ABC; CW; FXNew year, new TV to look forward to.
Now that it's finally 2018, it's time to cut your losses with the fall shows you've already grown tired and make some room on your DVRs for everything the new year has to offer because there's a lot to get excited about.
Kicking things off on New Year's Day with the return of Arie Luyendyk Jr. as ABC's latest Bachleor, we've narrowed down the 25 TV events worth getting excited about over the next 12 months from a surprisingly deep pool of worthy candidates. Seriously, there's a lot of promising stuff coming our way. Read on and start programming your DVR!
Kudos to the Bachelor franchise for trying something new in 2018. First, they went back a few years to the pre-Instagram days to find their newest leading man, Arie Luyendyk Jr., and we're also being treated to what appears to be an international hot tub party known as Winter Games. It all sounds like exactly the fresh Bachelor air we need, and we can't wait to see how it all goes down, starting January 1.
It's time for Zoey Johnson to fly the coop and strike out on her own...-ish. In this Freeform spinoff of Black-ish, debuting January 3, Yara Shahidi takes center stage as the eldest Johnson child embarks on her freshman year at California University with a diverse group of friends helping her navigate her first taste of adult life. Look out for guest appearances from parents Dre and Bow as Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross are set to make occasional guest appearances in the comedy, which hails from the mothership's creator Kenya Barris.
The spore drive is done for and the U.S.S. Discovery is…missing. The finale ended with Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and his team including Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) evading death and destruction at the hands of the Klingons, only to find themselves some place very unfamiliar. Could our heroes be in the Mirror Universe? Whatever happens, beam us up for more adventures on January 7.
Sorry Rita Ora, but Tyra Banks is reclaiming her America's Next Top Model throne. Banks is returning on January 9 to host the revived series on VH1 after only serving as executive producer on Cycle 23. This year, expect new terms from Tyra and new competitors: there's no longer an age limit.
If creator Lena Waithe's Emmy-winning episode of Master of None, "Thanksgiving," is any indication, her new Showtime drama is, hands down, one of 2018's can't-miss debuts. The Chi, premiering January 7, is billed as a timely coming-of-age story that will explore the humanity behind the headlines sensationalizing the South Side of Chicago. Expect this to be an early Emmys frontrunner.
Luke Cage may have come before him, but Black Lightning feels like the first superhero series to finally truly speak to the Black Lives Matter movement. The CW's latest DC Comics adaptation, starring Cress Williams as the titular hero and premiering Jan. 16, feels timely in a way that few of the network's other comic book offerings have. If nothing else, it's just refreshing to have a CW superhero who feels like a damn adult.
People v. O.J. was great, but The Assassination of Gianni Versace brings a new level of glamour and intrigue to one of last year's most talked about new series with one of the biggest crimes fashion has ever suffered. Darren Criss plays the serial killer we never before knew we needed him to play, and Penélope Cruz is straight-up iconic as Donatella Versace. We are so there come January 17.
While some of the queens returning for another chance at the crown barely fit in the label of "star," let alone "All-Star"—Aja, anyone?—our excitement at finally having RuPaul and her glorious queens back is off the charts. RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars 3 returns to its new network (VH1) on January 25 to see who will join the ranks of legendary All-Stars and All-Stars 2 winners Chad Michaels and Alaska, respectively. Who are we rooting for? We'll never tell. (OK, we'll tell. That crown belongs to Trixie Mattel. Don't @ us.)
What's better than listening to your favorite podcast? Watching it come to life in a series of HBO specials, that's what! Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson bring their acclaimed podcast 2 Dope Queens to the cable network beginning February 2 for four hour-long specials taped before a live audience, tackling topics like "Black Nerds aka Blerds" and "Hot Peen" alongside guests including Jon Stewart and Tituss Burgess.
Netflix is going big with this original series, an adaptation the classic cyberpunk noir novel by Richard K. Morgan. Set more than 300 years in a future where society has been transformed by new technology, consciousness can be digitized, human bodies are interchangeable, and death is no longer permanent, the sci-fi series stars Joel Kinnaman as Takeshi Kovacs, the lone surviving soldier in a group of elite interstellar warriors who were defeated in an uprising against the new world order. Altered Carbon, dropping on the streaming site on February 2, looks expensive and confusing as hell. Count us in.
Already a staple in the U.K., Celebrity Big Brother is finally making its way across the pond for a special edition on CBS beginning February 7. Which of our D-list celebs will sign up to duke it out in the Big Brother house with Julie Chen narrating their every move? We haven't the slightest idea and we can't wait to find out.
Did you know that it's been nearly 18 months since UnREAL signed off for season two? After that creative debacle, you may have pushed the provocative Lifetime series, a fictional account of the inner-workings of a Bachelor-esque reality series, out of your mind. But queens Constance Zimmer and Shiri Appleby deserve better, and it looks like the time off may have helped deliver a third series worthy of their estimable talents. After tackling their first African-American suitor in S2, they're going the Bachelorette route this time around with Masters of Sex alum Caitlin FitzGerald assuming the role of Everlasting's (the show within the show) new feminist "suitress." Could Quinn and Rachel have finally met their match? Tune in on February 26 to find out.
