Wondering what to watch on TV this year? There are too many shows to count. Here are the top picks by the Herald's entertainment team.
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (January 18, SoHo)
Rachel Bache: I am not so subtly obsessed with true crime and the upcoming addition of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace looks as thrilling and fascinating as ever. The trailer alone gives me goosebumps. The series contains a mega cast of Edgar Ramirez, Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin, but I'm especially excited to see former Glee star Darren Criss' portrayal of the twisted serial killer Andrew Cunanan.
Chris Schulz: Give me a spare 22 minutes and I'll queue up random episodes of The Office every single time. Oh Dwight. Oh Andy. Oh Jim and Pam, how I miss thee. But those viewings are tinged with sadness at the show's demise. So sign me up for Corporate, Comedy Central's bleak look at office life. This looks like a next-level black comedy.
Altered Carbon (Feb 2, Netflix)
Chris Schulz: Don't get me wrong: all the fantasy shows, quirky comedies and period pieces swamping our streaming services are great. Love you Game of Thrones. Adore you The Good Place. Keep it up The Handmaid's Tale. But to me there's nothing better than bingeing on an ultra-ambitious high concept sci-fi series - and it's been a Battlestar or two since we've had a good one. So I'm right here for Altered Carbon, one that lands with a few nods to Blade Runner and some timely Nine Inch Nails tunes.
Counterpart (March, SoHo)
Chris Schulz: I dare you to watch this trailer and say, with a straight face, that you don't want to embed yourself on the couch with a duvet, a bucket of fried chicken and a dozen doughnuts and watch the entire flippin' thing in one go. Yes, it's got JK Simmons being JK Simmons (that'll make sense when you watch the trailer) which absolutely guarantees awesomeness. But Counterpart also opens a wormhole to an entirely different universe. Pass me a deep fried drumstick: I'm there.
Atlanta (Season two, SoHo, TBC)
Siena Yates: My money's on Donald Glover's Atlanta because the first season was incredible. It both embraces and questions common TV portrayals of black and hip-hop culture, draws laughs out of the darkest places and provides social commentary without jamming anything down your throat and it's just cool as hell.
The Handmaid's Tale (April 25, Lightbox)
Siena Yates: I made a New Year's resolution to watch less TV which, given my job, is a big call, but it does mean that what I do make time for has to be pretty damn great. My top pick is The Handmaid's Tale's second season. Yes, it's bleak as all hell but it's compelling and perfectly acted and scarily relevant.
Veep (Season seven, SoHo, TBC)
Karl Puschmann: Going into its final season Veep has a big problem; American politics has become so much more far-fetched, so much more farcical and so much more ridiculous than anything the showrunners could imagine. But I'm very much looking forward to what they manage to come up with. Unlike the American President the show is intelligent, quick witted and very funny. About the only thing the show and POTUS have in common is a foul mouth.
Rachel Bache:Westworld's first season triggered the robot uprising and I for one, can't wait to see the all the mayhem in full swing. The show hints at expanding the world and will hopefully go deeper into the numerous mysteries of the now deadly amusement park. Plus, Evan Rachel Wood's transformation from the docile Dolores into the show's No. 1 baddy is sure to be a lot of fun to watch.
The Terror (TBC)
Karl Puschmann: With zombies now dead and buried, pop culturally speaking, it's time for new television horrors to arise. The trailer for The Terror is purposefully vague about what that horror is exactly but there's a lot of blood and screaming and horrified looks. Famed director Ridley Scott is behind this period naval horror series – a severely neglected genre if ever there was one – so we have high hopes that this will be grippingly terrifying.
Castle Rock (TBC)
George Fenwick: 2017 was the year of, among other things, the Stephen King adaptation; a trend that seems likely to continue with 2018's Castle Rock. Produced by JJ Abrams, the 10-episode series will intertwine a number of characters and storylines set in King's fictional town of Castle Rock. The cast is outstanding – Kiwi Melanie Lynskey features alongside Sissy Spacek, Bill Skarsgård and Moonlight's André Holland - and the trailer is littered with references to other works by King. We expect this'll be a twisted, scary and gripping watch.
