2018 Promising New TV Drama... or NOT
by stephanieericsson | created - 03 Jan 2018 | updated - 04 Mar 2018 | PublicLike I've done in my past two years, I'll be adding more series as I discover them. Some I'll comment on, bringing my own peculiar biases that have been shaped from too many years of watching television. I make no apologies for them and leave you free to decide for yourself if my opinions have any merit.
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1. Counterpart (2017–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A hapless UN employee discovers that the agency he works for is hiding a gateway to a parallel dimension that's in a cold war with our own, and where his other self is a top spy. The war slowly heats up thanks to spies from both sides.
Stars: J.K. Simmons, Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nazanin Boniadi
Votes: 30,917
2. McMafia (2018)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Alex Godman has spent his life trying to escape the shadow of his family's past. But when a murder unearths their past, Alex is drawn into the criminal underworld where he must confront his values to protect those he loves.
Stars: Yoalah Brinson, James Norton, Merab Ninidze, Kirill Pirogov
Votes: 17,013
I'm ambivalent about this series. The writing, acting, direction are all top notch. But after 3 episodes, I still don't really care about any of the characters or what's happening to them. The two leads, James Norton & David Strathairn, are not particularly strong enough actors to carry off these characters. But I keep tuning in, so maybe I'll be surprised. for now, I'll give it ...
7 stars
3. The Alienist (2018–2020)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Newspaper illustrator John Moore meets with criminal psychologist (alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler to investigate a serial killer in New York during the late 19th century.
Stars: Daniel Brühl, Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Robert Wisdom
Votes: 60,082
4. Britannia (2017–2021)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Fantasy
In 43 AD, the Roman Army returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia.
Stars: David Morrissey, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Mackenzie Crook, Julian Rhind-Tutt
Votes: 17,831
Pretty awful start. But... the story is compelling and pilots are notoriously bad so give it another episode or two because it gets better. As long as you're not expecting historic accuracy.
7 stars
5. Cloak & Dagger (2018–2019)
TV-14 | 44 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two teenagers from very different backgrounds find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers while growing closer together every day.
Stars: Olivia Holt, Aubrey Joseph, Gloria Reuben, Emma Lahana
Votes: 22,317
6. The Chi (2018– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama
From Emmy® winner Lena Waithe, The Chi is a timely coming-of-age drama series centered on a group of residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.
Stars: Jason Mitchell, Jacob Latimore, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Alex R. Hibbert
Votes: 7,846
Painfully bad writing.
3 stars
7. The Crossing (2018)
TV-PG | 42 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Refugees from a war-torn country 180 years in the future start showing up in the present to seek asylum in an American town.
Stars: Steve Zahn, Natalie Martinez, Tommy Bastow, Rob Campbell
Votes: 10,178
8. Ordeal by Innocence (2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Christmas 1954. Wealthy philanthropist Rachel Argyll is murdered at her family estate Sunny Point. Her adopted son Jack Argyll is arrested for her murder. He vehemently protests his innocence.
Stars: Morven Christie, Anthony Boyle, Christian Cooke, Bill Nighy
Votes: 11,547
9. 9-1-1 (2018– )
TV-14 | 43 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Explores the high-pressure experiences of the first responders who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking, and heart-stopping situations.
Stars: Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds
Votes: 45,844
Forgettable.
5 stars
10. Black Lightning (2018–2021)
TV-14 | 43 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A crusading school principal gets back into action as the original African-American electrical superhero.
Stars: Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, Christine Adams, Marvin Jones III
Votes: 27,229
11. Deception (2018)
TV-PG | 41 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A famed magician uses his skills of deception to assist the FBI in solving high-profile cases.
Stars: Jack Cutmore-Scott, Ilfenesh Hadera, Lenora Crichlow, Justin Chon
Votes: 9,960
12. For The People (2018–2019)
TV-PG | 43 min | Drama
Set in the Southern District of New York Federal Court, brand-new lawyers work for both the defense and the prosecution as they handle the most high-profile and high-stakes cases in the country--all as their personal lives intersect.
Stars: Hope Davis, Ben Shenkman, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Susannah Flood
Votes: 6,375
13. Sharp Objects (2018)
TV-MA | 53 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After treating her mental illness, crime reporter Camille Preaker returns to her hometown to solve the murder of two young girls. However, she is forced to face and deal with her own demons too.
