12 Exciting TV Shows Created by Women Premiering in 2019

4 minute read

A slew of game-changing, female-run television series are ending this year, from Orange Is the New Black to Jane the Virgin. Luckily, the women who created those touchstones of popular culture have paved the way for future female showrunners to flood the market with new, original stories.

In 2019, some of Hollywood’s most prominent writers and directors, including Ava DuVernay, Patty Jenkins, Lena Waithe and Mindy Kaling, will debut new shows on the small screen. The series range from mysteries based on true crime to a reboot of the classic rom-com Four Weddings and Funeral. Here are just a few of the series we are most excited to watch.

I Am the Night

I am the Night Ep 102 ph: Clay Enos 27475_003
Chris Pine in I Am the NightClay Enos—Turner Entertainment Networks

Jan. 28 on TNT

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins re-teams with actor Chris Pine for this miniseries about a journalist’s investigation into the Black Dahlia killer. Jenkins will direct all the episodes.

Russian Doll

Is Nadia (Lyonne) dead, on drugs or simply losing her mind?
Is Nadia (Lyonne) dead, on drugs or simply losing her mind?Netflix

Feb. 1 on Netflix

This Groundhog Day-like dramedy focuses on a woman who repeatedly dies and wakes up again at her birthday party. In the series, co-created by Amy Poehler, Orange Is the New Black actor Natasha Lyonne and Bachelorette writer-director Leslye Headland, a New Yorker (played by Lyonne) tries to escape the time loop.

Pen15

Ojican
Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle in Pen15Alex Lombardi—Hulu

Feb. 8 on Hulu

Comedy duo Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle write and star in this middle school-set comedy about two best friends surviving the 8th grade. Produced by Lonely Island, this show is its creators’ answer to awkward, gross-out coming-of-age stories like Superbad and Freaks and Geeks.

Shrill

Episode 103
Aidy Bryant in ShrillAllyson Riggs—Hulu

March 15 on Hulu

Lindy West adapts her feminist, body-positive memoir for television with the help of Saturday Night Live breakout star Aidy Bryant and Ali Rushfield. Bryant stars as a Portland writer pursuing her professional ambitions while trying to sort out her love life.

Bless This Mess

Actress Lake Bell arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica
Actress Lake Bell arrives at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California on March 1, 2014.Danny Moloshok—Reuters

April 16 on ABC

New Girl creator Elizabeth Meriwether joins forces with Lake Bell to write this comedy about a couple who gives up life in the big city and moves to a Nebraskan farm. Bell plays the wife opposite Dax Shepard.

Central Park Five

Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernayJima/Disney Studios

TBA on Netflix

Ava DuVernay is writing and directing this miniseries based on the true story of five black and Latino teens who were convicted of a brutal rape they did not commit. DNA evidence later overturned the conviction, and the case ignited discussions about racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.

First Wives Club

70th Emmy Awards - Arrivals
Ryan Michelle Bathe attends the 70th Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 17, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Axelle Bauer-Griffin—FilmMagic

TBA on BET

Girls Trip writer Tracy Oliver reboots the iconic 1996 film about three women who form a bond after their respective marriages fall apart. The show will star Ryan Michelle Bathe, Michelle Buteau and Jill Scott.

Four Weddings and a Funeral

BRITAIN-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-PREMIERE-OCEANS 8
Mindy Kaling at the European premiere of the film "Ocean's 8" in London on June 13, 2018.Anthony Harvey—AFP/Getty Images

TBA on Hulu

Fresh off The Mindy Project, writer and rom-com fanatic Mindy Kaling turns a classic of the genre into a limited series starring Nathalie Emmanuel from Game of Thrones.

Mrs. America

US-OSCARS-ARRIVALS
Cate Blanchett attends the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.Mark Ralston—AFP/Getty Images

TBA on FX

Cate Blanchett will play real-life activist Phyllis Schlafly, who campaigned against the Equal Rights Amendment and fought against feminist causes in the 1970s. The script comes from Mad Men and Halt and Catch Fire writer Dahvi Waller.

Tuca & Bertie

Tuca & BertieNetflix

TBA on Netflix

BoJack Horseman alumna Lisa Hanawalt gets her own animated series. Ali Wong and Tiffany Haddish lend their voices to this show about two 30-year-old bird-women who live in the same apartment building.

Twenties

Refinery29 Presents 29Rooms Los Angeles 2018: Expand Your Reality
Lena Waithe attends Refinery29 Presents 29Rooms Los Angeles 2018: Expand Your Reality at The Reef on December 4, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Matt Winkelmeyer—Getty Images for Refinery29

TBA on TBS

The Chi creator and Master of None writer Lena Waithe drew from her own experiences as a young, queer, black woman to write the pilot for the upcoming comedy Twenties.

Unbelievable

A24 Hosts A Screening Of "Hereditary" - Arrivals
Toni Collette attends the screening of "Hereditary" hosted by A24 at Metrograph on June 5, 2018 in New York City.Jim Spellman—WireImage

TBA on Netflix

Erin Brockovich writer Susannah Grant, along with novelists Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, adapts a true story of a teen charged with lying about rape. Toni Collette and Merritt Wever star as the female detectives who investigate the alleged assault.

More Must-Reads From TIME

Write to Eliana Dockterman at eliana.dockterman@time.com