Central Park 5
Netflix
If you were infuriated by Making a Murderer, Central Park 5 will send you into a full-on rage. Also based on a true story, Central Park 5 aims to take a step back in time to tell the story of the five young black men who were wrongly convicted in the 1989 assault and rape of a Central Park jogger named Trisha Meili. Although all five men were completely innocent, they were all convicted and spent 25 years in prison before the case was overturned and the wrongful charges against them were cleared.
Watchmen
HBO
There are a couple big superhero shows that have piqued our interest this year, but we’re definitely most excited for the made-for-TV adaptation of the classic graphic novel from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The Watchmen are one of our favorite superhero groups, so we’re excited to see them get another shot at the screen following Zak Snyder’s 2005 adaptation. We don’t have a trailer for this one yet, but we’re praying Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek, Prometheus, Tomorrowland) can do it justice.
What We Do in the Shadows
FX
It has been four years since the world first met Vladislav, Viago, and Deacon—three vampires struggling with the nuance of modern day life—in What We Do in the Shadows. The world loved the movie, turning it into a cult classic of sorts, and now we’re getting a TV adaptation, too. The show will revolve around three new vampire roommates—Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou)—and will take place in New York City instead of New Zealand. We were worried it might lack the kind of awkward comedic timing that made What We Do in the Shadows so popular, but that all went out the window when we learned that both Jemaine Clement (who played Vlad) and Taika Waititi (Viago) have come on as directors.
Doom Patrol
DC Universe
This one is interesting. DC Universe is a new paid streaming service from DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Digital Networks that launched this past September. We haven’t heard too much about it yet, but one of the standout shows of the year is getting an exclusive release there. Doom Patrol is a classic DC Comics superhero team that originated in the 1960s. This 2019 screen adaptation includes all the major players like Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby), Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero), Cyborg (Joivan Wade), Mr. Nobody (Alan Tudyk), The Chief (Timothy Dalton), Negative Man (Matt Borner), and Robotman (Brendan Fraser—yes, seriously, Brendan Fraser).
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance
Netflix
In his 1982 classic, Jim Henson really broke from convention, using earth-shattering animatronics to stun audiences all over the world—both by the incredible detail and life-like appearance of the robots in the film, and also by the notably “darker” plot of the film itself. The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is coming to Netflix as a 10-episode series, which will take place before the events of The Dark Crystal film, but will still take place in the world of Thra. We’re less excited about the plot as we are about how the studio intends on paying homage to Henson’s brilliant creations. Either way, we’re stoked.
Sex Education
Netflix
Another highly anticipated Netflix release planned for 2019, Sex Education tells the story of a teenage virgin named Otis (Asa Butterfield), who lives with his sex therapist mother Jean (Gillian Anderson). After noticing some awkward sexual experiences and romantic grief at his school, Otis teams up with his classmates and mother to start their own underground health clinic. We don’t have a trailer or a release date yet, but we’re hoping for a kind of less crazy The End of the F***ing World meets a more empathetic 13 Reasons Why, and a less warm and fluffy Atypical. But only time will tell.
Looking For Alaska
Hulu
Adapted from the wildly successful and controversial novel of the same name by John Green, Looking For Alaska is about teenager Miles “Pudge” Halter, who enrolls in a boarding school to seek a “Great Perhaps” in the immortal words of French Renaissance master François Rabelais. While there, Pudge meets Alaska Young, a beautiful, friendly, lively girl who helps him unravel all the thoughts in his head and figure out how he’s feeling. After one fateful evening, Pudge is forced to continue on his journey of self-discovery without Alaska, which is really where the story takes off. This six-part mini series doesn’t have a release date yet, but will be on Hulu sometime in 2019.