Stars: Amy Adams, Patricia Clarkson, Chris Messina, Eliza Scanlen
Votes: 118,520
14. Siren (2018–2020)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A coastal town known for its legend of once being home to mermaids is turned upside down when a mysterious girl appears and begins wreaking havoc.
Stars: Alex Roe, Eline Powell, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Ian Verdun
Votes: 15,713
15. The First (2018)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Fictional series to chronicle the effort to send the first crewed mission to Mars.
Stars: Sean Penn, Natascha McElhone, LisaGay Hamilton, Hannah Ware
Votes: 8,199
16. Good Girls (2018–2021)
TV-14 | 43 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three suburban mothers suddenly find themselves in desperate circumstances and decide to stop playing it safe and risk everything to take back their power.
Stars: Christina Hendricks, Retta, Mae Whitman, Reno Wilson
Votes: 60,492
17. The Terror (2018–2025)
TV-14 | 60 min | Adventure, Drama, Horror
Supernatural, semihistorical, horror anthology series, where each season is inspired by a different infamous or mysterious real life historical tragedy.
Stars: Jared Harris, Derek Mio, Tobias Menzies, Kiki Sukezane
Votes: 51,280
18. Hard Sun (2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi
Two detectives with opposing viewpoints are forced to work together in a pre-apocalyptic criminal world.
Stars: Jim Sturgess, Agyness Deyn, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Derek Riddell
Votes: 5,269
19. Kiss Me First (2018)
TV-MA | 46 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A lonely video game addict new to the online world of Azana meets a confident party girl with a dark secret.
Stars: Tallulah Haddon, Simona Brown, Matthew Beard, Freddie Stewart
Votes: 4,215
20. Krypton (2018–2019)
TV-14 | 45 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The untold story of Superman's grandfather as he fights for justice on his home planet.
Stars: Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Shaun Sipos, Ann Ogbomo
Votes: 17,682
21. Jack Ryan (2018–2023)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Up-and-coming CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, is thrust into dangerous field assignments.
Stars: John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly, Abbie Cornish
Votes: 175,306
22. Trust (2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1973 Rome, John Paul Getty III, the heir and younger member of an oil tycoons' clan, is kidnapped by the Italian Mafia in order to get a ransom.
Stars: Harris Dickinson, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Swank, Luca Marinelli
Votes: 8,079
23. The Umbrella Academy (2019–2024)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A family of former child heroes, now grown apart, must reunite to continue to protect the world.
Stars: Aidan Gallagher, Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda
Votes: 274,838
24. The Witcher (2019– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter, struggles to find his place in a world where people often prove more wicked than beasts.
Stars: Freya Allan, Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Eamon Farren
Votes: 569,084
25. Waco (2018)
TV-14 | 49 min | Crime, Drama, History
The FBI and ATF seize religious leader David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas in the spring of 1993.
Stars: Michael Shannon, Taylor Kitsch, Andrea Riseborough, Paul Sparks
Votes: 25,574
26. Life Sentence (2018)
TV-PG | 44 min | Comedy, Drama
When Stella finds out that her terminal cancer is cured, she must learn to live with all the choices she made when deciding to live like she was dying.
Stars: Lucy Hale, Elliot Knight, Jayson Blair, Brooke Lyons
Votes: 4,183
27. The Looming Tower (2018)
TV-MA | 41 min | Drama, History
A look at how the rivalry between the CIA and FBI inadvertently set the stage for the tragedy of 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan.
Stars: Jeff Daniels, Tahar Rahim, Wrenn Schmidt, Bill Camp
Votes: 17,492
28. Castle Rock (2018–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.
Stars: Bill Skarsgård, André Holland, Lizzy Caplan, Melanie Lynskey
Votes: 51,236
29. Next of Kin (2018)
TV-PG | 60 min | Drama
Whip-smart GP Mona Shirani is left grief-stricken when her much-loved brother is brutally murdered while working for a medical charity overseas.
Stars: Archie Panjabi, Shabana Azmi, Navin Chowdhry, Jack Davenport
Votes: 1,361
Compelling and well done. What you'd expect from a BBC production.
8 stars
30. Homecoming (2018–2020)
TV-MA | 30 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
An anthology series centered around the mysterious Geist Group, an unconventional wellness company and their equally unorthodox program, the Homecoming Initiative.
Stars: Stephan James, Bobby Cannavale, Hong Chau, Alex Karpovsky
Votes: 27,412
31. Electric Dreams (2017–2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A sci-fi anthology series with stand-alone episodes based on the works of Philip K. Dick.
