Netflix is officially the future. First, the streaming service made history by being the first network, or “network,” this century to have more Emmy nominations than HBO. Then, it went and tied the premium cable giant at the 2018 Emmys with both companies taking home 23 total awards.
So, it’s time to actually look into the future of Netflix. With 2019 in full swing, it's time to figure out what treats lie in our streaming future. And, the next year is already filled with ultra bingeable promise.
From new series like coming-of-age romp Sex Education and party saga Russian Doll(starring an Orange Is The New Black fave) to new seasons of fan-favourites like 13 Reasons Why and Stranger Things, there is a lot to look forward to. Keep reading to get all the details on Netflix’s 2019 original series, including what they’re about, who’s in the casts, and when they’ll premiere. We hope your queue is ready.
The Umbrella Academy
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: A dysfunctional family of super-powered thirty-somethings (including Ellen Page, short-lived Game Of Thrones bae Tom Hopper, and Robert Sheehan) must ban together to save the world and uncover the mystery of their adoptive father’s death.
For the record, The Umbrella Academy, originally a graphic novel, comes from the mind of My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. Get ready for some “Vampires Will Never Hurt You ”-level music video weirdness.
Release date: Friday 15th February
Stranger Things
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 3
What’s it about?: Picking up where we left off with Stranger Things 2 (hopefully without any “Lost Sister” nonsense). Stranger 3 will involve the new Starcourt Mall in Hawkins, adding to the series’ breadth of 1980s pop cultural homages. Because we all know nothing was coolers in the '80s than a good mall.
In fact, Stranger Things 3 is so obsessed with the mall, the first teaser trailer for the new season confirms an episode will be titled, "The Mall Rats." Other episode titles include premiere "Suzie, Do You Copy," along with "The Case Of The Missing Life Guard," "The Bite," and finale, "The Battle Of Starcourt."
Along with the cast we’ve already come to expect, celebrity daughter Maya Hawke and 1980s icon Cary Elwes will join in on the often-fatal sci-fi fun. Lucas Sinclair’s breakout sister Erica (Priah Ferguson) has been upped from a guest star to a series regular, so plan to see a lot more of her.
Release date: Summer 2019
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 4B, the finale season.
What’s it about?: Closing out Kimmy Schmidt’s (Ellie Kemper) shockingly dark journey. The super-sized, hour-long finale will give viewers a Sliding Doors take on what would have happened if Kimmy was never kidnapped and held in a bunker in the first place.
Release date: Friday, January 25
Sex Education
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: A) Becoming your new favourite Netflix teen show. B) An awkward high school virgin named Otis (Asa Butterfield), who starts an underground sex therapy clinic in his high school. If you’re wondering what makes Otis an expert in the subject, his mum Jean (national treasure Gillian Anderson) is a successful sex therapist who couldn’t be more open with her son.
School rebel Maeve (Emma Mackey) is also involved in Otis’ burgeoning business.
Release date: Friday, January 11
Carmen Sandiego
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: The animated return of beloved international thief Carmen Sandiego, this time voiced by beloved actress Gina Rodriguez. Netflix will also release a live-action Carmen feature film starring Rodriguez. The latter project's premiere date has not yet been announced.
Stranger Things ’ Finn Wolfhard will also lend his voice to Carmen Sandiego ’s animated series.
Release date: TBD
Santa Clarita Diet
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 3
What’s it about?: Eating people. But also, trying to be a better person in the face of the whole "eating people" thing. Now that the chaos around the Hammond family has momentarily settled down, they have time to ponder the big questions. Like, whether Drew Barrymore's zombie Sheila should bite her non-zombie husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant)? This way, they can be together quite literally forever.
And, how weird it is to keep your zombie-creating spider ball in a hamster cage? Over season 3's 10 episodes, we'll find out.
Release date: Friday, March 29
Russian Doll
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: Orange Is The New Black ’s Natasha Lyonne stars as Nadia, the guest of honour at an apparently inescapable New York City party. The eight-part comedy series is co-produced by Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Bachelorette's Leslye Headland.
Release date: Friday, February 1
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: A prequel to 1982’s weirdo cult classic film, The Dark Crystal, this time told as a full television series. Again, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is involved in production.
Release date: TBD
Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: A revival of the 1990s miniseries Tales of the City, based on a series of novels by Armistead Maupin, about a group of quirky characters in San Francisco.
The Netflix series picks up twenty years after Mary Ann Singleton (current Ozark MVP Laura Linney) left her family and home to chase her career dreams. Mary Ann’s ex-husband and daughter are there waiting at her former home of 28 Barbary Lane, and drama will inevitably ensue.
Ellen Page will now play Mary Ann’s daughter, Shawna.
