TV shows to look forward to
Some of the world’s most popular shows are back, and there’s new Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings adventures to enjoy, finds James Croot.
Thanks to series like Severance, Reacher, This is Going to Hurt, Sherwood and Stranger Things, 2022 has already been a big year. Better make sure the couch is comfy and your snack supply is fully stocked though, because there is plenty more to come over the last five months of year.
While many with US shows don’t currently have a New Zealand air-date or home (the reboots of Quantum Leap and Interview with the Vampire, for example), Stuff to Watch has taken a look at the forward planners to come up with a list of 10 mustsee TV shows scheduled to drop here before we welcome in 2023.
Cobra Kai (September 9, Netflix)
Having framed John Kreese (Martin Kove) for an assault he didn’t commit, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) has plans to franchise his dojo across Los Angeles, as the fifth season of this mega-popular The Karate Kid spinoff begins.
However, he will face opposition from Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who is unhappy with Silver’s aggressive teaching tactics. Support for his cause comes from an unlikely source – former rival Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto).
The Crown (November, Netflix)
The exact date for the fifth season of this royal drama is still up in the air, but new Queen Elizabeth II – Imelda Staunton – did confirm its debut month in September last year.
The refreshed cast also includes Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Olivia Williams as Camilla ParkerBowles, Dominic West as Prince Charles and Jonny Lee Miller as UK Prime Minister John Major.
Events expected to be covered include the Queen’s ‘‘annus horribilis’’ (1992) and that infamous 1995 Panorama interview.
The Handmaid’s Tale (September 15, Neon)
In this 10-episode season five of the dystopian drama Elisabeth Moss’ June faces consequences for the killing she carried out and tries to redefine her identity and purpose. Meanwhile, Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) is trying to raise her profile at the same time as Gilead’s influence is making its way to Canada. Change could be on its way south of the border, as Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) tries to gain power.
House of the Dragon (August 22, Neon/SoHo)
Three years after Game of Thrones’ muchmaligned final season, we’re back in Westeros for this 10-episode prequel set two centuries before.
Based on George R R Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood, it aims to tell the story of House Targaryen. The impressive assembled ensemble includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans.
The Lord of the Rings: Ring of Power (September 2, Prime Video)
Set thousands of years before the events of JRR Tolkein’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, this eight-part fantasy focuses on the heroic legends of Middle Earth’s fabled ‘‘Second Age’’. It was an era when great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, hope hung by the finest of threads and a villain threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Filmed in New Zealand, this is allegedly the first of five seasons and features Robert Aramayo and Morfydd Clark as younger versions of familiar elfs Elrond and Galadriel.
The Midnight Club (October 7, Netflix)
Horror-meister Mike Flanagan’s (The House on Haunted Hill, Midnight Mass) latest series follows a group of five terminally ill Brightcliffe Hospice patients who embark on a series of regular middleof-the-night gatherings to share scary stories. Together, they form a pact – whoever dies first will make an effort to contact the rest of them from beyond the grave.
Based on Christopher Pike’s 1994 novel of the same name, the clever casting includes former Nightmare on Elm St star Heather Langenkamp.
The Sandman (August 5, Netflix)
Based on the beloved, award-winning DC comic series by Neil Gaiman, this 10-part fantasy drama looks at the fallout from the capture and centurylong imprisonment of the eponymous powerful cosmic being (Tom Sturridge) who controls all our dreams. Once freed, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.
From Allan Heinberg and David S Goyer, whose combined writing credits include Wonder Woman and The Dark Knight, the show also stars Patton Oswalt, Gwendoline Christie, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, Stephen Fry and David Thewlis.
Wednesday (TBC, Netflix)
Jane the Virgin star Jenna Ortega plays the eponymous Addams family member in this hotly anticipated coming-of-age supernatural mystery comedy. Focusing on her high school years at Nevermore Academy, in this eight-episode series, from the creators of Smallville, she apparently tries to master her psychic powers, stop a monstrous killing spree of the town’s citizens and solve a 25-year conundrum that has haunted her family. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays her mother Morticia.
Willow (November 30, Disney+)
Based on the partly New Zealand-shot 1988 fantasy movie of the same name, this eight-episode ‘‘sequel’’ will continue the adventure set in a magical world of brownies, sorcerers, trolls and other mystical creatures. Warwick Davis returns as the eponymous pint-sized sorcerer, now part of an unlikely group of heroes off on a dangerous world-saving quest far beyond their home.
Yellowstone (TBC, Neon)
November 13 is listed as the US debut of the fifth season of this crowd-pleasing rural drama. Details revealed so far include the fact that the 14 episodes will be divided into two chunks and that country singer Lainey Wilson is joining the cast.
For the Duttons, there’s apparently the prospect of a growing threat from outsiders and ‘‘one hell of a blackmail situation’’ between two of the siblings.
And, after the success of prequel series 1883, a second one – 1923 – starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren – is expected to debut in the US before Christmas.