Best New Winter Shows 2018

Premieres: Wednesday, Feb. 28

An adaptation of the Pulitzer-winning nonfiction book, the 10-episode limited series traces the rising threat of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and how the rivalry between the FBI and CIA may have inadvertently set the stage for 9/11. Executive-produced by Dan Futterman (Foxcatcher, Capote) and Alex Gibney (Going Clear), the series stars Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg, Peter Sarsgaard, Bill Camp, Tahar Rahim, Wreen Schmidt, Virginia Kull, Louis Cancelmi, Ella Rae Peck and Sullivan Jones. Alec Baldwin will guest-star as former CIA director George Tenet.

Premieres: Monday, Feb. 26 at 10/9c

Mae Whitman (Parenthood), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Retta (Parks and Recreation) star in this new hybrid comedy-drama about three suburban women struggling to make ends meet. To fix their problems, they decide to rob the local grocery store, but the sh-- hits the fan when the cash haul is significantly more than expected and the store manager catches a glimpse of one of them. Matthew Lillard (Twin Peaks), Manny Montana (Graceland) and Reno Wilson (Mike & Molly) also star.

Premieres: Monday, Feb. 26 at 9:30/8:30c

The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki and 2 Broke Girls writer Patrick Walsh have teamed up for this comedy about Chip Curry (Jay R. Ferguson), a film critic and father-to-be who decides to live according to the Bible. Sound familiar? The show is based on A.J. Jacobs' best-selling 2007 book The Year of Living Biblically. Though it was originally intended to be a single-camera comedy, it's now multi-camera because, well, CBS. But it does boast a high-profile cast, including Camryn Manheim as Chip's boss; Ian Gomez as a priest who advises him; David Krumholtz as a rabbi who rounds out Chip's "God Squad"; and Lindsey Kraft as his supportive wife.

Premieres: Friday, Feb. 2

With its bold colors and sleek design, Altered Carbon is by far the most lavish Netflix series yet. Based on Richard K. Morgan's cyberpunk novel, the sci-fi series is set 300 years in the future, when human minds are digitzed (called "stacks") and can be downloaded from one body (or "sleeve") to the next. The show follows an elite soldier named Takeshi Kovacs, who is played by Will Yun Lee in flashbacks and Joel Kinnaman after Kovacs is imprisoned, downloaded into a sleeve and wakes up centuries later. Hamilton's Renee Elise Goldsberry, The Following's James Purefoy and The Killing's Kristin Lehman co-star.

Premieres: Friday, Feb. 2 at 10/9c

It's only been two years since Scott and Stonebridge literally rode off into the sunset as the best bros who ever bro'd, but the exciting and explosive action drama Strike Back, a Cinemax and Sky co-production, is already being rebooted for what is technically its third iteration in six seasons. The 10-episode season will follow the newly resurrected Section 20 on a lethal manhunt to track down a notorious terrorist after a prisoner transfer is ambushed. In a departure from previous versions, the show will feature more of a team element, with a supporting cast who hopefully won't die nearly as quickly or as often. But lest diehard fans worry the series will be completely changed, there's still an Australian portraying an American soldier who doesn't play by the rules and plenty of awesome action sequences to get the blood pumping. Warren Brown, Daniel MacPherson, Roxanne McKee, and Nina Sosanya star.

Premieres: A special preview airs Thursday, Feb. 1 at 9:30/8:30c. The series will return with new episodes after the Olympics on Thursday, March 1

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton stars in this NBC comedy as a disgraced Harvard scholar who misses out on his dream job and must return to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, to teach high school, because apparently that was the worst thing writer and executive producer Mike O'Brien could imagine. Sorry, everyone from Toledo! Patton Oswalt also stars as the high school principal who is eager to maintain he is still the king of the castle.

Premieres: Friday, Jan. 12

A co-production with Channel 4 in the U.K., Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams is an anthology series based on the works of esteemed science fiction author Philip K. Dick. The series, which has already begun airing across the pond, is executive-produced by Battlestar Galactica's Ronald D. Moore, Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston and Michael Dinner. Some of the stories adapted for TV include "The Commuter," "Sales Pitch," and "Exhibit Piece."

