The Peak TV era, far from abating, continues to swell the shelves of the major streaming platforms. Last year alone saw a record number of series produced on US soil: 1,923 productions between fiction and non-fiction. Astronomical figures imply a tsunami of offer where it is easy to get dizzy before finding the life-saving fiction. Nothing seems to indicate that the trend is going to ease in this inaugurated 2022.
In order to make it easier to find worthy material in the face of the avalanche to come, we have compiled this list of the most anticipated new series for the coming year.
Severance (Apple TV+)
One of the first interesting fictions to fall on the 2022 streaming mat is Severance. A product engineered by Ben Stiller and Aofie McArdie as a workplace thriller. Its premise is set in a near future where employees of a company undergo a surgical process that allows them to separate their private sphere from their work sphere. However, conflict arises when one of these employees calls the experiment into question, caught in the middle of a mystery to be solved. The film is supported by an impressive cast led by Adam Scott, Patricia Arquette, Dichen Lachman, John Turturro, Christopher Walken and Britt Lower.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dinasty (HBO)
Another of the earliest products to put on the viewing list is this comedy about the prodigious decade of the Lakers. A fiction created by Max Borenstein that follows the dramatic paths of the great players of the Los Angeles basketball franchise, as well as their sporting exploits, in an unbridled tone very much in line with Adam McKay‘s production. In fact, it is McKay who directs the pilot. It is scheduled to land in March.
House of The Dragon (HBO)
If there’s any series on this list with the potential to pulverise its rivals, even before the opening shot, it’s the long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel. With Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik at the controls, the action of the new fantasy-medieval adventure is set 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The focus is now on the Targaryen dynasty. The new series is based on the novel Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin.
Lord of The Rings (Amazon)
The medieval fantasy production of the season will battle it out in the streaming arena between the occupant of the throne above and this Lord of the Rings, which arrives on 2 September as Amazon Prime’s most ambitious bet to date. Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, the series returns to the universe conceived by Tolkien with a cast of unknown faces.
Ripley (Showtime)
The excellent screenwriter Steve Zaillian (The Night Of, Schindler’s List) is responsible for bringing this revival of Patricia Highsmith‘s most popular work to fruition. The new series will kick off with the first book in the popular Ripley saga, with Tom Ripley sailing along Italian shores in the early 1960s. If it comes to fruition, seasons based on each book in the saga of the cold killer are expected to follow.
We Own this City (HBO)
The indefatigable David Simon, with his creative partner George Pelecanos, return to the city of Baltimore, and the crime genre that made them famous, to create this six-part miniseries based on the book of the same name by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, in which the rise and fall of the city’s special police forces is exposed. Jon Berthnal, Josh Charles and Jamie Hector, among others, join the force.
The Staircase (HBO max)
On the same story on which this upcoming miniseries is based, there is already one of the True Crimes props that helped to seal the interest in this sub-genre of documentary. With the help of the stimulating Antonio Campos (who also directs) and Maggie Cohn, now comes the fictional answer. Colin Firth plays Michael Petersen, this ambiguous writer suspected of having killed his wife (Toni Collette), even though he maintains that his beloved accidentally fell down the stairs.
Tokyo Vice (HBO)
Another of HBO’s winning horses for the season is the return of Michael Mann (after the eventful Luck) as an ace guide into Tokyo’s organised crime underworld. Based on Jake Adelstein‘s novel of the same name, the show casts Ansel Egort as an American journalist who infiltrates the Tokyo police team, led by Ken Watanabe, in order to uncover corruption and crime in the Japanese megacity. Destin Daniel Creeton shares directing duties with the author of The Dilemma.
The Last of Us (HBO)
Another eagerly awaited production, especially among the gaming community, is the adaptation of Sony’s best-selling The Last of Us. Reasons to believe in a solid scaffolding for this post-apocalyptic survival drama are offered by the presence of Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (the writer of the video game) as showrunner and writer, and the direction by new talents from the European constituency such as Kantemir Balagov, Ali Abbasi, Jasmila Zbanic, Peter Hoar. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey are the lead actors.
The Kingdom (DR)
The enfant terrible Lars von Trier returns to the television medium to revitalise his horror creature set in the corridors and operating theatres of a haunted Danish hospital. The Kingdom (The Riget, in its original version) returns with a third season of fantastic and terrifying turbulence under the spotlight of the always disconcerting director of The Idiots.
The English (BBC One /Amazon)
One of the most promising arrivals from the British Isles comes on the letterhead of one of its most capable showrunners. Hugo Blick (the mastermind behind The Honorable Woman and the excellent The Shadow Line) embarks on a six-shot western about the revenge plot of a late 19th century woman who travels to the American West to hunt down the man she believes to be the murderer of her only son. Emily Blunt, Rafe Spall, Toby Jones, Stephen Rea and Ciarán Hinds reinforce the cast.
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