TV pilots 2018: All the new shows you need to know about (and avoid)
After an action-packed summer of blockbusters and sequels, fall is the time to put your feet up and catch up on all the bingeworthy shows coming your way. It’s pilot season, and that means networks will be throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. From new action dramas to sitcoms and spinoffs, the details on many of these shows are shady, but one of them might just become our new favorite obsession. Networks have just released what they’ll be picking up for broadcast later this year, so let’s have a look and see if anything takes our fancy.
Untitled Damon Wayans
Let’s wait for a title for this one until we start passing judgement, but the synopsis of Damon Wayans’s new comedy vehicle – in which a couple reconnect with their younger selves when a hip new popstar moves in next door – is loaded with cringe potential.
The Goldbergs 1990-Something
AJ Michalka (Super 8) is set to reprise her recurring role as Barry Goldberg’s girlfriend in a spinoff from the popular biographic sitcom, this time taking the comedy to the 90s. Expect questionable fashion choices, flip phones, and angsty pop rock.
Take Two
The creator of Castle’s new series unsurprisingly sounds just like Castle, though the absence of Nathan Fillion (Firefly) is sorely noted. Andrew W. Marlowe’s new show follows a former TV actress and a private investigator teaming up to solve crimes.
A Million Little Things
Comedy writer David J. Nash’s first drama about a group of friends from Boston who bond after one of them dies unexpectedly sounds like the heartwarming series we’ll all need to heat us up for the upcoming winter season. The series ended after Season 5 in 2023.
Murphy Brown
Revivals are all the rage now. In line with this trend, Murphy Brown will now follow in Roseanne’s footsteps for a thirteen-episode reboot. The revival was canceled after one season due to low ratings.
The Rookie
It’s hard having to describe Nathan Fillion’s character as “the LAPD’s oldest rookie”, but at 47 he’s the perfect choice to take on the real life role of John Nolan, who joined the Police Department at the age of forty. He’s still looking good for a man pushing fifty and we’re hoping for a lot of stunts, chases, and punch outs to prove that Fillion’s still got it. The series was renewed for Season 9 with spinoff The Rookie: North ordered for the 2026-27 season.
F.B.I.
More police procedural nonsense from the mind of Dick Wolf (Law & Order), this time following the exploits of the FBI in New York. Probably one to skip, but the addition of Connie Nielsen (The Following) is admittedly a little intriguing. The Dick Wolf procedural has continued through Season 9 renewals into 2026-27.
Welcome to the Neighborhood
Cedric the Entertainer (Barbershop) joins this new comedy in the role he was surely born to play, as the nicest guy in town who moves his family to a rough new neighborhood. The series aired as The Neighborhood on CBS for eight seasons and 155 episodes through its May 2026 finale.
The Cool Kids
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is still going strong, and the involvement of writing and acting trio Charlie Day (Pacific Rim: Uprising), Rob McElhenney, and Glenn Howerton (Fargo) is enough to make this one of our most hotly anticipated new sitcoms. The retirement home setting should tone down their dark humor somewhat, but we’re sure they’ll find a way to make it one of the most controversial shows on the new schedule. The series ended after one season.
Proven Innocent
A lawyer makes it her mission to exonerate those who have been wrongfully convicted after she nearly suffered the same fate in her troubled past. Imagine a fictional Making a Murderer and you’re probably on the right track. The series ended after one season.
Abby’s
Filmed in front of a live audience, but outside? What will they think of next? Abby’s stars Natalie Morales (Santa Clarita Diet) as Abby – the bartender of a quirky bar in San Diego – and follows its customs, rules, and regulars. The addition of Neil Flynn (Scrubs) could take this irreverent comedy to the next level. The series ended after one season.
The Village
Don’t worry, NBC aren’t making us sit through an extended adaptation of M. Night Shyamalan’s twisty, trashy thriller. Instead, the new series captures the lives of the residents of a Brooklyn apartment block who have all developed a strong bond despite their differences. Could be genius, but could very likely be saccharine mush. The series ended after one season.
