The 30 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2015

Image via Complex Original

Stars: Brit Marling, James Nesbitt

Premiere date: January 8

The first TV series from Danny Boyle (28 Days Later..., 127 Hours), Babylon will focus on an executive trying to modernize a police department. The cast, led by Brit Marling and James Nesbitt, looks great. And given Sundance's track record with original programming so far (Rectify, anyone?), it should, at the very least, be a creative success.

Stars: Mark Duplass, Melanie Lynskey, Amanda Peet, Steve Zissis

Premiere date: January 11

Fans of the Duplass brothers' previous work (Cyrus, Jeff Who Lives At Home) should expect a more measured version of the same from this upcoming comedy about two couples living in the same house. Though Mark Duplass' other characters are outgoing, cynical douchebags (particularly on The League), he's playing a struggling, adrift middle-aged husband here, masked by dorky glasses and supported by Amanda Peet as his wife.

The trailer suggests a lot of typical whimsy (notably, adults TPing a house), yet Duplass' performance appears reserved in a way that might speak to deeper acting talent than we've seen.

Stars: Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman, Adam Scott, Chris Pratt, Aziz Ansari, Aubrey Plaza, Retta, Jim O'Heir

Premiere date: January 13

The final season of Parks and Rec will jump several years into the future (and include Jon Hamm), shaking up the comfortable status quo of the past few seasons and suggesting that we might actually see Leslie (Amy Poehler) achieve some of her longer-term goals, in addition to dealing with motherhood. The rest of the characters, meanwhile, are reaching for happy endings—Tom (Aziz Ansari) with his successful business savvy, April (Aubrey Plaza) and Andy (Chris Pratt) continuing in marital bliss, and Donna (Retta) possibly reconciling with Joe (Keegan-Michael Key).

Saying goodbye to Pawnee won't be so easy—NBC has also announced it will air the shortened season in hour-long blocks, turning January and February into marathon Parks months that you'll only survive with Knope-like levels of enthusiasm.

Stars: Larry Wilmore

Premiere date: January 19

Stephen Colbert will be a hard act to follow, but if anyone can pull it off, it's Larry Wilmore. The Daily Show correspondent and comedy mainstay turned down showrunning Black-ish in favor of this Comedy Central slot. Originally titled The Minority Report, the show might even, shockingly, be a considered, humorous look at the news from a non-white perspective.

Wilmore claims the show isn't just about race—it's about all sorts of "underdogs," which suggests a bigger emotional stake in what he's covering. That'll hopefully just make the show funnier.

Stars: Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull, Kirk Acevedo, Noah Bean

Premiere date: January 16

Thankfully, Syfy's 12 Monkeys looks to be more of a "reimagining" of the Terry Gilliam film than a straightforward remake. With the showrunners (who have previously worked on Nikita and The Sarah Connor Chronicles) taking direct influence from films like Looper, 12 Monkeys just might be the purely pleasurable sci-fi series this decade has been waiting for, one that's interested in deeper philosophical questions to a point but primarily content to play around in Gilliam's sandbox.

Stars: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Nick Searcy, Erica Tazel, Jere Burns, Garret Dillahunt, Mary Steenburgen, Sam Elliot, Jeff Fahey, Natalie Zea

Premiere date: January 20

The last season of Justified was a bit of a misstep, a rearranging of the pieces after the triumphant highs of season four. But with this new season set to be the show's end, the stakes are much higher and the possibilities are wide open. No longer is it safe to assume that anyone will make it out of Harlan County alive, which should make this final run Justified's most exciting one yet, particularly as Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) and Boyd (Walton Goggins) finally go head-to-head, fulfilling the promise of the pilot. Get your trigger fingers ready.

Stars: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Annet Mahendru

Premiere date: January 28

The first season of The Americans was good, but the second was great, taking the intricately plotted, emotional intrigue and unwavering look at the costs of spy work to family and identity to the next level. With the Soviet sleeper agent Jennings' children put up as pawns in the spy game, season three might be the most explosive yet.

FBI agent Stan Beeman (Noah Emmerich), long the show's secret weapon and clearest exploration of the costs of espionage on the typical All-American hero, seems poised to truly go off the deep end after the (supposed) execution of his lover and asset, Nina (Annet Mahendru). And the producers have somehow found the only actor who might be able to best Margo Martindale, a.k.a. Mags Bennett, as their KGB handler: Frank Langella.

Stars: Abbi Jacobson, Ilana Glazer, Hannibal Buress

Premiere date: January 14

Broad City was one of 2014's best new comedies, taking on stoner humor tropes but running them through a zany, more realistic version of New York imbued by the comic spirits of Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer (with some production assistance from Amy Poehler). Full of delightful gross-out humor, great guest casting, and a realistic, powerful female friendship, the new season of Broad City is worth looking forward to if only to see how Abbi and Ilana (and, yes, Lincoln) top their previous antics. Also, more Missy Elliott, please.

