As you’ll know from our list of the best TV shows of the first half of 2016, and from our summer preview, it’s been a stacked year on the small-screen so far. There have been disappointments —chiefly, a show that starts with V and ends with -inyl— but also some surprises and triumphs, with “The Girlfriend Experience,” “Billions,” “Stranger Things,” “Lady Dynamite,” “The People Vs. O.J. Simpson” and “Horace & Pete” all making stunning debuts, and some returning favorites like “Game Of Thrones,” “Girls” and “Bojack Horseman” turning in some of their finest seasons yet.
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Basically, there’s been more than enough TV for anyone to be willing to watch. But we’re not nearly done —there’s still a third of the year left, and as busy as the movie calendar is (you can catch up with our fall movie preview here), there’s almost as much promising-looking TV to look forward to.
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The final shows of the summer season are unspooling —Baz Luhrmann’s “The Get Down” arrived this past weekend, and our beloved “You’re The Worst” returns soon (both of those were covered as part of the summer preview and so do not appear below). But before you even get a chance to catch your breath, let us prep you for what’s to come: we’ve picked out the 30 most intriguing shows landing between now and the end of the year. Take a look below and let us know what you’re most excited about in the comments.
“Halt & Catch Fire” Season 3
Synopsis: After moving to Silicon Valley, Mutiny founders Cameron and Donna try to get a foothold, while Donna’s husband Joe struggles with his place in the world and old frenemy Joe reinvents himself and crosses the paths of his former colleagues once again.
What You Need To Know: With so much quality TV, it’s easy to dismiss something if it doesn’t grab you early on. And many did so for “Halt & Catch Fire,” which seemed early on like a rather muted, ’80s take on “Mad Men,” featuring the umpteenth tortured white male anti-hero and not much beyond that. But the show improved rapidly over the first season and then cannily reinvented itself in the second, blowing up its status quo and shifting focus to the two very talented female leads in Kerry Bishé and Mackenzie Davis (while still giving Lee Pace and Scoot McNairy stuff to do). Details on season 3 are still relatively slim, but while we’re not expecting another major shake-up, there have been changes behind the scenes, with creators Christopher Cantwell and Christopher C. Rogers taking over as showrunners from the departing Jonathan Lisco. Can it start to win over viewers this time around? If it doesn’t, AMC might have to cancel the show.
Airdate: August 23rd on AMC
“Narcos” Season 2
Synopsis: The DEA close in on drug lord Pablo Escobar, but ending his control on the drug trade will come at significant cost.
What You Need To Know: The biggest Netflix hits often seem to be the ones that get the least hype —more people seem to talk about “Orange Is The New Black” or “Stranger Things” than about “House Of Cards” and “Daredevil.” “Narcos” fits into such a paradigm — it’s a show without big name draws and one that’s heavily subtitled, but has seemingly become one of the streaming giant’s marquee offerings. Its second season is being sold in a bold way — its ads say that ‘Pablo Dies,’ which is not a spoiler to anyone that knows recent history. But given that many think of the show as a sort of Pablo Escobar biopic, and that Wagner Moura’s performance is its greatest asset, it’s certainly a bold stance to take. But the show evidently will stretch beyond Escobar to tell the story of the cocaine trade up to the present day. However season 2 plays out, we hope that the writers find a way of playing down the narration just a little bit…
Airdate: September 2nd on Netflix
“Atlanta”
Synopsis: The story of two cousins who attempt to make their mark on the Atlanta hip-hop scene.
What You Need To Know: Having seen a rival Atlanta hip-hop project picked up to series by HBO but ultimately scrapped, “Atlanta” hits screens in just a few weeks. It’s a vehicle for youthful polymath Donald Glover, who’s had about four different careers before hitting the age of 30: going from “30 Rock” writer to “Community” star to star rapper as Childish Gambino to movie actor in “The Martian” and “Magic Mike XXL.” This show, in which he also plays the lead alongside Tyree Henry, should draw on all those skills and is clearly a very personal project for an actor who’s long deserved a showcase like this. Speaking of which, his right-hand man in the show is played by the awesome Lakeith Stanfield, who’s broken out in the likes of “Short Term 12” and “Selma,” and should play beautifully off Glover. Teasers suggest something close to “Master Of None” in tone, but a little grittier and more dramatic: any way around, we’re excited to see it.
Airdate: September 6th on FX
“Queen Sugar”
Synopsis: Three estranged siblings are reunited when they inherit a Louisiana sugarcane farm from their deceased father.
What You Need To Know: Ava DuVernay has a busy fall planned. The director begins work on her big-budget new feature film adaptation of “A Wrinkle In Time,” in the next few months, she’ll drop a secret documentary to open NYFF with “The 13th” (which you can read about in our Film Preview), and her first TV series hits early in September. Airing on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network (even Oprah’s network is making must-see TV now!), it’s an adaptation of Natalie Baszile’s best-selling novel, with Rutina Welsey, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Kofi Siriboe and Tina Lifford in lead roles. And while DuVernay’s busy schedule means she had to drop plans to direct all ten episodes, she’s assembled an awesome, all female lineup of directors, including Tina Mabry, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and So Yong Kim to step in. The show’s already been renewed before it reaches the air, which suggests that OWN reckon it has something really special on their hands.
Airdate: September 6th on OWN
“Better Things”
Synopsis: A working actress tries to get by while raising her daughters.
What You Need To Know: Even though he’s apparently ended “Louie” for the immediate future, and even though he bypassed FX to give “Horace & Pete” straight to the fans, Louis C.K. still seemingly has basically carte blanche at the network. He produced “Baskets” earlier in the year, he’s working on an animated show with Albert Brooks, and in between comes this showcase for longtime collaborator Pamela Adlon, who starred with him in the abortive HBO comedy “Lucky Louie” and has been a regular guest on “Louie.” At first glance, the series, created by Adlon with C.K. and based on her own life, seems like a sort of female spin on “Louie.” We’re perhaps expecting something less relentlessly experimental and more narrative-led, but that’s only on the basis of the trailer: we’re sure this will hardly be a network-style sitcom. Anyway, Adlon’s great and it’s fantastic to see her get her own showcase —hopefully it proves to be as pleasant a surprise as “Baskets.”
Airdate: September 8th on FX
“One Mississippi”
Synopsis: A darkly comic, semi-autobiographical story of a woman named Tig, who’s coping with her own ill health and returns home to Mississippi following the death of her irrepressible mother Caroline.
What You Need To Know: It may be billed as loosely autobiographical, but anyone who saw the pilot for Tig Notaro‘s “One Mississippi,” which was part of Amazon‘s 2015 pilot Thunderdome thingie, can tell you just how intensely, searingly personal it feels. Also starring ubiquitous character actor John Rothman and with Noah Harpster from “Transparent” and Casey Wilson from “Happy Endings,” it’s probably got a higher profile behind the camera, being co-written by Notaro and Diablo Cody (“Juno,” “The United States of Tara“), executive produced by Louis C.K., with the pilot directed by Nicole Holofcener (“Enough Said,” “Friends with Money“). The closest comparison tone-wise is perhaps Amazon’s own “Transparent,” but this also promises to be very much its own thing. The pilot is one of the best that Amazon has done, and any showcase for Notaro, particularly one that plays to her drily intelligent, confessional style of comedy, rides high on our must-watch list.
Airdate: September 9th on Amazon
