That's a wrap: TV shows ending in 2018 and what else to watch
Scandal, The Americans, Veep among popular series wrapping up while Game of Thrones fans might have withdrawal
The Americans, New Girl, Nashville, The Middle and Portlandia are just some of the long-running hit series coming to an end in 2018.
Many wrapping up have strong, complex female characters at the helm as well, still far from the norm in Hollywood. That can make it doubly disappointing to see them go. But there are other shows to explore if you're looking to fill the void.
Here are a few popular ones ending in the coming year:
Scandal
The Shonda Rhimes-created political drama about crisis manager Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, will air the second half of its seventh and final season starting in January of 2018. It has, at times, been an uncanny reflection of real-life events, including storylines about a millionaire businessman trying to run for office and the plight of the first female U.S. presidential candidate. Life was just getting too close to art it seems, especially when a seemingly outlandish plot about Russians hacking the U.S. election had to be scrapped because it all of a sudden wasn't so outrageous anymore — it was headline news.
Veep
The shooting schedule for this Emmy-winning comedy is being re-jigged to accommodate star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. But the seventh and last season is set to premiere sometime in 2018.
Being Mary Jane
Gabrielle Union plays Mary Jane, a powerful career woman balancing professional goals and personal relationships. The show has been lauded not just for being one of the few dramas with a woman of colour in the lead role, but also for how it has tackled issues of race, identity and beauty. It'll end as a two-hour TV movie.
House of Cards
Given the recent sexual harassment scandal surrounding House of Cards's former star Kevin Spacey and his subsequent termination, Robin Wright, who has played his cold-hearted and unflinching wife, will now take the lead for the final sixth season.
Saying goodbye to these shows doesn't have to be all bad. Open your screens to the ones below (if you haven't already) and you might find some new faves.
Insecure
Insecure stars Issa Rae (who also co-created the series) navigating her love and work life in L.A. through the all-too-rare but much-needed lens of an African-American woman and her friends.
Black Mirror
This anthology sci-fi series focuses on the collision course between modern society and technology. Season four premieres Dec. 29 with an episode directed by Panic Room's Jodie Foster. Rosemarie DeWitt (La La Land, Rachel Getting Married) stars as a paranoid parent watching her teenage daughter's every move in a pretty creepy way.
This is Us
If you already watch This Is Us, you know to keep a tissue box close by. And if you don't, there's still time to catch up before the second half of season two picks up in January. The show about relationships, parenting and career crises follows three siblings and their parents in both present day and the past. The series, which stars Mandy Moore and Emmy-winning Sterling K. Brown, will have even the most stoic TV watchers weeping like babies.
Westworld
Westworld, an ambitious sci-fi series about the drastic lengths of artificial intelligence, is set to debut its second season in the spring of 2018. Thandie Newton, Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins also star in this western thriller where androids function as humans — and consequences are virtually erased.
Handmaid's Tale
The first season was based on Margaret Atwood's novel and shot in and around Toronto. After cleaning up at the 2017 Emmy Awards, the series is back for Season 2 set for April of 2018. This dystopian thriller is not the series to watch when you need levity but its darkness carries a stinging relevance in today's world.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime story
For all those obsessed with true crime stories (and who isn't?), this comes from the same anthology series which brought the award-winning The People v. O.J. Simpson. Similar to Season 1, Season 2 will explore a high-profile murder in multiple parts. This one stars Edgar Ramirez as renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was shot in front of his Miami home in 1997. Penelope Cruz plays his sister Donatella and Glee star Darren Criss plays his killer.
Worth the wait
There is a lot of anticipation for the final season of Game of Thrones, which will be in production next year but isn't expected to air before 2019.
Big Little Lies, which started out as a miniseries only to later announce it would return for a Season 2, will reunite Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley as friends and mothers living in an affluent California community.
Reboots of both the working class comedy series Roseanne and the '80s film Heathers (this time, for TV) are also in the works for 2018, with another one soon to begin production: The Twilight Zone. The director behind the 2017 horror hit Get Out, Jordan Peele, will serve as an executive producer.