The 17 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2017

NETWORK: NBC.
PREMIERE DATE: January 2

You mean to tell me that the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES is going to be appearing in a reality show at the same time he’s being inaugurated? Well, as it turns out, that’s not the case; the Donald will be otherwise occupied in January (but you just KNOW that he would appear on this show in a heartbeat if he were asked), and Arnold Schwarzenegger will be taking his place. This reboot of the very popular Celebrity Apprentice franchise, which has been off the air since 2015, will be going head-to-head against ABC’s resurgent Bachelor franchise. Last night’s double dose premiere saw the debut of Arnold’s new catchphrase —”You’re terminated. Now get to the choppa”— and the firings of both Carrie Keagan and Carnie Wilson, but more importantly, the TELEVISION RETURN OF TYRA BANKS!

Where to stream 'The Celebrity Apprentice'

NETWORK: FX
PREMIERE DATE: January 10

FX is wasting no time getting the first big prestige show of the year into our living rooms. Taboo is the latest project from showrunner Steven Knight, who previously teamed up with his star/collaborator Tom Hardy on the BBC period series Peaky Blinders and the excellent film Locke. The plot of this 1800s-era show revolves around Hardy’s character, James Keziah Delaney, a man who is “encircled by conspiracy, murder and betrayal.” Hardy is, arguably, the most charismatic actor of his generation, and we cannot WAIT to spend eight episodes with him.

NETWORK: HBO
PREMIERE DATE: January 15

Young Pope! Young Pope! Young Pope! The Academy Award winning director Paolo Sorrentino (Gomorrah, The Great Beauty) makes his first foray into television with this series starring Jude Law as –you guessed it– The Young Pope! The show debuted this fall in Europe, where it earned high acclaim and broke ratings records in Italy.

NETWORK: The CW
PREMIERE DATE: January 26

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. The titular Riverdale here is indeed the same Riverdale as the Archie comics that first debuted in 1941, and this show revolves around that same cast of characters: Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and gang. This show, however, has been drawing a lot of pre-release heat, with a few critics even dubbing it “Teen Peaks” for its dark undertones and plotline that revolves around the murder of one of Riverdale High’s students.

NETWORK: FX
PREMIERE DATE: February 9 (Legion), Sometime in 2017 (Fargo)

We lumped these two shows together because they both come from the same brain, that of Emmy Award-winning Noah Hawley. Legion debuts first, and is a co-production between FX and Marvel that stars Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), who could very well be one of the biggest stars of the small and silver screens by the time this year is up. The third season of Fargo is due to arrive later in 2017, but does not yet have a premiere date. Suffice to say, our expectations for both are sky high.

Where to stream S1 and S2 of 'Fargo'

NETWORK: CBS All Access
PREMIERE DATE: February 19

The creators of The Good Wife, husband and wife duo Robert and Michelle King, are back with this new spin-off series that features the return of Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski). This show will debut its pilot on the traditional Tiffany Network airwaves, but then will subsequently move to its exclusive home of CBS All Access for the remainder of its 10-episode run. This is the first major original series for the upstart SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) service, which currently costs between $5.99 and $9.99 a month,; you can bet that CBS head honcho Les “Moonvest” Moonves will be closely tracking its progress, as will all of his competitors.

NETWORK: Hulu
AIR DATE: March 26

At press time, there is not much publicly available information for Hulu’s Harlots, a show being co-produced with Sky TV in the UK. We know who it stars (Samantha Morton, Lesley Manville & Jessica Brown Findlay) and where it is set (the brothels of 18th century London), but that’s about it. That said, our own Meghan O’Keefe has gotten her hands on the pilot and is saying VERY good things about the show (most of which are still under embargo). Suffice to say, we’re psyched!

