That feels weird to type. 2021. Usually by December I’m getting a feel that a year is over and we’ve had new TV to watch so there are new shows to dissect and discuss and … well. A lot of those plans are just gone. While shows have started filming (and we’ve gotten new episodes of The Good Doctor, All Rise and many more staples), we’ve had a lot more loss than I could have ever predicted.
TV’s taken a beating, with a lot of stellar and surprising freshman series having the rug yanked out from under them. We lost a lot of shows (especially teen ones) due to the prohibitive cost of filming with COVID precautions and the delays that would make the traditional TV “Cast a 20 year old to play 12!” trope really obvious and not in a good way.
But. There are shows still coming back that you may want to watch.
Already Back
These shows are back already and ready for you to tune in:
- All Rise – Lola and the courts are dealing with a COVID world, and Judge Benner is dating online!
- American Housewife – Did you forget that the BFF was a lesbian? Yeah don’t worry, so does everyone else.
- Big Sky – Network TV finally has a non-binary character. However… the series is about sex trafficking and it can be tough to watch.
- The Conners – Still queer ancillary (and that is so early ’90s it hurts), it’s back and on winter hiatus
- FBI: Most Wanted – Still out there, still with a casual queer regular.
- Grey’s Anatomy/Station 19 – The two hour ‘every episode is a crossover’ show now comes with vagina art and french toast.
- Nurses – Another Canadian show imported to NBC, there’s a regular lesbian nurse and the first episode had lesbians of the week.
- Shameless – Tracy probably isn’t looking forward to watching the final season, but it’s back.
Coming Soon
Next we have shows that haven’t yet aired but have planned to:
- All American (18 Jan) – The kids are going to be seniors. Will they achieve their dreams?
- Batwoman (17 Jan) – New Batwoman, but still queer. I’m so excited for this!
- Black-ish (26 Jan) – They’re still on a ‘queer guests’ platform, but that guest is Dre’s little sister played by Raven-Symone, and that’s many kinds of alright.
- Black Lightning (8 Feb) – Back for it’s final season (SOB!) all I want now is a ThunderGrace spinoff. Outsiders, anyone?
- Charmed (24 Jan) – A new trans character is joining the show, but I still want Nico back.
- Grown-Ish (21 Jan) – When we last left the show, resident promiscuous bisexual, Nomi, was about to give birth. Nothing is mentioned about that in the press release (it’s about Zoey wondering if dropping out was the right choice), though, but actor Emily Arlook is still listed as a main so we shall see.
- Legacies (21 Jan) – The last season was not queer enough, but maybe they’ll come back around.
- Mixed-ish (26 Jan) – Sure so far only the grandma is a lesbian, but there’s still hope!
- Nancy Drew (20 Jan) – A supernatural creeper, the show is safe for chickens like me to watch, and has an ongoing queer romance.
- Riverdale (20 Jane) – Please don’t ask me to explain the plot!
- The Rookie (3 Jan) – With a gay male cop, the show still is a bit Queer of the Week, but it’s a decent cops in LA series.
Filming But Not Announced
And related, the following shows have begin filming but we don’t have airdates yet:
- Legends of Tomorrow – And Caity Lotz is directing again!
- The L Word: Generation Q – Yeah they’re filming! Expect more queer adventures and misadventures.
- Motherland: Fort Salem – The witches will return!
- Girls5Eva – When a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 90’s gets sampled by a young rapper, its members reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot. They may be grown women balancing spouses, kids, jobs, debt, aging parents, and shoulder pain, but can‘t they also be Girls5eva? One of the girls is a lesbian dentist.
- Home Economics – A new show on ABC. A lesbian mom and her wife struggle to make ends meet as they work low paying jobs, but is critical to helping her successfulish brothers.
Back but Over
The following shows were back but already finished their run. Still if you’re looking for something to make your Yuletide gayer, you can fill your backlog with:
- Coroner – A CBC (Canadian) show, this was on The CW and has two recurring/regular lesbians. Made by some of the best writers in Canada, it’s must-watch for me whenever it’s on.
- Saved By The Bell – The queen bee of the school is trans, and she’s amazing. No caffeine pills needed.
- Transplant – Another CBC show, this one aired on NBC, about a doctor from Syria. The queers were all ‘of the week’ but still a great show. It’s already been picked up for season 2.
- One Day at a Time – You can watch the final season on CBS All Access (soon to be Paramount+). If you haven’t yet, please do. It was a great show and I’m still mad it’s over.
- Pandora – I know the hijinks of cool kids in space and school isn’t for everyone, but season 2 really ramped everything up and held nothing back.
But What About…
If you’re wondering about thirtysomething(else), and other shows that were promoted at the various press events, a great number did not get picked up. COVID.
