Ten TV shows to watch in 2016

American Crime Story: The People v OJ Simpson

We're nearly a month into the new year, the US Television Critics Association press tour has just wrapped up, and the networks and streaming services have unveiled their massive TV slates for 2016. So many premieres, so little time. So let's whittle things down some: here are 10 series that, for a variety of reasons, stand out above the rest, and which we're incredibly stoked to see.

The murder case of former football star Orenthal James Simpson, who was accused and later acquitted of killing his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and waiter Ronald Goldman, captivated the country in 1994 and 1995. A new anthology series tackles the case over the course of 10 episodes, touching on everything from the Bronco freeway chase to the infamous "If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit" defense… as well as the role played in the trial by a certain Hollywood royal family known as the Kardashians. The series has quite the behind-the-scenes pedigree. It was created by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who penned immensely inventive biopics of real-life figures like Ed Wood (1994's Ed Wood), Larry Flynt (1996's The People vs Larry Flynt) and Andy Kaufman (1999's Man in the Moon). It's executive produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk who are primarily responsible for the revived popularity of the anthology series format with their show American Horror Story. And it's got a cast to die for: John Travolta as defense attorney Robert Shapiro, Sarah Paulson as prosecutor Marcia Clark and Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr as what appears to be an especially raw and emotionally ragged Simpson. Premieres 2 February on HBO. (Credit: FX)

Vinyl

Who better to direct a tale of 1970s excess than Martin Scorsese? The iconic, award-winning film-maker directs the two-hour pilot of this new HBO series from Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter that follows the sex-and-drug-addled adventures of a record label president (Bobby Cannavale) who attempts to revitalise his company at the dawn of the punk, disco and hip-hop era. Scorsese is sure to lend the series the swirling sense of lunacy and forward-thrust intensity that is his stock in trade. Adding to the hedonistic verisimilitude: Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is an executive producer and has helped shape many of the storylines. Premieres 14 February 2016 on HBO. (Credit: HBO)

The Night Manager

No discussion of spy stories is complete without a mention of author John le Carré, a master of the form. His 1993 espionage novel The Night Manager is the basis for AMC and the BBC's six-episode miniseries. It was directed by Academy Award winner Susanne Bier (In a Better World) and stars Tom Hiddleston (better known as Loki from Thor and The Avengers), as a former British soldier tasked with infiltrating the inner circle of a notorious arms dealer. Could this be another classic in the vein of the 1979 British miniseries Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, starring the great Alec Guinness as le Carré's wily intelligence agent George Smiley? We can certainly hope. Premieres April 2016 on AMC. (Credit: AMC/BBC)

Codes of Conduct

How do you follow up the brutal, critically acclaimed period piece 12 Years a Slave (2013)? Oscar winner Steve McQueen turns his pointed sights to a more contemporary story in this six-episode HBO miniseries, which early reports say is somewhat in the vein of his 2011 sex-addict study, Shame. The setting is New York City, and the main character, played by newcomer Devon Terrell, is a mysterious young African-American who infiltrates Manhattan high society; Paul Dano, Helena Bonham Carter and Rebecca Hall play some of the people he attempts to charm and exploit. McQueen is directing every episode, and also co-wrote each installment with Lions for Lambs and World War Z scribe Matthew Michael Carnahan. It's sure to bear his uniquely clinical stamp and make plenty of caustic observations about human nature. Premieres 2016 on HBO. (Credit: HBO)

The Crown

There's no shortage of dramatic possibilities for stories revolving around the British royal family. Netflix enters the regal fray with their $156 million, 10-episode series about the rise of Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) from princess to queen. The production was created and written by Peter Morgan, who penned an award-winning feature about her royal highness, The Queen, as well as the play The Audience, both starring Helen Mirren. The emotional heart of this series appears to be the tempestuous relationship between Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip (Doctor Who's Matt Smith), who becomes increasingly agitated about being in his wife's shadow. Really, we're most excited to see John Lithgow, who seems to be having a grand old time hamming it up as Winston Churchill. Premieres 2016 on Netflix. (Credit: Netflix)

Divorce

Sarah Jessica Parker headlined one of HBO's biggest hits – the often ribald sitcom Sex and the City. Will lightning strike twice for the actress' new series, a comic take on a woman's drawn-out divorce? It certainly has a number of talented people involved: Parker's costars include Thomas Haden Church, Molly Shannon and August, Osage County playwright/actor Tracy Letts. And the show was created by Irish writer and actress Sharon Horgan who made a splash recently with the UK dark comedy Catastrophe, about a woman who becomes pregnant after a transatlantic wild weekend. Surely Horgan and Parker can find as much black humour in the d-word. No premiere date set. (Credit: HBO)

The Get Down

Aussie film-maker Baz Luhrmann is known for his over-the-top cinematic sense, and not even the small screen appears to have tempered the The Great Gatsby director's aesthetic ardour. His new 13-episode Netflix series, co-created with The Shield's Shawn Ryan, is a 1970s-set period piece that follows a group of South Bronx teenagers as they come of age in the era of hip-hop and punk. There's sure to be plenty of earnest and emotively tragic melodrama, as well as some soul-searching musical numbers, which Luhrmann showed he could handle (in his own inimitable fashion) with the 2001 musical romance Moulin Rouge. We're fully prepared to cry along and sing-a-long. No premiere date set. (Credit: Netflix)

The Girlfriend Experience

Steven Soderbergh's 2009 feature The Girlfriend Experience was a probing, satirical look into the life of a Manhattan call girl played by former porn star Sasha Grey. Soderbergh returns as an executive producer on this 13-episode television adaptation of the film, which stars Riley Keough as a law student who becomes fascinated with the call girl lifestyle. Making this a must-watch is the fact that the series was co-written and helmed by two extremely talented independent film-makers, Lodge Kerrigan (director of 1998's Claire Dolan and 2004's Keane) and Amy Seimetz (director of 2012's Sun Don't Shine and costar of Shane Carruth's mind-bending 2013 sci-fi romance Upstream Color). No premiere date set. (Credit: Getty Images)

Westworld

Sci-fi geeks surely have fond memories of the Michael Crichton-directed thriller Westworld (1973), starring Yul Brynner as a cyborg cowboy run amok at an adult-themed amusement park. Jonathan Nolan, brother of Interstellar's Christopher Nolan, co-created this star-studded, 10-episode update of the film. Ed Harris steps into the shoes of Brynner's gunslinger, while Anthony Hopkins plays the creative director of the theme park, which is sure to run awry in a number of horrifying ways. Rounding out the cast are Evan Rachel Wood as a cyborg who becomes sentient, Thandie Newtown as a sharp-tongued Madame and Jeffrey Wright as the chief architect of Westworld's robotic citizenry. It all sounds like a true recipe for success. Please let us be proven right. No premiere date set. (Credit: HBO)

The Young Pope

Award-winning Italian film-maker Paolo Sorrentino, whose Youth – starring Harvey Keitel and Michael Caine – is currently making the awards-season rounds, created this eight episode miniseries about Pope Pius XIII (Jude Law). With Sorrentino behind the scenes, it is sure to be both a visual treat and narratively provocative. We'll also have the pleasure of seeing Annie Hall herself, Diane Keaton, as Sister Mary, a Vatican City-residing nun who helps Pius achieve his goals. Well, la-dee-da! No premiere date set. (Credit: HBO)

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