40. “Altered Carbon” (Netflix)
Synopsis: In a future where your personality and memories can be downloaded into new bodies after death, an ex-military private detective is hired by a wealthy man to solve his own murder.
What You Need To Know: It’s long been massive in sci-fi literature, comic books and video games, but as the underperformance of “Blade Runner 2049” last year reminded us, cyberpunk has never really connected with a wider audience on screen. Can “Altered Carbon” do for the sub-genre what “Game Of Thrones” did for fantasy? A long-time passion project for “Shutter Island” writer Laeta Kalogridis, who serves as showrunner, this adaptation of Richard K. Morgan’s novel brings along an acclaimed GoT director in the shape of Miguel Sapochnik, who was behind fan-favorite episode “Battle Of The Bastards” and has a semi A-list leading man in the shape of Joel Kinnaman. Trailers suggest that Netflix have spent a pretty penny on this, but also that the world is a little too “Blade Runner”-ish to feel that innovative. Hopefully there’s plenty of surprises in store when the thing hits in full. “Hamilton” breakout Renee Elise Goldsberry, James Purefoy and “House Of Cards” actress Kristin Lehman also star.
Airdate: All episodes on Netflix February 2nd.
39. “Barry” (HBO)
Synopsis: A hitman in crisis joins an acting class in Los Angeles and finds a new lease on life.
What You Need To Know: With an actor as chameleonic and versatile as Bill Hader, who can do anything from broad sketch comedy to surprisingly nuanced drama to, as with “Trainwreck,” playing a viable romantic lead, the problem can sometimes be in finding the right showcase for your talents. So Hader just went and created one for himself, co-writing (with ex-“Silicon Valley” bigwig Alec Berg), directing and starring in this dark comedy about a professional assassin who semi-accidentally ends up in an acting class and finds a new calling. Henry Winkler, Stephen Root, Sarah Goldberg and Glenn Fleshler back the star up, but it’s very much Hader at the center, and that’s a great thing if you’re as big a fan of him as we, and we suspect most of you, are. And sure, the fringes-of-LA-showbiz setting feels increasingly played out at the minute, but the “Grosse Pointe Blank” vibe of the trailers should ensure that this feels quite different from “Crashing” et al.
Airdate: March 25th on HBO.
38. “The OA Part II” (Netflix)
Synopsis: More from Prairie Johnson, otherwise known as The OA, the mysterious woman who spent years in a captivity, and might be able to open a portal to another dimension, or might be a fraud.
What You Need To Know: To its haters, it was a pretentious mess that ended with interpretative dance stopping a school shooting. To its lovers (most of us here at The Playlist), it was a massive swing of a show that, whatever its flaws, was simply like nothing else on TV. Dropped virtually by surprise by Netflix last December, a second season wasn’t a foregone conclusion after its mixed reception, but to their credit, Netflix wanted more of Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling’s singular mystery: writing is now done, and shooting gets underway this month. One of the most exciting things about it is that we have literally no clue where it could go from here, but we know that there’s plenty of dangling threads to be followed up on, and we’re psyched to see what the two showrunners do with them.
Airdate: Towards the very end of the year seems most likely.
37. “Jessica Jones” Season 2 (Netflix)
Synopsis: The continuing story of a superhero turned private investigator trying to rebuild her life after a tragic incident that still haunts her.
What You Need To Know: It doesn’t take much perusing around The Playlist to discover our ongoing relationship with Marvel’s Netflix shows. They’re largely terrible bs and, even when halfway decent, they feature plenty of infuriating elements of dialogue, character and plot blocking (every one of these shows don’t deserve 13 episodes either). But the best of them by far is “Jessica Jones,” which follows the perennially sarcastic private detective dealing with haunting issues of PTSD. What makes ”Jessica Jones” interesting is its lead character is essentially a survivor and victim of abuse and therefore her trust issues are myriad. So it’s a great premise with wonky execution. And Krysten Ritter’s petulant routine, one that forces irreverence unconvincingly, gets a little old (can you tell this show frustrates us?). But the show is watchable and, after the events of season 1 (spoiler), Ritter kills her nemesis in cold blood (he deserved it), it’ll be interesting to see how the show moves forward.
Release Date: March 8 on Netflix
36. “Dietland” (AMC)
Synopsis: A woman awaiting weight-loss surgery becomes caught in a battle between two rival feminist factions.
What You Need To Know: Though their “Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad” franchises keep them very much in the red, AMC have slightly struggled to find a brand new drama series with the critical acclaim and popular success of “Mad Men” or Vince Gilligan’s show. They’ve had great shows that never really found an audience like “Rubicon” and “Halt & Catch Fire,” and bad ones that never really found an audience either, but few absolute home runs. But “Dietland” definitely seems like it has the makings of being one of the year’s most talked about shows. Adapted by TV veteran Marti Noxon (“UnREAL,” this year’s “Sharp Objects”) from an acclaimed satirical novel by Sarai Walker, it seems to be best described as a sort of feminist “Fight Club,” with its utterly timely plot involving a sequence where one of the radical groups at its center throws twelve rapists out of a plane. With a stong cast including lead Joy Nash, Julianna Margulies in her first post-“Good Wife” role, “Tangerine” breakout Mya Taylor and the great Robin Wiegert, this could turn out to be the definitive series of the #MeToo era.
Airdate: Expect it in the fall, most likely.
35. “Kingdom” (Netflix)
Synopsis: In medieval Korea, a crown prince is set on a suicide mission to stop a terrifying outbreak.
