By Elazar Abrahams
January is here, which means it’s time to speculate about the pop culture year ahead. What has the potential to be good? What’s going to bomb hard? Will The Bear or Abbott Elementary have the better third season? Only time will tell, but sometimes the speculation and waiting game can be just as fun as the actual releases. So, without further ado, here are TV and City’s five most anticipated television shows of 2024.
Elsbeth
Premiering on CBS this February, Elsbeth has the distinction of being the only regular network TV show on this list. In an age where everything worth watching originates on a streaming service, it takes showrunners Robert and Michelle King to make me tune into something airing in primetime. Elsbeth is a spinoff of their previous work The Good Wife, perhaps the last great serialized network drama, which in turn spurred The Good Fight, a show that masterfully blended political satire and law firm shenanigans. Elsbeth Tascioni was a breakout fan-favorite character from both those shows, albeit not one that you’d think would necessarily sustain their own adventures. A scatterbrained defense attorney, she always outwits her opponents, who often underestimate her legal prowess due to her quirks. In the Kings we trust, and if they felt this was a story worth telling, it must be.
The Franchise
Speaking of showrunners, Armando Iannucci is back on HBO this fall. Veep, his brainchild, quickly earned its place in the pantheon of all-time great comedies. He then followed it up recently with Avenue 5, which was most decidedly a flop. The Franchise looks to be a hopeful return to form, swapping Washington DC for Hollywood, and following the behind-the-scenes antics of a superhero movie set. Himesh Patel, Aya Cash, Billy Magnussen, and Richard E. Grant star — all really accomplished and unique actors. Cash, in particular, is one of the best television actresses we have right now. She elevated The Boys when she entered as Stormfront in the show’s second season, and before that turned in one of the greatest TV performances in recent memory as the lead of FX’s You’re the Worst. Her comedic sensibilities mixed with Iannucci’s profanity-laced writing is going to be one to watch.
Interior Chinatown
Here’s a bit of a wildcard from Hulu: Charles Yu is adapting his own 2020 novel into a prestige miniseries. I was supposed to read the book for a college class, but admittedly never finished it. But the chapters I skimmed were superb! The story is written as a screenplay and uses protagonist Willis Wu, aka “Generic Asian Man,” to tell a searing indictment of Asian American stereotypes. Willis is perpetually forced to play “Background Oriental Male” and “Delivery Guy,” dreaming of one day reaching “Kung Fu Guy” status. How this format could be adapted for the silver screen remains to be seen, but the author having a hand in the process is very encouraging and if done right, we can expect Interior Chinatown to be a major player come awards season.
The Jinx: Part Two
In 2015, The Jinx pioneered the now ubiquitous true crime genre. The story of New York real estate heir Robert Durst shocked viewers countless times throughout its six episodes, but years later, the finale is what lives on — Durst was arrested in real life the day before it aired, and the final moments of the docuseries catch the freak on a hot mic confessing to his murders. One can’t overstate how much of a bombshell this was at the time, in terms of new evidence for the prosecution that had been chasing Durst for years, but also sparking important conversations about the thin line between entertainment and journalism. After all, how long had the filmmakers been sitting on crucial evidence, choosing to withhold it and prolong justice in service of ratings? In any case, nearly a decade later we’re getting a new chapter in the saga. What it entails, no one really knows, and Durst died in jail back in 2022. This could very possibly be a Tiger King 2 situation, a follow-up that generates no buzz and just passes right by. Still, something tells me HBO wouldn’t bring this series back without good reason.
The Penguin
A lot of upcoming franchise shows could have taken the final spot on this list. Agatha: Darkhold Diaries is the one MCU project this year that sounds mildly promising. The Acolyte is potentially the coolest piece of Star Wars media in far too long. I’m putting The Penguin, the Max spinoff of 2022’s The Batman, above them all. Matt Reeves’ vision of Gotham City was simply incredible, and anything that gives us more of that, especially the grimy crime underworld, is going to be spectacular. Colin Farrell returns as Oswald Cobblepot, and Cristin Milioti joins the cast as Sofia Falcone, his rival battling for control. A true prestige, comic book-based crime drama. Please, lord, let this be good.
TV and City 