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2023 was a great year for the entertainment industry, but what new television debuts managed to steal our attention from long-running contenders?
It’s admittedly hard to keep up with a year so overburdened with great movies and amazing TV premieres. Nowadays, there are literally hundreds of programs in each major streaming platform to choose from, and the result is more often than not scrolling for half an hour, indecisive, and ultimately settling for something random, only to learn that it was mediocre at best.
Well, not if we have anything to say about it. In this article, we’re singling out the top 10 television premieres in 2023. These shows are all newcomers, mind you, selected specifically for airing their first season this year — so don’t be surprised if a lot of acclaimed, returning programs are missing.
10. Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Premiere date: December 20 Platform: Disney Plus
Now, I know what you’re thinking; The new Percy Jackson series hasn’t even come out yet. But this is such a big moment for genre enthusiasts and the fantasy community that it will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest premieres of 2023. I mean, what better way to cap off this already amazing year than a Percy Jackson adaptation that finally gets Rick Riordan’s books right?
9. The Continental
Premiere date: September 22 Platform: Peacock & Prime Video
The new spinoff miniseries set in the John Wick universe finally expands the tale of Winston Scott. Set in the ‘70s, The Continental depicts how Winston rose to become the manager of the New York Continental while touching on real-world events like the Winter of Discontent and the rise of the American mafia to power. And the best part? This ensemble was led by Mel Gibson, portraying Cormac O’Connor, the former owner of the Continental.
8. Gen V
Premiere date: September 29 Platform: Prime Video
Speaking of the never-ending spinoffs, this new Boys entry on Prime Video features the same twists and grotesque elements that made the original show such a hit on the platform, but this time with a completely new ensemble of characters who take on new threats and go through “Supe university.” This is basically The Boys if it was about a bunch of hormonal teenagers, so it’s definitely worth checking out if you happen to be a fan of Eric Kripke’s spiraling live-action universe.
7. Ahsoka
Premiere date: August 22 Platform: Disney Plus
Ahsoka finally gave our beloved Snips her own live-action outing in the expanding MandoVerse. Rosario Dawson portrays the titular Ahsoka Tano in a story based on Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, while also adding elements from Dave Filoni’s own Star Wars Rebels. What’s more, the Mouse House once again brought back Hayden Christensen to portray Anakin Skywalker, so if it’s fan-service moments that you want, then Ahsoka is more than enough to quench your inner Star Wars stan.
6. The Fall of the House of Usher
Premiere date: October 12 Platform: Netflix
It’s difficult to explain what The Fall of the House of Usher is really about, but if you’re a fan of the gothic horror genre and its peculiar aesthetics, then this is a show you definitely don’t want to miss. Based on various works of Edgar Allan Poe, and most specifically the eponymous Fall of the House of Usher story from 1840, this series deals with a number of supernatural phenomena and follows two separate timelines as they slowly unravel and come together by the end of season 1.
5. Shrinking
Premiere date: January 27 Platform: Apple TV
If I were asked to describe Shrinking in one word, “cathartic” would be the word to do it justice, if only just. Starring Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother) and the legendary Harrison Ford, this is a story of two therapists as they try to navigate the lives of their patients, with the former trying to deal with the death of his wife by adapting a new therapeutic method. Things go wrong before they eventually go right, and you’ll end up learning a lot about yourself and the people in your life before the journey is through.
4. Blue Eye Samurai
Premiere date: November 3 Platform: Netflix
Blue Eye Samurai is a new sensation taking the anime world by storm. This is essentially a labor of love from a husband and wife team who go by the name of Michael Green and Amber Noizumi. You may recognize the former for his work as a co-writer on a number of acclaimed flicks such as Logan and Blade Runner 2049, and the man has once again hit a jackpot with Blue Eye Samurai. The story is essentially about a swordmaster on a quest to exact revenge against four white men who are remaining illegally in Japan during Sakoku in the Edo period. Need I say more?
3. Silo
Premiere date: May 5 Platform: Apple TV Plus
2023 hasn’t been a great year for fans of hard science fiction, but Silo mitigated this drought to a large extent thanks to its original narrative. This new series by Apple TV Plus is set in a dystopian future where a group of human beings live in a massive silo that expands hundreds of stories below the surface. We can’t tell you much more without spoiling the intricate narrative but know that this new series led by the brilliant Rebecca Ferguson will definitely be worth your while.
2. The Last of Us
Premiere date: January 25 Platform: Max
Breaking the video game curse in a most fundamental way, The Last of Us is a brilliant tale of loss, love, and perseverance in a world gone mad. We follow the story of Joel Miller, who is a survivor of a fungal apocalypse that turned the world’s population into mindless zombies and destroyed civilization on a large scale. The Last of Us video game by Naughty Dog was one of the most acclaimed pieces of art in the last decade, so it was a joy to see its TV adaptation confidently imitate that success in live-action.
1. One Piece
Premiere date: August 31 Platform: Netflix
Last but not least, we come to an adaptation that has no right being as good as it is. Many people would say that a live-action One Piece with all of its idiosyncrasies is a terrible idea, and we’d usually be inclined to agree with them, but showrunners Matt Owens and Steven Maeda somehow proved everyone wrong by managing the impossible. Sure, gatekeepers and manga loyalists might take certain issues with the extra-medium translation of all those quirky elements that make One Piece so special, but this is more than we could ever ask for in an inevitable live-action rendition of Eiichiro Oda’s timeless masterpiece.