Spring is here! Enjoy the warmer weather and longer days by loading up your DVR and spending more time in front of the TV. Mega-comedians Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish headline TBS’s The Last O.G., while reboots Lost in Space and Little Women extend familiar universes. Starz takes us back to the turn of the 20th century with Howards End, starring Hayley Atwell, while NBC launches a one-of-a-kind live staging of Jesus Christ Superstar. Here are 10 exciting new shows that everyone will be talking about this spring.
Station 19
This highly anticipated Grey’s Anatomy spinoff follows series character Dr. Ben Warren (Jason George), who decides to make a career switch to firefighter/EMT. Fans will be happy to know that, rumor has it, George won’t be excluded from his former series and will likely pop in there from time to time. Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey and Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey show up in the spinoff’s premiere, as well. This isn’t the first time a Grey’s spinoff has been featured in ABC’s primetime lineup — Private Practice, starring Kate Walsh, ran for six seasons on the network from 2007 to 2013 — so chances are good that this one might have some stick-to-it power too. Station 19 premieres Thursday, March 22, at 9 p.m. on ABC. — Wendy Geller
Trust
The 1973 kidnapping of oil magnate J. Paul Getty’s grandson in Italy — and subsequent efforts to free him from Mafia captivity — just served as the subject of Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, which made headlines for its replacement of Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in the role of Getty. Nonetheless, Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle will revisit that material in long-form fashion with FX’s new 10-episode series, starring Donald Sutherland as the famous billionaire, Hilary Swank as his daughter-in-law Gail, and Brendan Fraser as former CIA spy James Fletcher Chase, whom Getty tasked with retrieving the boy. Even though Scott’s prior effort failed to engage audiences, Boyle’s in-depth take seems primed to be one of the spring’s must-see prestige drama events. Trust premieres Sunday, March 25, at 10 p.m. on FX. — Nick Schager
Barry
If Bill Hader on his own isn’t enough to make you watch — and who are you people? — then consider that producer Alec Berg, who worked on Seinfeld and Silicon Valley, is producing the show with him. The dark comedy, which also marks Hader’s directorial debut, follows Hader’s title character, a hit man who enters an acting class to get closer to his “mark” and ends up in love. Barry premieres Sunday, March 25, at 10:30 p.m. on HBO. — Raechal Leone Shewfelt
Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1971 rock musical has gotten all kinds of revivals and treatments over the years, but the show works best in a stripped-down, concert-style version that lets the story and performers shine. That’s what NBC is promising with this live special, starring John Legend as Jesus, Sara Bareilles as Mary Magdalene, Alice Cooper as Herod, and Hamilton alum Brandon Victor Dixon as Judas (which, despite the title, is the true lead role). The musical tells the story of the final week of Jesus Christ’s life through the eyes of the disciple who ultimately betrays him. Jesus Christ Superstar Live! will air, naturally, on Easter Sunday, April 1, on NBC. — Gwynne Watkins
The Last O.G.
Tracy Morgan makes his overdue return to series television as a recently sprung convict who returns to his former Brooklyn stomping grounds to find that the neighborhood has substantially changed. As excited as we are to have Morgan back on our TV screens, we’re even more excited by the presence of breakout Girls Trip scene-stealer (and awards show superstar) Tiffany Haddish as his ex-girlfriend. And with Get Out mastermind Jordan Peele behind the camera as co-creator and executive producer, you can bet that The Last O.G. is going to be incredibly timely in addition to hilariously funny. The Last O.G. premieres Tuesday, April 3, at 10:30 p.m. on TBS. — Ethan Alter
Paterno
HBO has a well-earned reputation for dramatizing stories ripped from the headlines, and this one promises to be controversial. Al Pacino stars as the legendary Penn State football coach, grappling with assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s child molestation scandal and his own role in it. As a refresher, in 2012, Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing 10 young boys over a period of 15 years. Evidence suggested that Paterno may have known about the abuse long before Sandusky was accused and failed to do anything to protect the children, and the NCAA stripped the program of the 112 wins it had racked up under Paterno’s leadership, between 1998 and 2012. Six years later, the subject of what and when Paterno — who died in 2012 — was aware of is still raw. Paterno premieres Saturday, April 7, at 8 p.m. on HBO. — RLS
Howards End
Celebrated playwright and filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan adapts the 1910 E.M. Forster novel previously immortalized onscreen by the Merchant Ivory team in 1992. That earlier version — which received nine Oscar nominations and won three statues — starred such revered British thespians as Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, and Helena Bonham Carter. The new Howards End is once again an A-list magnet, with an ensemble headed up by Marvel Cinematic Universe superstar Hayley Atwell. The former Agent Carter plays a middle-class woman who inherits a prized piece of property from the dying matriarch (Julia Ormond) of an upper-crust clan, much to the consternation of the surviving members of that family. Howards End premieres Sunday, April 8, at 8 p.m. on Starz. — EA
Killing Eve
Grey’s Anatomy alum Sandra Oh is back and better than ever in this addictive cat-and-mouse game penned by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) and based on the novellas by Luke Jennings. She’s bored, desk-bound MI5 security officer Eve Polastri, who finds herself chasing a female assassin, the wonderfully psychotic Villanelle (Jodie Comer) — who becomes equally obsessed with her. If you miss Luther’s deliciously enigmatic killer Alice Morgan (and barely feel guilty for admitting that), then this is the show for you. Killing Eve premieres Sunday, April 8, at 8 p.m. on BBC America. — Mandi Bierly
Lost in Space
With vintage sci-fi staples like Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek already scoring darker, grimmer makeovers, it was only a matter of time until Lost in Space received a similar treatment. Netflix’s 10-episode reboot of the ’60s series appears to take the Lost part of the title seriously, framing itself as an intergalactic castaway story that depicts the Robinson family’s struggle to survive on an alien world. (There’s also a little bit of the TV show Lost in the way the series incorporates flashbacks to their pre-castaway lives.) But some things never change, so don’t be surprised to hear the immortal line “Danger, Will Robinson” uttered at least once over the course of the series. Lost in Space premieres Friday, April 13, on Netflix. — EA
Little Women
Few stories are as enduringly fetching as Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 classic, which has seen various screen treatments over the decades. This PBS Masterpiece series follows the eternally famous four sisters — Jo (Maya Hawke), Meg (Willa Fitzgerald), Beth (Annes Elwy), and Amy (Kathryn Newton) — as they grow up together. The cast also includes Jonah Hauer-King as neighbor boy Laurie, as well as appearances from Emily Watson, Angela Lansbury, Dylan Baker, and Michael Gambon. Little Women premieres Sunday, May 13, at 8 p.m. on PBS. — WG
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