The 25 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2012

The television gods definitely have their hands full this year. It’s never easy following up greatness, or even just goodness—ask the filmmakers behind any of the catastrophes included on our Worst Movies Sequels Of All Time countdown. In 2012, though, small-screen programmers will be looking to continue the momentum from one of the best year’s for quality TV in recent years, if not ever. Take a look at our 25 Best TV Shows Of 2011 inclusions to reacquaint yourself with all of the improved sitcoms, remarkable newcomers, and better-than-ever dramas that made watching the Times Square ball drop this past Saturday night more bittersweet than usual.

What do the next 12 months have on tap for us DVR addicts? By the looks of things, a mixture of old favorites returning with higher stakes and a slew of fresh properties boasting something we’ve only recently experienced through FX’s American Horror Story: unique premises that have us simultaneously scratching our heads and marking our calendars. It’s way too early to tell if we’re in for another outstanding year, but, for now, let’s kick-start the excitement with our 25 Most Anticipated TV Shows Of 2012.

Written by Matt Barone (@MBarone)

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Network: AMC
Stars: To be determined
Premiere Date: February 12
Why we’re excited: It’s not easy being a Kevin Smith apologist these days. Once regarded as a heavyweight (pun intended) within the independent, potty-mouthed comedy realm, the grungy filmmaker hasn’t been on top of his game lately—shit, dude hasn’t even been on the side of it. The disappointing Seth Rogen flick Zack And Miri Make A Porno. The abysmal, soulless buddy cop flop Cop Out. Last year’s overhyped and overzealously written wannabe-horror film Red State—it’s hard out there for a hockey-jersey-wearing maverick.

Chances are, Smith won’t readily admit to all of his recent missteps, but at least he’s going back to his nerdy, everyman roots for his latest offering. Set to air on AMC (as the first of the drama-heavy network’s reality show mingling), Comic Men harkens back to Smith’s Clerks M.O.: showing average Joes shooting the shit and earning meager paychecks inside a local, lo-fi place of business. In this case, the setting is Jay And Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, his self-owned comic book and memorabilia shop located in Red Bank, New Jersey.

If you’re anything like us, Comic Men might hit a bit too close to home. A bunch of geeks and weirdos chatting away about superheroes and wanting to score with chicks? Sounds like our typical Friday nights circa high school times.

Network: NBC
Stars: Debra Messing, Katharine McPhee, Christian Borle, Raza Jaffrey, Anjelica Huston, Jack Davenport, Brian D’Arcy James
Premiere Date: February 6
Why we’re excited: We know what’s going through your mind right now: “Just what we need, another show about singing and dancing youngsters that I can’t admit to watching around my male friends.” Yes, NBC’s Glee knockoff Smash does present that dilemma, but, hey, since when do you have to tell your boys about everything you do in the privacy of your own home? It’s not like they know about that Robyn mp3 with 500-plus plays on your iTunes, or that copy of Stephanie Meyer’s Breaking Down on the bookshelf.

There’s always room for a feel-good show in one’s DVR bank, and that’s precisely what Smash has the capability of becoming. Centered around a group of theater-obsessed pretty faces putting on a musical about Marilyn Monroe, the Peacock network’s perky new dramedy is heading into its early February premiere with some of the strongest buzz of the new year, so for that alone it’s worth checking out the pilot at least, no? So says the website that once justified its then-love for Glee.

Network: HBO
Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Anna Chlumsky, Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Reid Scott
Premiere Date: April
Why we’re excited: After the close call of Sarah Palin almost entering the White House alongside presidential hopeful John McCain, thoughts of a female Vice President could very well instill horror movie scares in the minds of liberals, Obama supporters, and people with common sense.

