2024 has arrived, and a whole host of intriguing new TV shows are set to make their debuts or grand returns on the world's best streaming services.
Last year was packed with top-tier series – you can read my thoughts on the 34 best shows of 2023 while you're here – and I expect the next 12 months to be no different. Indeed, with streaming platforms and cable networks (that's terrestrial channels, UK readers) set to deliver a veritable bounty of tantalizing TV shows in 2024, there'll be something for viewers of all tastes to enjoy.
So, what shows should you keep an eye out for? Below, I've rounded up 10 of my most anticipated series for early 2024 – i.e. between January and April – that I'm certain you'll want to keep tabs on. From superheroes and sci-fi to live-action anime adaptations and crime thrillers, there's plenty for us to look forward to.
Here, then, are the biggest series (in my humble opinion!) to watch out for in the weeks and months ahead…
Echo (Disney Plus/Hulu)
Release date: January 9 (US), January 10 (UK and Australia)
Due to the plethora of issues it faced in 2023, which included numerous movie and TV show delays, Marvel's 2024 movie release schedule is looking rather sparse compared to previous years. Indeed, Deadpool 3 is the only Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film launching this year.
The Disney subsidiary will deliver a trio of highly anticipated MCU TV series, though, beginning with Echo. The studio's first TV-MA (that's 18-plus for UK and Australian readers) TV series will be the first Marvel show to simultaneously debut on Disney Plus and Hulu, and all five episodes will be available to stream on release day – a marked departure from Marvel's usual weekly episodic release blueprint.
So, what's Echo about? It's a spin-off of 2021 MCU TV series Hawkeye, which sees the titular character (real name Maya Lopez) return to her Choctaw roots as she grapples with her tramua-laced and violence-filled past, the unexpected return of surrogate father Wilson Fisk/Kingpin, and her supernatural ancestry. Fans of Netflix's Daredevil are sure to eat this up.
True Detective: Night Country (Max)
Release date: January 14
Crime thrillers have never been more popular than they are right now. You'll no doubt be pleased to hear, then, that two genre heavy hitters are set for release in January.
The first of that duo is Night Country, the latest entry in HBO's award-winning True Detective franchise. Due out on Max (it'll be available on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Foxtel in Australia), it tells the tale of Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis), estranged detectives who reunite to solve a murder mystery involving eight men at the Tsalal Arctic Research Station in Ennis, Alaska.
True Detective already takes pride of place in our best Max shows guide, and you can be sure that Night Country will cement the franchise's spot on that list – yep, I'm that confident it'll be a hit – when it's released. Expect chills and thrills aplenty.
Griselda (Netflix)
Release date: January 25
Just two weeks after Night Country makes its bow, Netflix throws its hat into the crime-show ring with a miniseries centered on notorious Columbian drug lord Griselda Blanco.
Starring Sofia Vergara – yep, the very same actor from Modern Family – in a role that's sure to reshape opinions of the award-winning star, Griselda follows the real-life criminal's rise from rank outsider to one of the wealthiest and most feared cartel leaders of the 1970s and 1980s. In a genre dominated by stories about male kingpins, Griselda looks like it'll stand out from the crowd for multiple reasons. Don't be surprised if it finds a home on our best Netflix shows article in the days post-release.
Masters of the Air (Apple TV Plus)
Release date: January 26
Those of you who are of a war-epic persuasion will want to make Apple TV Plus your go-to streamer this month. Masters of the Air, the third entry in the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks-produced World War II TV franchise – the others being the HBO-developed Band of Brothers and The Pacific – takes flight on Apple's streaming platform in late January, and it's likely to be another barnstorming and harrowing depiction of arguably humanity's darkest time period.
Starring the likes of Austin Butler (Elvis), Barry Keoghan (The Batman), Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who), and Callum Turner (Fantastic Beasts), it follows the 100th Bomb Group of the US Army Air Force in the final years of Word War II. As with its forebears, I'd advise you not to get too attached to any one character – they'll likely perish if you do – but I'll lay my chips down now, and say that I expect this one to join the ranks of our best Apple TV Plus shows article in due course.
Mr and Mrs Smith (Prime Video)
Release date: February 2
After a slow-ish start to 2024, Prime Video comes out swinging with its TV adaptation of 2005 comedy spy-thriller film Mr and Mrs Smith, which was fronted by Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie.
Amazon's take on the movie's story, which saw Pitt and Jolie's married couple learn that they work as assassins for competing agencies, aims to put a modern slant on its plot and characters. Out goes the aforementioned duo, as does the flick's positioning of the pair as rival spies who are – spoiler – eventually tasked with taking the other out. In their place, Donald Glover (Atlanta) and Maya Erskine (Blue Eye Samurai) take on the titular couple, who – per the show's logline – "have given up their identities to be thrown together as partners in espionage and in marriage."