Stars: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Michael McKean

Premiere date: February 8

The right mood for this might be termed "nervous anticipation." This Breaking Bad prequel/spinoff, centered on the early days of Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) and his shady legal career, will at least have the steady hand of Vince Gilligan at the helm (he's handing off the showrunning duties for his CBS cop series Battle Creek to House's David Shore).

Several Breaking Bad stars have expressed an interest in making cameos, which might be fun for a moment for us (and probably more fun for them), but it raises questions about the show's ability to stand on its own, something that's never easy for any spinoff. Hopefully, that will be enough to turn Better Call Saul into its own series, rather than a painful reminder of the ones who once knocked.

Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Chad L. Coleman, Danai Gurira, Chandler Riggs, Sonequa Martin-Green, Alanna Masterson, Michael Cudlitz, Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Seth Gilliam, Tyler James Williams

Premiere date: February 8

Long a ratings juggernaut panned by critics, The Walking Dead has enjoyed a resurgence in the first half of its fifth season. The AMC drama has regained a sense of truly engaging tension, finally telling a legitimately gripping zombie story before without abandoning the uncut misery and wanton character death with which it seems most comfortable. Indeed, The Walking Dead has proved that it can resurrect itself, and now has a sense of what it needs to do to keep viewers hooked. Hopefully this season's back-end will continue, if not also re-ignite, the show's hot streak.

Stars: John Oliver

Premiere date: February 8

As much as he'd like to deny it, John Oliver has consistently done excellent journalism on his HBO show, using its weekly format to tackle serious policy issues over cable news dustups, like approaching the prison-industrial complex with puppets. With Stephen Colbert abandoning his media criticism persona in favor of the late-night big leagues, Oliver is needed in the arena more than ever. And with a whole season under his belt, Oliver's coverage should only improve.

Stars: Will Forte, January Jones, Kristen Schaal, Mel Rodriguez, Cleopatra Coleman

Premiere date: March 1

A post-apocalyptic comedy starring Will Forte and overseen by the duo behind the 21 Jump Street films and The LEGO Movie, The Last Man on Earth focuses on Forte's character wandering through the ruins of humanity, I Am Legend-style (presumably with fewer zombies). The supporting cast includes Mad Men's January Jones and Kristen Schaal, who has spent so much of the past few years dominating animation that it'll be nice to see her live on TV again (as long as it's not her 30 Rock character). Mostly, it seems like the series will be a tight focus on Forte's character, who appears both funny and painfully, deeply sad.

What's not to love?

Stars: Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Sara Chase, Lauren Adams

Premiere date: March 6

The assembled talent on this series is truly impressive. Created Tina Fey and her 30 Rock lieutenant Robert Carlock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt stars Ellie Kemper (The Office) as a woman who's recently escaped from a cult and includes 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski as her new boss. NBC actually ordered and produced an entire season of the show before deciding it wasn't interested anymore and pawning it off on Netflix, which has committed to two seasons. Given NBC's lack of comedy success in the past couple of years, that might actually be a mark in the show's favor.

Stars: Mark Pellegrino, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Agnes Bruckner, Michelle Forbes, India Ennenga, Sophie Lowe, Jeremy Sisto, Sandrine Holt, Kevin Alejandro

Premiere date: March 9

An American remake of one of the most intriguing series in the last few years (which premiered in France and aired here on SundanceTV last year), The Returned focuses not on the supernatural causes behind the dead's resurrections, but, rather, how it alters the lives of the living. Lost's Carlton Cuse, who's handling showrunner duties here, has been hit-or-miss recently (see: the uneven Bates Motel and equally uneven The Strain), but the source material here is too excellent for anyone to screw up. (Or so we'd like to think.)

Stars: Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Ayelet Zurer, Rosario Dawson, Vincent D'Onofrio

Premiere date: April 10

Developed by The Cabin In The Woods' director/co-writer Drew Goddard, and now run by Spartacus' Steven DeKnight, Netflix's Daredevil series has a smaller-scale hero and proven talent behind the scenes. Boardwalk Empire's Charlie Cox will don the suit (in both senses of the word), playing lawyer/superhero Matt Murdock, and supported by, among others, Rosario Dawson and the great Vincent D'Onofrio as the main villain, Kingpin, who will likely spend a lot of time with his head tiled to one side.

That's all good news, but let's be real: There's no way this series could be more disappointing than that Ben Affleck movie.