What You Need To Know: With the service now worldwide, Netflix are increasingly greenlighting series in every language and nation you could ask for, but most are unlikely to cause much splash in English-language territories, mostly because we’re simply not familiar with the talent involved. But “Kingdom” could turn out to be one of the exceptions. For one thing, it’s a zombie show, and a period zombie show at that, like a certain HBO monster. For another, it’s their second Korean-language show, and “Okja” has already proven that Korean stuff can travel on the service. For a third, it’s directed by Kim Seong-hun, who proved with Playlist favorite “A Hard Day” and excellent disaster movie “Tunnel” that he’s one of the most promising new genre filmmakers to emerge from the territory since the holy trinity of Bong, Park and Kim. There’s some heavy hitters in the cast too, led by “The Host” and “Sense8” actress Bae Doona. This one might be under the radar for now, but we think it could become the streaming service’s first big foreign-language crossover hit.
Airdate: Unclear for now.
34. “Killing Eve” (BBC America)
Synopsis: A desk-bound security services agent becomes obsessed with catching a violent, high-living assassin.
What You Need To Know: Phoebe Waller-Bridge had something of a rocket path to fame: one minute she was a supporting player in UK dramas like “Broadchurch,” then she wrote and starred in one of the best comedy-dramas in recent years with Amazon hit “Fleabag,” then all of a sudden she was in a “Star Wars” movie (the upcoming “Solo”). Despite the endless shoot of the latter, Waller-Bridge found time to pen another series (ahead of “Fleabag’s” return in 2019), and it’s something of a genre shift: an adaptation of Luke Jennings’ spy novel “Killing Eve.” Promised as an action-thriller about a psychopathic hitwoman and the woman trying to track her down, it doesn’t see Waller-Bridge appearing before camera, but there’s some good substitutes, with the great Sandra Oh as the heroine, and Jodie Comer, who played Jackie Kennedy in “The Crown,” as her adversary. With “Orphan Black” wrapped up now, this seems like the perfect substitute for BBC America
Airdate: The summer seems likely.
33. “Homecoming” (Amazon)
Synopsis: A psychological thriller about a caseworker at a secret government facility, and a military veteran hoping to rejoin civilian life.
What You Need To Know: “Homecoming” isn’t the first podcast to become a TV series — Amazon stablemate “Lore” got there last year, as did the great “Comedy Bang Bang” and a few others. But it’s certainly the first ‘experimental fiction’ podcast to make the transition, and the first to have arguably a less star-studded cast once it added visuals to its audio. The show began on Gimlet Media in 2016, with Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, David Schwimmer, David Cross, Amy Sedaris, Spike Jonze and Michael Cera among its cast. It’s being brought to Amazon by “Mr. Robot” creator Sam Esmail (expect “Mr. Robot” to take a little time off and return in 2019 while this is underway), who’s cast Julia Roberts in Keener’s role, Stephen James in Isaac’s, and Bobby Cannavale in Schwimmer’s. Hmm, maybe that’s a fair trade now we think about it. We haven’t heard the podcast, but word is it’s less conspiracy thriller and more absurdist workplace drama, but look forward to seeing Esmail’s interpretation of it.
Airdate: Not yet filming, so it’ll be late in 2018 if it’s done in time (and Amazon are targeting a 2018 bow)
32. “Seven Seconds” (Netflix)
Synopsis: A cover-up ensues after a black teenager in Jersey City is run over by a white police officer.
What You Need To Know: TV has changed so much so quickly that “The Killing” feels like it was a million years ago (even though the fourth and final season only wrapped up in 2014). It’s been rather overshadowed in the peak TV era and had its ups and downs, but when it was good, it was very good, and this new Netflix series from its creator Veera Sud looks to be something of a spiritual successor to it. With a very urgent and relevant subject matter on race and police brutality, it seems like it’s playing in a similar sort of ballpark as John Ridley’s “American Crime” or the underrated “Shots Fired” — indeed, it shares a headlining cast member with the former, in the shape of the Emmy-winning Regina King (although “Children Of Men” and “Master Of None” actress Clare-Hope Ashitey looks to be playing the lead). For cinephiles, however, it’s probably most notable for the behind-the-scenes talent: “The Accountant” helmer Gavin O’Connor helms the pilot, but more importantly, one episode features the final directorial work of the great Jonathan Demme.
Airdate: All episodes February 23rd.
31. “Counterpart” (Starz)
Synopsis: A veteran bureaucrat in a mysterious UN agency discovers that he’s been guarding the entrance to a parallel world full of dopplegangers.
What You Need To Know: To his credit, J.K. Simmons doesn’t appear to have changed things up since winning his Oscar for “Whiplash” — he’s hopefully getting paid better, but he’s maintained the busy work ethic of a veteran character actor, racking up ten credits in 2017 alone, in everything from “Justice League” to “SpongeBob Squarepants.” “Counterpart,” however, sees him using his new stature for arguably the first time, starring and executive producing in one of the most intriguing sci-fi thrillers to come along in quite a long time. With a premise reminiscent of our beloved “Fringe,” but with a sort of brutalist Cold War chic of its own, this metaphysical espionage show hails from creator Justin Marks, who did a surprisingly excellent job of revamping “The Jungle Book,” with “La La Land” producer/Oscar-correcting hero Jordan Horowitz among the producers, and Morten Tyldum directing the pilot. Not only do we get double Simmons, but there’s also a strong supporting cast including Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Ulrich Thomsen, Nazanin Boniadi, Nicholas PInnock, Jamie Bamber, Kenneth Choi, Stephen Rea, Richard Schiff and Sarah Bolger. Reviews were pretty stellar after the first episode previewed last month too.
Airdate: Begins properly on January 21st.
