The Most Anticipated TV Shows of February 2024

Your next great TV love — or, at least, a crush — is just around the corner. Along with the returns of Curb Your Enthusiasm and Abbott Elementary, February brings the debuts of luxurious costume dramas and several sweeping adaptations. If you’re looking for heady fare, we’d match you with Apple TV+’s Constellation. Want a silly romp? Then the libidinous Couple to Throuple is for you. In search of a post-apocalyptic story that also marks the culmination of a long-running romance? Let us introduce you to The Ones Who Live.

There’s truly something for everyone this month, even if all you want is a night in with a TV stalwart like Survivor. We’ve put together the most exciting TV shows of February 2024 (scroll to the end for even more premiere dates — it’s always good to keep your options open).

Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Prime Video

Premieres February 2

Contrary to popular belief, Mr. and Mrs. Smith hews more closely to the plot of the short-lived 1996 TV series than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's 2005 film. In Prime Video's iteration, Donald Glover and Maya Erskine play spies paired up by their agency to complete a series of high-risk missions, The Americans-style. John and Jane Smith are excellent at what they do, but when their fake marriage turns into a real romance, their feelings for one another complicate an already messy situation.

Though Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who created the show with Glover and was set to play the female lead, exited Mr. and Mrs. Smith in September 2021 due to creative differences, the espionage thriller has maintained a strong comedic sensibility. That's not a surprise given Glover and Erskine's involvement, but it is welcome, particularly as so many recent releases have leaned heavily into atmospheric gloominess. A massive ensemble only heightens the anticipation, with Alexander Skarsgård, Parker Posey, Sarah Paulson, Michaela Coel, and more stepping up in supporting roles. — Claire Spellberg Lustig

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 12, HBO

Premieres February 4

We believe Larry David when he says he’s ending Curb Your Enthusiasm for good this time (but that’s because we also believe in reincarnation). So, let’s go ahead and prepare to bid a fond farewell to TV’s most famous/infamous curmudgeon, who so thoroughly embraced misanthropy that he enjoyed a brief stint as a social assassin. David’s comedy remained impervious to the COVID-19 pandemic-inspired push toward relentlessly optimistic comedy in its 11th season, and it looks like Season 12 will similarly avoid casting humanity (or at least Larry) in a good light. We can’t wait to feel bad. — Danette Chavez

One Day, Netflix

Premieres February 8

The White Lotus' Leo Woodall plays a very different kind of romantic lead in One Day. Based on the bestselling novel by David Nicholls — which was adapted into a 2011 film starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess — the drama centers on Dexter Mayhew (Woodall) and Emma Morley (Ambika Mod), who meet on July 15, 1988, the night of their college graduation, and spend the next 20 years either pining for one another, or attempting to move on from their relationship. Each episode picks up with Dex and Em one year later on that particular date, offering a glimpse at their shifting friendship over two decades. While that journey may conclude on a predictable note (you don't have to be familiar with the book to guess how their story ends), the limited series promises plenty of tear-jerking moments and longing gazes along the way. — CSL

Couple to Throuple, Peacock

Premieres February 8

Dating shows have highlighted polyamorous relationships in the past, but Couple to Throuple may be the first to place these nontraditional couplings in such a conventional format. Isolated at a tropical resort, four couples welcome a third partner into their relationship and complete a series of challenges to see if they're the perfect match. These tests, devised by sex and relationship expert Shamyra Howard, bring some of the throuples closer, while others begin to question their new partner and seek out connections with other available singles.

As staid, marriage-minded franchises like Love Is Blind and The Bachelor continue to dominate the genre, Couple to Throuple offers an exciting alternative. The world could use a few more series that destigmatize nonmonogamy and female sexual desire. Peacock's new dating show, with its unabashed horniness and diverse cast, is a great place to start. — CSL

The New Look, Apple TV+

Premieres February 14

If Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has whet your appetite for a period drama with lush costume design, get ready for The New Look. Todd A. Kessler has crafted this historical drama about the advent of modern fashion, viewed through the lens of the adversarial relationship between Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), who represented the old guard, and Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn), who, well, just look at the title. But there’s so much more fashion history — and drama — in store beyond Chanel and Dior; the series is set against the backdrop of World War II, and also features their contemporaries/rivals, like Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Joining Binoche and Mendelsohn in the cast are Maisie Williams, who makes her return to prestige TV as Dior’s daughter, John Malkovich, Emily Mortimer, and Claes Bang. Kessler also reteams with his Damages leading lady Glenn Close, who plays Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar and early proponent of Dior’s work. — DC

