It's likely that at some point in 2019, you uttered the phrase "There’s too much to watch" and you weren’t the only one. This year we saw epic fantasies, dark comic book adaptations, funny and emotional comedies and a gritty coming of age series all explode on the small screen. With more shows to binge than hours in the day, 2019 gave us a whole lot of excellent new TV. What’s on? SO MUCH. Dive into our list of the top new shows that came into our lives this year and whether or not we can expect more of them in 2020.
EUPHORIAZendaya starred, okay stole ALL THE SCENES, as a teen fresh out of rehab who must navigate the daily horrors of high school while also fighting to stay off drugs. The first season found fans in both critics and viewers (including one
ultra-famous A-lister) who praised the gritty drama for its raw look at adolescence in 2019.
Season Two? Euphoria was included in HBO’s trailer for its 2020 lineup, although an exact date on when fans can expect a second season is still unclear.
Watch Season 1 of
Euphoria here.
WATCHMENThe dark DC comic
Watchmen comes to life onscreen thanks to Oscar-winner Regina King. The actress plays a masked detective who secretly fights against a white supremacist group taking over her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The show is set 34 years after the comic series in an alternate universe where superhero vigilantes have been outlawed but, as with all stellar TV, resonates strongly today.
Season Two? Unclear. Director Damon Lindelof
told Variety he could return for a second season, but HBO has yet to announce whether the critically-acclaimed series—it earned a 96 per cent fresh rating on
Rotten Tomatoes—will be back.[video_embed id=6092403427001]RELATED: Regina King shares why she's turned down offers for big roles[/video_embed]Watch Season 1 of
Watchmen here.
CHERNOBYLBased on the 1986 catastrophe that, over time, is estimated to have claimed the lives of 16,000 people,
Chernobyl was released as a five-part miniseries and shined a light on the brave men and women who helped to contain the worst nuclear disaster in history. It was nominated for 19 Emmys and took home Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Limited Series, so you could say it left an impression.
Season Two? The show earned the title of highest rated series ever on IMDB, but writer Craig Mazin
confirmed that it would not return for a second season.
Watch Season 1 of
Chernobyl here.
THE OTHER TWOOne of the best comedies to air in 2019 was sleeper hit
The Other Two. Created by
SNL writers Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, the half-hour comedy stars Heléne Yorke and Drew Tarver as the older, unsuccessful siblings of Chase Dreams, a 13-year-old who becomes an overnight singing sensation. Molly Shannon plays the trio’s mother, with Ken Marino brilliantly portraying Chase’s entertainment manager, a character not so subtly based on Scooter Braun. The hilarious and timely series features surprisingly emotional turns with
The Other Two easily one of the best new shows of 2019.
Season Two? Comedy Central
smartly renewed The Other Two halfway into its first season, but has yet to announce when the show will return.
Watch Season 1 of
The Other Two here.
SHRILLSNL alum Aidy Bryant snagged her first starring role in the raw and real
Shrill as Annie, a local arts and culture writer who finally decides to fight back against her boss, her online troll and society’s idea of who she should be and how she should look, including a brazen and rude yoga instructor who insists there's a "skinny person living inside her." Cue all the screams. Annie’s quest to learn to love herself includes a few stumbles along the way to self-empowerment but the show never stops being funny or relatable. The series is based on Lindy West’s book
Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman and boasts Lorne Michaels and Elizabeth Banks as the executive producers.
Season Two? The second season of
Shrill is set debut January 24 on Crave.
Watch Season 1 of
Shrill here.
THE MANDALORIANBaby Yoda. Plus, a Mandalorian bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) emerges in the aftermath of the Empire’s fall and the emergence of the First Order. The Jon Favreau-produced series features a handful of talented directors, including Bryce Dallas Howard and
Mandalorian star Taika Waititi. But also, Baby Yoda.
Season Two? Favreau announced
on Instagram that filming on a second season began in November. Disney has yet to confirm a premiere date, but rumours are that it will be sometime in 2020.
ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDAKirsten Dunst stars in the brazen pitch-black comedy as a woman who schemes her way to the top of a cultish pyramid company that previously left her penniless and broke up her family, in a perfectly Florida way. Set in a small town in 1992, the series also stars Alexander Skarsgard who sports one of the most unfortunate mullets in TV history and Canadian Théodore Pellerin who matches Dunst's acting chops in every scene.
Season Two? A second season has
been confirmed but no premiere date has been announced.
[video_embed id=6075906471001]RELATED: Kirsten Dunst & Théodore Pellerin shine bright in binge-worthy new series[/video_embed]
Watch Season 1 of
On Becoming a God in Central Florida here.
THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONESDanny McBride returned to HBO for a third time as the star and creator of
The Righteous Gemstones (McBride previously created
Eastbound and Down and
VicePrinciples with Jody Hill for the station). McBride stars alongside Adam DeVine and Edi Patterson as the Gemstone siblings who are part of a wealthy televangelist family, led by the always stellar John Goodman as patriarch Eli who doesn't know the extent of his children's highly questionable morals. They need Jesus in a BIG way.
Season Two? A second season was confirmed after the third episode of
The Righteous Gemstones, but has yet to begin filming.
Watch Season 1 of
The Righteous Gemstones here.
MRS. FLETCHERThe inimitable Kathryn Hahn stars as Eve, a straight-laced woman who is making up for lost time by engaging in the sexual awakening she missed during her youth. The divorced single mom finally gets the chance to explore her own boundaries, or lack thereof, when her son Brendan (Jackson White) moves away to college, where he finds that the atmosphere is not as welcoming as he expected.
Season Two? Mrs. Fletcher was developed as a miniseries, but Hahn and show creator Tom Perrotta
are both on board for a possible second season.
Watch Season 1 of Mrs. Fletcher
hereHIS DARK MATERIALSBased on Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy and starring Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, James McAvoy and Dafne Keen,
His Dark Materials is a fantasy series about a child who has the power to save a kingdom and move between parallel universes. The child’s journey to find her missing friend leads her on an epic journey where she uncovers a dangerous secret and it's a compelling watch to say the least.
Season Two? The second season of
His Dark Materials was filmed before the first season even premiered. The first and second seasons are based on book one of Pullman’s trilogy, where main character Lyra (Keen) is 12 years old. The second season picks up two days after the first season’s finale, so to ensure Keen still looks the same, the seasons were filmed back-to-back. A third season has not been confirmed, but Lyra is 16 years old in Pullman’s second book, giving the cast and crew a bit of breathing room (and growing space).
Watch Season 1 of
His Dark Materials here.[video_embed id=6117422909001]RELATED: Our hosts reveal their most memorable interviews of 2019[/video_embed]
