TAGGED AS: most anticipated TV, streaming, television, TV
An HBO series once again tops our list of the TV and streaming shows that Rotten Tomatoes’ social media followers are most looking forward to in the month ahead. In December, it was His Dark Materials season 3. In January, it’s the premiere season of video game adaptation The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey — both of whom starred in another little HBO series called Game of Thrones. Over the years, HBO has been an ouroboros of talent and entertainment. Hopefully, the network’s new Discovery management is intent on continuing that history of quality.
Read on to find out what other shows made the top 5.
96%
The Last of Us: Season 1
(2023)
(HBO)
#1 on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
Premieres: Sunday, Jan. 15
The adaptation of Sony video game franchise comes from series co-creator and writer Craig Mazin (creator of HBO’s acclaimed Chernobyl) and collaborator Neil Druckmann, who was the writer and a co-director of the first game and a co-writer and co-director of its recently released sequel from game developer Naughty Dog. Pascal plays Joel, who is hired to escort teen Ellie (Ramsey) through a post-apocalyptic nightmare world in which a fungal infestation of the brain has turned people into ravaging monsters. The series also stars Gabriel Luna as Tommy, Anna Torv as Tess, Nico Parker as Sarah, Murray Bartlett as Frank, Nick Offerman as Bill, Melanie Lynskey as Kathleen, Storm Reid as Riley, Merle Dandridge as Marlene, Jeffrey Pierce as Perry, Lamar Johnson as Henry, Keivonn Woodard as Sam, Graham Greene as Marlon, and Elaine Miles as Florence. Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker also star.
Read Also: Everything We Know About The Last of Us HBO Series
90%
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 2
(2023)
(Disney+)
#2 Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube; #4 on Instagram
Premieres: Wednesday, Jan. 4
Months have passed when the new season of this Star Wars animated series opens. The mercenary group known as “The Bad Batch” — clones with extraordinary abilities and independent personalities — will take on new missions and meet foes both old and new as they continue to navigate the Empire after the fall of the Republic.
100%
Vikings: Valhalla: Season 2
(2023)
(Netflix)
#2 on Instagram, #3 Facebook, #5 on Twitter and on YouTube (tied with That ’90s Show season 1)
Premieres: Thursday, Jan. 12
Netflix’s Vikings sequel series, set in the early 11th century, chronicles the adventures of famed Vikings including explorer Leif Eriksson (Sam Corlett), his sister Freydis Eriksdotter (Frida Gustavsson), and ambitious Nordic prince Harald Sigurdsson (Leo Suter). Season 2 picks up after the fall of Kattegat. Suddenly fugitives in Scandinavia, Leif, Freydis, and Prince Harald must now test their ambitions and courage in strange, new worlds.
39%
Velma: Season 1
(2023)
(HBO Max)
#4 on Facebook, on Twitter (tied with Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches season 1), and on YouTube; #5 on Instagram
Premieres: Thursday, Jan. 12
The adult animated comedy tells the origin story of Velma Dinkley, the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang. The series stars Mindy Kaling as Velma, Glenn Howerton as Fred, Sam Richardson as Norville (“Shaggy”), and Constance Wu as Daphne.
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Hunters: Season 1
(2021)
(Prime Video) – tied with Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches season 1
#3 on Instagram and Twitter
Premieres: Friday, Jan. 13
In season 2, the Hunters must reunite to hunt down Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, who’s hiding in South America. A threat from Meyer Offerman’s (Al Pacino) past could unravel his secret and expose his true identity, with dangerous consequences for the Hunters. New series regular Jennifer Jason Leigh joins Pacino and returning stars Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, Lena Olin, Josh Radnor, Tiffany Boone, Carol Kane, Louis Ozawa, Kate Mulvany, and Greg Austin.
43%
Mayfair Witches: Season 1
(2023)
(AMC/AMC+) – tied with Hunters season 2
#3 on YouTube (tied with Kaleidoscope season 1), #4 on Twitter (tied with Velma season 1), #5 Facebook
Premieres: Sunday, Jan. 8
Based on Anne Rice’s trilogy of novels Lives of the Mayfair Witches, the eight-episode series focuses on neurosurgeon Rowan (Alexandra Daddario), who discovers that she is the heir to a family of witches. Rowan must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations while she grapples with her newfound powers. Series stars also include Jack Huston (Fargo), Tongayi Chirisa (Another Life), and Harry Hamlin (Mad Men).
Thumbnail by Liane Hentscher/HBO
