Spring is a great time to catch some hidden gems and fall in love again with returning series. With all the great options there are in TV land, some shows fight to gain an audience in the springtime, but the best and brightest earn fan bases they will have for years to come. I’ve picked the best new shows that are coming up, along with five favorites you’ll be happy to see again.
NEW SHOWS
The Royals
Better known for their reality series, E! is debuting their first scripted drama series, depicting what it’s like to live behind the palace walls with the (fictional) British royal family. Elizabeth Hurley, the show’s star, caught me off-guard because I thought she was Kate Middleton! Premieres March 15 on E!
One Big Happy
This show was produced by Ellen DeGeneres. Elisha Cuthbert, who you may have seen in Happy Endings, stars as a lesbian who asks her best friend to be the father of her child. The plan goes awry when she finds out that he decided to marry someone spur-of-the-moment (and the new wife doesn’t like his friend, drama!). Premieres March 17 on NBC.
Bloodline
Brought to you by the co-creator of Damages, this thriller revolves around a family who was torn apart once before, and now try their hardest to live together peacefully, despite the black sheep sibling returning home and causing all new problems. Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) stars. Premieres March 20 on Netflix.
Big Time in Hollywood, FL
Can’t resist a Florida show! This comedy revolves around the lives of two slacker brothers who aspire to be filmmakers but…aren’t quite there yet (that might be the nicest way of putting it!). When their parents are done with their freeloading and kick them out, now they must learn to function as independent human beings. Premieres March 25 on Comedy Central.
The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
This series is a more in-depth look at serial killer Lizzie Borden, who was alleged to have killed her parents with an ax in 1892. Christina Ricci, who was devilishly good in The Addams Family movies, The Opposite of Sex and Monster, stars as Lizzie in a continuation from the Lifetime movie that was released last year. Premieres April 5 on Lifetime.
Odyssey
In the vein of Traffic and 24 comes this drama, interweaving different stories from different locations that all have one aspect in common. In this series, it is revealed that Al Qaeda is receiving large sums of money from a trusted American corporation. It’s up to the military and the intelligence department to stop it. Premieres April 5 on NBC.
The Messengers
When a mystery object crashes into Earth, five strangers are overcome by an energy pulse and drop dead instantly. They come back to life and find that they now have superpowers, and that the end of the world is coming and they are the only people who can stop that from happening. Premieres April 10 on The CW.
Happyish
An advertising executive who is approaching middle age has his world turned upside down when, on top of all the other things he’s dealing with in his life, he now has a new boss, who is just 25 years old. How he deals with this development is anyone’s guess. Created by Shalom Auslander (This American Life). Premieres April 26 on Showtime.
Grace and Frankie
Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are comedic legends, and they’ve come together to star in this 13-episode Netflix series. Two women who are more enemies than friends have to learn to depend on each other when their husbands both leave them — for each other! Premieres May 8 on Netflix.
Wayward Pines
This ten-episode special “event series” comes to you from M. Night Shyamalan. A Secret Service agent finds out more than he was expecting when he investigates a murder that rocked a small, beautiful town in the Pacific Northwest. Shades of Twin Peaks! Matt Dillon stars. Premieres May 14 on FOX.
RETURNING FAVORITES
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
After eight years, this family is still chronicling their lives and you’re still watching. Lots of buzz is building on this season due to the news that stepfather Bruce Jenner has allegedly decided to transition — something his stepdaughter Kim fully supports. Premieres March 15 on E!
Community
This comedy has nine lives, thanks to its very vocal fan base, who have been adamant about accepting no less than “six seasons and a movie”! This sixth season moves from NBC to Yahoo! Yvette Nicole Brown will be leaving the show but Paget Brewster and Keith David are here to fill her spot at the college. Premieres March 17 on Yahoo!
Call the Midwife
Soon enough, Downton Abbey is going to end its current season, and then what will Anglophile drama fans watch? That’s where Call the Midwife comes in. The fourth season of the show, revolving around nurse midwives and set in 1950s East London, starts airing in the Masterpiece slot starting this week. Premieres March 29 on PBS.
Mad Men
The long-awaited final seven episodes of this iconic series start airing this spring. Last we left the characters, they were adjusting to living the bi-coastal life as some of them moved to start an advertising office branch in Los Angeles in the heady summer of 1969. Premieres April 5 on AMC.
Game of Thrones
This beloved fantasy drama is going into its fifth season and will incorporate new material from the A Song of Fire and Ice book series. Material from the most recent book will be used for storyline purposes this season, begging the question: What will happen for season six? Premieres April 12 on HBO.
