The 13 most anticipated TV shows of 2024

3. Alien

The Alien franchise had two pretty much perfect installments with Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986). After that, it was a series of projects trying to recapture what made those first two movies work so well. There have been a half dozen additional movies and plenty of other projects that never got off the ground of people trying to make another Alien story that worked as well as the first two. More than a few of those failed projects have been attempts to bring the franchise to television, but up until now, all of them have failed.

It seems like this time, we might actually be getting the promised TV series set in the Alien universe. The series is set to be a prequel taking place several years before the events of the first movie and is being written and directed by Noah Hawley, who has had several TV hits in his career already, he's best known for creating the Fargo anthology series, and knows what works in the television format, 

4. The Penguin

While there was all kinds of praise heaped upon The Batman movie that was released in 2022, plenty of it centered on the character of The Penguin played by Colin Farrell. While the character wasn't the primary antagonist of the movie, he created a memorable performance that was one of the best parts of the movie. Farrell is not taking that supporting role, and expanding it, taking center stage in a new miniseries set to air later this year.

Taking place after the events of the movie, The Penguin will center around Oswald Cobblepot, the gangster whose appearance has given him the nickname Penguin. Thanks to what happened in the movie The Batman, there is a bit of a power vacuum in Gotham's criminal underworld, and Cobblepot sees an opportunity to take over and become the most powerful crime boss in the city. No word yet on how many if any references to Batman himself there will be, but we'll find out when The Penguin airs at some point this fall.