2022 TV: A list of interesting shows

Here are some TV shows I'll probably watch, and some I probably won't. Some will be bumped to 2023, of course. Most are genre, but some aren't. Honestly, it's a hodge-podge of stuff I originally researched for the Tribune column and then abandoned. Feel free to list the shows you're most excited about, especially if I failed to mention them.

 

1899 Season 1

A German series on Netflix with an international cast. The premise: A multinational group of immigrants en route to the New World come across a derelict ship which promises mystery and danger.

 

THE ACOLYTE Season 1

A Star Wars series on Disney+ that explores Dark Side shenanigans during the final days of the High Republic. A good candidate to bump to 2023.

 

AHSOKA Season 1

A Star Wars series on Disney+ starring Jedi Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) after her live TV premiere on The Mandalorian. Co-created by Jon Favreau, who is all over Star Wars/Marvel these days.

 

ALICE IN BORDERLAND Season 2

Continuing the live-action manga adaptation, which I am not watching.

 

ALIEN Season 1

Live-action series based on the horror movies, with Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) involved. Promised for 2022, but probably won't arrive until 2023.

 

ALL OF US ARE DEAD

A South Korean series about high school students trapped on their sprawling campus during a zombie apocalypse. Starting Jan. 28 on Netflix.

 

ANDOR Season 1

A Star Wars series on Disney+ following rebel spy Cassian Andor, set before the events of Star Wars: Rogue One. Stars Diego Luna and Stellan Skarsgård.

 

ARCHIVE 81 Season 1

A supernatural horror series where a guy starts piecing together an unfinished documentary about a cult in an apartment building, who becomes obsessed with the fate of the documentarian, who disappeared 25 years ago (hence "unfinished documentary"). The show follows both the modern timeline and that of the missing documentarian. Sounds so weird I'll probably check it out.

 

ARMOR WARS Season 1

James "War Machine" Rhodes (Don Cheadle) starts following up Tony Stark's missing tech and doesn't like what he finds.

 

ARMY OF THE DEAD: LOST VEGAS Season 1

An animated prequel to the Dave Bautista movie. I actually probably won't watch this, as my wife has pronounced herself "done" with the zombie genre. (I still have hopes for All of Us Are Dead, tho).

 

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS Season 1

This eight-episode adaptation of the Jules Verne novel has already started on BBC America/AMC+, starring David Tennant as Phileas Fogg and German actress Leonie Benesch as a Nellie Bly-like journalist. A second Verne adaptation, Journey to the Center of the Earth, has already been greenlit, which is being called, for some reason, "Season 2" of this show.

 

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER Season 1

A live-action adaptation of the animated series.I won't be watching this -- I can't seem to force myself to care about this concept -- but I list it for the sake of thoroughness. Netflix.

 

AVENUE 5 Season 2

Hugh Laurie is the captain, and basically a figurehead, of a luxury space liner full of entitled rich people that runs into technical trouble and off the map. Not as funny as it could be, but we were mildly amused.

 

BLACK MIRROR Season 6

Maybe this is the year we'll finally start watching this show.

 

THE BOYS Season 3

Somehow it's going to adapt "Herogasm," which doesn't seem possible without an XXX rating. Starts June 3.

 

BRITANNIA Season 3

Romans vs. Celts in Roman-occupied Britain in the fourth or fifth century. Lots of "long-haired Gauls and blue-faced Celts," as Marc Antony said in HBO's Rome.

 

CARNIVAL ROW Season 2

A series set in a thinly disguised Elizabethan England that's in a war with a thinly disguised Germany, in a fantasy world where many non-human species ("Critches," or creatures) are displaced by the war and end up in a thinly disguised London as refugees. The Critches -- various sorts of elves, fairies, minotaurs and whatnot -- are generally used as metaphors to illustrate racism and sexism, but the familiar 1800s backdrop and some fine acting (including Orlando Bloom and Cara Delvigne's eyebrows) gives the story heart.

 

CYBERPUNK: EDGERUNNERS Season 1

I haven't heard much about this, but here's the blurb: "The animated series tells a standalone, 10-episode story about a street kid trying to survive in a technology and body modification-obsessed city of the future." Bet we don't see it this year.

 

DARK WINDS Season 1

A series based on the books by Tony Hillerman, which my wife loves, starring two Navajo police officers. AMC+.

 

DEMIMONDE Season 1

All I know is that J.J. Abrams is involved, and what Wikipedia says: "Demimonde has been described as 'an epic and intimate sci-fi fantasy drama.' The story is set to be 'centered around a world's battle against a monstrous, oppressive force'." Now you know all I know.

