The most anticipated new TV shows of 2024 will round out what's already been a wild year on the small-ish screen. Amazon's Fallout continued the trend of truly great video game adaptations, making the long wait for The Last of Us season 2 a little bit more bearable. Baby Reindeer sent the discourse machine into overdrive. House of the Dragon and The Acolyte took two of the biggest sci-fi/fantasy franchises back in time. And The Bear dropped a polarizing third season that we’ll be yelling at each other about like stressed-out line cooks from now until the fourth season drops.
But there's still much more to look forward to—from long-awaited returning seasons of Squid Game, Industry, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and The Umbrella Academy, new series set in the Marvel, DC and Dune universes, and Lisa Kudrow leading a band of time-traveling miscreants, because why not?
Whether you're someone who likes to fill out their calendar with shows to keep an eye out for or you simply need some light at the end of the tunnel to get you through the dog days of summer, here are all the most anticipated TV shows of 2024.
Lady in the Lake
Release date: July 19
It's always a treat when a capital-M movie star lends their talents to the small screen (see above: Presumed Innocent), so we're looking forward to Apple TV+’s Lady in the Lake, starring Natalie Portman as an investigative journalist who becomes completely obsessed with two unsolved murders: that of 11-year-old Tessie Fine and a bartender named Cleo Sherwood (Moses Ingram). The film is based on a novel by Laura Lippman, which is in turn loosely based on two real-life murders in the 1960s. If this won't convince you to finally subscribe to Apple TV+, then I don't know what will.
Those About to Die
Release date: July 18
In December of last year, Iwan Rheon popped up in the lead role of the sensitive and gentle BBC TV Movie Men Up, playing the demure Meurig (or “Demeurig”, if you will), a man tentatively participating in one of the first ever trials of Viagra, in 1990s Swansea. It was a far cry from how we first came to know him, as Game of Thrones sadist-in-chief Ramsay Bolton. But perhaps Rheon had left his days of nasty antiquated violence behind him? Perhaps not. He stars as crime boss Tenax in epic sword-and-sandal drama Those About to Die, which bows on Peacock this month. Throw in Anthony Hopkins and some brutal arena battles, and you’ve got a recipe that brings Rheon back to his big bastardy best.
Time Bandits
Release Date: July 24
It’s got to be one of the funnest-sounding professions. Bandit. Sort of a rascal, maybe breaking the rules a bit but probably not doing too much harm. What kind of bandit would you most like to be? Maybe a sea bandit – well that’s just a pirate. Or you could be a bandit of the road – one of those old-school highway robbers. That might be fun. Or, maybe, you’d like to apply your banditry to the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future? If so, that would make you a Time Bandit. And you’d be the subject of Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi & co’s upcoming TV series, based on Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy adventure film of the same name, with TV legend Lisa Kudrow at the head of the ensemble. Silly funny people applying their talents to the revival of a silly funny concept. Should be good.
Batman: Caped Crusader
Release date: August 1
Long-gone are the days when a series being animated meant it wasn’t taken seriously, but if you find yourself unable to shake any lingering doubts, then a look at the frankly rather beautiful trailer for Batman: Caped Crusader and a reminder that J.J. Abrams is involved with this one should do the trick. Yes we've been drowning in iterations of the DC hero in recent years, but if it's good enough, it's good enough and, well… just look at the trailer. It's good enough.
Release date: August 8
The most dysfunctional family in the universe are getting one last adventure. The fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy, based on the Gerard Way/Gabriel Bá comic book of the same name, will hit our small screens sometime this year, wrapping up a huge plot twist that shocked fans at the end of its last run. Season three ended with the enhanced siblings sans their superpowers, meaning season four will revolve either around them getting them back or trying to work out life without them. According to Netflix, this final season will also see them face a bigger and worse enemy than ever before, one that wants them out of the picture for good.
Industry season 3
Release date: August 11
Holy moly did Industry season 2 end on one nuclear-grade banger of a cliffhanger, when [redacted for spoilers] was sacked, unceremoniously, from Pierpoint, presumably with nowhere to go and their career in the mud. Whomp whomp! We can only expect (and hope) that the third season, with Game of Thrones' Kit Harington on board as a green-energy entrepeneur, will be as brutal, sexy and vicious as the first and second, which combined made for some of the best TV drama we've seen in ages, with the frenetic thrills of Uncut Gems and robust character work of a Sopranos, or any other heavyweight small screen classic worth its salt. We demand more Ken Leung.
