The 60 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2020 - Page 3 of 6

Search
Home

40. “High Fidelity” (Hulu,)
Synopsis: A female record store owner revisits past relationships through music and pop culture while trying to get over her one true love.
What You Need To Know: Developed for television by writers Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka, Hulu’s new “High Fidelity” series is a departure from Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel and beloved 2000 film starring John Cusack, and yet, follows a similar path and story about using music to heal heartbreak. Zoe Kravitz stars as the record store owner/know-it-all Rob Brooks and the cast also includes Da’Vine Joy Randolph, David H. Holmes, Jake Lacy, and Kingsley Ben-Adir. This time, instead of the U.K. of Chicago, “High Fidelity” is set in the rapidly gentrified neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. We hope they have a big music budget with plenty of contemporary needle drops, but it’ll be interesting how (or if) they transpose the sadsack bastard of Cusack’s character to a female character or how they writers re-interpret the character.
Airdate: February 14 on Hulu.

39. “Westworld” Season 3 (HBO)
Synopsis: Following the events of Season 2, the A.I. android host Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), leaves the Westworld theme park, recreates host Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and makes a break for freedom in the future.
What You Need To Know: From creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, “Westworld” was all set to be HBO’s new flagship show, taking the torch from “Game Of Thrones” after massive season one ratings turned the show into a pop culture sensation. Then, Season 2happened. Ratings dipped, critical reception faltered, and worse, some people just stopped watching midway through (HBO boss said about the increasingly confounding complexity of the plot, it’s not for “casual viewers”). Nolan and Joy have seemingly received the message and season three is said to be a more stripped-down affair as Dolores enters the “real world” outside the theme parks that are “Westworld.” But Nolan’s also described it as a “radical shift” so who knows. New to the cast this year is Aaron Paul and Lena Waithe. Returning on top of Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright is Thandie Newton, James Marsden, and Tessa Thompson among others.
Airdate: “Westworld” doesn’t have a traditional season it arrives in, but it is said to arrive before the first half of 2020 ends.

38. “The Stand” (CBS All Access)
Synopsis: An apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the Dark Man.
What You Need To Know: Based on Stephen King’s classic 1978 novel of the same name, “The Stand” may prove to be the biggest show yet from CBS All Access. The series, which is set to be directed by Josh Boone (“The New Mutants”), has an impossibly stacked cast: James Marsden, Amber Heard, Greg Kinnear, Whoopi Goldberg, Brad William Henke, Marilyn Manson, Alexander Skarsgård, Nat Wolff, Hamish Linklater, and more. Perhaps this will be what finally launches CBS All Access to the next level. For our money, CBS All Access currently has more quality shows in its catalogue (“The Good Fight,” “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Why Women Kill”) than some of its streaming competition (hey there, Apple TV+…).
Airdate: TBD 2020.

37. “A Teacher” (FX on Hulu)
Synopsis: An exploration of consent, abuse of power, victimhood and the inevitable consequences that occur throughout an entire community after a female high school teacher and her student are caught having an affair.
What You Need To Know: Adapted by writer-director Hannah Fidell from her own 2013 film of the same name, this is yet another one of the series affected by the Hulu/FX partnership deal. So, rather than airing on FX as originally announced, “A Teacher” will premiere on Hulu sometime in 2020. While Fidell’s 2013 film was received with mixed reviews at the time and faced some criticism over its depiction of the sexual misconduct at its center, it was unquestionably doing some interesting and subversive things, and possibly was even a bit prescient on the subject of sexual abuse and imbalanced power dynamics. The series adaptation, led by Kate Mara, is even more topical in 2020.
Airdate: FX on Hulu launches March 2020, so it could be a launch title.

36. “January 22nd” (HBO)
Synopsis: A fearless, frank and provocative series that explores the question of sexual consent in contemporary life and how, in the new landscape of dating and relationships, we make the distinction between liberation and exploitation.
What You Need To Know: From HBO, the BBC, and writer-creator-star Michaela Coel (“Chewing Gum,” “Black Earth Rising”) comes “January 22nd.” Per Deadline, Coel plays “Arabella Essiedu, a self-assured, care-free Londoner with a group of great friends, a holiday fling turned aspirational boyfriend in Italy and a burgeoning writing career. But when she is spiked with a date-rape drug, every element of her life and identity is called into question.” “January 22nd” also stars Weruche Opia (“Inside No9”), Paapa Essiedu (“Kiri”), Aml Ameen (“Yardie”), Adam James (“Belgravia”), Sarah Niles (“Catastrophe”), and Ann Akin (“Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams”).
Airdate: TBD 2020.

