TVLine Shares Its 2017 Wish List
Saturday Night Live - Season 40
That Lorne Michaels successfully convinces Kate McKinnon to stick with Saturday Night Live after her contract expires in May.
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That with The Punisher now getting his own series and The Defenders' team-up set to occupy some 2017 real estate, Netflix and Marvel find a way to expand their "two shows per year" ideal, lest we have to wait a small eternity for the returns of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
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That the next season of X-Files — whenever it shows up — makes William a major player in his parents' lives. With that lead-up in the Season 10 finale, doing any less would be a major let-down.
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That BoJack Horseman gets some long-overdue respect from any of the major TV award shows. (Critic's Choice was a nice start, but we can do better.)
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That the Freaks and Geeks cast reunites for a one-off movie. We've seen all kinds of unlikely TV revivals recently (The X-Files, Gilmore Girls). So why can't we get the star-studded cast of NBC's cancelled-too-soon dramedy back together one more time, maybe for the geeks' 15-year high school reunion in the late '90s? C'mon, Netflix, write Judd Apatow and Paul Feig a blank check and make this happen.
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That Suits finally goes there with Donna and Harvey. If these two only share a platonic kind of love, then — as my mother likes to say — I'm a ballerina.
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That Lauren Graham scores her first Emmy nomination in July for her transcendent, career-best performance in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. And at the risk of being greedy, I'd like to see Kelly Bishop and the revival itself get recognized, too.
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That Fox's Gotham give us someone to really and truly root for. Surrounded by so many villains/baddies-to-be, Jim Gordon can never seem to get out of his own way, while Bruce Wayne is obviously years away from making any real impact. 'Member how Season 3's theme was originally "Heroes Will Fall"? We badly need one, just one, to rise hard.
Playing House - Season 2
That Playing House comes back soon. Because it's totes unkewl to renew a show in January... and then to still leave fans waiting for it a year later. (Yes, I know it's shooting soon... but I want it now!)
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That the Broad City broads (aka Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer) get to host Saturday Night Live together. Perhaps the show's first-ever Hanukkah episode?
All Signs Point To Josh...Or Is It Josh's Friend?
That Crazy Ex-Girlfriend gets a Season 3 — somewhere. The CW's musical rom-com is one of the most daring shows anywhere on network TV... but it's also one of the lowest-rated. So if The CW can't find a way to renew it, let's hope a streaming service picks it up so Rachel Bloom and company can give us one more encore.
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That Elementary finds a way to bring back Natalie Dormer's Moriarty. It's been way too long since we've seen Sherlock's devious ex, and the CBS drama could use some serialized mythology. Plus, now that the actress' Game of Thrones character is — spoiler alert! — dead, that must open up her schedule a little bit (I really hope).
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That Leftovers boss Damon Lindelof relaxes his "no-answers" stance and gives us some inkling as to what happened to the Departed in the series' final season.
This Is Us - Season 1
That more broadcast shows — and networks — embrace the idea that quality is usually better than quantity, that an 18-episode "full season" of This Is Us, or 13 episodes of The Good Place, is just the right amount, if that is the story they have to tell. If the cast and story are solid, less can be very close to more.
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That the print-shop scene in Outlander's upcoming third season lives up to the book, not to mention fan expectations. Because [Spoiler Alert! ...but seriously, did you really think they'd be in separate timelines forever?)] Jamie and Claire's reunion after so many years apart is breathtaking, funny, sad and incredibly fulfilling all at the same time. When Claire knocks on the door that reads A. Malcolm, Printer and Book Seller, I want to be so overcome, I'll think that I've lost hold of myself altogether. (Don't worry — it'll just be the alepot.)
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That Girl Meets World is renewed for a fourth season and that it makes the jump from Disney Channel to Freeform, where it can grow with its characters and its audience.
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That Louie returns with new episodes this year. Horace and Pete was a noble experiment, but we'd much rather see Louis C.K. return to his Emmy-winning FX comedy, which hasn't aired since May 2015. Even in this era of Too Much TV, we miss it.
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That some cable network or streaming service gives Profit the revival it deserves. The short-lived Fox series about a morally bankrupt corporate exec (played by a riveting Adrian Pasdar) was ahead of its time in 1996. Today, the dark drama would be deliciously timely.
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That Showtime's Twin Peaks revival offers up a mystery as dark and compelling as "Who Killed Laura Palmer," while also bringing the franchise to a satisfying conclusion (and thus erasing Season 2's hot mess of a second act from my memory).
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That — akin to my wish for Mr. Robot a year ago — Netflix's Stranger Things resists the temptation to "go bigger" in Season 2. What worked for the surprise summer hit was its charming quaintness, the feeling that we were privy to a small town's otherworldly drama. So please spare us heaps of complicated, globally reaching mythology.
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That Nina Dobrev can find the time in her busy schedule to make one final visit to The Vampire Diaries. Like, I'd settle for a single shot of her sneezing in an empty room at this point. Just give me something!
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That every outlet starts making fewer shows. Dear broadcast networks, cable channels, streaming sites, digital offshoots, over-the-top subscription services and toaster ovens: Slow your roll. (That goes double for you, Netflix.) I'm a professional TV watcher, and I can't keep up.