Bad Monkey
Release date: August 14
As with Lady in the Lake above, here's another TV project fronted by a major movie star—except in this case it's Vince Vaughn, who we can arguably consider a movies/TV hyphenate, thanks to his work on True Detective's second season and his hilarious turn as Freddy Funkhouser in latter-day Curb Your Enthusiasm. In this AppleTV+ series, the latest from the prolific TV producer Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso, Shrinking, etc.), Vaughn is an ex-Miami police officer turned health inspector who sets out to win back his badge by solving a murder mystery. It's Vince Vaughn in an adaptation of a bestseller by Florida crime novelist Carl Hiaasen; sounds like a perfect late-summer diversion.
Pachinko season 2
Release date: August 23
And here we have another gorgeous offering from Apple TV+ that a lot of people won't have heard of (but those who have are obsessed with). The series—based on Min Jin Lee's bestselling novel about a Korean family trying to survive through Japanese occupation, societal pressures and poverty through the years 1915 to 1989—might sound a bit complex and cerebral, but trust us when we say this sumptuous epic, with its sweeping score and acclaimed cinematography, is worth the ride. The second season comes out late August, which'll give you plenty of time to cram in all eight hour-long episodes of the first.
Only Murders in the Building season 4
Release date: August 27
Over the past few years, the deliciously smart whodunnit Only Murders in the Building—starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez and yes indeed Meryl Streep—has quietly become the biggest comedy on TV, with a cast so stacked it makes The White Lotus look like a low-key indie production. A fourth season arrives at the tail-end of summer, just in time for cozy autumn viewing, with Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, Kumail Nanjiani, Richard Kind and Molly Shannon joining the ensemble.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2
Release date: August 29
Lord of the Rings nerds, rejoice! For not only is a reboot of films reportedly on the way (Do we need them? Does it really matter if we don't?), but a brand new season of Prime Video's The Rings of Power is also set to land in August. The last season, mercifully, ended up being a crowd-pleaser (a relief, considering it was apparently one of the most expensive TV shows ever made). This new season will take place in the Second Age of the Lord of the Rings universe and will depict the early adventures of returning characters like Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) and Elrond (Robert Aramayo), as well as the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron (Charlie Vickers).
Slow Horses season 4
Release Date: September 4th
Terrible news for perhaps the grumpiest character on TV—Gary Oldman’s unsuccessfully-retired spook Jackson Lamb—Apple have confirmed a season 4 is in the works, out later this year. This time around, looks like Lamb and his team are dealing with the aftermath of a terrorist bombing in London—and possibly burying one of their own. This ‘being a spy’ thing never stops, eh? Lucky for us, we just have to watch. Go on, Gary! Get him!
The Penguin
Release date: September 8
Colin Farrell is packing himself back into the prosthetics to reinhabit his role as Gotham's greatest crime lord from 2022's The Batman. Looks like this one picks up in the direct aftermath of the flood unleashed by the Riddler in that film, as Farrell's Oswald Cobblepot and Cristin Milioti's Sofia Falcone vie for control of Gotham City's criminal underworld. Not much else is known about the series yet, but that's just the way the shadowy world of organized crime works, you know?
Agatha: Darkhold Diaries
Release date: September 18
It was Agatha all along! Well, actually, at first it was Agatha: House of Harkness, then it was Agatha: Coven of Chaos, then it was Agatha: Darkhold Diaries, and now it's Agatha All Along—or maybe that's what it was the whole time. This series finds everyone's favorite meddling witch next door, Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness—the standout supporting character from WandaVision, the shining jewel of Marvel's TV series offerings—breaking free of Scarlet Witch-induced delusion and forming a new coven that includes Aubrey Plaza, Heartstopper's Joe Locke and theatre legend Patti LuPone. For what purpose is unclear—but the new teaser trailer looks like Marvel steering harder into horror than ever before.
Heartstopper season 3
Release date: October 3
Maybe Heartstopper is a little sickly sweet for you. Or maybe you're of the mindset that the world's bleak enough and it's heartening to watch some little angels experience queer love for the first time. If you're in the second camp then fear not, for Heartstopper season 3 is finally arriving in October. Last season ended with Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) further solidifying their feelings for each other in a heartfelt convo in which Nick nearly told Charlie he loves him. According to series creator Alice Oseman, this new season will veer away slightly from its saccharine tone: “While Heartstopper will always celebrate the joyful and point towards hope, I’m really excited that we are allowing the tone of the show to mature alongside our beloved characters growing up. Mental health, sex, university ambitions, and more.”
