The Best TV Shows to Watch in 2022
In 2022, there are going to be a whole host of new television series, as well as a bunch of returning stars, that will sate your need for a good binge. With the great Streaming Wars still underway, the age of television has hit a strange new peak. Hulu, Netflix, Apple+, Amazon, Disney+, Paramount+, the list goes on. Many of these streaming services offer constant content updates, with some, like Netflix, banking on their ability to create some game-changers in the field (Stranger Things, anyone?).
Of course, money doesn’t guarantee success. As Apple found out with its incredibly mediocre Foundation series, it’s impossible to make something good just by throwing money at it. Indeed, some of the shows most likely to be successful hits in 2022 are those with lower budgets and more passion; shows that don’t have a studio bearing down on them at every turn. And yet, some of the most-anticipated television series of 2022 are those that do come from a massive studio. Disney, and Disney-owned Marvel, are both capitalizing on their relatively innocuous and highly successful current franchises (there are rumors of some new Disney-owned franchises gracing the silver screen, too, though, beyond the Marvel name).
Likewise, Lord of the Rings is coming to Amazon… but will Bezos-corp be able to throw enough money at the project to undo the damage of repeatedly firing the writers, the actors, and the one man who brought some credibility to the whole venture (Tom Shippey, the renowned Tolkien scholar who’s initial involvement seemed to portent good things, but whose exit bodes ill).
Not all TV series need to be big-budget science fiction hits, either. National Geographic has an exciting new offering for us, HBO is bringing some new dramas and some new reality shows, and Apple TV+ is widening its offerings by a massive amount.
Clearly, the future of streaming is not a panacea to the past problems faced by studios trying to produce new and exciting content… but the sheer scope offered by these new streaming services means that there are very likely going to be some surprising hits along the way.
As always, with these articles, I love hearing your feedback in the comments section, or on Twitter @indubitablyodin. Let me know what your favorite shows are and which ones you think I should have included in this list!