20. “Ozark” Season 4 (Netflix)
It’s always interesting when it seems a show is organically bringing a story to a close instead of dragging it out past its breaking point. That feels like it’s the case with “Ozark,” after Netflix announced that the 2021 fourth season would be the last for the Emmy-winning series. How will the saga of Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) come to a close? The excellent third season ended with the Byrdes a full-blown criminal enterprise under the wing of a powerful Mexican drug cartel. As if that’s not enough of a problem for the final season, Ruth (Julia Garner) reunited with the sociopathic Darlene Snell (Lisa Emery), and a violent turf war is brewing in the Ozarks. With so many plotlines to wrap up in one final season, this year should be action-packed and bloody. Don’t expect most of these characters to make it out alive.
Airdate: TBD 2021, but it’s generally been a spring release for the last few seasons.- BT
19. “The White Lotus” (HBO)
Mike White’s amazing “Enlightened” has developed a larger following since the close of its two-season run than when it was on HBO. And so it makes some sense that White would be brought back into the fold of the network for a new series, which he created, wrote, and directed. Set at a tropical resort, this limited series also reunites White with the star of his 2007 comedy/drama “Year of the Dog,” Molly Shannon. The veteran comedian stars alongside Jon Gries, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Lacy, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn. Shannon has been cleverly balancing comedy and drama on her resume for years—let’s hope this elevates her profile with a role as rich as the one White gave Laura Dern on “Enlightened.”
Airdate: TBD 2021 – BT
18. “The Girlfriend Experience” Season 3 (Starz)
An incredibly underrated/underseen series, inspired by a criminally underappreciated Steven Soderbergh movie (that arguably holds up even better in 2020), “The Girlfriend Experience,” is one of the few pieces of content being produced that’s unafraid to be open and honest about the sex work industry, and all the societal/psychological repercussions that go along with it. The 2009 film is an ingenious capitalist critique of petty judgments and transactional circumstances, mirroring Sasha Grey’s character’s business and relationship troubles with the economic anxieties of the Bush-era bailout. Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz’s (“She Dies Tomorrow”) expertly crafted anthology expands all the complex themes of Soderbergh’s film, prodding the fine line between raw intimacy and professional boundaries. A third season – slated to be written and directed by German filmmaker Anja Marquardt (“She’s Lost Control”) and star Julia Goldani Telles (“The Affair”) – was greenlit in 2019, being delayed by… you know, things, but the show was able to resume filming recently. If you’re a fan of Soderbergh, the original film, don’t subscribe to Starz, and haven’t checked out the series yet… well, isn’t that what those 7-day free trials are for?
Airdate: TBD 2021 – AB
17. “Tuca & Bertie” (Adult Swim)
Few TV cancellations were more unfortunate than that of 2019’s transcendent animated comedy “Tuca and Bertie,” which, in spite of a mostly glowing critical reception, just wasn’t able to stick it out on Netflix (this, in spite of the fact that series creator Lisa Hanawalt has paid her dues on “Bojack Horseman,” one of the streaming service’s most popular shows). And yet, it would appear the maniacs at Adult Swim have swept in to save Hanawalt’s blissfully goofy hangout show about the up-and-down friendship between a give-no-fucks toucan (Tiffany Haddish, naturally) and her career-oriented bird best friend (Ali Wong), as it’s now been announced that the show’s second season will premiere there in 2021. Honestly, it’s probably for the best: Adult Swim’s zany, stoner-friendly brand is the perfect fit for “Tuca and Bertie,” and we can only imagine what wild shit these two birdie BFFs will get up to in this new, ten-episode chapter.
Airdate: TBD 2021 – NL
16. “Y: The Last Man” (FX on Hulu)
Based on an extremely popular and well-respected comic book series, “Y: The Last Man” by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, FX’s “Y” might have the distinction of having the most publicly troubled development process of the shows on this list. Originally announced in 2015, it went through multiple false starts and showrunners in development. But it’s ostensibly done now with Diane Lane, Barry Keoghan, Imogen Poots, Amber Tamblyn, and Timothy Hutton, as the main characters in a series about the last surviving human of a mysterious plague with a Y chromosome and his Capuchin monkey who set out to learn what might have wiped out the world’s male population. Directed by “Queen and Slim” helmer Melina Matsoukas, she’s the perfect choice for this timely and political series.
