If you're like me, you spent the majority of 2020 stuck at home, passing the time by binge-watching every new TV show out there and rewatching old favorites (I may or may not have spent three straight months on a Gilmore Girls bender, although I obviously bowed out before the lackluster Netflix reboot). And though it's 2021 now (THANK GOD), it looks like we're still a ways away from rejoining society...so you're going to need some viewing material to get you through. That's why we rounded up the best TV shows coming out in 2021. From the ones that will help you escape our 2021 reality (Dickinson!) to those that remind you of simpler times (Gossip Girl!), this is your watchlist. Also, if you're in the mood for true crime, check out our list of all the new true crime documentaries to come out this year.
Dickinson (Apple TV+)
If you’re going through Bridgerton withdrawal and/or extremely sad that Regé-Jean Page won't be returning for season 2, catch up on Dickinson, a period drama starring Hailee Steinfeld as a moody, teenage Emily Dickinson. A saucy, feminist tale with a literary twist? Sign us up. The second season just hit Apple TV+.
WandaVision (Disney+)
Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany star in this refreshingly not-Marvel-aesthetic Marvel show. In it, Scarlet Witch (Olsen) and Vision (Bettany) are the classic suburban couple...until they have to fight crime. It's like the I Love Lucy x Avengers crossover you didn't know you needed.
The Falcon and the Winter Solider (Disney+)
Another day, another hit Marvel show. This one is more action-packed than WandaVision, but no less creative. Each episode follows two Captain America series characters, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes (a.k.a., the Flacon and Winter Solider), six months after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Expect lots of fighting montages and things blowing up!
Gossip Girl Reboot (HBO Max)
The show the defined an era (and inspired a mass plaid skirt and headband obsession) is back with a whole new cast of glossy high school student and the omnipresent informant who knows all of their secrets. It's safe to say, we're pumped...but if lonely boy Dan Humphrey is still trolling Upper East Siders as Gossip Girl, we will be PO'd. XOXO.
Premiere Date: TBD
Inventing Anna (Netflix)
Anna Delvey seized the headlines in 2018 when a New York Magazine feature revealed that the party girl heiress was really a fraudster who had swindled the city’s elite. The Netflix show starring Julia Garner is ripe with juicy source material, but add Shonda Rhimes to the mix (she’ll be producing) and you have the recipe for a a delicious weekend watch.
Premiere Date: TBD
The Nevers (HBO)
Set in the late Victorian era, The Nevers follows a group of women with supernatural, mysterious powers—and of course, their enemies. It was created by Joss Whedon, the guy behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so you just know it's going to be good.
Handmaids Tale (Hulu)
Will June EVER get out of Gilead? Only season 3 (hopefully!) will tell. The his series is back on Hulu this spring and from the looks of the trailer, the handmaids, marthas, and others held hostage by the oppressive regime that took their freedom are fighting back, hard.
Premiere Date: April 28
Atlanta (FX)
Fans of Donald Glover's hit comedy-drama show Atlanta have been itching for a season 3 for years, and it's finally on the horizon. The third season is apparently in production in 2021. No word yet when it will make it to small screens, but our fingers are crossed.
Premiere Date: TBD
Friends Reunion (HBO Max)
After 17 years, the HBIC of all sitcoms makes its triumphant return. Details on the plot are heavily guarded and scarce, but it is confirmed that the full gang (Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc) has signed on.
Premiere Date: TBD
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video)
Colson Whitehead’s #1 New York Times bestseller The Underground Railroad gets a TV adaptation this year, directed by Barry Jenkins. Read the book first, and then settle in to see the on-screen adaptation unfold.
Premiere Date: May 1
Nine Perfect Strangers (Hulu)
We might have the next Big Little Lies on our hands! No, really! Nicole Kidman will star in the upcoming limited series, based on Liane Moriarty's book by the same name. In the show, nine "city dwellers" head to a boutique health-and-wellness resort. But tranquility might not be the only thing they signed up for...
Premiere Date: TBD
Dead to Me (Netflix)
Will justice come for best friends turned partners in crime Jen and Judy (played by Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini)? Only time (a.k.a. season 3) will tell.
Premiere Date: TBD