Constellation, Apple TV+

Premieres February 21

The last time we followed Noomi Rapace into space, it was in Ridley Scott's Prometheus, and she ended up having to cut an alien baby out of her abdomen. Here's hoping things are a bit less harrowing for her in Constellation, but the show description has us nervous. Rapace will play an astronaut who returns from a space disaster (yikes) to find that things are different at home, and pieces of her life seem to be missing. The series comes from creator and playwright Peter Harness (Wallander; Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and it promises to be both psychological thriller and action/adventure, neither of which rule out Rapace cutting an alien baby from her womb, to be clear. Constellation also stars Better Call Saul’s Jonathan Banks and Agent Carter’s James D'Arcy. — Joe Reid

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Netflix

Premieres February 22

There’s a lot riding on the latest iteration of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Netflix hasn’t exactly been on a hot streak with its live-action adaptations — though One Piece mostly passed muster with fans of the manga, Cowboy Bebop hit too many sour notes. And with the cancellations of shows like Warrior Nun and Shadow and Bone, TV in general is lacking in epic fantasies. Sure, there’s reason to be skeptical about the return of the Aang Gaang — early interviews suggest the new show, from Albert Kim, downplays some of the less desirable traits of certain characters, which could end up undermining their journeys. But the winning cast and high-budget design offer just as many reasons to sit back and enjoy the Appa ride. — DC

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, AMC

Premieres February 25

We're a year past The Walking Dead ending as a flagship show, but we have decidedly settled into the Walking Dead spin-off era. Fans of Norman Reedus' character can follow his adventures in Daryl Dixon. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) have taken up residence in Dead City. But with The Ones Who Life, TWD is revisiting the series's most notorious dangling plot thread: what happened to Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). Rick was assumed dead after he sacrificed himself to blow up a bridge full of walkers in Season 9, and his lover Michonne (Danai Gurira) left the next season (following a six-year time jump) to go find him. Seems like that search comes to an end in this six-episode series, which we're told will close out Rick and Michonne's love story. If that all isn't enough, Terry O'Quinn is around as some kind of paramilitary general. — JR

Shōgun, FX

Premieres February 27

James Clavell’s massively popular Shōgun novel was already adapted into a massively popular limited or “event” series in 1980, but expectations are even higher for this gorgeous new adaptation that’s been years in the making. Series creators Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks set out to make sure their expansive drama had room for more viewpoints than that of John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), putting Lord Toranaga (the eminently watchable Hiroyuki Sanada) and Mariko (Anna Sawai) on equal footing, narrative-wise. This Shōgun is a stirring reimagining of Clavell’s book that still honors the source material, and is bound to sweep viewers off their feet. — DC

Survivor, CBS

Premieres February 28

Fresh off of the best season of the new era of the show, Survivor returns for its 46th season. In keeping with the previous five seasons, there will be no returning players, nor will there be a theme to the season (like "Millennials vs. Gen X" or "Fans vs. Favorites"). What will be returning are the 90-minute episodes that helped make Season 45 feel so relaxed and multi-faceted. Based on the preview clip we saw at the end of the Season 45 reunion, the new contestants are every bit as enthusiastic as host Jeff Probst likes 'em. One says she wants to be the first Persian winner of the show. Another is in a rock band. Another is quite boisterous and sports an incredible sunflower-patterned button-down. Narratives abound! — JR

More Notable February Premieres

Below Deck (Bravo): Season 11 premiere, February 5
Cybersleuths: The Idaho Murders (Paramount+): Docuseries premiere, February 6
Abbott Elementary (ABC): Season 3 premiere, February 7
Halo (Paramount+): Season 2 premiere, February 8
They Called Him Mostly Harmless (Max): Docuseries premiere, February 8
Love Is Blind (Netflix): Season 6 premiere, February 14
Ghosts (CBS): Season 3 premiere, February 15
Young Sheldon (CBS): Final season premiere, February 15
Will Trent (ABC): Season 2 premiere, February 20
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (Prime Video): Series premiere, February 23
The Tourist (Netflix): Season 2 premiere, February 29