From Bridgerton to Shōgun, Television Looks to History for 2024's Biggest Shows

World War II. Regency-era England. Colonial America. Mid-Century New York City. Feudal Japan.

Separated by centuries, the only thing that connects these disparate moments in history is that they are all heading to television in 2024.

From returning favorites like Bridgerton and Outlander, to new series poised to break big like Shogun and Masters of the Air, 2024 may be one for the history books — literally. Here are the most anticipated historical shows coming in the new year and some suggested reading to brush up on before you watch.

Bridgerton Season 3 (Netflix)

Premiere Date: Part 1 premieres May 16, followed by Part 2 on June 13
The Bridgertons will return in 2024 (more than two years after Season 2) with another romantic romp through the upper class of 19th century England. But this time, don't expect the enemies-to-lovers adventure that defined the first two seasons. The third season will focus on the blossoming romance between lifelong friends Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). Considering her side hustle as Lady Whistledown, this could get messy before it gets to the happy ending.
Homework Recommendation: If you don't mind being spoiled, the best place to start is Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the fourth book in Julia Quinn's series, which focuses on Polin's love story. However, Netflix's series momentarily skips the third book, An Offer from a Gentleman, which centers on Benedict (Luke Thompson), with plans to return to it in future seasons. So if you are a completionist, you might want to read both books. 

Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)

Premiere Date: Jan. 31, streaming the next day on Hulu
Seven years after Bette Davis and Joan Crawford duked it out in Feud: Bette and Joan, FX's Ryan Murphy anthology series is tackling another pop culture-tinged face off –– albeit one a bit more literary. The new season will follow the Swans, a group of New York high society women in the 1950s and 60s, who turned on their friend and legendary novelist Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) after he used their stories as inspiration for his gossipy unfinished novel Answered Prayers. The cast on this one could not be more stacked, including Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, and Molly Ringwald.
Homework Recommendation: It couldn't hurt to pick up Capote's Answered Prayers if you wanted to go straight to the source of the drama. But for an encapsulation of the saga, best to start with Laurence Leamer's Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era, on which the series is based. 

Franklin (Apple TV+)

Premiere Date: TBD 2024
As America approaches the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, expect to see stories of the men and women that defined the Colonial age to get their due. One of the first to roll out will be the story of Benjamin Franklin, in the later years of his life, played by Oscar winner Michael Douglas. Filmed in Versailles outside of Paris, the series will focus on the eight years Franklin spent as a first-time diplomat working to convince France to financially support the American cause for independence.
Homework Recommendation: The series is based on Sarah Schiff's 2005 book, A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.

Genius: MLK/X (National Geographic)

Premiere Date: First two episodes premiere Feb. 1, streaming next day on Disney+ and Hulu
The fourth installment in National Geographic's biographical anthology series will tackle two men whose lives and missions coexisted during one of the most pivotal moments in American history. The whole purpose of the series is to show the creative forces for change behind some of our greatest cultural figures, so focusing on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcom X (Aaron Pierre) makes sense. Often told as separate stories, it should be thrilling to see the two men share the same narrative space while speaking to their ever-relevant messages. It will also serve as one of the last roles of Ron Cephas Jones, who passed away earlier this year.
Homework Recommendation: The series is backed by a number of historical consultants, but it is inspired primarily by Peniel E. Joseph's The Sword and The Shield: The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.

Manhunt (Apple TV+)

Premiere Date: March 15
America's fascination with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln remains as undying as it was 158 years ago when John Wilkes Booth first fired the gun. But the part of history that often gets overlooked is the immediate aftermath when panic and grief washed over a still broken nation. This series will focus on the 12-day manhunt to find the conspirators, with Apple TV+ enlisting Emmy winner Tobias Menzies to play Edwin Stanton, the secretary of war under Lincoln (Hamish Linklater) who led the charge for Booth and company. Filling out the cast are Lili Taylor, Patton Oswalt, and Matt Walsh.
Homework Recommendation: The series is based on James L. Swanson's book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer.

Mary & George (Starz)

Premiere Date: Spring 2024
Morally bankrupt ambition is nothing new in the world of politics, and some of the schemes deployed in the royal courts of the 16th century would rival even the worst of Washington, D.C. today. One of those legendary plots involved George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham, who crafted a plan with his mother Mary to seduce and ultimately influence England's King James I in the latter half of the 1500s. First optioned for Showtime, Starz will now air this story of lust and legacy with Julianne Moore as Mary and Red, White & Royal Blue breakout Nicholas Galitizine as George.
Homework Recommendation: The series is inspired by Benjamin Woolley's The King's Assassin: The Secret Plot to Murder King James 1.

Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)

Premiere Date: First two episodes premiere Jan. 26
After defining the wartime miniseries format with Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the producing team of Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman are back with an aerial view of World War II from the cockpits of the U.S. Air Forces' "Bloody Hundredth." Oscar nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan lead this nine-episode series about the men who sacrificed their lives from thousands of feet above the battlefields to help take down the Nazis. Also among the cast are Callum Turner, Raff Law (son of Jude), and Doctor Who's freshly crowned 15th Doctor Ncuti Gatwa.
Homework Recommendation: The series is based on Donald L. Miller's Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany.

Outlander Season 7, Part 2 (Starz)

Premiere Date: TBD 2024
In the thick of the American Revolution, Jamie and Claire Fraser (Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe) found themselves back on the shores of Scotland at the end of Season 7, Part 1. But what exactly are they walking into? It's been years since they saw family back in Scotland, meaning they could be walking into something just as dangerous as the war they left behind. The eight remaining Season 7 episodes will bring viewers to the beginning of the end of the fan-favorite series, which will conclude with Season 8 in 2025. It means that the stakes have never been higher for the Frasers or the fans.
Homework Recommendation: Season 7 is currently working its way through An Echo in the Bone and Written in My Own Heart's Blood, Books 7 and 8 of Diana Gabaldon's series.

Shōgun (FX)

Premiere Date: Feb. 27, streaming next day on Hulu
FX has been working on its adaptation of James Clavell's towering 1975 epic Shōgun for years, and it's finally here. Set in Feudal Japan in the 17th Century, the story follows a shipwrecked English sailor whose life is changed forever when he encounters a powerful Japanese lord and a skilled female samurai. While Clavell's book is historical fiction, the series is poised to be the kind of gateway to this culture and history for many viewers, just as the book has long been for readers. It was previously adapted into a 1980 miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain, but this big-budget take on the material is one of the most hotly anticipated series in years. Shōgun has the potential to be a huge hit in 2024.
Homework Recommendation: Obviously, James Clavell's novel would be the best pre-watch read, unless you want to remain spoiler-free.