20. “The First” (Hulu)
Synopsis: The story of the attempt to establish a human colony on Mars.
What You Need To Know: Sean Penn’s probably had a better few years: his latest directorial feature “The Last Face” was (rightly) torn apart at Cannes, his team-up with Mel Gibson “The Professor And The Madman” is stuck in legal limbo, and his biggest hit of the last decade was, uh, “The Angry Birds Movie.” But he’s still an actor of such stature that him signing up to do a TV series makes real waves, and “The First” is actually the most intriguing project he’s been involved in quite a while. A co-production between Hulu and Channel 4 in the UK, it’s a grounded sci-fi tale from former “House Of Cards” showrunner Beau Willimon, with Agnieszka Holland among the directors and James Ransone, Natascha McElhone, LIsaGay Hamilton, Oded Fehr and Hannah Ware backing up Penn. Expect it to be semi-realistic in tone in a way that feels overdue for a project like this, and hopefully Willimon can bring out the best in Penn in a way we haven’t seen in a while.
Airdate: Probably towards the end of the year.
19. “Waco” (Paramount Network)
Synopsis: The story of the 51-day stand-off between law enforcement and cult leader David Koresh, which led to the deaths of 86 people.
What You Need To Know: It’s easy to despair and fear that we’re essentially on the brink of civil war at the minute, as the NRA release terrifying, borderline American ISIS videos and Nazis run over protestors with the president’s tacit approval, but it’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time in living memory that certain elements of American life felt on the brink of armed revolt. The early 1990s were a tumultous time, and that’s a time captured in this new miniseries docudrama, the first big play in scripted TV for the new Paramount Network. With Taylor Kitsch playing religious loon David Koresh, Michael Shannon as the agent trying to bring him down, and Melissa Benoist, Julia Garner, John Leguizamo, Andrea Riseborough, Rory Culkin, Shea Whigham and Paul Sparks in support, this has one of the stronger limited series ensembles of the year, and trailers so far have been intriguing, and suggest something very timely. Our question mark right now is over showrunners John Erick and Drew Dowdle, who’ve made some skilfully done B-horrors like “As Above, So Below,” but also the exploitative and deeply offensive Owen Wilson actioner “No Escape.”
Airdate: January 24th on Paramount Network (a week after the channel rebrands from Spike TV)
18. “Insecure” (HBO)
Synopsis: The further adventures in life and love of Issa and her friends.
What You Need To Know: With “Girls” now over and done, there’s a big gap for the twentysomething romantic dramedy, and it’s one that Issa Rae has more than filled at HBO with “Insecure.” Airing its first two seasons just nine months apart, Rae’s specific, hilarious, often painful look at modern dating, sex and race felt like it really hit its stride in its second run, with Rae feeling like a more vital voice than ever by the end. And it’s clearly starting to connect: ratings got a big boost thanks to its proximity to “Game Of Thrones” in Season 2, and HBO renewed the show midway through the run. There’s no details on how things will change when the show returns, but we hope the answer is ‘as little as possible,’ given how good it’s been to date.
Airdate: Probably a summer return, maybe paired with “Westworld” this time.
17. ”Dear White People” Season 2 (Netflix)
Synopsis: The continuing story of students of color navigating the daily slights and slippery politics of life at an Ivy League college that’s not nearly as “post-racial” as it thinks.
What You Need To Know: An adaptation of a movie of the same name from the same writer/director “Dear White People” was lackluster at first, a total rehash of the movie with the same characters and the even the same actors, but once the show got going, it turned into a fierce, sharp and funny continuation of the show’s examination of race, life, love and modern culture in our enlightened and highly woke era.
Release Date: TBD
16. “Trust” (FX)
Synopsis: The story of the Gettys, one of the wealthiest families in America, and the kidnapping of heir John Paul Getty III in Italy in the 1970s.
What You Need To Know: In one of those weird how-are-there-suddenly-two-different-movies-about-Truman-Capote-writing-In-Cold-Blood coincidences in the universe, two A-list filmmakers spent 2017 making projects about the reasonably obscure story of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III. We’ve already had Ridley Scott’s “All The Money In The World,” but Danny Boyle’s FX series “Trust,” has had a rather quieter route to the screen without having to digitally replace any of its actors or deal with public arguments about pay disparities. Created by Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” writer Simon Beaufoy, it’s envisioned as a decade-spanning family drama that will stretch long beyond the kidnapping, but its initial focus is on the same case that Scott covered, with Donald Sutherland in the Christopher Plummer role, Hilary Swank in the Michelle Williams part, “Beach Rats” breakout Harris Dickinson as the kidnappee, and Brendan Fraser in a cowboy hat standing in for Mark Wahlberg. The trailer makes it look, as you might imagine from Boyle’s involvement, a lot more fun and lively than Scott’s film: let’s hope the whole thing lives up to that.
Airdate: March 25th on FX.
15. “Yellowstone” (Paramount Network)
Synopsis: A family of ranchers try to protect their land, as the government, land developers and an Indian reservation threaten to encroach on it.
