“Black Narcissus” (FX) – TBD
How does one follow in the footsteps of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who famously adapted this Rumer Godden novel into an Oscar-winning masterpiece in 1947? Writer Amanda Coe and director Charlotte Bruus Christensen are treading on this hallowed ground with Gemma Arterton, Aisling Franciosi, Gina McKee, Rosie Cavaliero, Patsy Ferran, and Karen Bryson as sisters at a convent in the Himalayas. They’re challenged by the arrival of a World War I veteran played by Alessandro Nivola. As if that’s not enough to grab viewers, Diana Rigg plays Mother Dorothea and Jim Broadbent takes on Father Roberts in this BBC co-production that reportedly filmed its three chapters in October 2019, and so should have been completed before the shutdown in March 2020.
“Industry” (HBO) – TBD
Lena Dunham has been relatively quiet since the final season of “Girls” in 2017 but should soon return to the network that made her a star with this story of the London financial scene and the young generation growing up in it after the 2008 collapse. Myha’la Herrold plays the only American in this world that promises to offer a unique angle on a financial drama by presenting how young people are thrown into the deep end of this world and asked to sink or swim. It may not sound exactly like what Dunham typically directs and feels a bit more like an ABC drama logline than HBO, but her involvement and its home on what’s still the most consistent network on TV gives us hope.
“The North Water” (BBC) – TBD
The excellent Andrew Haigh (“45 Years”) wrote and directed this mini-series adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian McGuire, and the cast is just fire enough to thaw its icy setting. Colin Farrell stars as Henry Drax, a killer who sets sail on a whaling expedition in the Arctic and terrorizes his shipmates, including Jack O’Connell, Stephen Graham, Tom Courtenay, and Peter Mullan. Reportedly in production since 2016, this miniseries started filming in the far North of the world in October 2019, so it’s probably done enough for a Fall drop now that it’s had time to thaw out. (Trivia: The shoot north of Norway was reportedly the furthest north that any television drama has ever been shot.)
“The Equalizer” (CBS) – TBD
CBS has never met a drama success they didn’t want to reboot, finding success lately with relaunches of “Hawaii Five-O” and “MacGyver” (less so with “Magnum, P.I.”). It was only a matter of time before someone tried to spin the series that turned Edward Woodward into America’s favorite vigilante and recently produced two successful blockbusters starring Denzel Washington. The twist this time from the co-creators of the original series no less is that the title character will be played by Queen Latifah. The underrated and likable actress could easily carry a case-of-the-week show like this on CBS for years and having Chris Noth and Lorraine Toussaint in the supporting cast can only help. Move over, “Blue Bloods.”
“Big Sky” (ABC) – TBD
David E. Kelley makes big mini-series for HBO and he makes procedural dramas for ABC. This is the latter, the latest offering from the creator of “The Practice” and “Big Little Lies,” which stars Kylie Bunbury and Ryan Phillippe as private detectives on the case of two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver. Pressure rises when they learn they are actually on the trail of a serial killer. It sounds formulaic, sure, but Kelley does this kind of thing well and John Carroll Lynch is an always-welcome co-star. One interesting thing about “Big Sky” is that it’s scheduled to start filming later this month in Canada, complete with pandemic-required precautions, and still planning on a Fall drop. This could be a case study in how television will move forward in the age of COVID.
“Stranger Things” (Netflix) – TBD
Hold on. Don’t get too excited. This is very likely to end up being a 2021 drop based on all the rumors out there, but it was originally considered for 2020 when it was shooting early this year and is reportedly picking up production next month. They had already filmed two full episodes of the fourth season of Netflix’s biggest hit when the pandemic forced a shutdown. Is it impossible to picture a Netflix short on content because of COVID looking for a major splash before the end of the year? Nothing would be bigger than a new season of “Stranger Things” before Christmas. Do we think we will find out what happened to Hopper before the first snowfall? Probably not, but “stranger” things have happened. (Sorry.)
“The Falcon & Winter Soldier” (Disney+) – TBD
Originally scheduled in August, Marvel’s interlocking, interconnected schedule was really thrown for a loop with the COVID-19 pandemic. Two shows were set for 2020 (“WandaVision” too), but now it looks like we’ll get “The Falcon & The Winter Soldier” at best and probably sometime in December. The show? Sam “The Falcon” Wilson (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) try and make sense of their lives in a post-Snappening, post-No Captain America world. Cap bequeathed the shield — and presumably the Cap mantle itself — to Sam at the end of “Avengers: Endgame,” but as the trailers show, U.S. Agent/John Walker (Wyatt Russell) is in the series with the shield, something that U.S. Secretary of State “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt), is likely behind (a black Captain America being cockblocked from being Cap by a white figure in U.S. authority, oh hell that tracks, right?) The series will also feature Daniel Brühl and Emily VanCamp reprising their past Marvel roles and will also include Adepero Oduye.
That’s more than plenty. No honorable mentions here. Strap in for a busy fall season of TV.