The Diplomat season 2
Release date: October 31
The Diplomat's first season became an overnight success when it launched on Netflix last year, so it's no surprise they're raring to get its second outing out the door. At the end of season one, the titular diplomat, Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), who is on deployment in London to prevent all-out war, is left reeling from the potential death of her husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) in an explosion ordered by the Prime Minister (Rory Kinnear) who is trying to cover up his international faux pas. Clearly, we're going to start season two with a bang. The streamer has also announced that Allison Janney will make her political drama return after The West Wing by joining for season two.
Dune: Prophecy
Release date: Autumn
Dune will be the latest sci-fi franchise to get its own TV spin-off. Based on Sisterhood of Dune (a 2012 novel by Brian Herbert, son of original Dune creator Frank Herbert), the new Max series will land in the fall. Per HBO, it takes place 10,000 years before the worm-riding rise of Paul Atreides, and will follow two Harkonnen sisters “as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit.”
Squid Game season 2
Release date: TBA 2024
The biggest show that Netflix ever released is, of course, getting a second season. How couldn't it? It's a good thing the first season, about a deadly game inflicted on the most debt-ridden people in society, ended on a cliffhanger. After taking home the massive winnings, Gi-hun has his sights set on the game masters, who want nothing more than for him to keep quiet so they can keep playing their evil games. Season 2 looks set to crack the whole thing wide open, but we still have to wait some time before a release date is delivered (hopefully not through ominous playground speakers).
Futurama season 12
Release date: TBA 2024
Matt Groening had an enviable 2023. The Simpsons finally got some of its mojo back, and then, in a move that not many were asking for but quite a few ended up being very pleased about, Futurama made a surprise return with its 11th season. It went well—so well, in fact, that we’re now getting season 12 on Disney+ later this year. It's like it never left.
Severance season 2
Release date: January 17, 2025
The second season of Ben Stiller's workplace mindfuck drama has been a long time coming. The first season dropped in 2022 and imagined a world where work/life balance wasn't just a vague aspiration but something that could be bioengineered with the help of a brain implant—when you're at work you have no memory of home, and when you're at home you have no memory of work. Considering the finale ended on the kind of cliffhanger that would have you racing to skip the opening credits of the next episode, the fact we had to wait two years for even confirmation that a second installment seems like cruel and unusual punishment (almost like having a chip rammed into your head). The first teaser for season two dropped this week, revealing almost nothing plotwise apart from the addition of Gwendoline Christie as an unknown new character—and a January 2025 release date. We're still going to spend 2024 waiting to punch back in.
2024 releases to be confirmed:
The Night Manager season 2
Release date: TBA
The world fell to its knees when the first season of The Night Manager hit our screens in 2016, introducing us to Tom Hiddleston's former military officer Jonathan Pine. Based on the John le Carré novel, it was a slick and sexy spy offering—and one we assumed we'd seen the last of in the ‘10s. However, last year it was announced that the series would be coming back with Tom Hiddleston, and now it's been confirmed by Deadline that the show has been given a second and third season and that will be kicking off filming later this year, with season one cast members Noah Jupe and Olivia Colman also returning. It might be tight to get it before the year is out, but if we don't get the second outing by the end of 2024 it will likely be early 2025.
Wednesday season 2
Release date: TBA
The moodiest girl in the world will be back for round two. Wednesday's first season broke Stranger Things season 4's viewing records at lightning speed, so it's only natural the Addams Family spin-off will be back for more. Jenna Ortega's take on the sullen sibling sees her at Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for outcasts. After fending off a literal beast in season 1, there are plenty more monstrous and familial battles in store for round two.
You season 5
Release date: TBA
Hello, you, again (and again and again and again). You just can't get rid of Penn Badgley's Joe Goldberg—stalkers are like that, after all. Coming back with one final season, season five of You, the series about a stalker slash hopeless romantic slash murderer slash book enthusiast, will land is back where it all started in New York City. Joe is happily settled down with Kate, who knows (most of) his dirty little secrets, but homecomings always entail a few reunions. According to Netflix, a familiar face is back to haunt Joe, and with the mammoth list of victims left in his wake, the avenger could be anyone's guess. Goodbye, you. The show was originally slated to drop in 2024, but may be pushed back to 2025. Only time will tell.
Alien
Release date: TBA
There's a lot of Alien to look forward to on the horizon. Not only are we getting a new film, Alien: Romulus, but there's a TV series ready to hatch as well. Given the convoluted state of the Alien universe, you're forgiven for being confused about where exactly this show is going to fit. While most details are being kept under wraps, we do know that it's set 70 years in the future, meaning it fits somewhere between the original franchise and the prequel films (Prometheus and Alien: Covenant). It will also be taking place on Earth, somewhere the Xenomorphs so far haven't been. The series is being headed up by Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley, so at least the notoriously variable-in-quality property is in good hands.