What You Need To Know: It’s a competitive landscape in the Peak TV era, and for every AMC who’ve managed to successfully rebrand as a home of quality drama, there’s a WGN America who had to slope away with their tail between their legs. Paramount are certainly coming out swinging with their rebranding of Spike TV into the Paramount Network, with the TV version of “Heathers,” the aforementioned “Waco” and, most importantly, this show, the first TV show created by Taylor Sheridan, who’s been on a hell of a run recently thanks to “Sicario,” “Hell Or High Water” and “Wind River.” Like the latter, Sheridan’s directing a big chunk of this, which seems very much in his neo-Western wheelhouse, and he’s landed quite a coup by getting Kevin Costner to sign to the lead role, with Wes Bentley, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser, Sheridan favorite Gil Birmingham, Gretchen Mol, Jill Hennessey and Josh Lucas in support. Will all that be enough to get people to tune in to an unfamiliar network, though?
Airdate: Filmed late last summer, so could be any time from the late spring onwards.
14. “The Romanoffs” (Amazon)
Synopsis: Anthology series set around the world about various people who believe themselves to be descended from the Russian royal family.
What You Need To Know: We have rather more mixed feelings about “The Romanoffs” than we’d like to. On the one hand, it’s the new show from Matthew Weiner, whose “Mad Men” might be the defining TV drama of the last ten years. It’s an expensive, world-spanning anthology series with an intriguing premise and a terrific cast that unites a few “Mad Men” alumnus like Christina Hendricks and John Slattery with top-flight talent like Aaron Eckhart, JJ Feild, Jack Huston, Diane Lane, Amanda Peet, Andrew Rannells, Paul Reiser, Corey Stoll, oh, and ISABELLE FUCKING HUPPERT. But on the other, it’s going to be hard for it not to feel tainted: it was once backed by The Weinstein Company, and Weiner himself was accused of sexual harassment by a former colleague last year. Whatever the caliber of talent involved, will it be possible to look past all of that?
Airdate: Aiming for the spring.
13. “One Day She’ll Darken” (TNT)
Synopsis: A young woman given away at birth investigates her origins, discovering grim secrets leading to an infamous Hollywood doctor.
What You Need To Know: Patty Jenkins must feel incredibly vindicated. The filmmaker went over a decade after her excellent first feature “Monster” without getting to make a follow-up: when it came, it was “Wonder Woman,” one of the biggest movies of 2017 and a superhero movie that even managed to pick up awards buzz. Jenkins likely had her pick of projects to pursue next, so that she’s picked this six-part TNT miniseries suggests it’s pretty potent material. A true-life story that takes in race, sex scandals and even the Black Dahlia murder, it’ll reteam her with “Wonder Woman” star Chris Pine, who’ll play a disgraced but crusading journalist, with relative newcomer India Eisley in the central role, “The Americans” actor Jefferson Mays as the villain of the piece, and Leland Orser as Pine’s editor. The idea of Jenkins being let loose on a Hollywood noir tale of this kind of substance is hugely exciting and should help cement TNT as something of a drama dark horse in the year to come.
Airdate: Filming got underway late last year, so a fall debut is most likely.
12. “The Chi” (Showtime)
Synopsis: Drama following a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.
What You Need To Know: Since her viral video “Shit Black Girls Say” broke out, it’s been clear that Lena Waithe was headed for big things, and her sublime “Master Of None” episode “Thanksgiving” last year, for which she won an Emmy, only backed that up. She’ll appear in Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” in a few months, but first is a real showcase for her writing in the shape of “The Chi,” which she created and has been developing for Showtime for years now. With a pilot directed by “Dope” helmer Rick Famuyiwa, and a top-notch cast led by Jason Mitchell, one of the best actors we have right now, and “Moonlight” actor Alex Hibbert, it’s a show that has drawn comparisons with “The Wire,” but with the excellent first episode having aired already, it’s shaping up to be a different beast — an authentic, very human show that looks to have plenty of surprises. It’s still finding its feet a little — it’s so sprawling that it can feel a little daunting — but at a time when presidential references to Chicago are loaded with racism, it’s utterly vital to get a different look at the community.
Airdate: Currently airing on Showtime on Sunday nights.
11. “Arrested Development” Season 5 (Netflix)
Synopsis: The Bluths return, with a murder mystery to solve.
What You Need To Know: Maybe the most underwhelming moment of the streaming TV era to date was “Arrested Development” Season 4. The most beloved cult comedy of the 00s became one of Netflix’s killer apps the year it launched original content, but partly because of some slack episode running lengths, and partly because of the way that it was structured (itself a by-product of the difficult of reuniting the cast), its return felt like a pale shadow of its predecessors. Creator Mitch Hurwitz (who’s very much been back on form with “Lady Dynamite”) has promised he’s learned from the criticisms, and we’re promised there’ll be a lot more moments with the Bluths sharing screen time for Season 5, which apparently revolves around the aftermath of the death of Liza Minnelli’s Lucille Two. But there are new problems too, namely the accusations against Jeffrey Tambor, which has similarly caused issued with “Transparent.” So far, there’s been no indication that it’s changed plans for the new episodes, so expect that storm to brew up again before too long…
Airdate: Summer seems likely.