With each new mission, the pair's multifaceted partnership is tested to the limit, so expect literal and metaphorical sparks to fly throughout its eight-episode run. Will it be good enough to join our best Prime Video shows ranks? You and I will be the judge of that.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
Release date: February 22
After the massive success of its One Piece live-action adaptation (One Piece season 2 is subsequently on the way), Netflix returns to the well to mine another anime classic in the form of Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Nickelodeon series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
Set in a world where the villainous Fire Nation aims to reign supreme over its rival tribes, 12-year-old Aang – the show's protagonist and last of the Air Nomads – is charged with mastering the four elements (water, earth, air, and fire) to thwart Fire Lord Ozai and his forces to maintain peace across the realms.
Avatar: The Last Airbender received a suitably epic first trailer in November 2023, which suggests that Netflix has learned lessons from its critically panned Cowboy Bebop live-action series. If its take on one of the best anime around is half as good as its One Piece adaptation, we're in for a wild and highly enjoyable ride.
Shogun (Disney Plus/Hulu)
Release date: February 27
Of all the shows on this list, this is perhaps the one I'm most excited for. Based on James Clavell's 1975 novel of the same name, Shogun could be one of 2024's biggest shows – and there are numerous reasons why.
For one, it's a sweeping, epic tale set during Japan's feudal Sengoku period, which saw a seemingly never-ending cycle of civil wars and social unrest throughout the 15th and 16th centuries. Second, the book it's based on is a New York Times bestseller, and is viewed as one of most notable literary works that reshaped western views on Japanese history and culture. Oh, and it's got a delicious story filled with morally complex characters who give Game of Thrones' stacked, multidimensional cast a run for its money.
With a talented cast that includes Hiroyuki Sanada (John Wick Chapter 4), Anna Sawai (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters), and Cosmo Jarvis (Peaky Blinders) among many other notable Asian heavyweights, Shogun could be this year's suprise TV show package. One for our best Disney Plus shows and best Hulu shows lists? I'd be amazed if I don't add it to either or both guides.
The Regime (Max/Sky Atlantic)
Release date: March 3
If satirized dramas are more your style, this HBO-built limited series is one I'm likely to *ahem* crown queen of my early 2024 shows list.
Fronted by Kate Winslet, The Regime "tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of a modern European regime as it begins to unravel", according to HBO's story synopsis. Based on its outlandish trailer, which you can view above, we believe it could be Max's successor to, well, Succession, too. That comparison isn't a stretch, either, as two of Succession's executive producers have had a hand in its development. If you're after some juicy, elitism-centric storytelling in the coming months, The Regime will fill that particular void in your TV schedule.
3 Body Problem (Netflix)
Release date: 21 March
Game of Thrones' showrunners trade bloody fantasy for mind-bending sci-fi with 3 Body Problem, their first Netflix venture that's also a TV adaptation of Liu Cixin's big-brained novel of a similar name.
Summing up 3 Body Problem's plot is, quite frankly, tough to do. Indeed, I could try and explain the basics to you, but there's every chance I'd spoil something about what its story entails, so it's probably best for you to tune in and experience it for yourself in late March. What I can tell you about is its stacked cast, which comprises – but isn't limited to – John Bradley, Benedict Wong, Jess Hong, Rosalind Chao, Liam Cunningham, Jonathan Pryce, Saamer Usmani, Jovan Adepo, and Eiza Gonzalez. Oh, and, based on its first official clip, 3 Body Problem will probably give you virtual reality nightmares. Here's hoping it's a staggeringly epic sci-fi series and not a show that bites off more than it can chew.
Fallout (Prime Video)
Release date: April 12
After what feels like an eternity, Amazon's live-action Fallout series is almost here. That's right, Prime Video's Fallout TV show emerges from its vault in mid-April, and it looks like a stunningly authentic adaptation of Bethesda's fan-favorite apocalyptic role-playing video game franchise.
Starring Ella Purnell (Arcane) and Walton Goggins (Ant-Man 2) among others, Amazon's Fallout TV show is, according to its official story synopsis, "the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the cosseted denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind – and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them."
If you're after more fascinating details about this original story set within the expansive Fallout universe, check out my article seven things Fallout's first-look images don't tell you. It won't be long until it's time to throw on your blue vault suit and strap on your Pip-Boy, so you'll want to wrap your eyeballs around every little morsel of information you can get ahead of release.
There are plenty of other shows I'm excited to see in early 2024, including Invincible season 2 part 2, but many of them don't have confirmed release dates, hence why they're not included in this article. Rest assured, though, once I learn of any launch dates for these missing series you'll be the first to hear about them. Stick with TechRadar, then, for more when I (or, rather, we) have it.
