The Must-Watch TV Shows Coming in 2024
Television will get off to a quick start in 2024 and won't look back. Here are the most must watch shows coming up.
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The TV calendar in 2024 has a chance to be something it hasn’t been in a long time … normal.
Pop culture, television included, has been operating under some unique circumstances for the past four or so years. With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting things down in 2020 and the dual WGA/SAG work stoppages largely doing the same in 2023, the TV schedule hasn’t had the opportunity to find its rhythm in quite a while. That should all change in 2024 – now, excuse us while we take a moment to recite 10 Hail Mary’s and knock on wood for 20 straight minutes.
The coming year of TV is looking far clearer than we’re used to seeing of late. There are some major new titles and returning hits lined up for the first four months of 2024 and then some intriguing “TBDs” after that. With that in mind, let’s go ahead and take stock of what TV shows we’re most excited to see in 2024!
Note: The following includes only U.S. releases. For U.K. releases, head on over here. For movie releases, head over here.
Echo
January 10 on Disney+
After kicking ass in Hawkeye, Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) is set to return in her own series, Echo, on Disney+. According to Alaqua Cox, “Maya’s actions are leading her to Oklahoma to reconnect to her Indigenous roots and find the definition of family and community.” But given that Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio are reprising their roles as Daredevil and Kingpin, respectively, it seems as though Maya’s journey to find peace and a fresh start after her violent and vengeful arc in Hawkeye may not be as straightforward as she hoped. – Brynna Arens
True Detective: Night Country
January 14 on HBO
After three (mostly) well-received seasons of spooky investigative drama, HBO’s True Detective franchise is going to try something a little new. True Detective season 4 is subtitled True Detective: Night Country and is the first installment of the anthology series to not feature scripts written by Nic Pizzolatto, with indie auteur Issa Lopez stepping in to pen the six episodes instead. Apart from those titling and personnel changes, however, the format should be pretty familiar for longtime fans. Jodie Foster and Kali Reis will star as this season’s duo of mismatched detectives as they look into some icy murders in the perpetual darkness of rural Alaska. And along the way they’re sure to brush up against a bit of the occult. – Alec Bojalad
Masters of the Air
January 26 on Apple TV+
HBO’s 2001 WWII miniseries Band of Brothers is rightly regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time. Its 2010 spiritual sequel The Pacific is … not. Now, after tackling the European and Pacific theaters of the war, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ kinda/sorta franchise is going to take to the skies with Masters of the Air. As its name suggests, this Apple TV+ series (HBO passed this time around) will follow World War II from the vantage point of the real life 100th Bomb Group of the United States Air Force. Masters of the Air has some big stars attached (Austin Butler, Callum Turner, etc.) so we’ll see if they’re up to the challenge of continuing this TV success story. – AB
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
February 2 on Prime Video
Like any good job, John (Donald Glover) and Jane (Maya Erskine) Smith’s new venture comes with some great perks like travel and wealth. The catch? They have to pretend to be married software engineers as cover for their real job as agents for a mysterious secret spy agency. Based on the 2005 film of the same name and created by Atlanta writer Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover, Prime Video’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is part comedy, part spy thriller, and with this creative team is bound to have some surprises up its sleeve. With co-stars like Paul Dano, Parker Posey, and Michaela Coel rounding out the cast, this series is sure to be a great time. – BA
Avatar: The Last Airbender
February 22 on Netflix
Historically speaking, creating a live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender doesn’t work. And we mean like really doesn’t work. The last time someone tried, M. Night Shyamalan turned one of the most beloved cartoons of its era into an unmitigated disaster that’s widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made. But hey! Netflix is feeling itself here. Coming off a modestly successful live-action adaptation of the anime One Piece, the premier streamer thinks it can introduce the story of Aang, Sokka, Katara, Zuko, and friends to a new audience. And for their sake, we hope they’re right. Avatar: The Last Airbender is a near-perfect story with particularly passionate fanbase. This one has to work. – AB
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
February 25 on AMC
Don’t let its overwrought title confuse you, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is simply “the Rick and Michonne show.” Following the conclusion of AMC’s massively successful zombie drama, many sequels and spinoffs were announced. The most anticipated among them, however, was undoubtedly this one. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) are the closest thing that The Walking Dead has to a main character (with respect paid to Daryl Dixon, of course). As such, this six episode miniseries that concludes their story might as well be considered the real Walking Dead finale. – AB
Shogun
February 27 on FX
There are only so many ironclad laws of television. One of them, however, is surely “if Hiroyuki Sanada is in it, it’s gonna slap.” The prolific Japanese actor and martial artist has popped up in many super shows throughout the years: Lost, Westworld, Hawkeye, and more. Now Sanada is set to get his biggest TV role yet thanks to FX’s Shōgun (note: we tried to add the accent mark to the header above but WordPress just wasn’t having it). This limited series, based on a 1975 novel of the same name follows “the collision of two ambitious men from different worlds and a mysterious female samurai … ” It’s probably gonna be good. – AB
3 Body Problem
March 21 on Netflix
Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, including first book The Three Body Problem, represents some of the most exciting and influential sci-fi work of the 21st century. It was only a matter of time before the novels were adapted into a movie or TV show. Thanks to Netflix’s largesse, television got the call first. Co-created by Game of Thrones‘ D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, 3 Body Problem is set to be an epic saga that will incorporate the Chinese Cultural Revolution and an existential threat to humankind. – AB
Fallout
April 12 on Prime Video
