12 Returning Television Shows We Can’t Wait to Watch

By  · Published on January 6th, 2015

HBO

Get your tissues ready, folks, because 2015 is offering up a bountiful feast of delicious television offerings…that are ending. 2015 will see the end of series like Parks and Recreation, Mad Men, Justified and Parenthood, and it should come as little surprise that some of those exact series are topping our most-hyped list. Will they end with a bang? A whimper? Both, with a bang-y ending and everyone whimpering on their respective couches? We don’t yet, people, but we’re going to find out soon.

Although we’re super-excited for the new television our smaller screens have to offer this year (and, yes, we even made an entire list to prove it), there are plenty of returning shows to get us just as riled up, even the precious few that are sticking around for many more years to come. Take a look.

1. Girls

Although we’re still highly skeptical of Hannah’s (Lena Dunham) ability to get into the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop (this is a woman without motivation, after all), the fourth season of the HBO series has already revealed that it will be partially set in, gasp, Iowa. Hannah did it, you guys, she really did it. Girls has occasionally ventured out of Gotham, and the results have been some of the best episodes of the series (that time Hannah went home, that foray to Jessa’s family abode, that horrible Hamptons trip), so we’re already sold on the idea that we’re getting a fresh change of venue. The series’ ever-intriguing trailers are also exciting, rife with slaps and cops and a very sad Shosh (Zosia Mamet).

Returns January 11

2. How To Get Away With Murder

Ugh, who killed Lila?!?

Returns January 29

3. Game of Thrones

HBO’s now-flagship fantasy series just gets better with each season and, as it slowly starts to veer away from the written text, it’s packing more shocks and jolts than ever before. Anyway, no matter what happens, at least we’re still rid of Joffrey.

Returns Spring 2015

4. Mad Men

It’s the final season! Or, more precisely, the second half of the final season that started airing last year. Whatever, final season! Who knows how this whole thing is going to end – though we do recommend falling down the Google hole of “Mad Men theories,” if you’ve got 67 hours to kill – but it seems safe to assume that AMC’s most beloved (current) series will end in some sort of spectacular fashion. How we’ll get there, though, that’s the real question.

Returns Spring 2015

5. Fargo

FX’s new favorite series might be coming back with a mostly new cast and a fresh case, but we’re eager to see what it can do with its sophomore series. We fell hard for leading lady Allison Tolman last year, so here’s hoping that the series gives us a new, actually heroic character to love. Perhaps her proud pop?

Returns Fall 2015

6. True Detective

Just like Fargo, the second season of True Detective will return as a bit of a standalone. With a new cast, new location and new story, it will be interesting to see if the magic still holds (basically, can this damn thing work without Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson?). Personally speaking, we’re also hoping this season capitalizes a bit more on potential occult issues. We already know the show will center on a dead guy kitted out with satanic symbols, so we’re feeling positive.

Returns sometime in 2015

7. Looking

The HBO series may not have captured our hearts during its inaugural season, but rumors of a bit of retooling persist, and with a cast this good, there’s tons of potential here. HBO’s Sunday night programming block keeps getting better – and, yes, Togetherness is going to be a big part of that – and we’re hoping that Looking can keep up the pace.

Returns January 11

8. Parks and Recreation

The final season of HBO’s beloved (if slightly maligned) comedy series kicks later this month, and with a time flash forward and some returning characters, NBC finally appears to be pulling out the big guns for this charmer. How will it all end? We’re guessing with some charm, sweetness and a bucketful of tears. Waffles for everyone.

Returns January 13

9. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Perhaps this list should be retitled something like “Returning Shows That Might Actually Be Getting Better That We Want to See.” Marvel’s first tied-in television series has been steadily ratcheting up its quality and conviction, which means we might be getting something heretofore unseen: an entirely good season.

Returns March 3

10. Broad City

There’s still time for you to binge watch the first ten episodes of this Comedy Central gem, a laugh riot that effectively serves as the anti-Girls for improv fans. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson are two of our most promising comediennes, and their show admirably skirts the line between hilarious and heartfelt.

Returns January 14

11. Saturday Night Live

After a season of “rebuilding,” SNL is hitting some new highs. Young ‘un Pete Davidson is adding some fresh flair, and the newly elevated Leslie Jones is in possession of the kind of concealed vulnerability that makes you laugh even while very gently crying on the inside. In short, things are good! And we’re hoping they’re only going to get better.

Returns January 17

12. Orphan Black

The second season of the Canadian import redefined the concept of “hey, more questions than ever,” but as the twists amp up, so does the quality of Tatiana Maslany’s always-great work and the totally addictive nature of the sci-fi drama.

Returns April 18

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