40. “The Dropout” (Hulu)
While it’s going to have to compete with Adam McKay and Jennifer Lawrence making their own film (“Bad Blood”), likely beating them to the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos story punch will be “The Dropout,” a Hulu series exploring this scandal based on a podcast that did the legwork. And a ton of good people are involved, Elizabeth Meriwether (“New Girl”) is the showrunner, Michael Showalter (“The Big Sick”) directs, and Amanda Seyfried stars (Kate McKinnon originally had the role, but dropped out). Co-stars include Naveen Andrews, Laurie Metcalf, Elizabeth Marvel and many more.
Airdate: TBD 2022 via Hulu. – RP
39. “Obi-Wan-Kenobi” (Disney+)
Lucasfilm’s been trying to make an Obi-Wan story for years. First, it was a movie, then it turned into a series. Ewan McGregor stars as the Jedi Master, post-Order 66, now lives in exile on Tatooine, watching over young Luke Skywalker. Deborah Chow (“The Mandalorian”) directs and that cast features Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse as Luke’s Uncle and Aunt, plus Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell, Benny Safdie, and Maya Erskine. More importantly, Hayden Christensen returns as Darth Vader with the series promising another show-down between the adversaries.
Airdate: Expected to be the first Lucasfilm series of 2022. March, perhaps? – RP
38. “The Afterparty” (Apple TV+)
Could this be the next “Ted Lasso” for the richest streamer around? A new series from Academy Award winners Chris Miller and Phil Lord, “The Afterparty” is a murder mystery comedy that just happens to take place after a high school reunion, recounting the events of the night from a different perspective each episode. Apple TV+ unveiled the cast at the end of 2020, and it’s a stunner, including great comedic talents like Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Dave Franco, John Early, and more. It’s an eight-episode series that feels likely to be one of the funniest and most unusual of 2022.
Airdate: January 28, via Apple TV+. – BT
37. “Let the Right One In” (Showtime)
In March 2021, the pay cable giant Showtime ordered an American version of the beloved Swedish vampire film “Let the Right One In” (already remade once by Matt Reeves as the American film “Let Me In”). This version will star the great Demian Bichir as Mark, who watches over his bloodsucking daughter Eleanor (newcomer Madison Taylor Baez). The promising cast also includes Anika Noni Rose and Grace Gummer, with a pilot written by Andrew Hinderaker (“Penny Dreadful”) and directed by Seith Mann (“Dexter”). Filming won’t even start until early 2022, so this may not surface until 2023, but also feels like spooky season next year is very possible.
Airdate: TBD 2022, via Showtime. – BT
36. “Severance” (Apple TV+)
The last time that Patricia Arquette worked with Ben Stiller, it produced the award-winning “Escape at Dannemora,” which the comedy actor directed. The pair are reuniting in the same roles of star and director for Apple TV+’s futuristic thriller “Severance,” which co-stars Adam Scott, John Turturro, and Christopher Walken. Not much is known about the show, but imagine a future in which work life and home life could be entirely distinct, even down to your memories. It sounds a little like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” with a capitalist twist.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – BT
35. “Peacemaker” (HBO Max)
Depending on who you talk to, James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” could be considered a failure for Warner Bros., but they’re moving forward with an instant spinoff series created by Gunn himself, exclusively for HBO Max. The first official DCEU TV series, it picks up the story of a character who first appeared to not make it through the blockbuster film, Peacemaker, played by John Cena. He reprises his role. Gunn wrote all eight episodes while finishing up work on the film and directed five of them, which co-star Steve Agee, Danielle Brooks, and Robert Patrick. Expect more violent comedy hijinks.
Airdate: January 13, via HBO Max. – BT
34. “Shantaram” (Apple TV+)
Apple TV+’s “Shantaram” series, about a heroin addict and bank robber from Australia who flees the country to India, starring Charlie Hunnam, directed by Justin Kurzel (with Bharat Nalluri and Iain B. MacDonald) went through a lot of problems. Expensive, shot in various locales in South Asia in the fall of 2019 (!), production halted on the show in early 2020 (right before COVID) when series writer Eric Warren Singer (“American Hustle”), fell behind on shoots and the production had nothing to do, but wait and hope he kept up (Kurzel released two whole-ass films in the interim!). Steve Lightfoot (“The Punisher“) eventually took over as showrunner and Alexander Siddig joined the cast. Filming actually resumed recently and they should finish this year, but it’s unclear and doubtful if Kurzel ended up doing more than two episodes.
Airdate: TBD via Apple TV+, but maybe closer to the end of the year. – RP
33. “The White House Plumbers” (HBO)
Based on public records and the book “Integrity” by Egil Krogh, this big-budget political drama miniseries has one of the most impressive casts of 2022. It’s led by Woody Harrellson, Domhnall Gleeson, Lena Headey, and Justin Theroux, returning to the network that broadcast his great work on “The Leftovers.” It gets better. Harrelson plays Howard Hunt and Theroux plays G. Gordon Liddy in the five-part true story of how they “accidentally toppled the presidency they were trying to protect” when they masterminded a little thing called Watergate. As the country continues to process what happened during the election of 2020 and in the months that followed, a dramatic mini-series about corrupt, stupid political allies might be just the thing.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – BT
32. “Hacks” Season 2 (HBO Max)
A washed-up Vegas comedienne playing it safe with the same routine, a hungry, up-and-coming, but totally broke comedy writer with something to prove: this was the inviting premise to HBO Max’s “Hacks,” and the series struck gold last year. Starring Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, and Carl Clemons-Hopkins, among others, “Hacks” killed at the Emmys this year taking winning Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Smart, and two other comedy awards for directing and writing. Show about comedians tend to crash and burn (see “I’m Dying Up Here“), but “Hacks” is a bonafide hit with a great cliffhanger that should keep audiences tuned in next year.
Airdate: TBD 2022, via HBO Max, but summer would be ideal. – RP
31. “Russian Doll” Season 2 (Netflix)
Remember Netflix‘s “Russian Doll,” the hit time-loop, party NYC girl show from Leslye Headland, Amy Poehler, and Natasha Lyonne, who also stars? Co-starring Charlie Barnett, Greta Lee, Yul Vazquez, and Elizabeth Ashley, ‘Doll’ was a major hit in 2019 and it picked up four Emmy nominations immediately, including Outstanding Comedy Series. Then it lost its momentum and was delayed by COVID. Production began in March 2021, so that means the long wait for this series and the fate of the characters will be over next year. Given Headland’s commitment to making a Lucasfilm series, however, don’t be surprised if this is the final installment of the series.
Airdate: TBD 2022 – RP
