The Most Unmissable TV Shows of 2020

Graphic novels will make it to the small screen as well, with Netflix taking on Cursed, a series fronted by 13 Reasons Why’s Katherine Langford and developed from a Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler book reimagining the legend of King Arthur. Finally, FX’s Y—about a dystopian world in which men are suddenly and mysteriously wiped out—will debut after years in development hell. It has quite the pedigree: Queen & Slim’s Melina Matsoukas directed the pilot, and the show courted a star-studded cast including Diane Lane, Lashana Lynch, Amber Tamblyn, and Dunkirk’s Barry Keoghan.

Speaking of star-studded casts, Mrs. America (FX on Hulu) has the one to beat, with Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Elizabeth Banks, and more bold-faced names playing second-wave feminist icons (and their contradictors) in this miniseries about the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Hulu also boasts an impressive lineup with the comedy The Great, a take on the life of Catherine the Great starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. Meanwhile, Bryan Cranston jumps to Showtime in Your Honor as a judge whose son is involved in a hit-and-run. Jennifer Connelly and Daveed Diggs navigate class warfare in TNT’s adaptation of the Parasite director Bong Joon-ho’s film Snowpiercer. And Jeff Bridges takes on his first lead small-screen role in The Old Man on FX, as a retired CIA spy who—surprise, surprise—gets forced out of retirement.

In the age of uber-producers, Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes, and Kenya Barris will all be premiering new works from their lucrative, record-breaking deals with Netflix. Murphy and Sarah Paulson unite for the umpteenth time with Ratched, about the monstrous nurse from the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Rhimes’s Bridgerton, based on Julia Quinn’s series of historical romance novels, will be her first series after her reported $150 million deal with the streamer. And Barris’s #BlackExcellence, the product of his multi-year overall deal with the platform, will be a family sitcom starring Rashida Jones and Barris himself.

Comedies will see swings from major producers this year, including Netflix’s Space Force, an imagining of the workplace shenanigans inside the Trump-proposed military arm, from Steve Carell and Greg Daniels; FX’s Breeders, a show about parenting from Martin Freeman, who also stars; and HBO’s Run, masterminded by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge and starring Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson.

All that being said, the 2020 slate will only grow when new streaming platforms like Peacock (from NBC), HBO Max (which is set to premiere a reboot of Gossip Girl as well as a new season of Search Party), and Quibi (whatever that may be), launch this year.

Returning Shows Later in the Year:

HBO has a Westeros-shaped hole to fill for genre fans, and Westworld Season 3 may be the one to fill it. Its trailer teases new worlds, potentially more timelines, and maybe even more hosts posing as humans. The only sure thing? Aaron Paul has joined the cast. For those less interested in puzzles and more interested in power plays, Succession will also return for a third season.

But wait, there’s more! The Night Manager is supposedly returning for a second season on AMC. For lighter fare, PopTV takes the reins on the critical darling and fan favorite One Day at a Time, and Disney+ will feature a reboot of Lizzie McGuire, with Hilary Duff reprising the role that made her a household name—for Millennials, anyway. If none of these are to your taste, well, there will always be more seasons of The Walking Dead.

Sophie Gilbert is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers culture.

Shirley Li is a staff writer at The Atlantic​, where she covers culture.