With Veep, a new single camera comedy series led by the always humorous Julia Louis-Dreyfus, HBO is hedging its bets on the rationalization that some folks can still see the laughs in such a political occurrence. Louis-Dreyfus plays, you guessed it, a woman VP in the latest endeavor from creator Armando Iannucci, whose 2009 political satire In The Loop inspired (and deserved) endless accolades from movie critics across the world. Based on an early preview, we can assure you that Veep manages to capture In The Loop’s scathing energy, so even those who still can’t shake off the Palin era will laugh their asses off.

Network: Fox
Stars: Sarah Jones, Sam Neill, Jorge Garcia, Parminder Nagra, Robert Forster, Jeffrey Pierce, Jason Butler Harner
Premiere Date: January 16
Why we’re excited: J.J. Abrams must really love his production company Bad Robot’s ever-struggling Fox series Fringe. Many sci-fi heads and TV bloggers (present company included) alike love the brainy genre show, but it’s always been a ratings non-starter, flirting monthly with possible cancellation. And what’s to blame? Possibly Fringe’s helpless Friday night time slot, or perhaps it’s the seemingly impenetrable plot and mythology (which, as those who watch it will attest, is actually quite digestible if given the chance).

So give Abrams a good deal of credit for sticking to his guns and boosting another Fox show that’s steeped in heady ideas, though at least this one has a nice, primo Monday night time/8 p.m. ET slot. Alcatraz revolves around a motley crew of investigators, including a detective (Sarah Jones), a comic book writer (Lost’s Jorge Garcia), and a shady government agent (Sam Neill), tracking down supernatural criminals who’ve somehow transported into the present day from the Alcatraz prison in the 1960s. Got all of that? Fox and the Bad Robot crew sure as hell better hope so.

Network: NBC
Stars: Jason Isaacs, Dylan Minnette, Laura Allen, Daniela Bobadilla, Terrence Edwards, Wilmer Valderrama, Steve Harris
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: Kudos to NBC’s Awake for catching our eye the old-fashioned way: with its concept, rather than any flashy big-name stars. Created by Kyle Killen (whose previous show, Fox’s briefly aired Lone Star, earned tons of critical love despite its low ratings), Awake blends the procedural series approach with Twilight Zone-esque weirdness.

It’s about a detective (Jason Isaacs) who, following a car crash alongside his wife (Laura Allen) and teenage son (Dylan Minnette), bounces back and forth between two realities: one in which only he and his wife survived the automobile wreck, and another where only his son remains breathing with him. Quite Fringe-like, huh? Well, as much as we love Fringe, Killen better pray that Awake reaches a far wider audience.

Network: Fox
Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Danny Glover, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Karen David, Roxana Brusso, David Mazouz
Premiere Date: January 25 (preview); March 19 (official premiere)
Why we’re excited: So what if his movie career hasn’t been much to write home about in recent years, save for 2011’s admirable indie flick Melancholia? Kiefer Sutherland, once a big screen regular, has been doing just fine on idiot-boxes; how else can you describe the career of the guy who single-handedly kept viewers glued to screens for almost nine years on Fox’s beloved 24?

It’s been nearly two calendars since 24 ended, but Sutherland isn’t resting on that show’s legacy. Teaming up with Heroes creator Tim Kring, the man formerly referred to as Jack Bauer is re-emerging with Touch, a project that sounds like a much better version of Nicolas Cage’s sloppy sci-fi flick Knowing. Sutherland plays a grieving man whose wife died in the 9/11 events who uses his autistic and mute son’s ability to predict future disasters to once again save the world with some of that good old Bauer power. Hands down, Touch has the new year’s most intriguing TV show premise; the only question, though, is can Mr. Kring avoid the Heroes fall-off curse?

Network: HBO
Stars: Lena Dunham, Allison Williams, Jemima Kirke, Adam Driver, Zosia Mamet
Premiere Date: April
Why we’re excited: Whether you know it or not, Lena Dunham is kind of a big deal. Ask any of Hollywood’s comedy players about her, and they’ll surely refer you to her 2010 independent buzz-generator Tiny Furniture, a quirky film festival darling that she both wrote and directed before she even turned 24-years-old. One of the movie’s biggest fans is Judd Apatow, the funny cinema super-producer whose past TV credits include the short-lived cult favorites Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared.

