10. “Stranger Things” (Season 5)
The Duffer Brothers‘ popular Netflix sci-fi thriller Netflix series finally concludes in 2024, but the strikes delayed it, so summer 2024 might be more like the end of year. Everyone returns: David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Natalia Dyer, Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin, Gaten Matarazzo, Joe Keery, Winona Ryder, plus new cast member Linda Hamilton.
Airdate: TBD via Netflix.
9. “House Of The Dragon” (Season 2)
HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” spin-off returns for a slightly shorter season in 2024, and the prequel series about the Targaryen Civil War should feature fewer time jumps. The main cast now includes Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans (plus the recurring ensemble), and season two will also add Freddie Fox, Gayle Rankin, Simon Russell Beale, Matthew Needham, and many more.
Airdate: Expected summer 2024 via HBO.
8. “Industry” (Season 3)
HBO’s best-kept secret is Mickey Down and Konrad Kay’s drama “Industry,” set in the prestigious U.K. investment banking world. And now that “Succession” is done, their series is all teed up to shine. The series has already created up-and-coming stars out of Marisa Abela and Myha’la Herrold, but the deep-bench ensemble, which also features Ken Leung, Harry Lawtey, David Jonsson, Conor MacNeill, Freya Mavo, Alex Alomar Akpobom, is full of talent. Kit Harrington and Sarah Goldberg (“Barry”) join the cast in season three.
Airdate: TBD via HBO.
7. “The Regime”
Following the Emmy success of “Mare of Easttown,” Kate Winslet is back in another HBO limited series, this one featuring top-shelf talent, including “Succession” writers Will Tracy, Frank Rich, and director Stephen Frears (“The Queen”). Co-starring Andrea Riseborough, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Hugh Grant, the series depicts a year within the palace of a crumbling authoritarian regime, with Winslet playing the Chancellor of a fictional Central European autocracy.
Airdate: Spring 2024, via HBO.
6. “The Penguin”
If anyone remains unphased by DC Studios’ recent problems, it’s filmmaker Matt Reeves. His alternate “Batman” universe continues with “The Penguin,” starring Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, trying to seize the power of Gotham’s criminal underworld in the vacuum created by Carmine Falcone’s death. There’s one seemingly major obstacle: Cristin Milioti stars as his daughter, Sofia Falcone, presumably trying to make a counter-offensive move. Craig Zobel, the filmmaker behind the excellent “Mare Of Easttown,” will direct.
Airdate: Mid to late 2024 via HBO Max.
5. “Andor” (Season 2)
Given the strikes and delays, it’s unclear if “Andor” season two will be ready for 2024. Writer/producer/showrunner Tony Gilroy’s final “Star Wars” season divides five years over 12 episodes and leads us right into the final days before “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Diego Luna returns as Cassian Andor, along with Adria Arjona, Stellan Skarsgard, Genevieve O’Reilly, Forest Whitaker, and Kyle Soller, and one has to wonder if those final eps could feature characters like Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) or cargo pilot Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed).
Airdate: TBD, but Disney+ was already eyeing fall 2024.
4. “Masters Of The Air”
Produced by Playtone, which also made its precursors “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific,” this WWII drama is in the same vein but told via air bombers fighting Hitler in the skies. Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan, Fionn O’Shea, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, and Raff Law are among the ensemble. Filmmakers on board the series include Cary Fukunaga, Dee Rees, Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck, and Tim Van Patten (“Boardwalk Empire”).
Airdate: January 26, via AppleTV+.
3. “True Detective: Night Country” (Season 4)
Series writer/creator Nic Pizzolatto parted ways with HBO, but that leaves producer Barry Jenkins and Mexican writer-director Issa López (“Tigers Are Not Afraid”) to take over. The plot centers on the eight men who operate an Alaska-based Research Station who vanish without a trace. Detectives who must confront their pasts and the dark truths lying underneath the Arctic ice include Jodie Foster and Kali Reis. John Hawkes, Christopher Eccleston, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, and Anna Lambe co-star.
Airdate: January 14, 2024, via HBO.
2. “The Sympathizer”
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directs and co-show-runs with Canadian actor/filmmaker Don McKellar and Robert Downey Jr. stars, playing multiple antagonist roles. The series is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States. The main cast is Hoa Xuande (“Cowboy Bebop”), Fred Nguyen Khan (“Transplant”), Toan Le, Vy Le, and Alan Trong, all of Vietnamese descent.
Airdate: Spring 2024 via A24 and HBO.
1. “Disclaimer”
Following big Oscar wins in cinema, Alfonso Cuarón (“Roma”) gets into the TV game, writing, directing, and exec producing “Disclaimer” from author Renee Knight. Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline star, and the series centers on a TV documentary journalist named and a widower who publishes a book revealing her secrets. Sacha Baron Cohen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Lesley Manville co-star, and it should finally be ready this year.
Airdate: TBD Apple TV+,
Even more honorable mentions on the final page.
