2022 TV Preview: The 25 Most Excited Shows

The small screen is in for a great year. Series will feature big-name stars such as John Cena, Julia Roberts and Jeff Bridges. Big-name creators like Shonda Rhimes, James Gunn, and Lord & Miller will have new shows. Multiple new shows will be created for blockbuster franchises such as Star Wars and MCU, plus prequels. Game of Thrones And The Lord of the Rings. Amazing shows like Atlanta And Better Call Saul They will be returning after long absences. We don’t know yet exactly when many of these will be premiering, but, to borrow the name of one of 2022’s freshman debuts, it may be time to get super pumped.

Peacemaker (HBO Max, Jan. 13)

This series is more than a spinoff of the big-screen. The Suicide Squad It features John Cena, the dim and deadly title character, returning to the show. The Suicide Squad maestro James Gunn. Expect plenty of raunchy jokes as Peacemaker and his old friends (Steve Agee, Jennifer Holland, and Robert Patrick) get involved in a conspiracy plot threatening all U.S. governments.

The Gilded Age (HBO, Jan. 24)

Downton Abbey Julian Fellowes, creator, extends his period gaze across Europe for a story set in New York City’s economic boom of 1882. The Leftovers Carrie Coon, a Carrie Coon alum, will be the star of a stellar cast that also features Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski. If it’s not exactly Downton Abbey: The Big AppleIt may be possible.

The Afterparty (Apple TV+, Jan. 24)

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller mostly work in movies, where they’ve been responsible for The Lego Movie, 21 Jump StreetAnd much more. But there is more. Clone High Alums sometimes return to the small screen (see: The Last Man on the EarthAs they will with this Miller-created hybrid genre, it is set at a highschool reunion. Each episode is told from a different POV, sampling from a cast of characters played by a comedy murderers’ row including Tiffany Haddish, Sam Richardson, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, John Early, Dave Franco, and more.

Pam & Tommy (Hulu, Feb. 2)

Sebastian Stan and Lily James look almost uncannily the same as their real selves, and are unrecognizable as stars-crossed Nineties lovers Pamela Anderson (and Tommy Lee) in this darkly funny miniseries about the stolen tape that was used to sex. Baywatch From famous to infamous, Anderson is a star. Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman and Craig Gillespie co-star in the role of the men behind the sex tape’s international success. Craig Gillespie is a former director who has previously dramatized tabloid-friendly stories through his work. I, Tonya.

Anna Invented (Netflix, Feb. 11)

Bridgerton Shonda Rhimes’ first production under her enormous Netflix deal was this show. Anna Invented is the first one she’s created for the streaming giant — and the first show she’s created, period, since Scandal a decade earlier. This one stars Ozark Emmy winner Julia Garner portrays Anna Delvey, a real-life fraudster. Rhimes’ stamp can be found even on the shows other people write for her, but there’s an appreciable difference when something is her idea from the start.

Bel-Air (Peacock, Feb. 13)

You can’t swing a dead cat around your television these days without hitting some kind of reboot or revival, but this take on Will Smith’s classic Nineties sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air At the very least, it is trying something new. Inspired by a 2019 fan-made trailer, the series turns a sitcom premise into fodder for a gritty drama, with newcomer Jabari Banks as Philly transplant Will, Adrian Holmes and Cassandra Freeman as wealthy Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv, and Olly Sholotan as Will’s cousin Carlton. Fresh Prince While it may have been serious at times, the idea can sustain a full-time drama. Whether this works or not, no chance it’ll be dull.

Law & Order (NBC, Feb. 24)

The original broadcast was canceled in May 2010 by NBC. Law & OrderThe, which was still a solid performer on ratings but became more costly to produce. The decade that followed has been a decade. Law & Order: SVU It continues to move along (it also spawned an Organized Crime (spinoff last year), L&O Dick Wolf, creator of NBC (the), has started additional franchises. Chicago Shows) and CBS (F.B.I.). In retrospect, NBC would be better off keeping the mothership around all of this time. This mistake was finally rectified by a revival that brings back Anthony Anderson. L&O‘s final seasons, working with new cast members like Jeffrey Donovan, Hugh Dancy, Camryn Manheim, and maybe another familiar face or two (Sam Waterston?) If negotiations go well. DUN-DUN!

