40. “Gen V” (Prime Video)
The first spin-off of “The Boys,” “The Boys Presents: Diabolical” wasn’t much of a pop culture item, but this one sounds more promising. First, it’s live-action, and it centers on a specific volume of the source material by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, “We Gotta Go Now.” Jaz Sinclair, Lizze Broadway, and Jaz Sinclair star in a story that will reportedly take place at the same time as the upcoming fourth season of the Karl Urban hit, focusing on young superheroes and the testing to which they’re subjected at a place called the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting. You know Vought is going to make their super-lives Hell.
Airdate: TBD, but Prime has said 2023. – BT
39. “Lessons in Chemistry” (Apple TV+)
Brie Larson (“Captain Marvel”) and Susannah Grant (the Oscar-nominated script for “Erin Brokovich”) team for a 1960s drama about a woman whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a society deeming that women belong in the domestic sphere, not the professional one. The series co-stars Lewis Pullman (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Patrick Walker, Thomas Mann, and Kevin Sussman.
Airdate: TBD, but Apple already showed off first-look images in August. – RP
38. “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
37. “The Mandalorian” Season 3 (Disney+)
With Baby Yoda riding off into the sunset with Deep Fake Luke Skywalker, it seemed like “The Mandalorian” Season 2 hit a logical conclusion point, but Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, and Jon Favreau fixed all that in “The Book Of Boba Fett.” Pedro Pascal returns as does Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, but obviously not Gina Carano. The story is unknown, but it seems like everything is building towards an event series tying into the “Ahsoka” show, “Star Wars: Rebels” characters and maybe Boba Fett again, so expect potential surprises and cameos.
Airdate: March 1, 2023. – RP
36. “The Night Agent” (Netflix)
Could this be Netflix’s biggest 2022 hit? It’s got the potential and falls into the genre that subscribers love: the thriller. Based on the hit novel by Matthew Quirk, the most promising thing about this show may be that it’s created by TV genius Shawn Ryan, the man behind “The Shield” and “Timeless.” Gabriel Basso plays an FBI agent who has been told he has to monitor a very important phone that never rings. You know what happens next. Apparently, an actress having an amazing 2022 is also part of the ensemble in the great Hong Chau. We’ll answer this call.
Airdate: TBD – BT
35. “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” (Disney+)
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni apparently don’t run everything on LucasFilm TV. Created by “Spider-Man” trilogy filmmaker Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, the latest “Star Wars” series is a coming-of-age sci-fi adventure starring Jude Law. Set in the age of “The Mandalorian” (after “Return of the Jedi”), not all that much is known, but it’s said to be inspired by “The Goonies” and Amblin films and is expected to feature a bunch of young teenagers who presumably work on Law’s characters ship.
Airdate: TBD via Disney+. – RP
34. “Severance” Season 2 (Apple TV+)
One of the best shows of 2022 seems likely to return in 2023 while it’s still blowing people’s minds. The first season introduced the world to Lumen, a company that really has the work/life divide figured out by literally fracturing their employee’s brains. The season ended with a series of revelations and cliffhangers that really set things up for Season 2, but we know almost nothing about it yet, other than stars like Adam Scott, Britt Lower, and Patricia Arquette has to be asking themselves how the writers could possibly top the perfection of year one. Note: Season 2 started shooting in October of this year, but won’t wrap until May, so this is likely closer to a year from now than the original April release of the first season.
Airdate: TBD – BT
33. “Class of ‘09” (Hulu)
What a cast. “Atlanta” may be over, but star Brian Tyree Henry (earning raves for his great work in this year’s “Causeway” too) is staying with FX on Hulu, jumping to a limited series on the streamer that has reportedly finished filming. Henry co-stars alongside the underrated Kate Mara (“A Teacher”) in an eight-part series that’s reportedly about FBI agents reunited after the death of a friend. Taking place across multiple timelines and eras, it sounds like a fascinating character study and mystery that could give the rising star Henry another well-deserved acting platform.
Airdate: TBD – BT
32. “Love and Death” (HBO Max)
The creator of “Big Little Lies,” David E. Kelley, is back on HBO, this time on the Max version with his new crime drama with a heck of a cast. This time the writer hands directing duties to Lesli Linka Glatter, who helms an adaptation of “Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs,” which tells the true story of a normal housewife named Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen) who chopped her friend Betty Gore (Lily Rabe) with an ax in Texas in 1980. Joining Olsen and Gore are Jesse Plemons, Patrick Fugit, Keir Gilchrist, Elizabeth Marvel, Tom Pelphrey, and Krysten Ritter. If it sounds familiar, yes, this is the same story as Hulu’s “Candy,” but with that Kelley touch.
Airdate: TBD – BT
31. “Ripley” (Showtime)
It’s another adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novels about the infamous Tom Ripley character brought to life in films like “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Ripley’s Game.” This project, from the excellent Steven Zaillian (“The Irishman”), starts with the series’ first books, capturing Tom Ripley in the early ‘60s, traveling to Italy at the behest of a man who wants his son to come home. Who steps into this charming criminal’s shoes? None other than Andrew Scott, the scene-stealer from the second season of “Fleabag,” but man, it’s been taking forever to get finished.
Airdate: TBD 2023. – BT