Premieres: Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 10/9c

The eternal debate over Taylor Kitsch's hair will rear its ugly head in Paramount Network's new limited series Waco, which sees the former Friday Night Lights star shed a bunch of weight to portray cult leader David Koresh. The six-part series will depict the infamous 1993 siege of the Branch Davidians's compound from several perspectives. Michael Shannon portrays lead FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, while Supergirl's Melissa Benoist appears as David's legal wife Rachel Koresh. The series also stars John Leguizamo, Andrea Riseborough, Rory Culkin, Paul Sparks, Julia Garner, Shea Whigham and Camryn Manheim.

Premieres: Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 10/9

Twenty years after the murder of a young woman upends the small town of Bellevue, the disappearance of a popular high school student leads many to believe the killer has returned in this Canadian import. The eight-episode series follows a detective played by Anna Paquin as she attempts to unravel the mystery while also being haunted by her own past. And because that's not enough to juggle, she'll also have to deal with a romantic subplot involving an on-again, off-again ex boyfriend (Allen Leech) and her boss on the police force (Shawn Doyle).

Premieres: Monday, Jan. 22 at 9/8c

Based on the Caleb Carr novel of the same name, the period thriller follows criminal psychologist -- aka alienist -- Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl) and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Luke Evans) as they secretly investigate the gruesome murders of boy prostitutes in New York City 1896. They are paired together by newly appointed police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) and are joined by Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning), a secretary who dreams of becoming the city's first female detective.

Premieres: Sunday, Jan. 21 at 10/9c before moving to its regular Mondays at 9/8c timeslot on Jan. 22

There are a number of hospital shows to choose from on TV, but The Resident is the one to pay attention to this winter. Matt Czuchry (The Good Wife, Gilmore Girls) proves he's more than ready to carry a series as the enigmatic renegade resident Conrad Hawkins. Our hero is not a rebel because he pulls off insane procedures or rides a motorcycle though; Conrad cuts red tape and talks about medicine the way we wish all doctors would talk about medicine, making him instantly relatable and the guy you want to win -- even if he's a bit of a mess. Add in a steamy workplace romance with Emily VanCamp's Nurse Nic and a deluded Chief of Surgery Randolph Bell (Bruce Campbell) who can't stop killing patients because he can't admit he's past his prime and you have a very entertaining hour of television that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Premieres: Sunday, Jan. 21 at 8/7c

Set in Berlin, the spy thriller stars J.K. Simmons as Howard Silk, a lowly cog at a U.N. spy agency who discovers that the agency can secretly cross into a parallel dimension. Now, the only person Howard can trust is his "counterpart" on the other side. Created by Justin Marks, the series also stars Olivia Williams, Harry Lloyd, Nicholas Pinnock, Nazanin Boniadi, Sara Serraiocco, and Ulrich Thomsen. Morten Tyldum, the Oscar-nominated director of The Imitation Game, serves as executive producer and director, so we like to believe he and Simmons first started talking about this during the 2014-15 Oscar season that culminated with Simmons winning for Whiplash.

Premieres: Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 10/9c

Ryan Murphy's second true crime anthology for FX has glamour, celebrity, media hysteria, sex and of course murder as it dramatizes how Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), a gay man himself, shot beloved designer Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez) in the final act of a 1997 killing spree. In typical Murphy fashion, the series examines much more than what's on the surface: Versace looks at how homophobia -- internalized in police departments and a gay community that didn't want negative publicity -- contributed to the designer's death. But in a reversal from the Emmy-winning People v O.J. Simpson, Versace tells the story in reverse, with the first and second episodes about Versace's murder, and subsequent episodes contextualizing how it all happened. Criss is bound to be an awards darling as soon as the episodes go public; he plays a madman consumed with fame and drug-induced mania driven to do the unthinkable, and according to early buzz, he disappears into the role.

