Surprise! There’s a shitload of new and returning television coming the next twelve months – some great, some intriguing, and some destined to be terrible (we ain’t naming names today, though). Instead, here’s what I’m looking forward to seeing grace our screens and steal our hearts in 2023.
The Curse (Showtime, TBA)
Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie are making a series together? Take my goddamn money, you sick maniacs. Quietly announced last summer, this sitcom (featuring Stone, Fielder and Safdie) explores how a curse “disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple” trying to get pregnant… while also filming their HGTV reality series. Could there be a TV series more designed for me to enjoy?
Full Circle (HBO Max, TBA)
As a beloved fan of The Girlfriend Experience, I’m willing to indulge anything Steven Soderbergh wants to bring to television. His latest (written by Ed Solomon), features a banger cast including Clair Danes, Timothy Olyphant, CCH Pounder, and Zazie Beetz, about a kidnapping investigation gone wrong in New York City. With Soderbergh behind the camera for all six episodes, I’m looking forward to another sexy, stylish and exciting series from one of the industry’s busiest filmmakers.
How I Met Your Father Season 2 (Hulu, January 24th)
I obviously can’t talk about what I’ve seen of season two so far… but what I can say is that the sitcom sequel nobody asked for had a better freshman season than anyone was expecting (including me), one that was just starting to find its footing when it abruptly ended. With twenty episodes in its second season, HIMYF is going to be given the room it needs to find itself in its sophomore season – time will tell whether it is up to the task.
Masters of the Air (Apple TV+, TBA)
I’m old enough to know that when you hear “Speilberg” and “World War II” (or even just “European theater”) in the same sentence, you sit down and you fucking pay attention. Produced by the same team behind Band of Brothers and The Pacific – and featuring Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan and Ncuti Gatwa among its massive ensemble cast – is Apple TV+’s $250 million World War II series. History suggests there are few filmmakers better than Spielberg to take the reins of this project, which is being co-written by John Orloff and Graham Yost; you better believe I will be Sitting My Ass Down and Paying Attention to this one.
Mrs. Davis (Peacock, April 20th)
Look, just whisper the phrase “New Lindelof series” three times in a row, and TV critics will just start appearing like fucking poltergeists; admittedly, I’m one of those people, someone who still considers The Leftovers and LOST (aka the GOAT) to be the standard bearers for what Fucking Awesome Television should be (even Watchmen, whose reputation has taken a hit in the few years since its debut, remains one of the more compelling HBO series of the past half-decade). His latest series (co-created by showrunner and Big Bang Theory writer Tara Hernandez), is a Peacock series about a nun trying to defeat an algorithm (?), exactly the kind of batshit crazy premise I want to see Lindelof run with. Though it may not have the legs for a full season (or series), it is most certainly another arena for his grandiose ideas of faith, reason, technology, and humanity to clash against each other in fascinating -and hopefully wildly obtuse and metaphorical – ways. (It’s also debuting on 4/20, which seems fitting for a new Lindelof series.)
Succession Season 4 (HBO, TBA)
For my money, Succession is the best show on television right now – but it’s been 13 months since we last saw the Roy boys and the rest of television’s most dynamic, powerful cast in action. HBO’s been dropping that 20-second teaser ahead of everything for a month now, so a premiere date is clearly imminent – I’m sure I’m not the only critic frothing at the mouth to see if Succession can maintain the momentum of its past two seasons.
Shogun (FX on Hulu, TBA)
In 1980, James Clavell’s Shogun novel was adapted into an eight-hour miniseries (and later, edited down to a two-hour theatrical release). In 2023, Clavell is back to readapt his series, hopefully with a larger budget to really dig into the themes and subplots of his 1700-page bestseller. After production was delayed for two years from script delays and production changes, the series was shot from September 2021 to July 2022, suggesting a 2023 premiere is in the cards. This is quietly one I’m really excited for, a story begging for a modern interpretation (and, as noted, a larger budget than 1980’s TV miniseries were afforded).
Tiny Beautiful Things (FX, TBA)
Perhaps the only thing that could sell me on a series faster than “starring Kathryn Hahn” is “co-starring Kathryn Hahn and Laura Dern.” Based on Cheryl Strayed’s novel, Hahn stars as an advice columnist with a complicated home life… giving audiences who ignored Mrs. Fletcher (you bastards) the opportunity to see Hahn deliver another knockout performance of a woman in mid-life crisis.
Yellowjackets Season 2 (Showtime, March 26th)
Yellowjackets was the breakout show to close out 2021, an unexpected hit for Showtime, a network with an intensely lengthy record for inconsistent creative output (or when they do, milking a series for eight or nine years longer than they should). All that history aside, Yellowjackets season two is adding Lauren Ambrose and Elijah Wood to the cast, which is exciting enough – throw in the insane turns of the first season’s final three hours, and the table’s been set for Yellowjackets to deliver something special with its sophomore effort.
Honorable Mentions
Clone High Season 2 (HBO Max, TBA) – Are we really getting more episodes of Clone High, two decades after its premiere? How? Why? When?… I really have no idea what to expect from one of my most treasured one-and-done comedies return to the airwaves (or if it’s even going to happen in 2023, which is why it’s just an honorable mention).
Good Omens Season 2 (Amazon Prime, TBA) – Look, I didn’t love Amazon’s cheesy, inconsistent (and cheap-looking) adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel… but with the events of the book fully behind them, I must say I’m intrigued to see what this show does with the obvious chemistry of Michael Sheen and David Tenant now that they are completely unmoored from the bindings of their inspiratory material.
The Night Agent (Netflix, TBA) – not much is known about Shawn Ryan’s (Terriers, S.W.A.T., The Shield) new 10-episode Netflix series adapting Matthew Quirk’s 2019 bestseller. However, “vague crime thriller” would seem right up Ryan’s wheelhouse, so if it does debut in 2023, it could be an under-the-radar hit for the streaming giant, whose creative output floundered in 2022.
Party Down Season 3 (Starz, February 24th) – Look, I wanted to include Party Down above – it is on the short list of my favorite comedies of the 21st century, two brief, ingenious seasons of television that hopefully are not sullied by this six episode revival. But with no Lizzy Caplan, there’s going to be a huge part of Party Down‘s soul missing, no matter how much returning and new talent are there to fill the void. Hopefully I’m proven extremely wrong, but my excitement for this comes with a lot of asterisks.
The Righteous Gemstones Season 3 (HBO, TBA) – Danny McBride is unlike any other showrunner on TV right now – and The Righteous Gemstones may be his magnum opus, a sprawling tale of evangelical capitalism and nepotism run wild featuring some of the best comedic performances (and costuming) HBO’s had in years.