Each and everyone one of these shows looks like an absolute must-watch.
We’ve already done the biggest movies for 2023 and the biggest games of 2023, so now we’re on the shows we’re dying to see this year. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive, as we’re sure there will be plenty more shows still be announced, and more besides that will come out of nowhere and blow us all away (nobody had any idea what Squid Game was going to do to us).
But with all of that in mind, here are our picks of 2023 must-watch shows, starting with…
THE LAST OF US – January 16 – NOW/Sky Atlantic
The adaptation of one of the greatest video games of all time, with a stellar cast and from the folks who made Chernobyl. As we’ve said in our review, the series is a savage, beautiful, terrifying masterpiece.
POKER FACE – January 26 (TBD in Ireland & UK) – TBD
Hot on the heels of Glass Onion, writer/director Rian Johnson has another comedy-mystery arriving, this time a series headlined by Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll), solving a new case in every episode. Also, every episode will feature a big name guest star, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrian Brody, Chloe Sevigny and Nick Nolte.
SHRINKING – January 27 – Apple TV+
The latest show from the creator of Scrubs and Ted Lasso focuses on a grief therapist (Harrison Ford) one day deciding to no longer hold back and tell them all, harshly and honestly, what he thinks of them. The resulting chaos massively impacts the lives of his patients, and on him as a doctor.
YOU: SEASON 4 PART ONE – February 9 – Netflix
As is the style for big Netflix shows lately, Part One of the fourth season will arrive a full month before Part Two, in order to guarantee return binge viewings. This time, Joe (Penn Badgley) moves to London to attempt a fresh start, but it isn’t long before he’s drawn back into his old homicidal tendencies…
THE MANDALORIAN: SEASON 3 – March 1 – Disney+
Pedro Pascal is going to have a big 2023, isn’t he? Before the first season of The Last Of Us ends, he’ll be back as Mando, teaming up with Grogu on their space adventures. Andor proved how great Star Wars can really be, so we’re betting S3 of this show will really be upping its game.
DAISY JONES & THE SIX – March 3 – Prime Video
Charting the rise and subsequent fall of a fictional 70s band that became one of the biggest acts in the world (so… basically Fleetwood Mac), but will include background interviews, presenting the whole thing in a documentary style. Riley Keough (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Sam Claflin (Peaky Blinders) headline the cast.
YELLOWJACKETS: SEASON 2 – March 24 (TBD in Ireland & UK) – Paramount+
The surprise hit of 2021 is finally returning! As we go back and forward, between the small (and dwindling) teenage survivors of a plane crash, and the (even smaller) group of grown-ups years later, things are only going to get worse for everyone from here on it.
WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS – TBC March – NOW/Sky Atlantic
The guy behind Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm and VEEP turns his hand to this true story about Nixon’s “fixers”, here played by Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux, who accidentally ruin his presidency. Domhnall Gleeson, Kathleen Turner and Lena Headey also feature in the absolutely stacked cast.
SECRET INVASION – TBC Spring – Disney+
Sure to be a major cog in the upcoming Marvel movies, this sees Samuel L. Jackson finally return to the action as Nick Fury, attempting to hunt down the shapeshifting Skrulls that have infiltrated humanity. Returning cast Don Cheadle, Martin Freeman, Ben Mendelsohn and Cobie Smulders will be joined by MCU newbies Olivia Colman and Emilia Clarke.
SUCCESSION: SEASON 4 – TBC Spring – NOW/Sky Atlantic
We don’t really have to tell you about why this show is great, do we? Literally one of the greatest shows ever made? No, we didn’t think so.
AND JUST LIKE THAT: SEASON 2 – TBC Summer – NOW/Sky Atlantic
After the Sex and the City-sequel turned out to be such a hit at the end of 2021, a follow-up was a no-brainer. From what we’ve heard so far, John Corbett will reprise his role as Aidan for the new season, while sit-com legend Tony Danza will play Che Diaz’s father.
LOKI: SEASON 2 – TBC Summer – Disney+
All of the surviving members of the first season will be back, with the story this time around centring around the fight for the soul of the Time Variance Authority. In some brilliant news, Everything Everywhere All At Once star Ke Huy Quan has been cast a TVA archivist.
BRIDGERTON: SEASON 3 – TBD – Netflix
After the second season ended up getting even more viewers than the first, this has worked out to be one of Netflix’s biggest ever hits. The third season will reportedly focus on Penelope Featherington (our own Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton).
CITADEL – TBD – Prime Video
The folks behind Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are hard at work on this epic international spy thriller series, which is reportedly set to be the second most-expensive TV series ever made (after The Rings of Power). Richard Madden, Leo Woodall, Priyanka Chopra and Stanley Tucci feature in the impressive cast list.
THE CROWN: SEASON 6 – TBD – Netflix
The final season of The Crown will reportedly begin with the death of Diana, and the resulting aftermath and impact that her death has on her family and the perception of the royal family as a whole.
FALLOUT – TBD – Prime Video
2023’s other big video game adaptation sees the folk behind Westworld tackle this alternative history, 1950s-esque post-nuclear apocalypse adventure. The cast currently includes Walter Goggins, Ella Purnell and Kyle MacLachlan.
GEN V – TBD – Prime Video
This spin-off of The Boys is one part high school comedy, one part superhero (or supervillain?) filled version of The Hunger Games. Expect the same level of sex, violence and profanity as the main show, but mixed in with adolescent emotional turmoil of a group of superpowered teenagers.
THE IDOL – TBD – NOW/Sky Atlantic
The new show from the creator of Euphoria is going to grab A LOT of attention. A young, up-and-coming pop star (Lily-Rose Depp) gets caught up in the orbit of a self-help guru (Abel ‘The Weekend’ Tesfaye) who also may or may not be the leader of a cult.
MASTERS OF THE AIR – TBD – Apple TV+
After showing the horrors of war on land and on sea, Spielberg’s WWII follow-up series to Band of Brothers and The Pacific takes to the air an incredible cast – Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle, Fionn O’Shea – and some of the episodes will be directed by the guy behind No Time To Die.
Elvis star #AustinButler reveals he went boxing with Barry Keoghan (@BarryKeoghan) and also hung out with Fionn O'Shea (@FionnOS) while making Spielberg's new WWII epic Masters Of The Air! pic.twitter.com/9LGiR033DB
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) June 22, 2022
THE POWER – TBD – Prime Video
In the position to be the next The Handmaid’s Tale (which will debut its final season in 2023), the world is turned upside down when a group of girls discover they are able to kill anyone they wish, simply by touching them. Toni Collette, John Leguizamo, Alice Eve and Rob Delaney star.
SQUID GAME: SEASON 2 – TBD – Netflix
We know next-to-nothing about this follow-up, which might end up being pushed to early 2024. So far, all that has been revealed is the show’s creator mentioning that the characters of Gi-hun and the Front Man, and the new season will introduce Cheol-su, Young-hee’s boyfriend.
TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY – TBD – NOW/Sky Atlantic
Three years on from the pretty decent third season, Night Country will feature Jodie Foster and Kali Reis as two detectives investigating the sudden disappearance of six men from an Alaskan research station.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