The creators of Westworld, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, are once again bringing a retro-futuristic world to life with a TV adaptation of the popular video game series Fallout. This Prime Video series is set in the same post-apocalyptic world, but tells its own companion story rather than directly adapting stories told in the games. Set 219 years after nuclear war permanently changed humanity, Fallout will tell the story of Lucy (Ella Purnell), a young woman who has lived her entire life in a subterranean vault created by the wealthy to survive the war centuries before. Forced to leave her sheltered life for a rescue mission on the surface, Lucy will have to learn how to navigate a lawless land filled with ghouls, mutants, and humans willing to do whatever it takes to survive. The series also stars Walton Goggins, Aaron Moten (Disjointed), Kyle MacLachlan, and Moisés Arias (Hannah Montanta). – BA
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5
April on Paramount+
The wait for the final season of Star Trek: Discovery has been a long one. The final voyage of the USS Discovery crew is set to premiere in April 2024, over two years after the season 4 finale that saw Earth rejoin the Federation after being saved from a Dark Matter Anomaly. Star Trek: Discovery began as a prequel series taking place before Strange New Worlds and The Original Series, but from season 3 on has taken place nearly 1,000 years into the future in the 32nd century. The final adventures of Captain Burnam (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the rest of the Discovery crew will see them trying to find “an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries.” But of course they won’t be the only ones on the hunt for this mysterious resource. Star Trek: Discovery’s return will be bittersweet, but at least we get to join them for one final mission. – BA
House of the Dragon Season 2
Summer on HBO
A wise man once said “winter is coming.” While winter is still a ways away for Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, war is very much here. Season 2 of this epic Targaryen civil war drama will find the fateful “Dance of the Dragons” kick off. Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) is adamant that she’s Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Her old friend Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) is adamant that her son Aegon II is King of the Seven Kingdoms. Spoiler alert: there will not be a peaceful resolution to that claim dispute. – AB
The Penguin
TBD on Max
Set in the aftermath of The Batman (2022) and the flooding of Gotham City, The Penguin will focus on Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) as he rises to power in Gotham’s underworld. Carmine Falcone’s death has left a vacancy at the top of Gotham’s criminal hierarchy that many are vying for, including Cobblepot and Carmine’s daughter Sofia (Cristin Milioti). Clancy Brown also stars as Salvatore Maroni, a notorious Gotham crime boss who Carmine sold out to the GCPD. It’s unclear whose side Maroni will be on in this scenario, or if he’ll be looking to rebuild his own empire in Carmine’s absence, but regardless, The Penguin is set to be a gritty look at Gotham’s criminal enterprises and the Dark Knight’s more grounded adversaries. – BA
Orphan Black: Echoes
TBD on AMC
It’s been six years since BBC America/AMC’s sci-fi clone thriller Orphan Black signed off for good. Thankfully it won’t be much longer until the franchise return in the form of Orphan Black: Echoes. Though original star Tatiana Maslany isn’t coming back (at least that we know of), compelling actor Krysten Ritter is set to hold down the lead role in Echoes as Lucy, a woman who has no memory of who she is. Given that this is an Orphan Black project, however, that should just be the tip of the weird sci-fi iceberg. – AB
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
TBD on Paramount+
Now that SAG-AFTRA and the WGA have reached a fair deal with the AMPTP, production is set to resume on the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. With filming scheduled to last until July 2024, the soonest we’ll likely see new episodes is the latter half of the year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t count down the days until the USS Enterprise crew returns to our screens. Season 2 ended on an emotional cliffhanger, with some of the crew being taken by the Gorn during an invasion and others set to hatch Gorn spawn any minute. But even though season 3 will likely start off heavy and action-packed, Strange New Worlds is well-known for experimenting with other genres like fantasy and musicals to help ease the tension brewing both outside and within the walls of the Enterprise. – BA
Knuckles
TBD on Paramount+
Following the release of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2020, video game super fans had one question/demand: “Where is Knuckles?!?!?!?!” When 2022’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 finally presented the red echidna (voiced by Iris Elba), fans responded with a level-headed: “Now more, damn it!” Well, it’s more Knuckles we all shall receive with this Paramount+ series debuting sometime in 2024. Elba returns as the titular brawler as does Adam Pally as Wade Whipple, who Knuckles will train in the ways of the Echnida Warrior. – AB
Star Wars: The Acolyte
TBD on Disney+
One of the few Star Wars live-action series not set during the era of the New Republic, The Acolyte takes place at the end of the High Republic, roughly 100 years before The Phantom Menace. The High Republic was the height of the Galactic Republic’s power and a time of peace and exploration for the Jedi Order. This series follows a former padawan (Amandla Stenberg) that reunites with her former master to investigate a series of crimes. Their investigation forces them to confront sinister forces, shadowy secrets, and emerging Dark side powers. Lee Jung-Jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Dafne Keen (Logan), and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix) also star. – BA
The Mandalorian Season 4
TBD on Disney+
Last we heard before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes was that The Mandalorian season 4 had been fully written by Jon Favreau already. Filming will likely take place in the near future as studios work out their scheduling and slates, meaning that there’s a chance we could still see season 4 in late 2024. Season 3 ended with Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Grogu, Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), and Axe Woves (Simon Kassianides) stopping Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) once and for all (we hope). After reclaiming Mandalore, Bo-Katan takes her place as leader with the support of her people. Din and Grogu then return to Navarro and settle in a small house on the edge of town. Because season 3 takes place concurrently with the first season of Ahsoka, there’s a chance that season 4 could see the New Republic dealing with Thrawn’s return. Din and Teva have already entered an agreement to work together to take down Imperial remnants, and it’s likely that there will be even more that appear with Thrawn back in the picture. – BA
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
TBD on Disney+
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows a group of four kids in the New Republic era who discover something mysterious on their seemingly safe homeworld that transports them to a strange and dangerous galaxy. Lost and now trying to find their way back home, they come across a variety of allies and enemies along the way. We don’t know much else about the series thus far, but it seems like a fun, albeit somewhat dark, coming-of-age story set in the Star Wars universe. – BA