35. “Love Life” (HBO Max)
Synopsis: An anthology series about the journey from first love to last love, and how the people we’re with along the way make us into who we are when we finally end up with someone forever.
What You Need To Know: This is a seasonally anthological series (à la “True Detective” or “Fargo,” rather than “The Twilight Zone” or “Modern Love”) wherein each season we follow a new protagonist in their quest for love. Season 1 of this HBO Max dramedy from Paul Feig stars Anna Kendrick, Scoot McNairy, and Peter Vack. Is it possible that Anna Kendrick’s character winds up finding love with Scoot McNairy’s character? We suppose anything is possible here, considering Paul Feig’s hit-or-miss recent work. A Kendrick-MacNairy romance is something that we can absolutely get behind with 100% sincerity.
Airdate: HBO Max is expected to debut in May 2020, so perhaps the streaming service will launch with this show.

34. “Gone Hollywood” (FX)
Synopsis: Set in 1980, when a group of talent agents defects from an old-guard agency to found their own, which skyrockets to industry dominance, disrupting the business and changing movies forever.
What You Need To Know: This inside-baseball Hollywood series from FX would almost certainly appeal to us regardless of cast and crew. But while the premise is intriguing enough on its own, “Gone Hollywood” has a lot more going for it as well. For one thing, it is created and Executive Produced by Ted Griffin, whose previous credits include the gone-too-soon “Terriers” and “Patriot.” For another, its stacked cast includes Lola Kirke (“Gemini,” “Mistress America”) Jonathan Pryce (“Brazil,” “The Two Popes”), Judd Hirsch (“Uncut Gems”) and Jamie Lannister himself, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Bottom line: “Gone Hollywood” sounds great on just about every level. We’re very excited to see how this one turns out.
Airdate: TBD 2020

33. “Homecoming” Season 2 (Amazon)
Synopsis: A tenacious woman finds herself floating in a canoe, with no memory of how she got there — or even who she is.
What You Need To Know: From “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail, based on the Gimlet Media podcast of creative fiction by Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg, “Homecoming” was originally a psychological thriller about a social worker at a Homecoming support Center (Julia Roberts) who helped soldiers transition to civilian life, but left the job under mysterious circumstances. Season 2 is evidently deviating from the podcast’s narrative but still connected to the ideas of the military and the fictional Geist Group who runs the homecoming transition facilities. Directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez (the extremely underrated “The Stanford Prison Experiment”), Season 2 stars Janelle Monáe, Chris Cooper, Joan Cusack, and Mary Holland, but has connective tissue as Stephan James and Hong Chau are returning from the first season.
Airdate: No date, but the final casting was announced late 2019 and this feels like fall or late 2020.

32. “Killing Eve” Season 3 (BBC America)
Synopsis: The epic, mutually-obsessive game of cat and mouse between two fiercely intelligent women— Villanelle, a psychopathic assassin and Eve the MI6 operative charged with hunting her down— continues.
What You Need To Know: Unless you’re living under a rock, you know “Killing Eve,” the twisted, comedic British spy thriller, has been a smash hit series for BBC America winning several major awards include a Peabody, a BAFTA and major Emmy and Golden Globe awards —Sandra Oh taking the Best Actress prize in 2019, her co-star Jodie Comer winning the same award in the same year at the Emmys. The show got a major boost from the jump—Phoebe Waller-Bridge was the head writer of Season 1. She then departed and everyone was worried the quality would dip, but that didn’t happen. Suzanne Heathcote (known for Apple TV+‘s “See” and “Fear The Walking Dead“) will serve as showrunner for Season 3 and the series will pick up where it’s cliffhanger left off.
Airdate: Spring 2020.

31. “Utopia” (Amazon)
Synopsis: A group of young adults who meet online are mercilessly hunted by a shadowy deep state organization after they come into possession of a near-mythical cult underground graphic novel. Within the comic’s pages, they discover the conspiracy theories that may actually be real and are forced into the dangerous, unique and ironic position of saving the world.
What You Need To Know: Currently set up at Amazon with Toby Haynes (“Brexit”) directing, this adaptation of the popular British series was originally intended to be directed by David Fincher for HBO. The Fincher/HBO incarnation (which was ordered straight-to-series in 2015) eventually fell apart due to budgetary disputes, but the project managed to survive long enough to be picked up by Amazon in 2018. One thing that hasn’t changed since the Fincher days is Gillian Flynn’s involvement as creator and writer of the series. Development turmoil notwithstanding, Amazon’s “Utopia” is bound to be worth a watch. It’s got a great cast (Sasha Lane, Rainn Wilson, Desmin Borges, John Cusack, Jessica Rothe), and Flynn has a ton of residual goodwill from “Gone Girl” and “Widows.” Looking forward to this one!
Airdate: TBD 2020.