Hijack season 2
Release date: TBA 2024
Idris Elba might just be the unluckiest passenger of all time. After successfully negotiating a hijack of a flight mid-air in season one of Hijack, it's been announced that the Apple TV+ series will be coming back for a second run. Will he have to prevent the hijacking of a bus this time? A train? A boat? Who knows! It's slightly unlikely that Hijack season 2 will hit our screens this year, but remain hopeful that this flight will arrive at its destination ahead of schedule.
The Day of the Jackal
Release date: TBA
This year's roster of spy thrillers is filling up nicely with the addition of The Day of the Jackal. Following in the footsteps of Bond and The Night Manager, the series takes inspiration from one of the most seminal pieces of spy fiction, written by Fredrick Forsyth in 1971 (which also had a famous film adaptation a couple of years later). Eddie Redmayne will star as ‘The Jackal’, a mysterious assassin hired to take down a global leader, while Lashana Lynch will play an MI5 agent tasked with taking him down. The 10-episode series will air sometime later this year.
Death by Lightning
Release date: TBA
The likelihood of this one landing in our laps before the end of the year is slim, but with as stacked a cast as it has, can you blame us for trying to rush it along? Michael Shannon and Matthew Macfadyen will star respectively as early US president James Garfield and Charles Guiteau, who was one of Garfield's greatest supporters and also ended up being the man who killed him. Nick Offerman and GLOW star Betty Gilpin have also recently joined the cast of the series, which will be executive produced by Game of Thrones creators and 3 Body Problem co-showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Death by Lightning will be coming to Netflix.
Firebug
Release date: TBA
The Taron Egerton x Apple TV+ relationship remains strong after his 2022 prison series Black Bird. He's teaming back up with the streamer for Firebug, a series loosely based on the serial arsonist John Leonard Orr. Orr was an arson investigator and fire captain thought to have set more than 2,000 fires over the decades before being arrested in 1991. Egerton will play the Orr proxy (as well as executive produce the series) while Jurnee Smollett co-stars as his rising-star detective.
Murderbot
Release date: TBA
Alexander Skarsgård has always managed to embody characters that have a rogue, sometimes sinister oddness to them, as if you don't quite know what they're thinking (Lukas in Succession, James in Infinity Pool, Eric in True Blood). To that end, his upcoming role as a self-hacking android who simply loves to spend his days watching trash TV feels tailor-made for the actor. The show in question is Murderbot, based on the book series The Murderbot Diaries by best-selling author Martha Wells. Another Apple TV+ big-budget sci-fi punt no less, so you know it's going to be good.
The Miniature Wife
Release date: TBA
We will have no shortage of Matthew Macfadyen on our screen in months to come, which is a good thing for anyone still trying to fill the hole left by Succession. He'll be starring alongside Elizabeth Banks in The Miniature Wife, a dramedy about a married couple dealing with strife and power imbalances in their relationship. If that all sounds very Tom and Shiv, just wait for the high-concept twist that the title teases—the wife has literally been shrunk. This show is literally about a miniature wife. In all seriousness, though, the series is based on the critically acclaimed short story by Manuel Gonzalez, which picked up heaps of praise when it was released in 2013.
Down Cemetery Road
Release date: TBA
From the same production company that gave us Slow Horses (probably your dad's favorite show) and Hijack (probably also your dad's favorite show) will come Down Cemetary Road, starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. The series, which will launch on Apple TV+, will star Wilson as a woman obsessed with the disappearance of a young girl in the aftermath of a freak house explosion and Thompson as the private investigator she hires to figure out the truth once and for all. It will be based on a novel by Mick Herron, whose book also inspires Slow Horses (seriously, ask your dad about it).
The Four Seasons
Release date: TBA
If you saw everyone sharing 30 Rock clips a few months back and thought, Man, I wish we had another show like that, well, you might be in luck. The team behind 30 Rock—Tina Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield—are coming together again to reboot the 1981 film The Four Seasons for TV. If that line-up wasn't already good enough, Fey and Steve Carrell are also on board to star, alongside Colman Domingo and Fey's fellow SNL alum Will Forte. The film, which starred Alan Alda and Carol Burnett, follows the relationship travails of three couples who vacation together every season. There aren't many details about whether the adaptation will stick true to the original or treat the concept as a jumping-off point.