Inspired by Dunham’s brand of everyday woman humor, Apatow has put his industry muscle behind Girls, a new HBO comedy show created by the now-25-year-old female wunderkind. Tracking the lives of three cute, twenty-something ladies in New York City (played by Dunham, Allison Williams, and Jemima Kirke), Girls has the aptitude to play like a far humbler, and much more guy-friendly, Sex And The City—Carrie Bradshaw meets Seth Rogen in Knocked Up. Need some additional reassurance? The last time Apatow backed an all-female project, the result was Bridesmaids.

Network: HBO
Stars: Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, John Gallagher, Jr., Thomas Sadoski, Sam Waterston
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: There’s never any mistaking the fact that you’re watching a movie or TV show written by Aaron Sorkin, and HBO’s The Newsroom, set within a fictional cable news channel’s set and offices, has his name written all over it. The recent Academy Award winner (taking home the prize for his whip-smart The Social Network screenplay) is Hollywood’s go-to scribe for snappy, intelligent, and briskly paced dialogue, usually, if not always, centered around interoffice politics or suit-and-tie business dealings (or, in the case of The Social Network, sandal-and-hoody business matters)—most recently, he co-wrote the behind-the-scenes baseball drama Moneyball.

The Newsroom, created by Sorkin, will no doubt be as talky and smart as his Emmy-winning series The West Wing, and with its diverse, laudable cast (including Jeff Daniels, Shutter Island’s Emily Mortimer, Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel, and Olivia Munn), expect HBO’s most prestigious new series to dominate all highbrow water-cooler conversations.

Network: Showtime
Stars: Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz, Dawn Olivieri, Josh Lawson, Glynn Turman
Premiere Date: January 8
Why we’re excited: Showtime, better than any other cable network, has shown that it’s highly proficient at producing effectively edgy and funny dark comedy shows—think Weeds, Californication, and Shameless. Hoping to join those successful ranks is House Of Lies, a morally corrupt and (fingers crossed) unflinchingly comedic look at the shady business dealings of four management consultants, played by Don Cheadle, Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz (Parks And Recreation’s Jean-Ralphio), and Josh Lawson.

The show’s biggest coup, of course, is the casting of Cheadle, a fantastic actor whose comedy skills (seen in the Ocean’s 11 movies and Talk To Me) demand more attention. Plus, Kristen Bell strips down to her underwear for her character’s sake, a visual bonus that will speak for itself.

Network: HBO
Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina, John Ortiz, Richard Kind, Kevin Dunn, Ian Hart, Kerry Condon, Jill Hennessy
Premiere Date: January 29
Why we’re excited: Some new TV shows possess so much star power and prestige that pop culture junkies are practically forced to watch it just off general principle. Think back to the lead-up for HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, with its top-shelf cast of stars and superior character actors (Steve Buscemi, Michael Shannon, Michael Pitt, Michael K. Williams) and off-camera heavyweights (Martin Scorsese, Mark Wahlberg, The Sopranos executive producer Terrence Winter). In 2012, the equivalent to Boardwalk's inherent muscle can be found in Luck, another name-packed HBO series.

In front of the directors’ lenses, the horse racing drama boasts Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman, Golden Globe winner Nick Nolte, and very fine character actors John Ortiz (Carlito’s Way, American Gangster), Kevin Dunn (Transformers), and Dennis Farina (Get Shorty, Snatch). But the real draw is David Milch, Luck’s acclaimed, untouchable creator, whose inception credits include NYPD Blue and HBO’s unbelievably slept-on, and unfairly cancelled, Deadwood. Tack on pilot director, and Luck’s executive producer, Michael Mann (the esteemed filmmaker behind such winners as Manhunter, Heat, and Collateral) and you’ve got one of 2012’s heaviest first-year hitters.