 

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES Season 3

This show is a guilty pleasure for us, since it's eye-rollingly soapy and dopey. But pleasure it is. Started Jan. 8.

 

DISENCHANTMENT Season 4

My wife and I keep saying, "We need to watch that," but we haven't yet. Animated fantasy series in the Simpsons style.

 

DUNE: THE SISTERHOOD Season 1

A series about Dune's Bene Gesserit.

 

FATE: THE WINX SAGA Season 2

I have no idea what this is.

 

FIRST KILL Season 1

The first victim of a new vampire turns out to be a vampire-hunter, and the twist is that the two (both female) fall in love.

 

FOR ALL MANKIND Season 3

Did not see most of last season's twists coming, and can't wait to see where it's going. Although some of my favorite characters will no longer be along for the ride.

 

GLARE Season 1

A drama about colonizing another world. Guessing 2023 from the lack of publicity.

 

GREMLINS: SECRETS OF THE MOGWAI Season 1

An animated prequel to the movies, set in 1920s Shanghai.

 

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Season 1

A horror anthology series by the creator of Pan's Labyrinthe.

 

HALO Season 1

Will this long-promised adaptation of the popular video game actually make it to the screen this year?

 

THE HANDMAID'S TALE Season 5

We have never gotten around to watching this. Should we?

 

HARLEY QUINN Season 3

Funny and timely.

 

HIS DARK MATERIALS Season 3

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I do have fantasy fatigue. So many magic-using feudal societies! But Dafne Keen is good enough to keep me watching.

 

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 1

A prequel to Game of Thrones set when the Targaryens are in charge, and they are all, apparently, mad as a bag of bees.

 

IN FROM THE COLD Season 1

A single American mom finds out she's actually a bioengineered Russian agent. Will probably complicate PTA meetings.

 

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Season 1

An adaptation of the Anne Rice book.

 

INVINCIBLE Season 2

The Big Reveal has finally been revealed. What will Mark, his mom and his friends do now? (I've read the comic book so I know, but it'll be fun to watch just the same.)

 

IRONHEART Season 1

A Disney series introducing Riri Williams, the new Iron Man. Not a man, obviously. So Ironheart.

 

JUDGE DREDD: MEGA-CITY ONE Season 1

Adapting the UK comics series. Another one I doubt will actually make 2022.

 

THE LAST KINGDOM Season 5

This is the last season of Uhtred, son of Uhtred.

 

THE LAST OF US Season 1

Adapts the zombie-apocalypse video game. Pedro Pascal and Gabriel Luna star.

 

LOCKE & KEY Season 3

We haven't watched Season 2 yet, but we will. I like the comics, and I like the show.

 

LOKI Season 2

So good.

 

THE LORD OF THE RINGS Season 1

You've probably all read about this already, the most expensive TV show in the history of the world. Set in the age before Lord of the Rings, when Sauron and his peers were just whippersnappers.

 

LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS Season 3

Another show we keep meaning to start, and just never get around to. Anybody got a recommendation?

 

MAGIC: THE GATHERING Season 1

Animated.

 

THE MANDALORIAN Season 3

Who knew this would be so good? Another Jon Favreau production.

 

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION Season 1

I'm not a MotU fan, and I won't be watching this animated revival. But it's hard not to be impressed by the big names involved, beginning with director Kevin Smith. Voice talent includes Chris Wood (Mon-El), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy), Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker).

 

MOON KNIGHT Season 1

Disney+ series starring Oscar Isaac as the possibly insane Marvel crimefighter.

 

MR. AND MRS. SMITH Season 1

Adaptation of the 2005 action film about married spies. Starring Donald Glover.

 

MS. MARVEL Season 1

Newcomer Iman Vellani stars as Kamala Khan, in a Disney+ series bumped from December 2021 to summer 2022.

 

NAOMI Season 1

Brian Michael Bendis' new DC heroine, whose story begins Jan. 11 on The CW.

 

OBI-WAN KENOBI Season 1

Set ten years after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, this series stars Ewan McGregor as the titular Jedi, and Hayden Christianson reprises his role as Darth Vader.

 

THE OLD MAN Season 1

Jeff Bridges stars as a former intelligence officer living off the grid who is suddenly on the run from a lot of people who want to kill him. Delayed first by COVID, then by Bridges' cancer diagnosis. Not genre, but it co-stars John Lithgow. Bridges and Lithgow? How could I NOT watch?

 

THE ORVILLE Season 3

Both my wife and I dislike this show for being an unacknowledged Trek swipe, and would rather watch the real thing. But I know some Legionnaires are fans, so it's on the list.

 

OUTLANDER Season 6

My wife gave up on this around Season 3. I was never interested to start with, being as romantic as a clod of dirt.

