The good thing about March is that the snow on the ground is finally thawing and the temperatures are rising (slightly). The bad thing about March is that there’s still lousy Smarch weather and the outside is mostly just gross, gray slush. Fortunately, television continues to give us plenty of reasons to stay indoors and under a blanket. From a cyber-centric spinoff of a popular franchise to crime-solving zombies to an insider look at Scientology, here are the ten TV events to watch in March.
March 4 — CSI: Cyber premieres on CBS
The latest installment of the CSI franchise is CSI: Cyber, starring recent Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette alongside non-Academy Award Winners James Van Der Beek and Shad Moss (better known as Bow Wow). This spinoff focuses on cyber crimes on the “darknet,” which hopefully means lots of scenes of Arquette staring at a computer while Bow Wow yells, “Enhance!”
March 5 — American Crime premieres on ABC
But if you want some good, old-fashioned offline crime (and a better program), ABC is offering up the anthology drama American Crime, starring Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton. Written by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave), the series explores the aftermath of a racially charged murder and how it affects the entire community.
March 6 — Watch Season 1 of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix
If you somehow haven’t finished House of Cards Season 3 already, then you definitely will by Friday, which means you’ll need something new to binge-watch in bed all weekend. Enter Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the Tina Fey-created comedy that NBC gave up. Ellie Kemper (The Office) stars as the Kimmy, a woman who escapes a doomsday cult and tries to exist as a normal person in New York City, working as a nanny for Jacqueline Voorhees (Jane Krakowski).
March 17 — Community returns for a sixth season (and eventually, probably, a movie)!
Community news has been relatively scarce recently, especially in comparison to the general avalanche of news that we’re used to. But the comedy is finally coming back, reborn on Yahoo with a two-episode premiere and new episodes posted every Tuesday after.
March 17 — iZombie premieres on The CW
The CW has been on a roll with original programming — Jane the Virgin and The Flash are both highlights of the current TV season — and now the network is introducing us to Rob Thomas’ (Veronica Mars, Party Down) newest show: iZombie. The zombie crime drama, based on a DC comic, stars Rose McIver as a zombie who passes for living, but occasionally eats brains and uses the deceased’s memories to solve crimes. I don’t fully understand, but I am 100 percent on board.
March 18 — VH1 takes a walk of shame
Every month, there’s one spectacularly horrible-sounding show that I can’t wait to see. This time, it’s VH1’s Walk of Shame Shuttle, in which college kids call a shuttle “the morning after” and get a ride home in exchange for cameras capturing the hookup story and confessions.
March 20 — Glee’s curtain call
After six seasons (at least one of which was actually good!), Glee is ending its somewhat successful run on Fox. The musical comedy will go out with a two-hour season premiere, beginning at 8 PM, that is sure to feature a few special guests and showstoppers.
March 23— James Corden takes over The Late Late Show
After Craig Ferguson exited the show in December, The Late Late Show has had a string of guest hosts. It will return to (somewhat) normal on March 23, when James Corden takes over the franchise. Corden hasn’t revealed many details about his Late Late Show plans, but we do know that Reggie Watts will be the house band leader and his first week’s guests include Will Ferrell, Tom Hanks, Kevin Hart, and Kerry Washington.
March 25 — Big Time in Hollywood, FL premieres on Comedy Central
Hoping to bank on the success of its hot new original programming, Comedy Central is premiering another scripted comedy. Big Time in Hollywood, FL focuses on two delusional filmmaker brothers who “find themselves embroiled in an increasingly messy situation that threatens both their artistic ambitions and their lives.” Cuba Gooding Jr., Keith David, and Stephen Tobolowsky are among of the stars.
March 29 — HBO tackles Scientology
Alex Gibney‘s Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, based on the book by Lawrence Wright, is a documentary that profiles eight former members of the Church of Scientology who each share their experiences with the church. Flavorwire’s Jason Bailey reviewed the film when it premiered at Sundance in January.