Prep your DVRs, Internet connections and download accounts, because there may not be enough hours in the day during 2017 to catch all the new shows coming to our small screens. We’re going to try, and in doing so, collapse in a heap.
Coupled with the huge number of highly anticipated films coming out in 2017, and a fairly full Australian Release Date calendar, we may never (choose to) see the light of day again. We only ask that you send the odd bit of fruit in so we can stave off scurvy.
Please let us know in the comments below with your own lists and opinions and such!
TABOO
6 January (BBC – UK), 10 January (FX – US), Australia TBA
Created by Steven Knight and Tom Hardy, the latter stars as a man returning from Africa to Britain with a stash of stolen diamonds, seeking vengeance for the death of his father. From Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions, it has episodes directed by Kristoffer Nyholm (The Killing) and Anders Engström (Jordskott). Be excited.
EMERALD CITY
6 January (NBC – US)
The countless adaptations of L. Frank Baum are about to get a new addition as Matthew Arnold (Siberia) develops a darker television version of it. Tarsem Singh (Mirror Mirror) is directing the first two episodes of the 10-episode series, so the style bar will be set high. Plus: it’s got Vincent D’Onofrio as The Wizard. Sounds like a kingpin hit.
A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
13 January (Netflix)
Based on the novels of the same name by Lemony Snicket, Neil Patrick Harris takes on the main antagonist role of Count Olaf in this 8-episode series. With Melina Weissman (who played the young Supergirl) in the lead role, series fans can look forward to Patrick Warburton’s recognisable tones as the narrator.
RIVERDALE
26 January (The CW – US), Australia TBA
Based on the Archie Comics, the trailer appears to showcase a version that sits somewhere between CW drama and a Twin Peaks small town mystery. Berlanti Productions – the team behind Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow – has teamed with executive producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Glee), Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Jon Goldwater to blend the two.
SANTA CLARITA DIET
3 February (Netflix)
Victor Fresco (Better Off Ted, My Name is Earl) creates this dark comedy for Netflix starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant as real estate agents in the titular Los Angeles town. This sounds highly bingeable.
LEGION
8 February (FX – US)
Marvel have taken several cracks at television, but getting Fargo helmer Noah Hawley to craft a version of the X-Men universe is genius, especially when it’s about a mutant diagnosed with schizophrenia at a young age. Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Jean Smart, Aubrey Plaza, Bill Irwin and Jermaine Clement in a recurring role, this is must-see TV even if you’re sick of superhero shows.
BIG LITTLE LIES
19 February (HBO – US)
What a cast! Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Alexander Skarsgård, Laura Dern, Adam Scott, Zoë Kravitz join super-producer David E. Kelley (Picket Fences, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal) and director Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) for this adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s novel. How are you not already invested in this?
MARVEL’S IRON FIST
17 March (Netflix)
K’un-Lun saved him. Lei Kung trained him. And now, Danny Rand (Finn Jones) is back to fight for what’s his. The last piece of the puzzle on the way to Marvel’s The Defenders, joining Daredevil, Luke Cage and Jesscia Jones. It’s time to Fist the Marvel Universe!
AMERICAN GODS
April (Starz – US)
Neil Gaiman’s most sprawling and epic novel comes to us from creators Bryan Fuller and Michael Green, with the first season only tackling the first third of the book. Ricky Whittle takes the lead role of Shadow, and the cast also includes Ian McShane (Mr. Wednesday), Emily Browning (Laura), Crispin Glover (Mr. World), Gillian Anderson (Media), and Peter Stormare (Czernobog).
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
26 April (Hulu – US)
Elisabeth Moss, Samira Wiley, Joseph Fiennes and Yvonne Strahovski bring Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel to life for the first time since the 1990 film adaptation. A 10-episode series is about the only format that it hasn’t previously been adapted into, with previous versions showing up for radio, stage, ballet and even opera!
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
May (CBS/CBS All Access)
The first Star Trek series in 12 years, this is the one we are the most excited for. Well, one of them. Set 10 years before Kirk and co, ex-Walking Dead star Sonequa Martin-Green heads the cast that includes Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp and Michelle Yeoh.
INHUMANS
4 September (IMAX & ABC – US)
After falling off the Marvel Cinematic Universe release schedule earlier this year, fans feared the worst for the Inhuman royal family, with ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. perhaps sounding the death knell for the concept. Then Marvel surprised us by announcing that not only would an 8-episode series be coming to ABC in the US, but the first two episodes would debut on IMAX in September 2017. Excelsior!
YET TO BE SCHEDULED
TWIN PEAKS
Showtime – TBA
Possibly the most anticipated television “sequel” of all time, practically everybody who is still breathing and was involved in the 1990-1991 series is returning for David Lynch and Mark Frost’s continuation, with at least another 80 people singing up for the new episodes for a total cast list of 217 people. Now that’s a damn good cup.
THE DEFENDERS
TBA (NETFLIX)
As mentioned above, it’s what Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jesscia Jones and Iron Fist have been building to, bringing the first Marvel crossover to the streaming service. Expect this late 2017.
MINDHUNTER
TBA (Netflix)
Based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit written by Mark Olshaker and John E. Douglas, which in turn served as inspiration for Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs, the series will be set in 1979 and will revolve around two FBI agents, played by Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany, interviewing serial killers in an attempt to solve new murders. David Fincher and Charlize Theron are executive producers.
SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY
TBA (ABC – Australia)
Based on the Australia novel by Elliot Perlman (Three Dollars), the six-part series was originally announced for 2016 but subsequently delayed. Written by Tony Ayres (The Slap) and Amanda Higgs and written by Jacqueline Perske, Jonathan Gavin and Marieke Hardy, it has a who’s who of Aussie actors including Hugo Weaving, Alex Dimitriades, Leeanna Walsman, Xavier Samuel, Andrea Demetriades, Anthony Hayes and Susie Porter.