Network: ABC
Stars: Krysten Ritter, James Van Der Beek, Eric Andre, Liza Lapira, Michael Blaiklock, Dreama Walker
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: Whenever Apartment 23 (initially titled Don’t Trust The Bitches In Apartment 23) premieres, its biggest talking point will most likely be the resurgence of James Van Der Beek, the fallen-off teen idol who’s playing a fictionalized, self-mocking version of himself on ABC’s promising sitcom. We’re not mad at that, but, for our money, the main reason to get excited about Apartment 23 is female lead Krysten Ritter, starring as one of two odd-couple roommates (the other is played by newcomer Dreama Walker) living in Manhattan.

If that set-up feels awfully familiar, that’s because Apartment 23 bears a striking and troubling resemblance to CBS’ freshman hit 2 Broke Girls. Hopefully, ABC’s show can work the same degree of wonders for Ritter that 2 Broke Girls has for Kat Dennings; like our April/May 2011 issue cover girl, Ritter has always won us over with her unassuming sexiness (see: Breaking Bad’s second season) and comedic timing (see: She’s Out Of My League). It’s about time that she became a household name.

Network: HBO
Stars: Danny McBride, Katy Mixon, Steve Little, Greg Cipes, Crispin Freeman, Carlos Alazrqui
Premiere Date: February 19
Why we’re excited: Oh, Kenny Powers… We hardly knew thee. That’s right, Eastbound & Down’s upcoming third season is, assuming that series creators Danny McBride, Jody Hill, and Ben Best don’t pull a Shawn “I’m not really retired” Carter move, the raunchy HBO comedy’s final year.

If you think about it, though, it’s actually a smart move, considering that vulgar baseball has-been Kenny Powers, with all his delusions of grandeur, is the kind of alpha character that can grow obnoxious over a long period of time. Better that McBride’s star-making character leaves on a high, genuinely funny note than an insupportable one, which is what Eastbound & Down is on track to do with news that Jason Sudeikis has joined as a season regular and Will Ferrell’s hilariously insufferable car salesman will resurface.

Network: AMC
Stars: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, January Jones, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks, Vincent Kartheiser, Jessica Pare
Premiere Date: March 25
Why we’re excited: Hey, remember that great AMC show Mad Men? You know, the one about sharply dressed New York City advertising tycoons bedding multiple women, drinking tons of fine liquor, and talking in brilliantly written bits of dialogue? If you’ve forgotten all about it, don’t feel like you’ve committed a pop culture fail: That’s an understandable symptom of waiting 17 months for one of your favorite TV shows to return after an amazing fourth season.

Series creator Matthew Weiner went head-on against AMC and backers Lionsgate Television for months trying to renegotiate contracts, and the closed-door meetings left Mad Men’s long-awaited fifth season in limbo. Now that the smoke has cleared and Weiner’s money bags are in an approved place, Jon Hamm and company are back to work, though details about their latest comings and goings are non-existent at the moment. The burning question: Can skirt-chaser extraordinaire Don Draper actually stay married to pretty young secretary Megan (Jessica Pare)? If you say “yes,” then you really have lost touch with Mad Men.

Network: Showtime
Stars: Claire Danes, Damian Lewis, Mandy Patinkin, Morena Baccarin, David Harewood, Diego Klattenhoff, Morgan Saylor, Jackson Pace
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: In its critically adored first season, Showtime’s all-star rookie Homeland did the impossible: It was a perfect 12-for-12 in terms of strong episodes. Without a single lame hour to its name, 2011’s best new series consistently juggled its grenade-pack of a narrative, ending each new installment with an oh-shit moment or two and never loosening up its vice-grip-hold on viewers.

