Spring is fast approaching as we enter the month of March and typically this would mean that most shows begin their sprint to the May sweeps and then hibernate until fall. That’s still true, but today we live in a different TV landscape where networks are prone to promote and debut new and returning series throughout the year, not just in September and midseason. Throw in streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and this March all of a sudden is the new September in TV land. Preview the many must-see shows premiering this month after the break.
ABC’s serving up a fresh sitcom this month in The Real O’Neals. When family secrets come out, “the honesty triggers a new, messier chapter where everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real.” Though the logline sounds safe enough, you should be tuning in for the cast which includes the always reliable Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope) and The New Normal‘s breakout tike Bebe Wood. Watch an extended trailer here, and tune in for the first two episodes on Wednesday, March 2 at 8:30pm and 9:30pm. It lands in its regular Tuesdays-at-8:30 timeslot beginning March 8.
The Alphabet network also has a mystery thriller up its sleeves with The Family. It “follows the return of a politician’s young son who was presumed dead after disappearing over a decade earlier. As the mysterious young man is welcomed back into his family, suspicions emerge—is he really who he says he is?” There’s a logline to get the blood pumping. Joan Allen (Bourne trilogy) stars alongside The Newsroom‘s Alison Pill, Friday Night Light‘s Zach Gilford, and The Way, Way Back‘s breakout star Liam James aims to mystify the mysterious return of his curious character. The drama debuts Thursday, March 3 at 9pm on ABC; on March 6 it will begin airing in its regular Sundays-at-9 timeslot. Here’s the trailer.
Frank Underwood continues his power struggle with America and his wife, Claire, in the upcoming fourth season of the Netflix political drama House of Cards. The President remains on the road hoping to secure a reelection bid, and at home things are in shambles as Claire announced her desire to leave him at the end of last season. The new season marks the final one for creator and showrunner Beau Willimon; series writers Melissa James Gibson and Frank Pugliese will takeover the reins for the recently made official season 5. Here’s a link to the season 4 trailer. All 13 new episodes arrive Friday, March 4.
Norman Bates is spinning out of control, and if you’re a fan of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic slasher upon which this A&E series is based, you can’t get enough of it. Bates Motel returns for its 10-episode fourth run on Monday, March 7 at 9pm, and if the season’s key art (above) has anything to say it’s that Norman’s psychotic break is in full effect now. Last season we saw him dressed up as his mother Norma cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Here we see him wearing the late Miss Watson’s pearls behind a titillating tagline that reads, “She wouldn’t even harm a fly.” Got to love the nod to Hitchcock’s iconic final scene from Psycho embedded in there. Enjoy these episodes while they last! Series co-showrunner Carlton Cuse has expressed his intention for the show to span five seasons, so this may very well be the beginning of the end.
Arrested Development creator and mastermind Mitch Hurwitz is executive producing a new Netflix series starring Will Arnett. It’s called Flaked and Arnett plays Chip,” a celebrated long-time resident of the insular world of Venice, California who falls for the object of his best friend’s fascination. Soon the tangled web of half-truths and semi-bullshit that underpins his all-important image and sobriety begins to unravel.” This is a passion project for Arnett, who created the comedy and also produces and writes it with Mark Chappell (The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret). Preview it here, and look forward to 8 episodes unspooling on the streaming service come Friday, March 11.
Apparently Netflix wants to become a breeding ground for comedians. In a risky move, the streaming service handpicked eight rising comedians and gave them all free reign to design and produce an episode of television. The first batch of comedians include Kate Berlant, Dr. Brown, Paul Downs, John Early, Lauren Lapkus (Orange is the New Black), Tim Robinson (SNL), Natasha Rothwell, and Henry Zebrowski (A to Z, Heroes Reborn). As strange as this all might sound, such an experiment might actually be crazy enough to work. Previews look funny at least. Netflix Presents: The Characters premieres Friday, March 11.