Super Pumped (Showtime, Feb. 27)

Billions David Levien, Brian Koppelman and David Levien have launched a new series that examines businesses that have had an impact on culture. First up: the rise and fall of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), in a season that wlll co-star Kyle Chandler, Elisabeth Shue, Hank Azaria, Kerry Bishé, and Uma Thurman.

AtlantaSeason 3 (FX Mar. 24)

Due to both Donald Glover’s busy schedule and Covid, it’s been four years since we saw Glover’s Earn, Brian Tyree Henry’s Paper Boi, and LaKeith Stanfield’s Darius board a plane for Paper Boi’s European tour. Glover and his company were able to produce a third. And fourth season — covering both that Euro trip and the guys’ return to Atlanta — and we’ll be seeing one, if not both, in 2022. We will enjoy the unique and brilliant hip hop dramedy no matter how much.

The Lord of the Rings (Amazon Prime Video, Sept. 2)

Amazon spent over a quarter-of-a-billion dollars just to acquire this product Rights It was possible to create a TV show in J.R.R. Tolkein’s iconic fantasy universe — and then another reported $100-150 million to produce the first season. Not much is known about the story, save that it’s set long before the events of The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, featuring relative newcomers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay will serve as creator-showrunners. Amazon to host the next Game of Thrones either a costly disappointment or a hands-off victory?

The CrownSeason 5 (Netflix, November).

Season Five of Emmy-winning drama jumps forward again. It brings with it new actors to play the royals of the Nineties. These choices are all great and the Claire Foy-Olivia Colman transition went well.

A League of Their Own (Amazon Prime Video, TBD)

Penny Marshall’s 1992 masterpiece about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was already adapted for television once before, in a straightforward, quickly forgotten 1993 remake with Carey Lowell in the Geena Davis role. The new version is looser and features Carey Lowell as Geena Davis. Broad City‘s Abbi Jacobson (who also co-created it) as the catcher, Nick Offerman as the cantankerous manager, and an approach that promises to explore race and sexuality in ways Marshall couldn’In a studio movie from the early Nineties, t.

Better Call SaulSeason 6 (AMC TBD).

The pandemic delayed the end of the Breaking Bad prequel’s return to make it two years since we last sawJimmy McGill and Kim Wexler were among the guests. The final season will be divided into two segments to air at different times in 2022. The parent drama had one the most memorable final seasons of any TV drama. It is remarkable how good it was. Saul has turned out to be, we’ve got a feeling these concluding episodes could equal that feat.

Halo (Paramount+, TBD)

The TV business has been trying to adapt the popular video game — about a future conflict between human soldiers and aliens — for much of the past decade. Steven Spielberg was once set to produce it. It was intended to air on Showtime for a time. Kyle Killen (Wake up) and Steven Kane (The Last ShipParamount+’s Paramount+ version was developed by (), but Killen and Kane left before it went into production. That level of development hell is often a sign of a show that doesn’t work, but tumultuous beginnings can occasionally lead to something special, like Lost.

House of the Dragon (HBO, TBD)

Will there be a desire for more Game of Thrones content so soon after the fantasy epic’s widely-reviled finale? Working in favor House of the Dragon is that it has a different creative team — including George R.R. Martin is co-creator of the site, and not as an occasional writer as he was previously. Thrones — and is set 200 years before the events of the parent show. Its main focus is the insane, incestuous House Targaryen. Matt Smith and a cast of actors from Matt Smith bring it to life. The CrownYou are once more a member a dysfunctional royal household.

Julia (HBO Max, TBD)

Happy Valley Sarah Lancashire, star of the drama series, uses a higher-pitched voice to portray Julia Child, TV’s most famous chef. David Hyde Pierce co-stars as Julia’s government-official husband Paul, along with Bebe Neuwirth (Frasier reunion!Fran Kranz and Isabella Rossellini.

The Man Who Came to Earth (Showtime, TBD)

Showtime last aired a series that was based upon a pre-existing title and featured David Bowie. The show replaced Bowie with an enormous tea kettle. This is real. Twin Peaks and The Return Was Really It’s weird.) Now, the pay-cabler is doing it again using a project Bowie’s a bit better known for. This remake of his 1976 sci fi film about an alien learning how to pose as a person is from the Clarice Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet and Chiwetel Elofor are the team. We are left wondering if Chiwetel Ejiofor could out-act a giant teapot.