NETWORK: Hulu
AIR DATE: April 26

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale, may seem a bit too on point for some folks in 2017 — it delves into what happens when parts of the present-day United States are taken over by a hyper-Christian society that is bent on reverting to fundamentalist values — but that only means that it’s Hulu’s most hotly-anticipated original ever. Elisabeth Moss plays Offred, a spirited woman who finds herself enslaved as a “handmaid,” aka breeder. Her desire? To reclaim her independence and to be reunited with her abducted daughter. Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, and Samira Wiley co-star.

NETWORK: HBO
PREMIERE DATE: April 2017

The Leftovers has had an unconventional journey since landing on HBO back in June of 2014. The first season was not well-received, but the second gained a lot of fans after completely uprooting the show’s setting. The third season of the show is set to be its last, but with all the drama at HBO of late, if the show continues to show audience gains in Season 3, a fourth season is not out of the realm of possibility.

NETWORK: HBO
AIR DATE: Summer 2017

Only two seasons left of the most popular show on television! (Two abbreviated seasons, at that.) Winter is coming, people.

NETWORK: HBO
AIR DATE: 2017

Curb has been off the air for over five years now; its last episode aired in September of 2011. In an ironic twist, 2016 proved to be a year in which Larry David’s popularity hit an all-time peak (thanks to his wildly successful string of appearances on Saturday Night Live impersonating Bernie Sanders). The long delay + Larry’s recent hot streak means that our expectations for Season 9 of CYE are officially at a fever pitch.

NETWORK: HBO
AIR DATE: 2017

David Simon, creator of The Wire and Treme, is back in the saddle again and looking to create yet another critical hit for his friends at the Home Box Office. This time around, Simon is building a narrative around the world of porn and prostitution in 1970s era Times Square, and he’s convinced James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal to join him for the ride. Simon is one of the medium’s greatest artists, which has our interest piqued.

NETWORK: Netflix
PREMIERE DATE: 2017 (maybe?)

Director Cary Fukunaga played an integral role in the wild success of the first season of True Detective, and after a false start trying to get his adaptation of Stephen King’s IT off the ground, he’s returning to work with his pals at Netflix –whom he teamed up with on Beasts Of No Nation– once again. This time around, his dream is not Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, but rather Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, working together for the first time since Superbad. The plot details are under wraps, but this much we know: The series is based on a Norwegian “dark comedy” about a man living a fantasy life in his dreams (trailer for this version above), who is actually locked up at a mental institution. So, Shutter Island + The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty? Color us VERY interested.

NETWORK: Netflix
PREMIERE DATE: 2017

Netflix’s partnership with Marvel is really taking shape. We’ve already had well-received seasons of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, and now we’re awaiting Iron Fist‘s arrival in March. After that, sometime later in 2017, these four crime fighters will be getting together to star in their own Avengers-style series called Defenders. Can’t wait!

NETWORK: Netflix
PREMIERE DATE: 2017

No one, not even Netflix, realized that Stranger Things would become the breakout debut series of 2016. However, a few short weeks after the show debuted to massive online buzz in July, the network announced that the Duffer Brothers would be returning to the Upside Down again in 2017. Can it strike gold twice? Only Barb knows for sure.

NETWORK: Sundance
PREMIERE DATE: 2017

The first season of Top Of The Lake, which originally aired on the Sundance Channel back in 2013, was a revelation. The kidnapping murder mystery remains one of the best series of the decade thus far –it was #57 in our list of the Top 100 Binge-Watches Of All-Time, which is why we nearly lept out of our chairs with excitement when it was announced that the show and its star, Elisabeth Moss, would be returning for a second season.

Where to stream 'Top Of The Lake'

NETWORK: Showtime
PREMIERE DATE: 2017

There has never been a television show quite like Twin Peaks (#4 on our list of the Top 100 Binge-Watches of All-Time). There is no way to possibly overstate the impact that the show had on the medium of television, and the fact that David Lynch and Mark Frost were able to convince Showtime to fund another season of the show 25 years after it was cancelled by ABC is nothing short of a miracle. That’s why there is NOTHING that we’re anticipating more in 2017 than the return of Twin Peaks!

Where to watch 'Twin Peaks'