The Americans is hailed as one of the best series on TV for a reason; while the period drama moves at a slow, deliberate pace, it captures the tension of the Cold War quite remarkably as it balances espionage and family values. At the start of the upcoming fourth season, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings (played so well by Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys) will be dealing with the fallout of their daughter Paige (Holly Taylor) revealing to her pastor her family’s huge secret: her parents are KGB spies. Here’s a first-look at the new season which debuts Wednesday, March 16 at 10pm on FX. Now how damn good is this year’s poster?
Perhaps the most highly anticipated premiere this month is Daredevil season 2 which promises to introduce popular villain Frank Castle aka The Punisher (The Walking Dead‘s Jon Bernthal) as well as Elektra Natchios (Elodie Yung). Charlie Cox proved his worth and then some when the Netflix-Marvel superhero series landed on the scene last year. The gritty drama features some of the best fight choreography and action sequences across TV and film. Add in some carefully constructed character development and you’ve got yourself one compelling adventure. And soon enough, the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will team up with Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron First in mini-series The Defenders. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Tune into Netflix Friday, March 18 to continue the adventures of the Man Without Fear, Matt Murdock. The season 2 trailer was released in two parts.
Pee-Wee Herman is back in a brand new straight-to-Netflix movie, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday! Star Paul Reubens effortlessly slides back into the bowtie to star in the new feature film that he produced with Judd Apatow and wrote with Paul Rust. (Apatow and Rust recently debuted relationship comedy Love on the streaming service.) A fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday in this epic story of friendship and destiny. The movie, which streams starting Friday, March 18, comes 30 years after Pee-Wee‘s Big Adventure hit theatres in 1985 from director Tim Burton. Watch the official trailer.
Are you starting to see a trend here? Netflix is undeniably dominating the month of March with exciting new releases, from returning favorites (Daredevil), to experimental comedies (The Characters), and now an intriguing documentary. My Beautiful Broken Brain hails from executive producer David Lynch (Twin Peaks) and it follows the journey of Dutch-French filmmaker Lotje Sodderland as she recovers from a traumatic hemorrhagic stroke. The heartbreaking turned uplifting story reads almost like a Lynchian tale, only it’s magical twists and turns are real.
My Beautiful Broken Brain is a profoundly personal voyage into the complexity, fragility and wonder of the human brain, after Lotje Sodderland miraculously survives a hemorrhagic stroke and finds herself starting again in an alien world, bereft of language and logic. This feature documentary takes us on a genre-twisting tale that is by turns excruciating and exquisite – from the devastating consequences of a first-time neurological experiment, through to the extraordinary revelations of her altered sensory perception.
Watch the inspired trailer and mark the date Friday, March 18.
Prolific producer Shonda Rhimes is expanding her Shondland empire with new drama The Catch starring Mireille Enos (The Killing) and Peter Krause (Parenthood).
Alice Vaughan (Enos) is LA’s top private investigator — and the one woman you don’t want to mess with. But when her fiancé (Krause) cons her out of millions and disappears, Alice goes on a private mission for payback. No matter where it leads or the secrets she must keep along the way, Alice will stop at nothing to catch her man.
Being described as “the sexiest cat and mouse game on television,” The Catch sounds like it will fit like a glove on TGIT Thursdays following popular Shonda fare Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. The shiny new drama takes over How to Get Away with Murder‘s Thursdays-at-10 spot starting March 24 on ABC. See a teaser here.
Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) has teamed up with creator Jessica Goldberg to executive producer an original drama, The Path.
The Path follows a family at the center of a controversial cult movement as they struggle with relationships, faith, and power. Each episode takes an in-depth look at the gravitational pull of belief and what it means to choose between the life we live and the life we want.
It sounds and looks incredibly riveting. The all-star cast includes Aaron Paul (his first TV gig since Breaking Bad), Hugh Dancy (who’s ready to embody a new ritualistic figure following his unforgettable take on Will Graham in Hannibal), and Michelle Monaghan (True Detective). The Path streams on Hulu starting March 30.