Written by Jon Williams
Last week we
finally got a premiere date for the return of one of television’s most
acclaimed and popular shows. On April 14, the eighth and final season of
Game
of Thrones will debut on HBO. The finale of
season
seven aired on August 27, 2017, so fans have been not-so-patiently waiting
for nearly two years for it to return.
Game
of Thrones has become known over the years for its shocking plot twists,
and the six-episode final season is sure to deliver plenty of drama and action
as the fate of Westeros is decided.
A number of
beloved shows are coming to an end in 2019. Out today on Netflix are the final six
episodes of
The
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the award-winning comedy series created by
Tina
Fey. In the comedy realm, both
Veep
and
Broad
City will take a bow with one last season each. The currently airing
season five of
Gotham
will be its last, while
Elementary
will wrap after its upcoming seventh season. The fifth season of zombie
detective show
iZombie
will end that story. The streaming prison drama
Orange
Is the New Black will also come to a conclusion after its seventh
season, while the action-packed spy series
Homeland
will finish with its eighth. Finally, Academy Award nominee Rami Malek is back
for one last round of the acclaimed
Mr.
Robot as its fourth season will be its last.
However, for
all the series coming to an end, there are a number of new shows premiering
that will vie for the attention of viewers looking for something to watch. Coming
next month is
Miracle Workers, a Heaven-set
comedy based on the novel
What
in God’s Name by Simon Rich and starring
Steve
Buscemi and
Daniel
Radcliffe. Also coming in February is
Boomerang,
which follows the 1992 Eddie Murphy
movie
of the same name. In March, look for
Turn
Up Charlie, a streaming comedy created by and starring
Idris
Elba as a washed-up DJ who takes on child care duties for his friend’s
daughter. Horror fans can look forward to NOS4A2, a series based on the
novel
of the same name by
Joe
Hill. And later this year, live-action
Star
Wars finally comes to the small screen with
The Mandalorian, a series created by Jon Favreau and set between
Return
of the Jedi and
The
Force Awakens.
There are
also a number of limited series and one-time television events for viewers to
look forward to. This weekend will see a live production of
Rent,
the popular musical that made its stage debut in 1996 and came to theaters in
2005.
On Monday comes the first episode of
I Am
the Night, a six-episode miniseries starring
Chris
Pine and directed by
Wonder Woman’s
Patty
Jenkins. In March,
Cosmos: Possible
Worlds, starring
Neil
deGrasse Tyson, follows up the popular
2014
scientific series that itself followed on Carl Sagan’s
1980
show. Beginning in April is a six-episode miniseries adaptation of
Les Miserables, a non-musical version
based directly on
Victor
Hugo’s 1862 novel. Then in May comes a live production of the musical
Hair, which originally came to the stage
in 1967 and was
adapted
for film in 1979.
And then
there are the shows that are coming back for another season, but not ending.
Next month
The
Walking Dead returns from its midseason hiatus, carrying on after the
departure of
Andrew
Lincoln, whose character, Rick Grimes, has served as the show’s main
character up to this point. When that season ends, the spinoff,
Fear
the Walking Dead, will return for its fifth season.
American
Gods, adapted from
Neil
Gaiman’s novel, returns for a second season in March. Also in March comes
the fourth season of the Showtime drama
Billions,
while April brings the return of the acclaimed
Killing
Eve. This year will also see the long-awaited third season of the hit
sci-fi/horror series
Stranger
Things after a nearly two-year wait.
Television
is in the middle of a golden age, with so many quality shows that it’s
difficult to keep up with everything. With so many viewers perfectly content to
sit down for marathon binge-watching sessions, you can help keep your patrons
happy and entertained for hours on end by making sure your television
collections are robust and up to date. Use the links above or SmartBrowse on
our website to find more, and let us know what you and your patrons are looking
forward to watching in 2019.