Agents of SHIELD, September 23rd – Agents of SHIELD had a rocky start before hitting a creative stride during the final six episodes of its first season, when the series really began to address the fallout from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With Marvel Studio’s film success continuing unabated, Agents of SHIELD (along with a new show, Agent Carter, premiering in January) will undoubtedly be setting the stage for the studio’s next blockbuster, Avengers: Age of Ultron — and that’s definitely worth sticking around for.

Interstellar, November 7th – Science fiction isn’t just about shooting up aliens. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar finds the human race scared and alone, venturing out into space simply in order to find a way to survive. Nolan appears to be interested in rekindling the feeling of wonder we get when watching 2001, and we’re more than ready to see if he can pull it off.

Gone Girl, October 3rd – David Fincher’s next thriller is all about uncertainty. A woman has disappeared, and it’s growing increasingly unclear whether her husband had anything to do with it. An adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel of the same name, Gone Girl looks like it’s bound to be another example of Fincher delivering all the moody, stylish storytelling we’ve come to expect from him.

Birdman, October 17th – Director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s films don’t really do simple. They usually tell several characters’ intertwining stories, and Iñárritu has rightly garnered acclaim for his seamless execution. His next film, however, may be a bit different: Birdman appears to focus mainly on one character — a washed-up actor who’s famous for having once played a superhero (smartly cast as Michael Keaton). That doesn’t mean this will be a simple film, though. Birdman looks brilliantly surreal, gorgeously shot, and super smart. This one is easily among the top on our list.

Ascension, November 24th – Alternate histories can breed some of the very best sci-fi, and given the somber, dark tone of Ascension’s pilot we’ve got a good feeling about this one. Based on an actual rocket planned in the ‘50s but never built, this show follows 600 souls five decades after they left our planet — read: the present. These space-people (whose ranks include Tricia Helfer, aka Cylon #6) still act like it’s the Cold War, giving the show a very Mad Men-in-space sort of vibe.

Categories: Channels & Shows • DISH & TV news