THE HOTTEST TV FOR 2020
There’s an embarrassment of riches coming up,
Trying to predict the hottest new TV for 2020 is like trying to pick the winning horse in the Melbourne Cup. The field of contenders is vast, and the form guide makes them all sound like they’re definitely The One. It should be noted that in my entire adult life, I have picked the winning horse in the Melbourne Cup exactly once.
This time last year I probably would have read the schedule for 2019 and skimmed right past the likes of Chernobyl (too historical), season two of Succession (too niche, too much talking) and Watchmen (already a perfectly good movie version). Well, look at us now.
In terms of trends, this year will see more movie stars break down the barrier between big and small screen (look out for Daniel Radcliffe in Netflix’s
Miracle Workers: Dark Ages), best-selling novels will continue to be adapted (plan book club accordingly) and there will be even more inexplicable reboots (Disney Plus is bringing back 30-something Hilary Duff for a new series of Lizzie Mcguire).
Peruse the form guide all you like — at the end of the day, we all know it comes down to barrier draw and track conditions anyway. With that in mind, here’s a five-way boxed trifecta for the hottest new shows of 2020.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, coming to Disney Plus late in the year, seems like a dead cert. If we haven’t all already succumbed to Lizzie Mcguire reboot temptation and signed up for Disney Plus accounts by then, this continuation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, set after the events of last year’s blockbusting Avengers: Endgame, should do it.
Nine Perfect Strangers is basically Big Little Lies
2.0 — based on another of author Liane Moriarty’s novels, adapted by the same people as Big Little Lies and once again starring Nicole Kidman. Only this time instead of three quarrelling mums it’s nine strangers on a wellness retreat. Also
from the Big Little Lies
stable, Reese Witherspoon is starring in an adaptation of Celeste Ng’s 2017 novel Little Fires Everywhere.
Speaking of strong pedigrees, Netflix’s upcoming comedy Space Force is made by the team behind The Office, and stars Steve Carrell, John Malkovich and Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation’s Jean Ralphio). Like
The Office it’s a workplace comedy, but this workplace is the newly-created branch of the military in charge of, well, space. Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, Veep), meanwhile, has written a new series, Avenue 5, about a space cruise ship piloted by Hugh Laurie).
And speaking of high-profile novel adaptations, they’re doing Sally Rooney this year too. Normal People, her second novel, which came out in 2018 and which everybody read in 2019, has been made into a series for the BBC and Hulu. Rooney co-wrote the script and said when she visited the set in Ireland it was “like walking into the inside of my head”. Finally, you can never count out the evergreen Stephen King adaptation. There are at least two more coming out this year, with supernatural crime horror The Outsider (available on Neon from Monday) getting the early running. Good luck with your picks, and happy watching.