20 Most Hotly Anticipated New TV Shows Of 2021

From the Man of Steel to the Texas Ranger, there's a lot to look forward to this year...

tyler hoechlin superman
The CW

2020 may have been a year that we'd all rather forget but at least we could rely on television to provide us with some much-needed escapism. Granted, the ongoing global situation resulted in countless TV shows and films being forced to shut down production (with some even being cancelled as a result) but that didn't stop the year from producing some cracking new shows like Locke and Key, The Undoing, Ratched and Stargirl.

The end of the year certainly marks the end of an era, but it also gives us the chance to look ahead at what's to come - and there are a lot of enticing new TV shows on the horizon in 2021. In fact, a number of those shows were supposed to have aired by now but the production delays made that impossible. The silver lining in that, however, is that we get to experience them for the first time this year instead.

With all of that in mind, let's take a look at some of the most heavily-anticipated small screen offerings that the next year has in store for us.

20. Walker

tyler hoechlin superman
The CW

Fresh off an incredible run on Supernatural, Jared Padalecki steps into another iconic role on The CW. This time, he tackles Cordell Walker in the upcoming Walker - which, if you hadn't already guessed from the name, is a reboot of the Chuck Norris classic Walker, Texas Ranger.

The show follows the titular character as he attempts to get on with his life following the death of his wife Emily (played by Padalecki's real-life wife Genevieve). However, being a Texas Ranger in the business of protecting people, he struggles with the fact that he wasn't able to protect the one person that meant the most to him.

We've seen a number of successful modern TV reboots that weathered some early 'But why?' friction from fans to enjoy rather successful runs (CBS' underrated MacGyver reboot being at the top of that list) so, with that in mind - and Padalecki in the lead - there's no reason to think that Walker won't follow in their footsteps.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Patterson is an experienced writer with an affinity for all things film and TV. He may or may not have spent his childhood obsessing over WWE.