The finale, a 90-minute exercise in nail-biting tension, maintained the excellence by ending with a pair of cliffhanger developments: Marine turned possible terrorist Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) is now dangerously close to infiltrating the U.S. government for Al-Qaeda boss Abu Nazir, and bipolar CIA officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) may have just completely erased all of her suspicions about Brody and Abu Nazir trivia via shock treatment. Where does Homeland go from there? We can’t call it, and, most importantly, we’re dying to know.

Network: AMC
Stars: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus
Premiere Date: February 12
Why we’re excited: The good news: Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Shane (Jon Bernthal) and the rest of the gang finally found little Sophia, and that bullet in her zombie head means she’s not coming back. And the even better news: Now that the whole “tirelessly talk about finding the missing kid” plotline is a wrap, The Walking Dead’s cast promises that the second season’s closing half will be a balls-out, all-Hell-breaking-loose storm of action, horror, tragedy, and mayhem.

In other words, what every impatient, complaining Dead head has been hoping and praying for since Rick’s overlong, screw-you-God monologue. As long as new showrunner Glenn Mazzara and Walking Dead overlord Robert Kirkman don’t sacrifice the show’s better character arcs and developments in favor of fan-satiating carnage, we should be on the verge of seeing AMC’s undead Nielsen ripper firing on all cylinders for the first time since, well, ever.

Network: FX
Stars: Timothy Olymphant, Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Jacob Pitts, Joelle Carter, Carla Gugino, Neal McDonough, Mykelti Williamson
Premiere Date: January 17
Why we’re excited: The folks behind Justified don’t need to worry about that old adage “the third time’s a charm”—for the excellent FX series, its second season was the biggest of doozies. Improving immensely on its solid but flawed debut run, the Timothy Olymphant-led, rural crime drama narrowed its focus on one central antagonist, Emmy winner Margo Martindale’s bossy and sympathetic Mags Bennett, abandoning Season One’s often scatterbrained approach to “good guy versus bad guy” storytelling.

So what did the producers do for the all-important third season? Bring in a trio of button-pushers (Carla Gugino, Mykelti Williamson, and Neal McDonough), a risky, potentially clutter-inducing move that would leave us worried if Justified didn’t have primary actors as superb as Olymphant and Walton Goggins. It’s sure to be a crowded, twisty season, but Justified’s previous season has given viewers more than enough confidence to watch without pessimism.

Network: HBO
Stars: Warwick Davis, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: Imagine being Warwick Davis, the diminutive star of such films as Willow and Leprechaun: You’re watching last year’s Emmy Awards broadcast, and on stage walks Peter Dinklage, the equally small actor who’s just won a trophy for his supporting work on HBO’s Game Of Thrones. Suddenly, you’re left thinking, “Damn, that should be me!”

Though that’s not exactly how Davis came up with the idea for Life’s Too Short, we can’t help but think that fictional scenario explains the Hollywood veteran’s motivation. With the same meta-reality spirit as Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, Life’s Too Short follows the "real" Warwick Davis as he tries to reignite his movie career with the help of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (also the show’s co-creators).

Like Curb, Life’s Too Short also features an endless array of hilarious big-name celebrity cameos, including Liam Neeson, Johnny Depp, and Steve Carell. If the first couple episodes that we screened are any indication, it's pretty much guaranteed that big laughs are in store (and, no, we’re not about to make a big-little wisecrack here, though Warwick Davis would probably get a kick out of it if we did).

Network: ABC
Stars: Bruce Greenwood, Daniel Zacapa, Joe Anderson, Thomas Kretschmann, Leslie Hope, Paul Blackthorne, Paulina Gaitan, Katie Featherston, Shaun Parkes
Premiere Date: February 7
Why we’re excited: The notion of a found-footage horror TV show doesn’t immediately give us much hope. As strong as films like Cloverfield, The Blair Witch Project, and [REC] are, one of the reasons why they work so well is each flick’s brief, to-the-point running time—why do you think there haven’t been any two-plus-hours horror movies of that type?

