It is becoming increasingly important for a service to have quality original programming that people can’t find anywhere else in order to entice customers. Original shows are essentially locked in for life and aren’t beholden to fickle licensing agreements, so the more a service can have, the better.
16. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Author Tom Clancy has had just as much success with adaptations of his books as he has with the books themselves, especially in terms of movies and video games. One place that the late author’s work hadn’t been adapted is television, but that’s about to change with this upcoming series focusing on Clancy’s most popular character.
Jack Ryan has been portrayed in movies by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and most recently, Chris Pine. Stepping into the role for the character’s TV debut is The Office’s John Krasinski, who will play Ryan in his early days as an up-and-coming CIA agent. It’s not Krasinski’s first time in the world of action and political espionage, as he also had a role in Michael Bay’s 2016 movie about the Benghazi incident.
Other notable actors who are confirmed to make appearances on the show are Peter Fonda, Timothy Hutton, and The Wire’s Wendell Pierce. While there is no solid release date at this time, the show is expected sometime in 2017.
15. The Tick
After the character’s humble beginnings as a mascot for a New England comic book store’s newsletter, Ben Edlund’s The Tick first saw mainstream popularity when he was turned into a beloved animated series on Fox for three seasons in the mid-90s. In 2001, the network brought the character back for a live-action show starring Patrick Warburton as the titular hero. Despite positive buzz, ratings were abysmal and the show only lasted nine episodes.
The test pilot aired in 2016 and was picked up for a full season to begin this summer. Peter Serafinowicz, who recently appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy as Denarian Saal, will be donning the big blue suit and antennae this time around.
14. Jean-Claude Van Johnson
A lot of aging actors have taken on self-aware roles where they play characters that mirror their own careers and reflect on their legacies in interesting ways– Michael Keaton in Birdman, Warwick Davis in Life’s Too Short, and Matt LeBlanc in Episodes being some noteworthy examples. Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was one of Hollywood’s top action stars in the late-80s into the mid-90s, is actually doing that for the second time in his career.
In addition to still being able to deliver the action goods, Van Damme has matured into a pretty solid actor with great comedic timing. The show’s director recently confirmed that we should be able to expect five new episodes by year’s end.
13. Danger & Eggs
Beginning life as a twelve minute short film, Shadi Petosky and Mike Owens’ hilarious Danger & Eggs is finally getting the full series treatment that it deserves. With a look and vibe comparable to modern cartoons like Adventure Time and The Amazing World of Gumball and also reminiscent of wacky ’90s shows like Rocko’s Modern Life, Danger & Eggs is about the bizarre adventures of BFFs D.D. Danger and giant egg Phillip.
Here’s hoping that the show– featuring the voice talents of SNL’s Aidy Bryant– is the breakthrough success that Petoski has been dreaming of.
12. Lore
The podcast is largely a one-man show, edited, recorded, and narrated entirely by creator Aaron Mahnke. But the series, while still definitely creatively driven by Mahnke, will obviously have a bigger cast and crew, including Walking Dead producer Gale Ann Hurd, Marco Polo producer Ben Silverman, and X-Files writer Glen Morgan. The cast is made up of lesser-known actors– likely a deliberate choice so as to give the stories a more authentic feel without the distraction of big-name stars.
11. Too Old to Die Young
Miles Teller will star in the series as a police officer who finds himself on a twisted journey where he will navigate the Russian mafia, Mexican drug cartels, and even the Yakuza as he avenges the murder of his partner. Refn is said to be directing every episode of the series, co-writing it with noted comic book author Ed Brubaker. We’ve only seen the unsurprisingly weird teaser trailers so far as the show isn’t scheduled to hit until 2018.
10. Little Big Awesome
9. Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
Electric Dreams will likely tackle Dick works that haven’t already been adapted– at least not in a big, mainstream manner– so we probably won’t see episodes based on A Scanner Darkly or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which was the inspiration for Blade Runner). Among the confirmed stories being turned into Electric Dreams episodes are “The Impossible Planet” and “The Commuter,” and each of the ordered ten episodes will be based on its own, separate Philip K. Dick story.
8. Costume Quest
The Costume Quest game series– which currently sits at two core installments and several expansion packs– is about kids who set out for an innocent trick-or-treat outing on Halloween night that turns sour when monsters invade the town and kidnap children. Luckily, the children are able to transform into real versions of whatever they are dressed up as and battle the monsters. It’s unknown if the series will follow the games’ plot, but the teaser image that has been released at least confirms a fairly similar art style.
Given the many affectionate and spot-on references to video games and nerd culture in Adventure Time, it’s easy to trust that they will do fans of the Costume Quest games proud.
7. Amberville
With three books in the Mollisan Town series already– Amberville, Lanceheim, and Tourquai– there is plenty of material to mine should the show be a success.
6. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The story is set in 1950s New York and centers on Miriam Maisel, who is trying to make the transition from housewife to stand-up comedian after her husband leaves her for another woman. Even today, comedy is a male-dominated industry that women struggle to gain a foothold in– but in the ’50s, it was almost unheard of, which will definitely be at the crux of this inventive comedy.
5. The Romanoffs
The family’s history is full of darkness and mystery; most notably the whereabouts of Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. After the Tsar and his family were murdered in 1918, the remains of Anastasia were never officially found. As a result, stories and theories ran rampant, including a popular one that suggested she survived and had assumed a new identity– which led to various people claiming to be her descendant.
As for the show, it is going to be an eight-part anthology series where each episode will revolve around a specific family who claims to be Anastasia Romanov’s descendant. These families can be scattered all over the world, and Weiner was reportedly given a $50 million budget with which to travel around and film the show where ever and however he sees fit. A release date is currently unknown.
4. The Last Tycoon
This marks the third time the novel, published after the author’s death, has been adapted. It was also a 1957 play and a 1976 film starring Robert De Niro. The second episode and remainder of the first season is planned to begin soon and will also feature Jennifer Beals, Lilly Collins, and Once Upon a Time’s Eoin Bailey.
3. Untitled David O. Russell Series
Most about the show is pure speculation at this point, with the only confirmations being the first two actors, the mafia backdrop, and that Russell plans to write and direct every episode. Speculation points to there already being two eight-episode seasons in the works, and that the production budget exceeds $150 million. Until more details are announced, all we can really do is look forward to it.
2. Tremors
1. The Departed
The show will also be about undercover informants who are working within the criminal world and have to make hard choices between doing what is legally right and doing right by the criminal friendships they have formed.
The show is being spearheaded by Jason Richman, who created the acclaimed but short-lived ABC show Detroit 1-8-7. There is no confirmed time frame for the release of The Departed.
