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2019 TV shows you can't miss

As Game of Thrones comes to an end and as Disney's and Apple's streaming services begin, here's the best sci-fi and geeky TV coming in 2019.

Richard Trenholm
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Richard Trenholm
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1 of 50 HBO

2019's essential binging

Winter has finally come and gone for Game of Thrones, but there are a bunch of plenty sci-fi, fantasy, horror and generally geeky TV shows to obsess over and revisit in 2019. Whether they're on traditional television or on new streaming services from Disney, Apple and DC, here are some of the episodic adventures you'll binge this year.

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2 of 50 Prime Video

Good Omens

David Tennant and Michael Sheen are a heavenly pair in Amazon's adaptation of Good Omens, the comedic, apocalyptic fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett.

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3 of 50 HBO

Watchmen

HBO hopes we'll all watch the Watchmen, based on the  legendary comic. Jeremy Irons and Regina King lead the cast, with The Leftovers co-creator Damon Lindelof in charge and Trent Reznor doing the music.

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4 of 50 StarWars.com

The Mandalorian

Star Wars icon Boba Fett inspires a new series from Disney and Jon Favreau about a galactic gunslinger, the mysterious Mandalorian.

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5 of 50 HBO

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones came to an end with season 8 on HBO, but fortunately there will be spinoffs. 

The Twilight Zone
6 of 50 CBS All Access

The Twilight Zone

Jordan Peele enters The Twilight Zone, a reboot of the classic sci-fi anthology series. for CBS All Access. Kumail Nanjiani, Adam Scott and Sanaa Lathan star in the spooky tales. (Disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company.)

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7 of 50 Ed Araquel

Valley of the Boom

National Geographic's docudrama miniseries Valley of the Boom exposes the 1990s tech boom (and bust) in Silicon Valley. Bradley Whitford, Lamorne Morris and Steve Zahn star.

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8 of 50 Captura de pantalla por Gonzalo Jiménez/CNET

True Detective

Mahershala Ali is the new True Detective in season 3 of HBO's moody cop show.

Star Trek: Discovery
9 of 50 Jan Thijs/CBS

Star Trek: Discovery

Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery introduces a new Spock alongside the familiar characters. The show streams on CBS All Access in the US and on Netflix elsewhere.

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10 of 50 Universal

His Dark Materials

James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda star in the BBC's adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series of magical novels.

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11 of 50 Madman Entertainment

What We Do in the Shadows

The New Zealand vampire comedy movie What We Do in the Shadows -- co-created by and starring Taika Waititi -- is retooled for US television on FX.  Matt Berry and Kayvan Novak star.

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12 of 50 Shudder

Creepshow

The classic anthology series Creepshow is revived by horror streaming service Shudder.

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13 of 50 DC

Harley Quinn

Actor Kaley Cuoco voices DC kooky antihero Harley Quinn in an animated series debuting on the DC Universe streaming service in 2019. 

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14 of 50 DC

Young Justice: Outsiders

The third season of the Young Justice animated superhero series will stream on DC's new digital platform, DC Universe.

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15 of 50 DC Comics

Doom Patrol

Weird and wonderful DC Comics superhero outcasts Doom Patrol will be the stars of their own live-action show on DC Universe. Brendan Fraser plays a big robot.

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16 of 50 DC

Swamp Thing

A live-action version of Swamp Thing is bubbling up on the DC Universe streaming service.

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17 of 50 BBC

Traitors

Bodyguard star Keeley Hawes is a 1940s spy in the BBC's Traitors. 

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18 of 50 Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios

Disney+ Marvel shows

When Disney launches streaming service Disney+ in 2019, it'll become home to various Marvel spin-off shows. At some point in coming years, you can expect to see live-action shows featuring Loki, Scarlet Witch and Falcon with Winter Soldier.

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19 of 50 Buena Vista Pictures

High Fidelity

Disney drops the needle on a new TV version of the Nick Hornby novel that inspired the 2000 movie about music obsessives. 

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20 of 50 Disney Channel

High School Musical: The Musical

Another Disney+ reinvention, High School Musical: The Musical, is the much-loved teen romp with more tunes.

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21 of 50 Netflix

The Umbrella Academy

Netflix adapts the surreal superhero comic Umbrella Academy, co-created by rock star Gerard Way.

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22 of 50

Deadly Class

SyFy adapts another comic about a school for super-scoundrels, Deadly Class.

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23 of 50 Netflix

Stranger Things

Stranger Things season 3 comes to Netflix in July.

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24 of 50 Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Apple's streaming service

Apple is launching a new streaming service, which could land in 2019. The company has tapped a host of huge stars to create family-friendly content, including Oprah Winfrey, Damien Chazelle and M. Night Shyamalan. Planned series include an adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels, a reboot of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories and a new series from Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica veteran Ronald D Moore.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
25 of 50 FXNetworks.com

Apple video game comedy

Among the stars tapped by Apple are It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney and Charlie Day, who are developing a comedy set in a video game studio.

