If 2022 will be remembered as the year that Game of Thrones won the battle to be crowned the next, uh, Game of Thrones, 2023 could be the year Peak TV finally peaked. Yes, there still is literally hundreds of new scripted TV shows making their way to streaming platforms, and many of them still cost an arm and a leg, but as shows like Ted Lasso have proven that those with the biggest price tags don’t always guarantee success.
In line with THRtradition, we’ve surveyed the scripted landscape for all the major players in town and whittled down our annual list to just 10 shows that we’re confident will be the ones that cut through the clutter to become the talk of the town. We have the obvious (a Shonda Rhimes-penned Bridgerton prequel) and the not so obvious (prepare to feel your feelings with Jason Katims again) as well as everything in between. One thing that’s new this year: Instead of doing 23 shows in 2023, our field of 10 also takes a bigger look at what else is coming across a variety of platforms, as cutting that number created some really tough calls. (With apologies to Disney+, we know there’s a lot more to come from Marvel and Star wars so neither is included here.)
So without further ado, here are our 10 picks for the must-see new scripted series expected* to arrive in 2023. (Presented in alphabetical order, premiere dates included where available).
*Covid-19 is still a factor, as are changing slates, as many platforms go through taper ratings under new executive regimes, so there are no guarantees.
1. Citadel (Amazon, 2023)
Fresh off its $1 billion recording The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon has another bank breaker with it Citadela so-called global event series from Avengers directors Joe and Anthony Russo who have been on it since 2018. The series boasts a cast led by Game of Thrones degree Richard Madden and global star Priyanka Chopra Jonas and plans are already underway for local language spinoffs with an Indian part of the mega-budget action spy series already casting. The American installment, like a number of other Amazon originals, has changed showrunners and a round of expensive reshoots. The drama is already on track to become Amazon’s second-highest-priced show ever produced, and the Jennifer Salke-led streamer hasn’t even made it to marketing yet. While LOTR was greenlit under Amazon’s previous management regime, Citadel will be a make-or-break moment for Salke, whose other major swings in the coming year include dramas with Christoph Waltz (The consultant, expected in winter) and Rachel Weisz (Dead Ringers).
2. Dear Edward (Apple, February 3)
Why yes, we’re actually still upset that Amazon canceled Jason Katims’ extremely personal autism series As we see it, which marked a return to form for Parenthood and Friday night light show runner. Next up for the king of the tearjerker (with apologies to Dan Fogelman) is Dear Edwarda weepy drama based on the bestseller by Ann Napolitano. WonkaColin O’Brien stars as Edward Adler, a 12-year-old who survives a commercial airliner crash that kills every other passenger on the plane – including his family. As Edward and a diverse ensemble of others affected by the tragedy try to make sense of life after the crash, unexpected friendships, romances and communities form. Like Katim’s FNL and Parenthood, Dear Edward is described as a “heartbreaking, life-affirming and uplifting story of survival, resilience, connection and the examination of what makes us human.” Further helping this show crack our top 10 is its killer cast, which features a reunion between Katims and his former FNL leading lady Connie Britton, as well as Taylor Schilling (Orange is the new black). Other highlights from Apple’s 2023 drama series include The bond of brotherhood and Pacific Ocean successor Masters of the Air, Black Panther drama The big cigar with Andre Holland and LaKeith Stanfield in horror story The transformation.
3. Deadly attraction (Paramount+, 2023)
We strive to show shows from all the major conglomerates and streamers here, and let’s be honest: the Paramount+ bench is perhaps the weakest of all the major platforms when it comes to new arrivals this coming year. Of course there is more of Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone “Dutton-verse” pending, but beyond that? The closest we get here is deadly attraction, which won us over based on its exploration of mental illness and the strength of its cast. Lizzy Caplan steps into Glenn Close’s shoes in this reboot of the 1987 film, with Joshua Jackson taking on the role previously played by Michael Douglas. As for the rest of the board? HBO Max rejects Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, an update on the MTV update of Teen Wolf and Kiefer Sutherland in Designated survivors Rabbit hole.
4. The idol (HBO/HBO Max)
Consider us intrigued: Grammy winner The Weeknd stars in this LA-based music industry series, which he co-created Euphoria creator Sam Levinson. Lily-Rose Depp (yes, that Depp). The series has already undergone creative changes, including in its creative direction, as it now centers on a self-help guru and leader of a modern cult who develops a complicated relationship with an up-and-coming pop singer. Other HBO originals earmarked for 2023 include Plumbers in the White House and a Jodie Foster-led version of True detective.
