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The sci-fi and horror TV shows to look forward to in 2023
These are the small-screen stories we can't wait to see in 2023.
The new year means there's going to be a lot more television to look forward to with brand-new launches and returning series. With more than 500+ scripted series in 2022 alone, it's still impossible to watch it all. Making space for the truly great shows becomes an imperative, so SYFY WIRE's here to help curate the horror, sci-fi and fantasy offerings that will be worth your time.
January
Quantum Leap - NBC (Jan. 2)
The midseason finale of Quantum Leap left on some big cliffhangers, like who Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) was working with and that Addison might be in major peril. Luckily, the back half of the first season starts right after the New Year.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
The Last of Us - HBO (Jan. 15)
Naughty Dog's The Last of Us video games rank with the very best the medium has ever offered in terms of characters, narrative and emotional investment alongside the gameplay. It's taken a long time for the story to get adapted and HBO is hoping the gamers will come in droves, along with the non-gamers, to their big-budget series starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
Poker Face - Peacock (Jan. 26)
Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi) and Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) unite for a brand-new, throwback mystery series that has Lyonne's Charlie Cale solving cases on her big road trip.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
Wolf Pack - Paramount+ (Jan. 26)
This is not a drill: Sarah Michelle Gellar is back making supernatural television! Wolf Pack is from the creator of Teen Wolf and in it, Gellar plays a chief arson investigator for LAFD. She ends up tangling with some teens who have bigger werewolf problems to deal with.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Lockwood & Co.- Netflix (Jan. 27)
Joe Cornish and Edgar Wright's Complete Fiction production company is adapting Jonathan Stroud's book into this Netflix series which centers on London-based teenage ghost-hunters. There's a great pedigree of talent behind this project which bodes well for an ongoing franchise.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
February
The Ark - SYFY (Feb. exact date TBA)
Dean Devlin, co-writer of Independence Day (the greatest movie ever made), is back with this SYFY series set a century from now in a spacecraft filled with humans searching for a new home once Earth becomes uninhabitable. When catastrophe strikes, the crew must deal with limited resources and a hefty death toll in order to complete the mission. Yes, please, sign us up!
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
Star Trek: Picard - Paramount+ (Feb. 16)
The third and final season of the continuation of the adventures of Chancellor Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and essentially most of The Next Generation cast including LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
March
The Mandalorian - Disney+ (March 1)
At the end of The Book of Boba Fett, Grogu and the Mandalorian were reunited on Tatooine and were back flying off to new adventures in the galaxy. Season 3 will pick up with the pair once again doing their nomad thing. The big question is how much we'll see of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) now that he's taken his helmet off. (We hope it's a lot).
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Gotham Knights - The CW (March 14)
With the new owners of The CW changing their overall programming strategy, DC's Gotham Knights could be the end of an era for new DC drama series on the network. This one is about Bruce Wayne's adopted son Turner Hayes (Oscar Morgan) working with Batman's former enemies to figure out who killed the millionaire.
Excitement Level: 3 out of 5
Shadow and Bone - Netflix (March 16)
Season 2 of the epic adaptation of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse novels will cover the narrative span of two books, including Siege and Storm. Picking up where it left with Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) and the Crows, we expect expanding mythology, romances, and probably lots of death too.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Yellowjackets - Showtime (March 26)
The sleeper series that surprised everyone at the end of 2021, Season 2 returns to address a whole mess of cliffhangers concerning the adult survivors of the tragic and harrowing 1996 soccer team plane crash, and reveal more about the very dark things that happened in the winter of their post-crash existence. The great performances and the shocking twists make this a must-see in '23.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
Later in 2023
Resident Alien - SYFY
The Greys are coming! Season 3 of Resident Alien promises an invasion of aliens who look just like us which is going to make it really tough for Harry (Alan Tudyk) to thwart. Good thing his circle of allies has gotten bigger.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
Loki - Disney+
It feels like forever since we saw Loki meet "He Who Remains" (Jonathan Majors), Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killed him and then unleashed a multiverse that placed the God of Mischief in a very different TVA. What will it all mean to Phase 4, Loki and Sylvie's attachment and the ripple effect on all the universes? Who knows!
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Ashoka - Disney+
The Jedi padawan of Anakin Skywalker gets her own series set during the events post Return of the Jedi. Rosario Dawson continues the live-action adventures of the character as she comes up against the former Grand Admiral for the Galactic Empire, Thrawn.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Gen V - Prime Video
This spin-off of The Boys is all about the newer generation of young adult Supes being brought up by Vought International at their Godolkin University School of Crimefighting. It looks merciless but we're ready for the ride.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Marvel Studios' Secret Invasion - Disney+
Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) really returns to the fray as his knowledge of the shape-shifting Skrulls helps Earth thwart their global infiltration. Emilia Clarke and Olivia Coleman join the MCU and that's reason enough to watch.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
The Witcher - Netflix
The last hurrah for Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia. The actor will retire from the role at the end of this season and hand it off to Liam Hemsworth. We can only hope his last season of adventures is worthy of the actor's passion.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 5
Severance - Apple TV+
One of the most original series of 2022, Severance Season 2 will follow up on plenty of unexpected reveals about Mark (Adam Scott) and his wife, Helly (Britt Lower) and her lineage, and even what's going on with Burt (Christopher Walken).
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
Squid Game - Netflix
Squid Game Season 1 became a global phenomenon and the entry way to many into the wide world of Korean dramas. Of course, there's always the curse of the sophomore season not being as good as the original, but we're hopeful that the ideas remain plentiful and cast remains just as compelling.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 5