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Steve Buscemi, Richard Madden, Timothy Spall
Votes: 18,743
32. Picnic at Hanging Rock (2018)
TV-14 | 51 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Three schoolgirls and their governesses mysteriously disappear on Valentines Day in 1900.
Stars: Natalie Dormer, Lily Sullivan, Lola Bessis, Harrison Gilbertson
Votes: 4,470
33. A Very English Scandal (2018)
TV-14 | 56 min | Biography, Comedy, Crime
British Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe is accused of conspiracy to murder his gay ex-lover and forced to stand trial in 1979.
Stars: Hugh Grant, Ben Whishaw, Alex Jennings, Patricia Hodge
Votes: 16,210
34. Strangers (I) (2018)
Not Rated | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Jonah Mulray is a professor whose world comes crashing down when his wife is killed in a car crash in Hong Kong.
Stars: John Simm, Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Katie Leung, Rosalind Halstead
Votes: 2,763
35. Absentia (2017–2020)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders.
Stars: Stana Katic, Patrick Heusinger, Neil Jackson, Paul Freeman
Votes: 17,260
36. Vanity Fair (2018)
TV-14 | 60 min | Drama
An adaptation of the 1848 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray.
Stars: Michael Palin, Olivia Cooke, Tom Bateman, Johnny Flynn
Votes: 5,715
37. King Lear (2018 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 115 min | Drama
An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
Director: Richard Eyre | Stars: Jim Broadbent, Jim Carter, Tobias Menzies, Emily Watson
Votes: 4,295
38. The Romanoffs (2018)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama
Anthology of eight stories about people who believe themselves to be descendant of the Russian Royal family.
Stars: Diane Lane, JJ Feild, Aaron Eckhart, Louise Bourgoin
Votes: 6,467
39. Chernobyl (2019)
TV-MA | 41 min | Drama, History, Thriller
In April 1986, the city of Chernobyl in the Soviet Union suffers one of the worst nuclear disasters in the history of mankind. Consequently, many heroes put their lives on the line in the following days, weeks and months.
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Adam Nagaitis
Votes: 862,972
40. True Detective (2014– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Anthology series in which police investigations unearth the personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within and outside the law.
Stars: Vince Vaughn, Colin Farrell, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch
Votes: 655,244
41. Watchmen (2019)
TV-MA | 59 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name, while attempting to break new ground of its own.
Stars: Regina King, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, Sara Vickers
Votes: 134,054
42. Paterno (2018 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 105 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno becomes embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Al Pacino, Kathy Baker, Kenneth Maharaj, Michael Mastro
Votes: 7,577
43. Breathe (2018)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
This series just asks one question - how far will you go to protect the one you love. Two desperate and driven men must engage in the ultimate cat and mouse game to save the one they love.
Stars: Madhavan, Amit Sadh, Sapna Pabbi, Shriswara
Votes: 21,501
44. Altered Carbon (2018–2020)
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Set in a future where consciousness is digitized and stored, a prisoner returns to life in a new body and must solve a mind-bending murder to win his freedom.
Stars: Chris Conner, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Dichen Lachman, Will Yun Lee
Votes: 188,480
Netflix Feb 2, 2018. Can't wait for this one. Great concept with 2 of my fav male leads, James Purefoy & Joel Kinnaman.
45. Instinct (2018–2019)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A former CIA operative who has since built a "normal" life as a gifted professor and writer is pulled back into his old life when the NYPD needs his help to stop a serial killer on the loose.
Stars: Alan Cumming, Bojana Novakovic, Daniel Ings, Michael B. Silver
Votes: 8,832
46. Hidden (2018–2022)
TV-14 | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Police investigate when the body of a girl is found in a lake.
Stars: Sian Reese-Williams, Sion Alun Davies, Victoria Pugh, Sarah Tempest
Votes: 5,557
47. Troy: Fall of a City (2018– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Retells the story of the 10 year siege of Troy, which occurred in the 12 or 13th century BC.
Stars: Louis Hunter, Christiaan Schoombie, Bella Dayne, Chloe Pirrie
Votes: 15,437
48. Notes from the Field (2018 TV Movie)
TV-MA | 90 min | Drama
Shining a light on a lost generation of American youth, Anna Deavere Smith brings to life the stories of 18 real-life people, among them current and former inmates, protesters, educators and politicians.
Director: Kristi Zea | Stars: Ashley Nicole Baptiste, Anna Deavere Smith
Votes: 371
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