Stars: Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Natalie Dormer, Aidan Gillen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Carice van Houten, Stephen Dillane, Liam Cunningham, Gwendoline Christie, Rory McCann, Ian Glen, John Bradley, Alfie Allen, Diana Rigg, Kate Dickie

Premiere date: April 12

Game of Thrones is so consistent that it feels strange to get particularly excited for one season—winter comes like clockwork. But this year seems likely to make some major changes from the books, and that's enough cause for curiosity, in addition to the fallout of Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) murdering his father, Tywin. With the Lannisters at what seems like their lowest point, is another collective ready to take the Iron Throne?

Also, there won't be any Bran this year, which is probably a good thing. More Sansa, though, please.

Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott, Timothy Simons

Premiere date: April 12

Veep was solid for its first two seasons, but the profanity-fueled HBO comedy really began firing on all cylinders during its third year, as hapless Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) took to the campaign trail. Now that she's the POTUS, her fumbles will only get more painfully funny, and her supporting cast, unused to having to make real decisions, will only get more ridiculous.

With the spotlight of power legitimately on Selina, Veep's characters have nowhere to go but down; the show, meanwhile, will continue to get better and sharper.

Stars: Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Reed Diamond, Tim Griffin, Charlie Tahan, Juliette Lewis, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard

Premiere date: May 14

First, let’s address the twist-loving elephant in the room—yes, M. Night Shyamalan is one of Wayward Pines’ producers, and he also directed the pilot episode of this high-profile limited “event series.” And, that’s right, Shyamalan’s is a Hollywood fall-off king whose last three movies, The Happening (2008), The Last Airbender (2010), and After Earth (2013) are the worst. So, yeah, you’d be justified in thinking Wayward Pines will be, at best, lightweight trash.

But that’d also mean that you’ve never read genre novelist Blake Crouch’s original novel, one of the best sci-fi/horror fiction books of the last five years. It’s the claustrophobic, psychologically unnerving story of a U.S. Secret Service Agent (played by Matt Dillon) who wakes up in small Idaho town’s hospital without any identification, nor a cell phone. Nobody knows who he is, and nobody believes that he’s there to investigate the disappearances of two other agents. But everyone knows that he’ll never leave.

With Crouch’s excellent source material at his disposal, Shyamalan will need to commit some truly egregious acts of adaptation fuckery to fail here, especially since the cast also includes heavyweight character actors like Toby Bell, Jacki Weaver, Carla Gugino, and Melissa Leo.

Stars: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks, Jessica Pare, Kiernan Shipka, John Slattery

Premiere date: Spring

The first half of Mad Men's final season was dynamite, capitalizing on the approaching end to create a sense of possibility, creating an anxiety that long-running shows usually can't pull off. After a stagnant sixth season, last year's new episodes were astonishing, utilizing the entire weight of the series' history to put Roger (John Slattery), Peggy (Elisabeth Moss), and especially Don (Jon Hamm) in new and deeply resonant situations.

And, of course, the full cast has come into their own. Kiernan Shipka, in particular, is so great as Sally Draper that every moment she's on screen is rapturous. We'll just have to wait and see what Matthew Weiner has in store for the series finale—hopefully it involves Sally, and is crazier than dancing Bert Cooper.

Stars: Hugh Dancy, Mads Mikkelsen, Gillian Anderson, Laurence Fishburne

Premiere date: Late spring

Hannibal's second season, which aired last year, was stunning, groundbreaking, and terrifying television. Simply put, showrunner Bryan Fuller blew it all up. Leaving most of the characters' lives in peril in a cliffhanger and sending Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) to Europe with his therapist (Gillian Anderson), the new season sounds like practically a new series, one that's less case-of-the-week and more The Fugitive. And since Fuller has more than earned our trust, that should leave fans in a state of feverish, even hungry, excitement.

Stars: Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch

Premiere date: Summer

The successful, engrossing first season of True Detective cemented the seasonal anthology format, focusing on the tight story of the cynical Rust Cohle (Matthew McConaughey) and the womanizing Marty Hart (Woody Harrelson) heading straight into "Carcosa" to solve an occult-based murder. It was the singular product of one writer (Nic Pizzolatto) and one director (Cary Fukunaga), yet the second season will only be all-Pizzolatto, this time opened up to multiple directors, including Justin Lin, the man behind all the best Fast & Furious sequels.

The most exciting thing about True Detective is, once again, its movie star casting—after all, the first season helped foment the McConnaissance. Will the second do the same for Vince Vaughn and/or Colin Farrell? The answer is, of course, in Carcosa.

Stars: Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke

Premiere date: Summer

The best argument for Community's cancellation wasn't the ratings—it was that shuttering Greendale would have given creator Dan Harmon more time to work on Rick & Morty​. Harmon's underrated animated series established itself as truly insane in its first season, using only the loosest continuity to explore the darkest portions of science fiction (i.e., a hybrid Lincoln-Hitler clone) and humanity (a repeatedly failing marriage, the destruction of the universe). Season two will hopefully only get crazier.

