With the most recent Emmys season winding down and the winter months ahead, The Daily Illini has gathered some upcoming winter TV shows to keep tabs on, from familiar returning faces to new adaptations of old classics.
Following an accelerated production to capitalize on the box office success of “Dune: Part Two,” HBO and showrunner Alison Schapker are set to release “Dune: Prophecy” — a six-episode exclusive series.
Based on the works penned by original “Dune” author Frank Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert, “Prophecy” is set millennia before the events of the “Dune” films. “Prophecy” follows the mysterious exploits of the Bene Gesserit, the powerful sororal organization that manipulates the “Dune” world from the shadows.
While “Prophecy” may lack the young star appeal of its originating films, the cast of veteran English stage actors promises a dramatic and thrilling ride. The series premieres on HBO and Max on Nov. 17.
While TV viewers may know him for his guest role on HBO’s “Euphoria,” Colman Domingo has had a busy couple of years on the silver screen. After nabbing an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Bayard Rustin in “Rustin,” Domingo also played a supporting role in Best Picture hopeful “Sing Sing.”
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Domingo returns to the small screen for Stephen Belber’s “The Madness,” an eight-episode limited series following the aftermath of a mysterious and gruesome murder and the conspiracy it unravels. While the details are sparse on its exact plot, “The Madness” seems to be a tense and propulsive thriller, premiering on Netflix on Nov. 28.
After the breakout success “Squid Game” found following its 2021 release, heralding a reality show spin-off and a rumored American remake, the show seemed like a clear pickup for a second season.
It took over three years as stars Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon broadened their career horizons, but the smash-hit Korean thriller is finally returning. The showrunner, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has promised a “both physical and emotional” return to form.
“Squid Game” returns on Netflix starting Dec. 26, and the marketing for the second season sees everyman Seong Gi-hun back in the life-or-death playground games that shot the first season into the monoculture.
Joining Squid Game in the multi-year wait club is “Severance,” Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller’s quasi-sci-fi mystery that ran its first season to rave reviews in early 2022.
Although its critically acclaimed initial episode led to a near-immediate renewal, a conflicted writer’s room and a skyrocketing budget slowed production to a crawl, even after 2023’s WGA strikes.
With that being said, “Severance” is finally back with an electric trailer and new cast members Gwendoline Christie and Alia Shawkat that suggest a worthy follow-up. “Severance” returns on Apple TV+ starting Jan. 17.
Gabriel García Márquez kept his work “One Hundred Years of Solitude” off the screen for decades, believing that his staple of contemporary Spanish literature was unfit for adaptation.
Following Márquez’s passing in 2014, playwright José Rivera obtained the novel’s rights and is set to adapt Márquez’s masterwork into a series, with a second season already planned.
While a proper adaptation of Márquez’s opus may seem like a tall order, the longer format of a series may allow for a more faithful meditation on the novel’s themes of time and family. Whatever the case, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” premieres on Netflix on Dec. 11.
French thriller series “The Bureau” may have debuted overseas in 2015, but its commercial success and critical acclaim have yet to reach American audiences. Producer George Clooney and showrunner brothers Jez and John-Henry Butterworth aim to remedy that disparity with “The Agency,” Showtime’s English-language remake.
“The Agency” premieres on Paramount+ on Nov. 29, retaining “The Bureau’s” central premise of the employment and handling of deep-cover espionage agents — a thoroughly heady conceit that lent itself to a thorny and gripping five-season run.
While it remains to be seen if “The Agency” will be able to reach the incredible highs of its source, signs like leading man Michael Fassbender and undeniable star Jodie Turner-Smith point to yes.
The lingering effects of 2023’s WGA strike may have stalled the TV program for the better part of the year, but between the shows covered here and the lineup for 2025 and beyond, viewers will be in no shortage of binge material for this coming winter.