5. The last of U.S (HBO/HBO Max, Jan. 15)
We’re going to go out on a limb and say this will be one of the most talked about new series of the year as the premium cable network caters to die-hard fans of the PlayStation game and new viewers. Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) stars in the series, set 20 years after the destruction of modern civilization, as Joel, a hardened apocalypse survivor hired to smuggle a 14-year-old girl (Bella Ramsey, Game of Thrones) out of an oppressive quarantine zone. The seemingly small job becomes a brutal journey as they come to depend on each other to survive. Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) serves as showrunner on the series, which counts the game’s writer and creative director, Neil Druckmann, among its exec producers. Elsewhere on HBO Max, you can expect Mindy Kaling’s animation Velma, Greg Berlantis The girls on the bus and limited series Love & Death.
6. Poker face (Peacock, January 26)
Rian Johnson (Knives out) and Natasha Lyonne (Russian doll). Need we say more? Okay fine. That Star Wars: The Last Jedi director makes his television debut with this character-driven mystery series that sees the always amazing Lyonne on her way and cross paths with a new cast of characters (Adrien Brody, Chloë Sevigny, Dascha Polanco, Ron Pearlman, Lil Rel Howery, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tim Meadows to name a few) as she sets out to solve one bizarre crime after another. Will this be Peacock’s big must-see show? Another caught our attention: Mrs. Davis, The AI drama starring Betty Gilpin from creators Tara Hernandez (The Big Bang theory) and hitmaker Damon Lindelof (Lost, Watchmen).
7. Queen Charlotte (Netflix, 2023)
Shonda Rhimes knows a hit when she sees one. After a parade of missteps on the broadcast after Scandalthat grey’s Anatomy mastermind launched strongly at Netflix with Bridgerton. Although Rhimes does not serve as showrunner on the flagship series and has not written any of its episodes (so far), she is the creative force behind the prequel series Queen Charlotte. India Amarteifio plays the younger version of the character, with Bridgerton‘s Golda Rosheuvel, reprising her role in the spinoff. Rhimes serves as showrunner and writes the series, marking her second original for Netflix after another hit Invents Anna. While Bridgerton may have cooled off, it’s fair to expect Rhimes to bring the heat back to the franchise with this love story.
8. Shogun (FX, 2023)
Speaking of people we wouldn’t bet against, FX CEO John Landgraf has been working to get his take Shogun right for a decade when he originally created this project at former corporate sibling Fox. After changing writers a few times and officially migrating to FX in 2018, this limited series based on James Clavell’s 1975 novel promises to be the cable network’s biggest international production to date. Unlike the previous NBC take, Landgraf’s FX series will be told from the Japanese POV and has been updated to include a more culturally sensitive and accurate portrayal. Shogun also boasted the largest budget Landgraf had ever dedicated to anything in the network’s history and was kicked out of Japan. Hiroyuki Sanada (Army of the Dead, Lost), Anna Sawai (F9, Pachinko) and Cosmo Jarvis (Raised by Wolves). Also on FX’s radar: The full Monty update, a return to Justified and Retreat, The Sterling Affairs and Retreat, the new series from OA the duo Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij.
9. Shrinks (Apple, January 27)
Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence, Emmy winner Brett Goldstein, Jason Segel and … Harrison Ford. Where do we sign? This 10-episode comedy starring and written by Segel revolves around a grieving therapist (the How I met your mother degree) who begins to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he means. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes in people’s lives…including his own. Ford, which already has one Yellowstone prequel under his belt and puts his on Indiana Jones fedora again in 2023, playing a blue collar in the series that counts Ted Lasso‘s Lawrence and Goldstein among its creative team. Apple’s comedy list also includes strange planet, a new animated series from Dan Harmon (Rick and Morty), based on the graphic novel of the same name, the aspiring Chris O’Dowd series The price of the big door and retro-future dramedy Hello tomorrow with Billy Crudup (The morning show).
10. 3 Body problem (Netflix, 2023)
Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss are adapting Liu Cixin’s Hugo Award-winning trilogy in their first series under their nine-figure overall deal with the streaming giant. In the works since late 2020, Benioff and Weiss have teamed up with Alexander Woo (The terror) on the sci-fi epic that tells the story of humanity’s first contact with an alien civilization. Exec producers include Rian Johnson and Brad Pitt, with a cast full of familiar faces: Eiza González (Baby driver), Game of Thrones grads John Bradley, Liam Cunningham and Jonathan Pryce, among others. Keep your eyes open for other places on Netflix All the light we can’t see from Stranger Things exec producer Shawn Levy.