Stars: Patrick Wilson, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Nick Offerman, Ted Danson, Jean Smart, Jeffrey Donovan, Brad Garrett, Kieran Culkin, Angus Sampson

Premiere date: To be determined

Fargo's first season was a pleasant surprise, managing to consistently achieve the tone of the Coen brothers' original film while giving an extremely talented cast—including Martin Freeman's deconstruction of the Walter White character type and newcomer Alison Tolman's revelation of a good, kindhearted cop—room to shine.

But the next season will be the real proving ground for the show's universe, one where Key and Peele can play the FBI equivalents of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and the events of the original film are loosely referenced. With the second season jumping backward to the 1970s and focusing on almost entirely new characters, it's time to see if showrunner Noah Hawley can get Fargo the series to truly stand on its own.

Stars: Stephen Colbert
Premiere date: To be determined

Abandoning his longtime persona on Comedy Central to take on David Letterman's chair and a massive network audience, Stephen Colbert's comedic talents are prodigious enough that the prospect of seeing him with a network budget and bigger platform is more sweet than bitter. What will Colbert bring to CBS with a bigger budget and the reins of a storied franchise? We're not really sure (and it seems like Colbert is taking some time to prepare for his first shows), but whatever it is, it will bring something new to the late-night arena.

Stars: Jeffrey Tambor, Gaby Hoffmann, Jay Duplass, Amy Landecker, Judith Light

Premiere date: To be determined

Easily the best new series of 2014 (and Amazon's first real hit), Jill Soloway's story of the patriarch of a dysfunctional family coming out as a trans woman is alternately hilarious and moving, and always delightfully uncomfortable, featuring excellent performances from the entire cast, though especially star Jeffrey Tambor. There's no reason to suspect that the second season won't keep that up, though the introduction of a surprising new character in the first season finale might shake up the status quo for the Pfefferman family in a way that lets us see new sides to their dynamic.

Stars: Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti

Premiere date: To be determined

After a very good first season, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has stepped up its game—in particular, letting the deadpan Andre Braugher absolutely slay in opposition to Kyra Sedgwick, the latter playing the nemesis to Braugher's Captain Ray Holt. Meanwhile, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) find themselves in the throes of a seemingly standard will-they-won't-they that has somehow managed to remain fresh.

With the cast firmly in control of their characters and the writers in command of the humor value of a Brooklyn police station, 2015 might be the year the spiritual successor to Parks & Rec hits the comedy pantheon.

Stars: Rose McIver, Robert Buckley, Malcolm Goodwin, David Anders, Rahul Kohli

Premiere date: To be determined

iZombie, an adaptation of the Vertigo comic, mashes up so many genres it's tough to keep them all straight. It's being run by Rob Thomas, the creator Veronica Mars, so it hopefully won't lack for snappy dialogue, teen mysteries, and legitimate pathos, and stars Rose McIver, who has quietly turned in great work as Vivian Scully on Masters of Sex.

Given the hot streak The CW has been on recently, hopefully the comedy-zombie-medical show will avoid the grave long enough to demonstrate what that mix looks like when it really gets lurching.

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, James Marsden, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, Miranda Otto, Ed Harris

Premiere date: To be determined

Jonathan Nolan's adaptation of the 1973 Michael Crichton film might have the best pedigree of any series premiering this year. It stars, among other heavyweights, Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, and Jeffrey Wright. Barring any creative disasters, Westworld should be deep, tense western-sci-fi hybrid, focusing on an amusement park gone wrong. Hopefully HBO's pedigree for great drama will give Nolan's high-profile series ample territory to let its assembled talent shine (with the cable network's large stack of money behind it, no less).

Stars: Sarah Hay, Irina Dvorovenko, Sascha Radetsky, Ben Daniels

Premiere date: To be determined

This ballet drama miniseries comes from Moira Walley-Beckett, the writer of Breaking Bad's “Ozymandias,” a.k.a. the AMC series' best episode and one of the best TV episodes in recent memory. That should be enough to interest anyone. And if the premise sounds a little similar to Black Swan—well, that movie is great! A series exploring the constant drag and physical demands of ballet might actually be an improvement, even if Mila Kunis isn't involved.

Stars: Brian J. Smith, Tuppence Middleton, Aml Ameen, Bae Doona, Miguel Silvestre, Tena Desae, Max Riemelt, Jamie Clayton

Premiere date: To be determined

The first TV project from the Wachowskis (The Matrix franchise), with an assist from Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, Sense8 will reportedly explore nothing short of the nature of human connection. The premise sounds a little like Heroes: Several strangers develop connected abilities while being pursued by mysterious bad guys. But hopefully the show will take after the good, first season of Heroes rather than the terrible later ones. Besides, this project is so ambitious (and the creative minds behind it are so interesting) that if it's bad, it'll at least be a compelling failure.