What do you get when you take a Parks and Recreation fave (Retta), a Parenthood breakout (Mae Whitman), and a Mad Men diva (Christina Hendricks), cast them as three suburban moms tired of their lives, and have them rob a local supermarket. Why, the recipe for our most anticipated show of 2018, that's what. Is it February 26 yet?
All things just keep getting better thanks to Netflix's upcoming revival of the seminal reality series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Does the new Fab Five (from left to right, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness and Tan France) have what it takes to make us forget about Carson Kressley, Ted Allen and the rest of the OGs? Come February, we'll find out.
It's been a long few months without Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) dropping an eff-bomb on our screens. The first season The Good Fight was politically charged and intriguing and the real world hasn't gotten any less crazy, so Robert and Michelle King have a lot of fodder for new episodes, beginning March 4. Plus Audra McDonald will be a series regular this year, so our hopes of a musical episode just got all the more higher.
Did we really want a revival of American Idol so soon after its 2016 (supposed) series finale? Not even slightly. Are we planning to tune in on March 11 to see if Katy Perry was really worth her rumored $25 million salary? You betcha.
Glee meets Friday Night Lights this spring on NBC, with Moana (Auli'i Cravalho), Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and Rosie Perez (Rosie Perez) in the starring roles of this Jason Katims-produced high school drama set (where else) in a working class town. This one could either be one of the year's biggest successes or biggest flame-outs. Tune in on March 13 and judge for yourself.
Revival fatigue is very real, but we for sure will not be able to look away from the return of Roseanne Barr's iconic comedy Roseanne, premiering March 27, for two big reasons: 1. Curiosity about how the show explains away the series finale that had Roseanne Conner revealing Dan (John Goodman) was dead and she made the entire series up as a writer and 2. Laurie Metcalf. Metcalf is one of the best actors working today. Any chance to get weekly doses of her we will take.
Where do you go after being the most-buzzed about new series and winning a slew of awards? That's what we want to know, The Handmaid's Tale! Season two, debuting sometime in April, is already well underway and details are being kept under wraps. We do know there will be more Alexis Bledel—sorry, that's Emmy winner Alexis Bledel to you—and previously unseen parts of Gilead. "What I can tell you, and I'm not joking one bit, is it's knocking me out where this story is going," Ann Dowd told E! News. "I literally read the scripts and I think, ‘Oh my god.' The ideas are genius and so unpredictable and harrowing," she said. "Plus you see the worlds that you weren't exposed to before: the Colonies, what that whole world is; those who make it to Canada, what happens there; the pregnancy, how that is coming along. It's a phenomenally well-written show."
Arguably the best Real Housewives series on Bravo (go ahead and try to say another is better), Real Housewives of New York City is set to return with last year's top-tier cast and you know there's going to be laughs—and drama. Luann de Lesseps was arrested just before Christmas and charged with battery of an officer, disorderly intoxication, resisting arrested with violence and crimes against another person. She's now in a treatment center. Bravo's cameras are just itching to start recording and we cannot wait to see what they capture.
Season one felt like nothing more than a prelude, an introductory course to this world where nothing is as it seems and everyone watching wised up to the twists down the road much sooner than anyone writing expected. But now that the robots have taken over, making the demented amusement park at the center of this HBO sci-fi/western pastiche a true free-for-all, we can't wait to see what happens next when Westworld finally returns this spring.But it better involve Maeve (Thandie Newton) kicking some ass.
One of 2016's most surreal and delightful new shows, Atlanta feels like it's been gone forever. Apparently creator and star Donald Glover was too busy being very famous and employable to give us more in 2017, so we'll take whatever he can give us in 2018.
Robin Wright has always been the best thing about House of Cards and now she gets to truly own the show for its sixth and final season. After allegations of sexual misconduct by Kevin Spacey came to light, the status of the Netflix series was in question. After deliberation, Netflix and Media Rights Capital said the show must go on¬—without Spacey. Wright's Claire Underwood ended season five in power, now we get to see her wield it triumphantly.
Inspired by the success of Riverdale's dark take on Archie Comics, WB and Netflix are teaming up to create the show of our teenage dreams. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (you know, the teenage witch) is already our favorite thing to binge and we know absolutely nothing about it yet. Even if we only get a cast in 2018, we are here for it.
After Feud's spot-on casting for Bette and Joan, we can't wait to see who Ryan Murphy lands in the lead roles for the anthology's upcoming second installment, Charles and Diana. We have our thoughts on who will fill the royal shoes of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, among others, but we're sure that Murphy will still manage to surprise us.
Which TV event are you most excited about for 2018? Sound off in the comments below!
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