HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us has taken over the TV world. The show has gone viral on almost every social media platform, from TikTok and Instagram to Twitter, and ratings have steadily increased since the show debuted on January 15, 2023. The series has received critical acclaim, with The Ringer concluding that the game adaptation curse has ended thanks to it. The Last of Us was one of the first new shows released this year, and it’s making many people feel optimistic about the direction of the TV industry in 2023.
Viral Sensations
Over the last three years, several shows have reached viral status, much like The Last of Us. In 2020, it was Tiger King and Outer Banks. In 2021, it was Squid Game, and last year, according to this ExpressVPN article on streaming in 2022, it was Stranger Things, Ozark, and Wednesday. To say television has been on an upward trend is an understatement, and many titles are expected to continue this growth in 2023. Below are a few upcoming TV shows to look forward to this year.
Daisy Jones & The Six
Daily Jones & The Six is an upcoming American miniseries that will be released on Amazon Prime on March 3, 2023. It is based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and it follows a rock band in the 1970s as they navigate stardom in Los Angeles. The show is fictional and inspired by the author’s childhood experience watching Fleetwood Mac performances, but it will use a documentary style to present the story. The main cast includes Riley Keough (who played Marie Currie in the 2010 biopic The Runways), Camila Morrone, and Sam Claflin.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is a Paramount+ musical and romantic comedy series based on the Grease musical by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. It will premiere on April 6, 2023. The show is a prequel to the two Grease films and will take place four years before the first movie’s events. It will follow a group of Rydell High students who become the founding members of the iconic Pink Ladies clique.
Yellowjackets (Season 2)
After its debut in November 2021, the American thriller drama series Yellowjackets received critical acclaim and several accolades, including seven Emmy Awards nominations. To no surprise, the show was renewed for a second season, which will premiere on March 26, 2023, on Showtime. The show’s first season follows a New Jersey girls’ football team who crash in the Ontario wilderness after flying to Seattle for a tournament. The group are stranded for 19 months, and the second season will follow their continued survival in the wilderness but also jump forward to their current lives in 2021.
The quality of television comes and goes, whether it’s the acting or the writing. The CW’s Riverdale is one example of this as Collider state that Riverdale has several abandoned subplots, and many others have said it’s one of the worst-written TV shows in years. But the future of television is once again looking bright as we’re getting more and more impressive stories and performances on our screens. Considering it’s still early in 2023 and many titles are still being released, television fans are in for a treat this year.