So you’d think that The River, ABC’s ambitious new supernatural/adventure/horror series, has been formulated by a disastrous recipe, with its eight hour-long episodes. Which is why we’ve been pleasantly surprised by all of the show’s positive early word, with several critics praising the premiere episode as one of television’s scariest hours in years. There’s definitely room for plenty of frights in The River’s premise, that of a documentary film crew heading into the Amazon to find a missing nature explorer/television host (Bruce Greenwood).

As for those earlier found-footage concerns, there’s one huge advantage in The River’s corner: The series was co-created by Oren Peli, the man solely responsible for the effectiveness of 2007’s horror smash Paranormal Activity. Could we have a new American Horror Story on our hands? Let’s hope so.

Network: Starz
Stars: Liam McIntyre, Lucy Lawless, Katrina Law, Craig Parker, Peter Mensah, Manu Bennett, Nick Tarabay, Viva Bianca, Brooke Williams
Premiere Date: January 27
Why we’re excited: Even if Spartacus: Vengeance, the latest installment of the Starz network’s hard-R-rated, swords-and-sandals drama, is a real knockout, there’s going to be an unshakable air of bittersweet enjoyment to it all. Last September, after an 18-month battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Spartacus: Blood And Sand star Andy Whitfield succumbed to the disease, bringing a tragic end to an enormous talent and promising career, as well as leaving Starz brass without a leading man for its most popular original show.

Forging ahead, the network cast Aussie actor Liam McIntyre in the role of Spartacus, and, by the looks of things, he’s shaping up to be a worthy replacement. The title character’s gladiator rebellion will take center-stage this year, putting quite the heavy burden on the untested McIntyre to anchor one of TV’s bloodiest and most nudity-filled shows. Fortunately, he’ll be aided by several returning cast members, namely the one-two punch of hotness that is Lucy Lawless and Katrina Law. We’re going to miss Whitfield, but here’s to McIntyre and some old friends keeping Spartacus every bit as enthralling as before in the man’s honor.

Network: FX
Stars: To be determined
Premiere Date: October
Why we’re excited: Got all attached to, and emotional about, the dysfunctional yet endearing Harmon family? Well, softies, you’re shit out of luck—American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has confirmed that the now-ghostly family’s storyline is officially caput, much like every other character’s arc from the batshit and badass FX show’s impressive first season.

And, if you ask us, that’s a brilliant move. In the eyes of Murphy and co-creator Brad Falchuk, American Horror Story has always been envisioned as a long-form anthology series, giving each season to one story, wrapping things up in the finale, and starting up again the following year with new characters, scares, and settings. So, at the moment, the only people who know any details about American Horror Story’s next season are Sirs Murphy and Falchuk (pictured above with Season One stars Connie Britton and Dylan McDermott), and they’re not dropping any information until February.

In this day and age of pop culture predictability and easily leaked information, not knowing what’s in store for one of our favorite shows is a wonderful feeling.

Network: AMC
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: Little is known about Breaking Bad’s forthcoming fifth season, other than the fact that it’s going to be the superlative AMC show’s final run, and that it will last 16 episodes. But will those 16 hours be split into two years’ worth of entertainment, or run through an expanded season? And just when in 2012 will the end begin?

Answers to those burning inquiries won’t likely surface for another couple of months, and that’s peachy keen with us—there’s no doubt in our minds that Breaking Bad mastermind Vince Gilligan won’t chump out in any way, shape, or form while concluding the bloody, dark, and riveting story of chemistry teacher turned crystal meth dealer Walter White (the phenomenal Bryan Cranston) and his tormented, erratic lackey Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).

As Breaking Bad's exceptional fourth season ended, Walt’s manipulations and one-track-minded survival tactics reached new heights of intelligence, so something tells us that he’s about to start calling the shots, and your boy Pinkman isn’t going to take it well. And there’s also that little matter of Walt’s DEA agent of a brother-in-law Hank (Dean Norris) still not knowing about Walt’s dark side, and, yes, seasoned killer Mike (Jonathan Banks) is out there, somewhere, and he’s most likely not going to be pleased about Gus’ (Giancarlo Esposito) explosive exit. Which is all to say: Fuck, we can’t wait for Breaking Bad to come back.