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26 of 50 Warner Bros

See

We don't have an exact date for the launch of Apple's planned streaming service. But when we do, we can expect to "See" Aquaman star Jason Momoa in a sci-fi drama about a future where everyone is blind.

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27 of 50 YouTube

Wayne

Produced by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the guys behind Deadpool and Zombieland, this YouTube Premium series follows teenager Wayne on his dirt bike quest to win back his dad's stolen 1978 Pontiac Trans Am.

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28 of 50 Lego

Pennyworth

Alfred Pennyworth is more than Bruce Wayne's stuffy butler. This Epix show will tell the tale of the English special forces soldier's adventure before he takes up polishing the Batcave's banisters.  

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29 of 50 John P. Johnson/HBO

Our Lady LTD

Westworld star Jimmi Simpson plays a grifter in Epix neo-noir series Our Lady LTD, also featuring Ben Kingsley.

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30 of 50 BBC

Our Planet

David Attenborough goes wild on Netflix for nature documentary Our Planet.

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31 of 50 CNET

Devs

Alex Garland codes this FX show about a computer engineer probing the shadowy Silicon Valley tech company she suspects is behind the disappearance of her boyfriend. Nick Offerman stars.

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32 of 50 Marvel

The Boys

Karl Urban stars in The Boys for Amazon, based on the foul-mouthed anti-superhero comic.

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33 of 50 Steve Dietl

The Passage

Federal agent Mark-Paul Gosselaar must protect a unique child from a sinister government project and a new breed of monsters in The Passage, based on the novels by Justin Cronin.

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34 of 50 Eric Liebowitz/Netflix

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Tina Fey and Ellie Kemper reunite for the final season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix.

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35 of 50 Netflix

Ultraman

The Japanese superhero Ultraman returns in a new Netflix series. 

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36 of 50 Penguin

Noughts & Crosses

Based on the Noughts & Crosses novels by Malorie Blackman, this BBC dystopian series focuses on a world where dark-skinned Cross people rule over pale-skinned Noughts.

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37 of 50 Robert Voets

Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars is back on the case as Hulu revives the show for a fourth season.

Amazon Prime Video Europe Autumn Party
38 of 50 David M. Benett

Carnival Row

Cara Delevingne and Orlando Bloom star in Amazon's Carnival Row, in which mythical creatures flee their war-torn homeland and settle in a neo-noir city.

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39 of 50 Getty Images

Cortes

Amazon and Steven Spielberg revive a 50-year-old script by old Hollywood scribe Dalton Trumbo, telling the tale of 16th century conquistador Hernan Cortes. Javier Bardem stars.

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40 of 50 Marla Aufmuth

Daisy Jones & The Six

Reese Witherspoon and Amazon produce Daisy Jones & The Six, a tale of rock 'n' roll excess.

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41 of 50 SOPA Images

Chernobyl

Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson recount the chilling tale of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on HBO.

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42 of 50 Jesse Grant

Hanna

The 2011 movie centering on a teenage assassin is getting reloaded by Amazon, in a new series with The Killing stars Joel Kinnaman and Mireille Enos.

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43 of 50 Image

Invincible

Amazon turns to Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman for an animated adaptation of epic superhero comic Invincible.

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44 of 50 Amazon

Tales From the Loop

Amazon sci-fi series Tales From the Loop is based on the artwork of Simon Stålenhag, who adds futuristic sci-fi elements to pictures of everyday life.

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45 of 50 Lisa Maree Williams

The Expatriates

Nicole Kidman produces an Amazon drama based on Janice Y.K. Lee's novel The Expatriates, following the lives and loves of various women in Hong Kong.

ANA ORTIZ, SCOTT FOLEY, VIR DAS, LAUREN COHAN, TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS
46 of 50 Larry D. Horricks

Whiskey Cavalier

Tough but sensitive super-agent Will Chase -- codename Whiskey Cavalier -- teams up with codename Fiery Tribune, played by The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan in this ABC spy romp.

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47 of 50 Universal Pictures

The Feed

David Thewlis (second from left) stars in The Feed, a dystopian sci-fi co-production between Amazon and Virgin Media.

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48 of 50 Allyson Riggs

Shrill

Aidy Bryant stars in Hulu comedy Shrill about an overweight, aspiring journalist wants to change her life, but not her body.  

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49 of 50 Sam Taylor/Netflix

Sex Education

Sex Education is in the cards for a confused 16-year-old with two divorced sex therapists for parents. Gillian Anderson stars in this Netflix comedy-drama.

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50 of 50 Laurence Cendrowicz

MotherFatherSon

Richard Gere is a media mogul in trouble in the BBC's MotherFatherSon.

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