Release date: TBD
On My Block
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 2
What’s it about?: The continued story of one of Netflix's best hidden gems. On My Block tells the coming of age tale of four best friends of colour (Sierra Capri, Diego Tinoco, Brett Gray, and Jason Genao) from a working class neighbourhood in Los Angeles. While the Block teens must grapple with gang pressures, immigration woes, and constant tension, they also laugh, love, and mess around like teens from any other sudsy Netflix show (the RollerWorld conspiracy alone!).
Now, we wait to find out if Ruby (Genao) — beloved genius Ruby — will survive that finale shooting.
Release date: Friday, March 29
The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 2
What’s it about?: Riverdale creator Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s take on Sabrina Spellman (this time played by Kiernan Shipka) will premiere with it's first season on Friday 26th October 2018. But the genuinely creepy series has already been awarded a 10-episode second season with an unknown date.
It’s possible, and even likely, Sabrina 's chilling adventures will continue in 2019 (although Netflix has yet to confirm season 2's premiere date). After all, producers decided to film both seasons back-to-back in Vancouver.
Release date: TBD
13 Reasons Why
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 3
What’s it about?: Answering the terrifying final question of 13 Reasons season 2: “What do we do now?” The Netflix’s favourite’s sophomore year wrapped with Tyler Down (Devin Druid) nearly committing a mass school shooting before Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette) & Co. convinced him to flee in Tony Padilla’s (Christian Navarro) little red sports car instead.
As the finale wraps, we see Clay, Jessica Davis (Alisha Boe), and Justin Foley (Brandon Flynn), standing outside their high school’s spring fling with Tyler’s assault rifle; the sounds of police sirens blare in the distance. With 13 Reasons Why season 3, we’ll find out what happens next.
Whatever the resolution, two recurring characters will be more directly involved: Montgomery “Monty” de la Cruz (Timothy Granaderos), who sexually assaulted Tyler in season 2, and Nora Walker (Brenda Strong), mother of Bryce Walker (Justin Prentice). Both characters’ portrayers have been upped to series regulars for season 3.
Release date: TBD, but likely spring 2019
Orange Is The New Black
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 7
What’s it about?: That’s actually a mystery. OITNB Season 6 ended with a huge turning point for it's original protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). It's no cause for alarm, though. Without giving too much away, we're pretty sure that many of Orange ’s most interesting characters — from Taystee Jefferson (Danielle Brooks) to Suzanne Warren (Uzo Aduba) — will be right where we left them.
That’s good news for viewers and awful news for these beloved characters, who are trapped in the abject inescapable darkness that is maximum security prison.
Release date: TBD, but likely summer 2019
Glow
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 3
What’s it about?: Glow season 3 will follow the Glow show-within-a-show women leaving their Los Angeles gym behind in favour of a full floor show in Las Vegas. Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie) will handle her long-distance relationship. Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin) will grapple with the fact that her young son is being raised a state away. And everyone will likely deal with the temptations of Sin City.
Release date: TBD, but likely June 2019
Ozark
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 3
What’s it about?: More terrible, blue-tinted things happening to the Byrde family in the titular Ozarks. As we learned in the season 2 finale, the Byrde family is there to stay, whether patriarch Marty (Jason Bateman) likes it or not.
Release date: TBD, but likely summer 2019
Insatiable
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 2
What’s it about?: Dealing with the aftermath of Patty’s (Debby Ryan) dangerous actions at the end of season one. Seeing if the show can improve upon its messy attempts at black comedy. Pageants.
Release date: TBD
Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: A revival of the 1990s miniseries Tales of the City, based on a series of novels by Armistead Maupin, about a group of quirky characters in San Francisco.
The Netflix series, picks up twenty years after Mary Ann Singleton (current Ozark MVP Laura Linney) left her family and home to chase her career dreams. Mary Ann’s ex-husband and daughter are there waiting at her former home of 28 Barbary Lane, and drama will inevitably ensue.
Ellen Page will now play Mary Ann’s daughter, Shawna.
Release date: TBD
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: A prequel to 1982’s weirdo cult classic film, The Dark Crystal, this time told as a full television series. Again, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is involved in production. Game Of Thrones ' Nathalie Emmanuel and ascendant British bae Taron Egerton, who will play Elton John in the already buzzy 2019 musical biopic Rocketman, are the lead voices.
Release date: TBD
Turn Up Charlie
Season to premiere in 2019: Season 1
What’s it about?: Idris Elba (yes, Idris Elba, Sexiest Man Alive and real-life Coachella performer!) plays Charlie, a failing DJ. Charle finds his last chance at success when he's offered the chance to be "manny" to his famous best friend's young daughter.
That means eight episodes of SMA Elba running around with an adorable child. 2019 is blessed.
Release date: Friday, March 15
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