The great Adam Duritz told us that it was a long December
but there is reason to believe that this year will be better than last. Here are thirteen reason why 2023 may actually
be better than last year.
13. Obligatory Superhero Mention: It was a rough year for superheroes in 2022 and
it looks like fatigue is finally settling in.
Marvel Phase 4 fizzled to an incoherent end. It was even worse for DC which saw a Batgirl
film get canned when it was almost finished filming and chaos ensued when the
control given to James Gunn. Henry Cavill
was out as Superman days after it being announced he would return so Gunn could
direct a Superman movie himself (that is some Big Dick Cheney Energy). But as of now, DC will be releasing four
zombie films tied to the last regime: Shazam!
Fury of the Gods (March 7), The
Flash (June 16), Blue Beetle (August
18), and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,
half of which star someone with a lot of bad press last year and it is unlikely
anyone in these movies will be seen again in these roles.
12. Marvel launches Phase 5 with Ant-Man: Quantumania (February 17) featuring the theatrical debut
of Kang who was last seen in the season finale of Loki, though this Kang is a variant
of that one. Yeah, that was one of the
problems with Phase 4, it started getting confusing. That will be followed by Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 (May 5), which will likely be Gunn’s
last contribution to Marvel (at least until he gets fired by DC), The Marvels (July 28), featuring one of
the few bright spots of Phase 4: Ms.
Marvel. On the small screen, there
will be new seasons of What If…? and Loki, spin-offs starring Echo and
Agatha as well new show Secret Invasion
(featuring Emilia Clarke’s MCU debut after unsuccessful stints in the terminator
and Star Wars franchises) and Ironheart. Oh, and Sony is still trying to make their
Spider-Man Cinematic Universe a thing and will release something called Kraven the Hunter (October 6). Oof.
But at least they have Spider-Man:
Across the Spider-Verse (June 2), a sequel to the entertaining animated
movie.
12. The Drop (January 13, Hulu): I am not sure if this is a mockup of The Slap, but I am just going to
pretend it is.
11. Orphan Black: Echoes (TBD, AMC): Does we need more Orphan Black, especially without Tatiana Maslany? And how exactly do you do this show without
her if there are about a hundred people in this world who look like her? Little is known about this show other than it
stars Krysten Ritter, though we do not know how many Krysten Ritters there will
be.
10. Evil Dead Rises (April 21, theaters): This is the second attempt to revive the Evil Dead franchise without Sam Rami
writing or director or starring Bruce Campbell (both or producing). This is the first one to take outside a cabin
in the woods but instead the Book of the Dead will be found in the bowels of an
apartment building. Hopefully the change
of scenery will add something to this film that the first reboot did not. Unfortunately this is one of the films that
Discovery took off the HBO Max schedule and put it in theaters. So I guess I will have to wait an extra 45 days
to watch.
9. Community: Six Seasons and Finally the
Movie (TBD, Peacock): During the third
season, Community was preempted for couple months to air The Cape. In the show, Abed
became obsessed with the show even declaring that it would run for six seasons and
a movie, a phrase that became a rallying cry for the show’s fans as it was
perpetually on the bubble. Of course NBC
canceled it one season shy. Yet,
somehow, Yahoo! Screen (almost a big footnote as The Cape) picked it up for that sixth season. Then seven year after its six season, the
show is finally getting a movie on Peacock.
8. Party Down (February 23, Starz): Speaking of long gestating revivals of cult
comedies, rumors of a Party Down movie date back over a decade but it is
getting a full series return to the same network that axed it thirteen years ago. Everyone from the second season is back
except Lizzy Caplan (Chloe Zoe joins the cast to replace her) and as depressing
their lives were when the original aired, I can only imagine how more
depressing it will be this time. My one
hope for the revival is that, much like Rob Thomas’ last revival, he brings back
Jason Doring (I believe he played a Young Republican in the first season) just
to kill him off. That would be
hilarious.
7. The Last of Us (January 15, HBO): I never played the video game, but if the adaptation
is half as good they say the game is, we will start off 2023 on a high note.
6. The Curse (TBD, Showtime): Emma Stone is quickly becoming the queen of
weird television shows. She recently appeared
in the trippy Maniac and next up is this comedy which also stars Nathan Fielder
(who is also set to direct) about a cursed house being renovated by an HGTV
show. Sounds wild.
