When it first premiered in 2019, The Morning Show was a star-studded vehicle featuring Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon that aimed to examine the #MeToo era of sexual politics and a shifting media landscape. It’s since evolved into a “WTF?” soap opera that featured secret romances, shocking deaths (bye, Steve) and a rocket trip into space. (Yes, really.)
I’m not complaining. The Morning Show is unhinged in the best ways possible, and season 4 promises more juicy narrative left turns. Set two years after season 3’s finale, Aniston’s Alex Levy and Witherspoon’s Bradley Jackson have to deal with a media merger that threatens their jobs and an upcoming election that will test their skills as seasoned journalists. Joining the already stacked cast this season are Oscar winners Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons, Rebel Ridge‘s Aaron Pierre and A Complete Unknown’s Boyd Holbrook.
The best way to describe Black Rabbit is that it’s a strange cross between The Bear and The Waterfront with a dash of The Strokes thrown in for good measure. When Jake Friedman (Jude Law) opens a new bar and restaurant called Black Rabbit, he wants it to become one of New York City’s hot new hangouts where celebrities go to see and be seen.
But things go awry as soon as Jake’s wayward brother, Vince (Jason Bateman), shows up, bringing with him all sorts of trouble — namely, local mobster Joe Mancuso (Troy Kotsur). Can Jake’s new business survive Joe’s increasing interest in Black Rabbit? Or will Vince, despite his best intentions, torpedo his brother’s dreams one more time?
Black Rabbit is a crime thriller that’s as tense as it is funny. You wouldn’t normally think of Bateman and Law as brothers, but they convincingly establish a sibling rapport that sells their unusual partnership. Bound by blood, these two brothers are devoted to each other, even if they look and act completely different from one another. The show includes a rocking score filled with original songs composed by The Strokes member Albert Hammond Jr.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olson is one of TV’s quiet MVPs, and she scored a hit in 2024 with the crime drama High Potential. The show’s back for a second season, which promises more unsolvable mysteries that only Olson’s Morgan Gillroy can solve.
It helps that Morgan has a high IQ and a willingness to look where her fellow LAPD officers fail to investigate. She’ll need all of her intelligence and bravery to take on the Game Maker (David Giuntoli), who continues the reign of terror he began in season 1 with more head-scratching — and dangerous — crimes. High Potential lives up to its title — it’s one of the best network procedurals in years, and season 2 delivers more of what made the show so addictive to begin with.
American audiences aren’t familiar with Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley novels, but the master detective is beloved in Britain. Already the star of a celebrated 2001-2007 series, the suave sleuth is back in a modern reboot, Lynley, with Vikings: Valhalla’s Leo Suter investigating all sorts of crime in the UK.
Born and raised in posh London, Lynley opts to work at a low-profile crime unit in the English countryside. Not everyone is pleased with his arrival, though, particularly new partner Barbara Havers (Sofia Barclay). She doesn’t think he has what it takes to make it as an inspector, while he believes she isn’t as good as she thinks she is. They’re a classic mismatched pair who have to work together to solve all the robberies, assaults and, yes, murders they inevitably come across during their patrols.
Laura Sanderson (Robin Wright) is protective of her adult son, Daniel (Laurie Davidson), so when he brings home his beautiful new girlfriend, Cherry (House of the Dragon‘s Olivia Cooke), she’s naturally standoffish — and just a little bit suspicious. Cherry tries to win Laurie over, but how can she ignore some troubling signs, like when the cat disappears after Cherry stays over, her jewelry goes missing or when she sees Daniel’s new girlfriend punch a man in the face? Is Cherry who she says she is? Or is it Laura who can’t let her son go?
The Girlfriend is an intriguing, six-episode thriller that genuinely keeps you guessing until the very last minute. Told from both women’s points of view, the series explores issues of motherhood and modern romance while also weaving a relatively realistic mystery. Both Wright and Cooke are fantastic as women who have valid reasons for acting like they do, even if it results in some shocking acts — including murder.
Everyone’s favorite oddball, crime-solving trio returns in Only Murders in the Building season 5, which depicts yet another murder at the Arconia. The high rent isn’t the only thing that’s lethal as the building’s beloved doorman, Lester (Teddy Coluca), is dead, and Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short) and Mabel (Selena Gomez) have to solve his murder. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Joining the cast this season are Oscar winners Christoph Waltz and Renée Zellweger as Bash Steeg and Camilla White, two highly influential — and extremely rich — New Yorkers who are somehow involved in Lester’s death. Other new suspects include Téa Leoni’s Sofia Caccimello, a mobster’s wife with some to hide, and Logan Lerman as Jay Pflug, a young billionaire who gives nepo babies everywhere a bad name.
We’re still waiting to find out if the excellent HBO series Mare of Easttown will ever get a second season, but the network’s new show Task looks, feels and sounds like the next best thing. That’s because it’s from Mare’s creator, Brad Ingelsby, who wrote all of the show’s seven excellent episodes.
Like Mare, Task is a crime drama set in working-class Pennsylvania. Mark Ruffalo stars as Tom, a former priest-turned-FBI agent who is investigating a series of increasingly violent robberies involving Robbie (Tom Pelphrey). Both cop and robber are similar — they are still recovering from the loss of a loved one and feel lost and empty. That doesn’t deter them from doing what they need to do to survive, which sets up a deadly cat-and-mouse game.
Task is a terrific thriller, but it’s also an engrossing character study of blue-collar professionals just trying to get by. The show’s moral compass isn’t black and white but rather shades of gray — Tom isn’t an angel, and Robbie is more sympathetic than you might think. Task is the perfect show to binge-watch this fall — it’s an intelligent, chilly drama that you can’t stop watching, even if some tense moments make you want to look away.