50. “The Power” (Amazon)
Created for Amazon by Naomi Alderman, “The Power” is based on her award-winning 2017 science-fiction novel of the same name. About a group of teenage girls who mysteriously develop a special power that allows them to electrocute people at will, all ten episodes of this series will be directed by Reed Morano. It stars Leslie Mann, in her first regular TV role, playing Margot Cleary-Lopez, a longtime politician and current mayor of Seattle. After spending her whole career in a man’s world, Mann’s character will now have to reckon with the newfound superpower of teenage girls everywhere.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – RP
49. “Secret Invasion” (Disney+)
Likely the biggest Marvel/Disney+ series of 2022, “Secret Invasion” essentially becomes three kinds of things: a Nick Fury show, a post-S.H.I.E.L.D. show, and a place to continue the Skrulls storyline from the end of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” It’s clear that Fury has teamed up with what’s left of SHIELD and friendly Skrulls, to create SWORD and or some other post-SHIELD force. “Secret Invasion” from the comics, however, is about the infiltration of Skrulls who have been posing as humans on Earth for decades which will add plenty of intrigue. Its cast is the biggest too, including Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Cobie Smulders reprising their MCU roles and newcomers Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Killian Scott, Christopher McDonald, and Carmen Ejogo.
Airdate: Given all the VFX needed, likely the last Marvel show to air in 2022 sometimes in the fall via Disney+. – RP
48. “Pachinko” (Apple TV+)
Video-essayist-turned–filmmaker Kogonada made one of the most remarkable debuts of 2017 with “Columbus.” He’ll be directing 4 episodes (including the pilot) of Apple TV+’s international drama series, “Pachinko,” adapted from South Korean author Min Jin Lee’s trilingual story so epic it is broken up into three volumes. Executive producer Soo Hugh (“The Terror”) serving as showrunner and the series is a sweeping saga of loss and forbidden love, that takes place over almost a hundred years, diving into historic periods such as Japan’s occupation of Korea, and how such events have affected assumptive prejudice across generations.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – AB
47. “She-Hulk” (Disney+)
Mark Ruffalo is not gone as the Hulk in the MCU, but Marvel is making room for his cousin, Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk. In the comics, it’s an accident and an emergency Banner-family blood transfusion that creates She-Hulk, who is also a lawyer. Tatiana Maslany stars, Ruffalo is back. Tim Roth from Ed Norton’s ‘Hulk’ returns as Abomination, plus Ginger Gonzaga, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Jameela Jamil also feature. Said to be much more comedic, a la the comics, Jessica Gao (“Silicon Valley,” “Rick and Morty“) is head writer.
Airdate: Likely late Q1 or early Q2 on Disney+. – RP
46. “Bad Monkey” (Apple TV+)
Vince Vaughn stars in one of 2022’s most high-profile streaming series, joining forces with comedic talents Bill Lawrence (“Ted Lasso”) and Carl Hiaasen (“Strip Tease”). Lawrence adapts the book by Hiaasen about a detective who has fallen so far that he’s now a restaurant inspector in Southern Florida. When a tourist finds a severed arm, Vaughn’s character gets sucked into an international mystery. One of Hiaasen’s most acclaimed books, it seems like a perfect fit for Lawrence, Vaughn, and the mini-series format.
Airdate: TBD 2022, via AppleTV+ – BT
45. “Under the Banner of Heaven” (FX)
Dustin Lance Black (“Milk”) adapts the remarkable nonfiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer into this high-profile mini-series for FX. Oscar nominee Andrew Garfield makes his TV debut leading a cast that also includes Sam Worthington, Denise Gough, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Wyatt Russell, and Billy Howle. This talented team has assembled to go behind the scenes of the Mormon Church in a story told through the eyes of a Mormon detective investigating a murder of a woman within the community. Krakauer’s book is a searing analysis of the history of Mormonism, a must-read, and it will be interesting to see it turned into a more traditional mystery series.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – BT
44. “Inventing Anna” (Netflix)
TV superstar Shonda Rhimes created and produced this mini-series based on the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler. A Russian-born con-woman, Anna Sorokin pretended to be Anna Delvey from 2013 to 2017 and worked her way into the New York scene to defraud everyone she could. Convicted of multiple counts of grand larceny, Anna is played here by the great Julia Garner (“Ozark”), who is joined by Anna Chlumsky, Anna Deavere Smith, Laverne Cox, Terry Kinney, Jennifer Esposito, and Anders Holm in a series directed by David Frankel (“The Devil Wears Prada”).
Airdate: February 11, via Netflix – BT
43. “The Continental” (Starz)
Continuing their trend of spinning franchise potential out of acclaimed movies (“Blindspotting,” “The Girlfriend Experience”) Starz may have found their first huge IP hit in “The Continental,” a prequel series to the “John Wick” films, slated to be presented as a “three-night special-event TV series.” Controversially, however, the casting of Mel Gibson will start another conversation. Regardless, set in 1975, the show will tell the origin of a high-class hitman, hotel owner Winston Scott (Ian McShane in the movies), with Gibson set to play a character named Cormac.
Airdate: TBD, via Starz – AB
42. “Gaslit” (Starz)
Julia Roberts appears to be a big podcast person. After the ambitious television adaptation of “Homecoming,” (the first season of which worked far better than the second) she’s moved from Amazon to Starz for the political thriller “Slow Burn.” Also starring Sean Penn, Dan Stevens, Betty Gilpin, and Shea Whigham (who was also on “Homecoming”) Leon Neyfakh’s Slate produced podcast series tells untold stories of the Watergate conspiracy, mainly centering on celebrity Arkansan socialite, Martha Mitchell, a socialite married to Nixon’s Attorney General, John N. Mitchell. Caught between his domestic relationship and political responsibilities, “Mitchell is forced to choose between Martha and the president.”
Airdate: TBD, via Starz – AB
41. “Shōgun” (FX)
Looking to follow in the footsteps of “Warrior” (one of the most under-appreciated shows on TV), “Shōgun,” is a remake of the 1980 series of the same name, based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel. Led by a primarily Asian cast including Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, and Tadanobu Asano, the story follows “the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai.” The feudal Japan set series is seen through the eyes of an English sailor, John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) who is shipwrecked in “a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him.”
Airdate: TBD, via FX – AB