Network: HBO
Stars: Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Shea Whigham, Stephen Graham, Michael Stuhlbarg, Michael K. Williams, Paz de la Huerta, Anthony Luciara, Gretchen Mol
Premiere Date: September
Why we’re excited: Where does a hit show go after it shockingly kills off a main character it has primarily followed throughout its only existing seasons? Hell if we know, but that’s exactly why we can’t wait to see what creator Terrence Winter has in store for Boardwalk Empire’s crucial third season.

All that we know about the HBO gangster saga’s next stretch is that we sadly won’t see any more of Jimmy Darmody’s (Michael Pitt) conflicted, wannabe-capo struggles and that the story will jump 16 months to 1923, when, as Winter pointed out to Entertainment Weekly, liquor supplies began depleting and rivals started getting violently desperate. One thing is certain, though: After capping Jimmy in the face, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) is in a more cold-blooded space than ever, and he’s not going to be too pleased about Margaret’s (Kelly Macdonald) handing over of their lucrative property to the church.

Another potentially explosive story turn: Now that Van Alden (Michael Shannon) has relocated to Cicero, he’s in prime Al Capone (Stephen Graham) territory, meaning that two of Boardwalk Empire’s strongest yet most under-utilized characters may well collide.

Network: HBO
Stars: Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Kit Harrington, Harry Lloyd, Michelle Fairley, Aidan Gillen, Iain Glen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Premiere Date: April 15
Why we’re excited: Only 10 episodes long, the triumphant first season of HBO’s Game Of Thrones was not enough of a great thing. It’s easy to understand why the cable network isn’t so keen on beefing the fantasy hit’s seasons up—just look at the decadent sets, costumes, and productions designs and take a guess how much that all costs. We’re guessing it takes more zeroes than you’d find on the set of The Bachelorette.

When Game Of Thrones returns in April, its run will once again tally the same amount of episodes, yet the narrative’s scope will expand tremendously. Delving deeper into author George R. R. Martin’s Song Of Fire And Ice book series, Season Two will introduce a whopping 21 new and important characters, all of which will join the show’s returning kings, queens, armor-clad warriors, and sexy dragon lady (Emilia Clarke). And, as evidenced by last season’s unexpected deaths of prominent characters played by the recognizable Sean Bean and Jason “Conan The Barbarian” Momoa, anyone on Game Of Thrones can flat-line at the drop of a sword.

Network: HBO
Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård, Sam Trammell, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Nelsan Ellis, Chris Bauer, Deborah Ann Woll, Carrie Preston, Jim Parrack, Jessica Tuck, Todd Lowe
Premiere Date: To be determined
Why we’re excited: We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: True Blood’s fourth season was the worst. Lame character arcs, too much “were-panther” talk, cheesy effects, and the softening of Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgård) all combined for an uneven, at times painful-to-watch crop of 12 episodes, but then came the season finale, along with a shiny glimmer of hope. Within the finale’s last 15 minutes, Tara (Rutina Wesley) got shot in the face, the show’s best antagonist to date, vampire boss Russell Edgington (Denis O’Hare), escaped from his concrete grave, and other potentially major developments came in the form of slick cliffhangers.

Is all forgiven, then? Not quite, but all of Season Four’s closing teases worked like charms, making us more excited for this summer’s fifth season than we’ve been for any subsequent True Blood year. Partly to see if showrunner Alan Ball and his team can bounce back and recapture the show’s one-time shameless magic, and partly to see if True Blood has sadly jumped the shark. The addition of underrated actor Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as “an ancient, powerful vampire who holds the fate of Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric in his hands” is certainly a step in the right direction.