【eros eroticism and the pedagogical process】

2018 may continue to be eros eroticism and the pedagogical processa raging sociopolitical cesspool, but TV will continue to save us from drowning in existential dread (mostly). Featuring a real-life murder, an overblown heist, and a suspicious amount of work leading back to Jason Katims, here are 10 new shows we're most excited about in the coming winter.

1. Rise

What happens when you give a vaguely Glee premise the Friday Night Lightstreatment? Nothing but good things, we hope, as we gear up for Rise, the latest addition to the TV Katims-verse (e.g. shows from Jason Katims, including FNL and Parenthood) about how a high school drama troupe gets kicked into high gear by an inspiring teacher (Josh Radnor) and becomes a haven for teens who need something they can count on.

Premiere: March 13, NBC

2. The Chi

From Emmy Award-winner Lena Waithe and Academy Award-winner Common (what a phrase) comes a gritty look at South Chicago life – complete with violence, secrets, and a fierce hope driving the characters to persevere.

Premiere: Jan. 7, Showtime

3. American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace

Ryan Murphy returns to the '90s seeking to captivate audiences People v O.J. Simpson-style with this look back at legendary designer Gianni Versace's assassination. Come for Edgar Ramirez as the eponymous victim or Penélope Cruz as magnetic Donatella, but stay for Ricky Martin as Versace's boyfriend and Darren Criss as his unhinged killer, Andrew Cunanan.

Premiere: Jan. 17, FX

4. Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams

You may be thinking "This looks like Black Mirror," and you wouldn't be far off. Dick's fantasy/sci-fi short stories predate the popular Netflix series by several decades, and are an oft-cited forerunner of the technological dystopia genre (perhaps you've heard of a little film called Blade Runner?). In 10 standalone episodes, Amazon explores the worlds of these meticulously imagined stories – and don't be surprised if more than one mirrors our own.

Premiere: Jan. 12, Amazon

5. Black Lightning

Black Lightning heads to the best TV home a superhero could ask for (sorry, Netflix, but call us when you axe Iron Fist), starring Cress Williams as the titular hero and alias of Jefferson Pierce. In the show's timeline, Pierce's Lightning days are over – but a city descending into crime and a family worth saving push him to don the shockwave suit and charge up his bolts once again.

Premiere: Jan. 16, The CW

6. Good Girls

Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman, and Retta seem like names drawn out of our dream hat for this show about supposedly "good" women who rob a grocery store to change their financial situations. The girls bite off more than they can chew – literally, as their loot yields significantly more cash than expected. Empowered by crime and now embroiled in its complications...can't a girl just play nice anymore?

Premiere: Feb. 26, NBC

7. Grown-ish

black-ish's Zoey (Yara Shahidi) gets her own spinoff as she discovers the wild world of college. Expect a few guest appearances from her black-ishparents (Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross), as well as Charlie (Deon Cole) moonlighting as a college professor. Can Zoey conquer college the way she effortlessly ruled high school?

Premiere: Jan. 3, Freeform

8. 9-1-1

This list is not sponsored by the previous work of Jason Katims, but 9-1-1also features alumni of both Friday Night Lights(Connie Britton) and Parenthood(Peter Krause) alongside powerhouse Angela Bassett. The show follows 911 first responders on their daily grind, which can encapsulate everything from faulty plumbing to devastating, life-altering emergencies.

Premiere: Jan. 3, FOX

9. Counterpart

J.K. Simmons stars as Howard? who ends up in over his head when he discovers that he works in the same building as a portal between a parallel world. Everyone in this realm has a counterpart in the other, and so it has been since it was discovered in the days of the Cold War – but now the other side wants something from us that we may not be able to give. The trailer's "Where-do-I-know-that-guy-from" answer is as Viserys on Game of Thrones (Harry Lloyd).

Premiere: Jan. 21, Starz

10. The Looming Tower

Jeff Daniels plays counterterrorism expert John O'Neill in a chilling look at what intelligence agencies knew and didn't know in the years leading up to Sept. 11. It's a Hulu original, so expect the ruthless realism of The Handmaid's Talewith talent like Daniels, Alec Baldwin, Michael Stuhlberg, and more.

Premiere: Feb. 28, Hulu