 

PEACEMAKER Season 1

The Suicide Squad character (played by John Cena) and director James Gunn's girlfriend (Jennifer Holland) return for a pseudo-satirical take on superheroes. Starts Jan. 13 on HBO Max.

 

PEAKY BLINDERS Season 6

Not at all genre, but just damned good.

 

PERRY MASON Season 2

Also not at all genre, and also damned good.

 

RAISED BY WOLVES Season 2

This show utterly baffles me. (What the hell was the flying snake, anyway?) You bet I'll keep watching.

 

RAISING DION season 2

How did I miss this superhero-adjacent show? Anybody watching it?

 

RESIDENT ALIEN Season 2

Alan Tudyk is so perfect for this role, you'd think it was created just for him. But no, this is an adaptation of a comic book, which is much milder and heart-warming in comparison. Whatever Tudyk is on this show -- I would say somewhere between hilarious and disturbing -- it's not "mild" and "heart-warming."

 

RESIDENT EVIL Season 1

I've never watched any of the movies adapted from the video game, but I have to admire the longevity of the concept. Here's a live-action show attached to the same continuity.

 

RUSSIAN DOLL Season 2

I enjoyed the first season, where a woman keeps re-living the same day (and getting killed in different ways at the end of it) until she meets a guy going through the same thing. Between them they solve the riddle of how to get out of the time loop. I have no idea what Season 2 will be about, since the central dilemma has been solved, but I'm interested.

 

THE SANDMAN Season 1

Looks like this is finally gonna happen.

 

SECRET INVASION Season 1

An adaptation of the Marvel Comics story starring Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Ben Mendelsohn, and Emilia Clarke.

 

SEE Season 3

I've seen some clips, and come on, you CANNOT have those big-scale battles with people swinging bludgeons and pointy objects willy-nilly where EVERYONE IS BLIND.  I can't even buy the day-to-day stuff, because a pre-technological society crippled by lack of sight is one not long for the world. The premise is preposterous on paper, and when I see it live it gets worse. I just can't suspend my disbelief enough. Am I missing something, Legionnaires? I mean, besides Jason Momoa.

 

SHADOW AND BONE Season 2

It took eight episodes, but the show has finally set up its central conflict. Now to see where that goes.

 

SHE-HULK Season 1

A Disney+ series starring Bruce Banner's equally green cousin, starring Tatiana Maslany, Mark Ruffalo and Tim Roth

 

SHERWOOD Season 1

"In post-apocalyptic America, a young woman takes on the corrupted factions of her home by following a legendary outlaw's footsteps to bring justice." I haven't heard much about this, so my guess is it won't show up until 2023.

 

SIN CITY Season 1

Same here.

 

SNOWPIERCER Season 3

Who could have guessed that this preposterous premise could become such an entertaining and thoughtful show?

 

SPACE FORCE Season 2

A strange cross-genre show that we chuckled at intermittently. We'll give it another go.

 

STAR TREK: PICARD Season 2

 

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season 1

Another Star Trek prequel, one that I'm almost certain to like, starring Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck.

 

STAR WARS: LANDO Season 1

A Star Wars series starring Lando Calrissian. Not likely for 2022.

 

STRANGER THINGS Season 4

I'm in to the end. But I have to wonder how much longer they can keep up the conceit that the kids are still kids. Isn't Eleven about 20 years old now?

 

SUPERMAN & LOIS Season 2

The only "S" left on TV, not that Supergirl is gone.

 

THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM Season 1

A first-contact series. It's got Benedict Wong, so it can't be too bad. Might be 2023.

 

THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE Season 1

Adapts the time-travel book of the same name.

 

ULTRAMAN Season 2

Not my thing, but it might be yours.

 

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Season 3

I"m caught up on my Umbrella Academy reading (I think) so now I want to do some Umbrella Academy watching.

 

VIKINGS: VALHALLA Season 1

This sequel to Vikings is set a few hundred years later, and will probably carry us through the Battle of Hastings (1066).

 

THE WHEEL OF TIME Season 2

A D&D-type show that consistently surprises me with its story choices. The opposite of this is The Witcher, which never fails to do exactly what I expect. I watch them both, because there is something wrong with me.

 

WARRIOR NUN Season 2

Like the comic book it's based on, it's not exactly the best writing in the world. But I am very impressed with the lead, a Portuguese actress whose conversational American is completely convincing.

 

WESTWORLD Season 4

OK, it's gotten preposterous (Dolores' face turn doesn't make a lick of sense), and nobody is buying Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman (Jason Aaron) as a black-ops, I-know-nine-ways-to-kill-you sort of tough guy. But it's fascinating anyway, especially any time Evan Rachel Wood or Jeffrey Wright are on screen.