5. More Star Wars: Not as rough as the superhero movies and
shows, but quite an uneven year for Star
Wars. The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan
were not highly regarded and while Andor
was one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the year, it was also,
reportedly, the least watched live action Star Wars show yet. Oh, and no The Mandalorian, though the titular character and his little green
friend did pop up a couple times on The
Book of Boba Fett. Oh, and it is now
three years since the last movie and still no official date for the next
one. But the little green savior will be
back on the small screen this year (March 1).
The Asoka spin-off will also
be this year as well as a new show Skeleton
Crew from the guy behind the latest Spider-Man
movies. But the year will be kicked off
by a second season of The Bad Batch
(January 4). A new season of Visions and new animated show Young
Jedi Adventures are also expected early this year.
4. Only Murders in the Building Season 3
(TBD, Hulu): Shockingly, Paul Rudd
showed up in season two finale. Even
more shocking, he died in his second season.
Even more shocking than that, the show then announce, despite just
killing him off, Rudd would be joining the cast for season three setting up a Fundamentals of Caring reunion and a
reunion of 5-timers club members. I am
guessing there will be copious amounts of flashbacks in season three, though
evil twin brother cannot be ruled out in a show like this.
3. Women’s World Cup (July 20, Fox): You know it has been a bad World Cup
when journalist dies at a game and most
people think the government had him killed because he dared to wear a rainbow
shirt to a game. The men’s world cup was
an unmitigated disaster from all the migrant worker deaths, FIFA banning arm bands,
and the government banning beer hours before kickoff and getting caught bussing
in fans to cheer for their team. The
good thing about the women’s world cup is that most despots are too sexists to
bid on them. The field has been expanded
32 teams which has led to first time world cup appeared by the Philippines and
Zambia in either men’s or women’s cups.
Two time defending champs America have to be the favorite going in, but after
a three game losing streak last fall, it looks like European teams are starting
to catch up. Despite the games on the
other side of the world in Australian and New Zealand, the first two games for
the US are at 9:00 EST, though the third start at 3:00 in thr morning.
2. Yellowjackets Season 2 (March 26,
Showtime): All hail our new Antler Queen
Lottie Forking Mathews!!! Unfortunately
the PR people at Showtime ruined that both Lottie and Van will make it to
present day with casting of their adult versions (Elijah Wood has also been cast
as a Citizen Detective). But despite that
annoyance, I am extremely excited to see the teenagers dissolve into madness as
winter quickly fell on the Canadian forest, and mostly fell on poor Jackie.
1. Justified: City Primeval (TBD, FX):
One of the five greatest shows of this century is getting a reboot. While Raylan Givens does not actually appear
in the Elmore Leonard book, they are fudging that for the show. As of now it looks like Raylan will be the
only one from the show to return, unless you count his daughter who will be played
by Timothy Olyphant’s real life daughter.
Here is everything else I will be watching this winter:
Mondays
8:00 – The Neighborhood (January 16, CBS)
10:00 – Quantum Leap (January 2, NBC)
10:30 – Miracle Workers: End Times (January 16, TBS)
Tuesdays
Leverage Redemption (already back, Freevee)
How I Met Your Father (January 24, Hulu)
Extraordinary (January 24, Hulu)
8:00 – Night Court (January 17, NBC)
9:00 – La Brea (January 31, NBC)
Wednesdays
The Bad Batch (January 4, Disney+)
Wu-Tang: An American Saga (February 15, Hulu)
The Mandalorian (March 1, Disney+)
8:00 – The Challenge (already back, MTV)
8:00 – Survivor (March 1, CBS)
8:30 – The Goldbergs (January 11, ABC)
9:00 – Abbott Elementary (January 4, ABC)
10:00 – Big Sky (January 4, ABC)
10:00 – Grown’ish (January 18, Freeform)
Thursdays
8:30 – Ghosts (CBS, January 5, CBS)
Fridays
8:00 - Young Rock (January 6, NBC)
Sundays
8:00 – The Blacklist (Febuary 26, NBC)
9:00 – Mayfiar Witches (January 8, AMC)
9:00 – The Last of Us (January 15, HBO)
9:00 – Your Honor (January 15, Showtime)
9:00 – Yellowjackets (March 26, Showtime)