Premieres: Tuesday, January 16 at 9/8c

The CW's first black superhero series, executive-produced by Girlfriends creator Mara Brock Akil and her husband Salim Akil in addition to Greg Berlanti, is a super good look for the network. Strong, compelling writing makes the story of Jefferson Pierce, a high school principal trying to leave his superhero past behind, gripping and fun; the cast, including Cress Williams in the titular role, carries their weight and then some. Among the standouts are China Anne McClain as Jefferson's rebellious daughter Jennifer and Nafessa Williams as Jennifer's sister Anissa, who is like her father in more ways than her commitment to doing the right thing. Packed with action, high stakes and a juicy villain in Tobias White (Marvin Jones III), Black Lightning pulls off the tricky feat of telling a good superhero story while nailing tons of cultural nuance at the same time.

Premieres: Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 8:30/7:30c

Produced by comedy trio The Lonely Island (aka Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone), Alone Together follows two millennial best friends from different backgrounds, played by Esther Povitsky and Benji Aflalo -- who are both also executive producers -- as they embark on ridiculous adventures in and around Los Angeles. (Think of it as a co-ed Broad City.) And no, they're definitely not interested in each other romantically - yet. Freeform is betting big on the show, renewing it for a second season months before the first even premiered.

Premieres: Sunday, Jan. 7 at 10/9c

On the heels of her historic Emmy win for writing Master of None's "Thanksgiving" episode, Lena Waithe presents The Chi, a coming-of-age story set in her hometown of Chicago. The Chi focuses on the South Side of Chicago, specifically, following the lives of people who, at first, seem to be unrelated. But it's not long before the truth of their association becomes clear: they're connected to a murder that begins the series and then another retaliatory killing that has the community on edge. Equal parts tragedy and comedy, The Chi features strong performances from Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton, Mudbound) as talented young chef Brandon trying to stay on the right track; Moonlight star Alex R. Hibbert as Kevin, one of the many kids forced to grow up too soon after he witnesses a murder; and Yolanda Ross (Treme) as Jada, an overworked mom trying to shepherd her son to adulthood.

Premieres: Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 9/8c

Why watch a normal emergency services procedural when you can watch a Ryan Murphy emergency services procedural? In his team's hands, Murphy's dramatization of what happens after people dial those three numbers merges melodrama, raw emotion and over-the-top camp like nobody else can. Another thing separating this procedural from the rest: each of the main characters has serious stuff going on at home, turning the series from a "crime of the week" format into a moving, if at times cheesy, tour de force. Angela Bassett plays no-nonsense cop Athena Grant, who's coming to terms with her husband's coming out; Peter Krause is firefighter Bobby Nash with a drinking problem; and Connie Britton is great as Abby Clark, the 9-1-1 dispatcher dealing with an elderly parent. All of them could snap from the pressure of home and work life at any moment -- and some of them do.

Premieres: Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 8/7c

This long-awaited black-ish spin-off follows eldest daughter Zoey (Yara Shahadi) as she heads off to college and navigates the highlights and pitfalls of entering adulthood. The show will kick off with back-to-back episodes that include a Breakfast Club tribute. Expect to see Zoey's parents (Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross) in frequent guest-starring roles. The series co-stars Trevor Jackson as Aaron, a young activist who's Zoey's on-again, off-again love interest; and Francia Raisa as Ana, a conservative freshman.

Premieres: Tuesday, Jan. 2 at 9/8c

Fox's new comedy LA to Vegas, which includes Will Ferrell as an executive producer, is a workplace comedy that takes place where happiness usually goes to die: on a tiny, cramped airplane. The series, which stars Dylan McDermott, follows a flight crew and a bunch of eccentric passengers who take the roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas every weekend to try to win big, because apparently neither city has successfully destroyed anyone's sense of optimism yet. Ed Weeks (The Mindy Project), Kim Matula (UnREAL), Nathan Lee Graham (The Comeback), Olivia Macklin (The Young Pope) and Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski) also star.