Airdate: It began production in October, there are first look photos, and hopefully it’ll be done by summer. – BT
15. “Tokyo Vice” (HBO Max)
Based on Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir, “Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan,” HBO Max’s “Tokyo Vice” serves as Michael Mann’s first time back behind the camera since 2015’s “Blackhat” and the first time back at TV after HBO’s failed gambling and horse racing show “Luck.” About an American journalist who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption, Mann shares directing duties here with Destin Daniel Cretton (“Just Mercy,” “The Glass Castle”). The series is set to star Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe, and given his #MeToo like drama and the allegations waged against him, we’re a little bit surprised Elgort wasn’t recast—after all, actors like Odessa Young were recast by Rachel Keller (“Legion”) because the shooting took so long to get underway. Rinko Kikuchi and Ella Rumpf round out the cast.
Airdate: Delayed by the pandemic in March after just getting started, the series only recently resumed shooting so it could come later in the year.
14. “Search Party” Season 4 (HBO Max)
When asked if she could drop any hints about the already-filmed fourth season of HBO Max’s “Search Party” back in June, star Alia Shawkat merely said, “It gets crazier! I’m very excited. I want to see Season 4.” So do we! “Search Party” was a critical darling on TBS but was shuffled over to HBO Max earlier this year. When that happened, the fourth season had already filmed, and it should be premiering on HBO Max soon, maybe even as early as January. The third season tracked the trial of Dory (Shawkat) and Drew (John Reynolds) for the murder of Keith way back in Season 1, and it featured the once-so-likable Dory drifting further and further into what could be called sociopathic tendencies. Denying her guilt even to the friends who helped her dispose of the body, Dory became one of 2020’s most fascinating characters. And the season ended with her in her darkest place yet. How could it possibly get crazier?
Airdate: January 2021 – BT
13. “Euphoria Part 2: Jules” and “Euphoria” Season 2 (HBO)
When the pandemic destroyed Sam Levinson’s plans for the second season of “Euphoria,” he pivoted to produce two special episodes to tide viewers over until production could resume. “Euphoria Part 1: Rue” premiered in December 2020 to rave reviews, especially for Emmy-winning star Zendaya. That chapter filled in some details about what happened right after the end of Season 1, when Rue let Jules (Hunter Schafer) leave on her own. A second chapter, to air in January 2021, will fill in the other half of that story, picking up right after Season 1 but from Jules’ perspective. It too was filmed with a very limited cast and crew during the pandemic. And then what? Well, Season 2 has been greenlit by HBO and should be here by the end of 2021. HBO president Casey Bloys told Deadline after the Emmys that it would start filming “early 2021.” Let’s hope that no further delays keep us from the story of Rue and her friends.
Airdate: January 24, 2021/TBD 2021 – BT
12. “The Lord of the Rings” (Amazon)
It’s finally happening. After years of stops and starts, the television adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved books is now in production for Amazon Prime. Trying to form its own identity in the shadow of Peter Jackson’s juggernaut trilogy, “The Lord of the Rings” is a multi-season, big-budget affair—one of the most high-profile projects in the history of the streaming wars. The show had already been filming for a month in early 2020 when the pandemic put a stop to that, even in New Zealand, but the conditions in that country improved enough to resume in September. What’s going to be startling for fans looking for the same stories told in Jackson’s films is that this has been confirmed to be a prequel series, filling us in on the saga of a young Aragorn and introducing new characters and world-building. A high bidding war for the series saw Amazon pony up $250 million for its rights, as well as a commitment to air at least five seasons. J.A. Bayona (“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”) has directed the first two episodes and a ton of casting details were just released although almost all the names are new ones. Clearly, Amazon hopes that this series becomes their “Game of Thrones” and makes most of them into household names.
Airdate: TBD 2021 – BT
11. “Barry” Season 3 (HBO)
There hasn’t been a new episode of one of HBO’s best comedies ever since May 2019 because the planned 2020 season of “Barry” was put on hold due to the pandemic. With filming picking up again around the world, the third season of a show that won the Best Actor Emmy for the first two seasons for star Bill Hader can finally get underway. Very little is known about where “Barry” goes from here, but the core cast has all signed on to return, including Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Anthony Carrigan, and Sarah Goldberg. Given how long ago they broke the story for Season 3, there have been rumors that Season 4 is written already and could be filmed simultaneously if HBO gives it the green light. Absolutely nothing has been revealed about the plot yet but season two ended with something of a cliffhanger as Gene (Winkler) seemed to finally realize how he ended up framed for murder by his favorite student. If the show starts filming in January, which has been rumored, the answers to all of Gene’s questions could be on the air by Summer.
Airdate: May 2021 – BT