 

WILLOW Season 1

Live-action Disney+ series based on the movie of the same name.

 

THE WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN Season 1

A prequel to The Witcher which has Michelle Yeoh, which is enough for me.

You need to be a member of Captain Comics to add comments!

Join Captain Comics

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Bumping. I can't believe nobody has any comment on these potential 2022 shows.

  • DUNE: THE SISTERHOOD Season 1 - The only Dune I've consumed all of was the Sci-Fi miniseries from years ago. Even when people describe the series to me, it doesn't sound like anything I would be interested in. I've probably mentioned it before, but every time I've tried to watch David Lynch's movie I've fallen asleep.\

    GREMLINS: SECRETS OF THE MOGWAI Season 1 - Now I'm interested.

    JUDGE DREDD: MEGA-CITY ONE Season 1 -This sounds good too.

    LOKI Season 2 - I didn't think the first season was bad, but way overrated.

    LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS Season 3 - I haven't seen this yet (sitting on my list currently), but my brother loves this show. He also likes everything on Adult Swim, so take that into consideration for good or bad.

    MAGIC: THE GATHERING Season 1 - As a former player, I might check this out.

    PERRY MASON Season 2 - I started the first season, but just couldn't get into it. Maybe, I'll try it again down the road.

    THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE Season 1 - I read the book, and I loved it. I remember some of my friends/coworkers at the time kind of questioned me reading it since it is a romance novel in a lot of ways. I would always reply, "Yes, but its Sci-Fi  too!"

    THE WHEEL OF TIME Season 2 - The complete opposite of The Time Traveler's Wife, I hated these books. I read 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 of them, and thought they were such cliched fantasy I had read a thousand times before, and at such a glacial pace. This series was one of the reasons I didn't read fantasy for about a decade. That experience  just left me with no interest in the show.

    THE WITCHER: BLOOD ORIGIN Season 1 - Another series that I loved the books, but I haven't watched any of the shows yet. I heard its good.

  • Captain Comics said:

    Bumping. I can't believe nobody has any comment on these potential 2022 shows.

    Hey, I haven't even finished watching all the Twilight Zone episodes I taped from the annual SyFy New Year's Day marathon!

  • Also, the overwhelming majority of shows on this list are on streaming channels I don't have. About the only ones I can watch and are looking forward to are Superman and Lois and The Boys. Of the latter, I cannot understand how they will put on and adaptation of Herogasm on a channel other than Vivid or Hustler. 

  • Travis: My experience is nearly opposite yours, Travis. I never got into "high fantasy" very much in my wasted youth, finishing up the Nerd Canon and then giving it a pass as I grew older. (It did all seem the same to me!) Consequently, I've never read the Wheel of Time books or The Witcher books (actually didn't know there were any) or the Shadow and Bone books or the Game of Thrones books. But I have watched all the shows. So if you ever do watch the shows, bringing with it knowledge and expectations from the books, I expect you will have VERY different opinions than I do.

    CK: I get most of the major streamers and some of the minors (and still pay lots less monthly than when I had cable). That being said, I've never even heard of Vivid or Hustler, so you're one up on me there! But yeah, I don't see how they can even address the concept of Herogasm without crossing into X-rated territory.

  • Cap, I read sci-fi and fantasy almost exclusively in junior high and high school. In a way I kind of appreciate what The Wheel of Time did to me, as it opened me up to trying different genres. Without that experience would I have read Just My Type (a book about fonts, and I loved it) or Loose Balls (a book about the long defunct ABA) or the books of Elmore Leonard.

    Honestly, The Wheel of Time series is pretty divisive with me and my friends. Some absolutely love it, other hate it.  I've made the joke that Robert Jordan bored himself to death.

    A lot of the Nerd Canon, I have never read. Like Tolkein, friends who know me have all told me not to bother, as I would hate it.

    What brought me back to fantasy was the stylings of Sean Russel (thanks Knights of the Dinner Table!) who wrote almost only duologies, and the Game of Thrones books, which are really A Song of Fire and Ice. Those books, to me, had a real noir feel to me as anyone could be killed at anytime.

    It was later I discovered series like The Witcher and The Black Company, which were in lists of "Best Fantasy you've never heard of" or whatever.

    Probably, way more information than you wanted, but it lets you know where I am coming from.

  • You're filling in gaps in my education, Travis, so I appreciate it.

    I read more than the Nerd Canon as well, favoring Russian literature, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsburg, Woody Allen, John Irving, Civil War & WWII history, Truman Capote, Faulkner, even Erica Jong. I'd even read cereal boxes, if that's all that was handy.

    Obviously, I was a pretty fast reader in those days.

This reply was deleted.