40 fantasy and sci-fi shows to watch this year

The Flash season 9

2022 was a year of heartache for fans of The CW’s Arrowverse. After weathering cancellations like DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Stargirl, and even a Batgirl movie that was already filmed and into post-production before it was shelved, few projects remain from the glory days of DC’s television empire.

The biggest holdout is The Flash, which has been on the air since 2014. This year, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) returned for his last round of superheroics in the show’s ninth and final season. He isn’t doing it alone though; season 9 features a slew of Arrowverse guest appearances, including the return of Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, David Ramsey as John Diggle/Spartan, Keiynan Lonsdale as Wally West/Kid Flash, and more.

The Flash’s ninth and final season premieres on The CW on February 9. Due to a mid-season break, its season finale will be hitting the air on May 24.

Hello Tomorrow!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live on the moon? Apple TV+’s Hello Tomorrow! asks that question and more as it follows an ace salesman Jack Billings (Billy Krudup) and his team as they hawk lunar timeshares to the people of Earth. This one’s a half-hour comedy series set in a retro-futuristic version of Earth which immediately calls to mind The Jetsons. Yes, people now have robots to pick up their garbage and flying cars, but it all still becomes a bit rote after a while.

Enter Billings and his team of trusty sales associates, who are on a mission to help people live their best lives by purchasing property on the moon. But are they really selling lunar property, or is something untoward afoot?

All 10 episodes of Hello Tomorrow! are available now on Apple TV+.

Carnival Row season 2

Amazon Prime Video’s steampunk noir fantasy show Carnival Row has had a pretty rough run of things. Starring Orlando Bloom as detective Rycroft Philostrate and Cara Delevingne as the fairy Vignette Stonemoss, the first season revolved around a murder mystery in a world where fae beings are forced to live as second-class citizens after their worlds were invaded by humans. It was a quiet hit that was popular enough to net a season 2 renewal from Amazon.

That was in 2019. Since then, Carnival Row has suffered a number of setbacks; first due to the pandemic, and then more delays while Bloom took time off for the birth of his daughter. Despite all that, filming on Carnival Row season 2 wrapped back in September 2021. Amazon sat on it for quite a while before announcing that we’ll finally see season 2 this year. Alas, that announcement came hand-in-hand with the news that this will also be the final season of the show.

Nonetheless, it’s certainly exciting that we’ll finally be able to see the long-awaited second season of the series. All 10 episodes of Carnival Row season 2 are available on Prime Video.