Ms. Marvel (Disney+, TBD)

Marvel’s TV empire keeps expanding with a bunch of new shows set for 2022, including Moon Knight(Oscar Isaac, a vigilante with multiple personalities). She-Hulk(Tatiana Maslany as Bruce Banner’s superstrong lawyer cousin), I Am Groot(animated adventures of Baby Groot), and this tale of Muslim-American teenager Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani), whose reverence for superheroes (Captain Marvel especially) and newfound shape-shifting powers inspires her to get into the crimefighting game.

The Old Man (Hulu, TBD)

FX ordered this drama, starring Jeff Bridges as a retired spy pulled back into the game when he’s targeted for assassination, back in 2019. But between the pandemic and Bridges’ diagnosis of lymphoma (which has since gone into remission), it’s been delayed to this year. Any chance to watch the Dude at work — plus a cast that also includes John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, Alia Shawkat, Gbenga Akinnagbe and more — should be worth the wait.

Russian DollSeason 2 (Netflix – TBD).

Russian Doll Season Two? It’s a great idea! Natasha Lyonne is back as Nadia, a self-destructive software engineer. Groundhog DayThe time loop was so bizarre that she ended up dying every day on her 36th Birthday. It will happen again in the new season, which also includes in Schitt’s CreekAnnie Murphy, alum), or does Lyonne and her friends have another idea for a follow up to one of the best shows of 2019,

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+, TBD)

The Mandalorian Spinoff The Book of Boba Fett will release all but one of its episodes in 2022, and it’s the only Star Wars We know that the show will be available in 2015, so we are certain. (Even the return Mandalorian This seems to be a mystery. But chances seem high we’ll get the return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, in a show set on Tatooine in the years between Revenge of the Sith And Star Wars: A New Hope — and somehow, with appearances by Hayden Christensen as the young Darth Vader.

This City Is Ours (HBO, TBD)

David Simon has long said that he doesn’t want to make another season of The WireIt doesn’t matter how much their fans want it. They’ll have to settle for Simon and fellow Wire alum George Pelecanos telling a different story about Baltimore, this one based on reporter Justin Fenton’s book about the rise and fall if the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force, starring Jon Bernthal, Josh Charles, and Marlo Stanfield himself, Jamie Hector.

Wednesday (Netflix, TBD)

Barry Sonnenfeld, a director in the Nineties was often accused of copying the style Tim Burton. Now, the script has flipped, with Burton directing a comedy-mystery series about Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), who was of course the most memorable part of Sonnenfeld’s two Addams Family movies. This version was created by Smallville team of Alfredy Gough and Miles Millar, and smartly casts Catherine Zeta-Jones as Wednesday’s creepy, kooky mother, Morticia. Neat. Sweet. Petite!

White House Plumbers (HBO, TBD) / Gaslit (Starz, TBD)

What do you think? White House Plumbers is based on Egil Krogh’s book, Integrity;Direction by former Veep David Mandel is the showrunner; it focuses on Nixon fixers E. Howard Hunt, (Woody Harrelson), and G. Gordon Liddy(Justin Theroux). GaslitIn the meantime, he was inspired by the premiere season of Slow burn Podcast; is adapted from Mr. Mr. Sam Esmail, creator; Julia Roberts (who was with Esmail on the project) Homecoming) as Martha Mitchell, wife of Nixon campaign manager John Mitchell (Sean Penn), Dan Stevens and Betty Gilpin as John and Mo Dean, and Shea Whigham (another Homecoming(alum) As Liddy.

Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (HBO, TBD)

The drama surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers teams from the Eighties was for a time called “The Title”. Showtime, named after Magic Johnson (played by Quincy Isaiah), Karem Abdel-Jabbar (Solomon Hughes), etc. This was, obviously, very confusing considering how HBO and Showtime have been rivals in pay-cable. The Winning Time isn’t that much better — it was also the title of a great ESPN documentary about Indiana Pacers star Reggie Miller — but with a cast that also includes John C. Reilly as Lakers owner Jerry Buss, Jason Clarke as general manager Jerry West, Adrien Brody as coach Pat Riley, and Sally Field as Buss family matriarch Jessie, plus a creative team that Succession Producer Adam McKay, is the title really important?