The Enemy Within
If Ken Woodruff’s work on the batshit crazy Gotham isn’t enough to convince you to tune in with morbid fascination, the synopsis for this pilot certainly will. Erica Wolfe, an ex-CIA agent and traitor to the United States, is described as “the most hated woman in America”, yet is brought out of confinement to assist the FBI’s efforts to counter dangerous espionage threatening the country. Could be a new guilty pleasure. The series ended after one season.
The Passage
Based on Justin Cronin’s bestselling trilogy of science fiction thrillers, Fox’s new series has all the scope of a gigantic epic but set in the modern day. It follows a hidden government lab, experimenting with a deadly virus that has the potential to cure all human disease or wipe out the entire species. The series was canceled after one season in 2019.
The Gilded Age
For those of you who prefer your Westerns without the unwanted addition of homicidal robots, Julian Fellowes’s (Downton Abbey) new period drama could be the show for you. Announced all the way back in 2012, it’s finally heading to our screens and could be a masterpiece. The series premiered on HBO in 2022 and was renewed for Season 4 in fall 2026.
New Amsterdam
This new show has every chance to replace the hole for a great hospital drama left by House. Inspired by Bellevue – the oldest public hospital in America – New Amsterdam stars Ryan Eggold (The Blacklist) as a new doctor determined to cut through the bullshit and deliver the best possible care for a wide variety of patients. The series ran five seasons through 2023, and sequel New Amsterdam: Tomorrow is now in development set thirty years later.
Long-Running Survivors of the 2018 Class
A handful of 2018 pilots defied the usual odds and built lasting runs or franchise extensions. The Rookie moved from early promise into its ninth season with a spinoff ordered for 2026-27. FBI settled into steady Dick Wolf territory and secured renewals through the same season. The Neighborhood, originally pitched as Welcome to the Neighborhood, delivered eight seasons and 155 episodes before closing in May 2026. Those shows remind the industry that pilot season still produces durable network properties when the timing and cast line up.
The Gilded Age: From 2012 Announcement to Ongoing HBO Hit
Julian Fellowes’s period drama took the longest road from 2018 preview lists to the screen. After the 2012 announcement, the project shifted networks and landed at HBO, where it premiered in 2022. Costume drama audiences responded, and the series earned a fourth season renewal ahead of a fall 2026 return. The delay gave the production time to refine its Gilded Age New York setting and ensemble, turning an early whisper into one of prestige television’s current mainstays.
New Amsterdam Franchise Evolution
New Amsterdam closed its original run after five seasons in 2023, yet the medical drama left enough goodwill for a sequel. New Amsterdam: Tomorrow is now in development, shifting the timeline thirty years forward and centering on Max Goodwin’s daughter. The move mirrors how other network medical shows have tried to extend their universes without forcing the original cast back into weekly rotation. Ryan Eggold’s early promise that the series could fill the post-House gap held up through the full run, even if the follow-up arrives in a different era.
One-Season Wonders: What Went Wrong
Most of the 2018 class did not survive their first season. Murphy Brown’s revival, The Passage, The Cool Kids, Abby’s, Proven Innocent, The Village, The Enemy Within, and Take Two all ended after thirteen episodes or fewer. Common factors included modest ratings, shifting network priorities, and the difficulty of launching new procedurals or ensemble comedies in an already crowded landscape. Pilot season always produces more cancellations than renewals, and this group illustrates how quickly the industry moves on when early numbers disappoint.
The Goldbergs 1990-Something and Other Unproduced or Short-Lived Spinoffs
The Goldbergs 1990-Something appeared on 2018 pilot lists with AJ Michalka returning as Barry’s girlfriend, yet the spinoff never moved to series. Similar 1990s nostalgia projects from other comedies also failed to materialize that year. Networks tested multiple extensions of existing hits, but only a few cleared the final hurdle. The unproduced titles serve as a reminder that even popular source material does not guarantee a green light once the pilot season cycle advances.
