With the finale of Watchmen now behind us, television viewers are now deep into the holiday break season where kids are off from school and new programs are off the air. Executives decided long ago that no one would have the capacity to tune in for their favorites when Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years came around. But what about sci-fi lovers? What do we have to look forward to in 2020?
While the popularity of DVR and on-demand services may not make that true anymore (how are people really supposed to entertain their guests who come over to celebrate the season) that’s still how scheduling works. In the interim, there is always the chance to take stock of the new content that will hit the airwaves in a new year. What should you be ready to record? What should you not waste your time on? Well, let’s check out five upcoming sci-fi shows we’re excited for, and five that give us pause.
Excited: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Marvel’s first live-action television show for Disney + has a lot to live up to, but it certainly has the fan base to become a hit. With the incredible power of the superhuman characters and the hysterical banter of the often competitive Sam and Bucky, this could be just the mix of action and comedy that the universe needs in a new decade.
Following on the heels of The Mandalorian’s success, there is certainly real proof out there that much-loved franchises can, in fact, create much-loved television (particularly on the new Disney platform). There’s no official release date yet, but fans are still being told sometime in 2020.
Worried: Locke and Key
A TV show about teens who are grieving, but who also find keys that offer them special powers. They’ll have a lot more to worry about with those powers though since there’s a demon who wants those keys too. The premise is taken from the Joe Hill horror comic series of the same name.
While there’s plenty of content to pull from and an already popular premise, the show has not exactly been well-loved during its production phase. The show was originally supposed to air on Fox before it jumped over to streaming platform Hulu. Where will it actually premiere? It will actually debut on Netflix. We’ll know sooner rather than later if the wait was worth it. Locke and Key will premiere on Netflix in February.
Excited: Star Trek: Picard
Picard may succeed where its reboot predecessor, Star Trek: Discovery, failed. Sir Patrick Stewart may finally be enough to pull viewers in to pay for CBS All Access. Executives are already so confident in their show that they have renewed it for season two, even though the first episode does not premiere until January 23.
The show will follow Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard some twenty years after the events of the Nemesis movie (2002) and take into account the destruction of Romulus in the 2009 film.
Worried: Avenue 5
Avenue 5 could be great, it’s got HBO backing it after all, but when it comes to making a sci-fi comedy it takes a balance that not all stories are ready to achieve. Not every outing can be Galaxy Quest, but Avenue 5 comes out in January and has seen little buzz, though it does now have a trailer.
While Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad are certainly comedic superstars, that sometimes isn’t enough to make an entire show work. 8 episodes will follow Laurie’s, Captain Ryan Clark as he does his best to take care of the guests on what is essentially an outer space cruise ship.
Excited: Snowpiercer
TNT enters our list with its take on the French Graphic Novel, Snowpiercer. Captain America himself, Chris Evans, starred in a very well-received film of the same name back in 2013.
The premise from comic, to movie, to television show stays the same. The world is frozen over and the only survivors are those who live on the ever-moving train the circles the globe. But all that is left of humanity is still a microcosm of the injustices that once spread across the planet. What are people willing to do, or not do, to survive? Jennifer Connelly of Requiem for a Dream and Daveed Diggs from Hamilton star.
Worried: Into the Night
It’s another set of survivors on a plane. This time they don’t crash on an island like Lost or resurfaces years later like Manifest, this time they have to travel and night and race away from the sun, which can now destroy everything in its path.
The show is actually a six-part miniseries based on a polish book and is the first Belgian original series to come out of Netflix. However, it’s very possible that viewers, particularly those of sci-fi and fantasy may have airline fatigue at this point in their television lives.
Excited: The Stand
CBS All Access is really putting their faith in the sci-fi viewing public in hopes of attracting more subscribers. Along with Picard, they will also be releasing The Stand, a mini-series based on the classic Stephen King novel of the same name. The series will take place over ten episodes, to be released at some point in 2020.
For those unfamiliar with the book, it centers around the world is almost entirely wiped out by a plague. Survivors must decide whether or not they will join Mother Abigail (who will be played by Whoopi Goldberg) a religious woman with prophetic powers, in Nebraska, or a more brutal leader, Randall Flagg in Las Vegas.
Worried: Marvel’s Helstrom
After the loss of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage from Hulu fans may wonder why they should invest in any new Marvel series on the same platform. Helstrom will follow Damion and Ana Helstrom, the children of a very powerful serial killer, but they will use their powers to help humanity, or so the television show claims.
Time will tell if comic fans are ready to offer their viewing eyes and their time to a lesser-known character after having some of their well-reviewed favorites stripped from them already.
Excited: neXt
Fox may have passed on Locke and Key but they are still ready to entice sci-fi fans with their new show neXt set to premiere in 2020. The show will follow Tony Stark’s dad, meaning actor John Slattery, as he works with a cyber-security officer to fight a rogue AI of his own creation.
Sounds very Age of Ultron, and that’s not a bad thing. There’s a lot to love when you meld detective police work with technological superpowers or a sort.
Worried: Utopia Falls
Premiering in Canada in the new year, Utopia Falls will follow teens somewhere in the future who live in a colony and suddenly come upon a huge collection of art and music from the past, unlike anything they’ve seen or heard before. Apparently art and music, along with dance, are considerably different in the not too distant future.
There’s nothing wrong with future dystopian colonies or exploring the question of a change in arts, it’s just that futuristic teens who break the rules in a colony setting does already exist on television. Look at The 100. We’ll have to see if Utopia Falls is as different as a TV show as its characters find the music of today.
