What I'm looking forward to in 2019, Part 1

With a new year looming, there's lots of promising pop culture on the horizon. Here's a sample of what I'm personally anticipating in the next 12 months, with another handful to follow in the next post. Consider these my highest possible recommendations for things I haven't actually seen yet.



Bill Griffith's "Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie the Pinhead" (March 19) Griffith's 2015 graphic memoir, "Invisible Ink," about his mother's affair with an obscure cartoonist, was one of the best things I've read in years, and this volume looks to be just as good. Griffith is a real student of American cultural history, so the story of legendary sideshow performer Schlitzie (best know for appearing in Tod Browning's "Freaks") seems right up his alley.


The return of "Brooklyn 99" (Thursday, Jan. 10) Not just because it's funny. Not just because it's the only network show we watch at Casa de Pfeifer. But because my daughter was distraught when Fox canceled it last year, and its miraculous resurrection on NBC shows her that the world isn't always a cruel, unfair place. Sometimes, good things happen.



The new book from James Ellroy (June 4) Ellroy can be infuriating, frustrating and self-indulgent, but he's also like no one else -- and one of my all-time favorite writers. It can take a while to get into the staccato rhythm of his books, but once you do, you're addicted and have no choice but to barrel through to what's bound to be a bleak, brutal and bloody (but satisfying) end. His latest book, "This Storm" continues in the World War II-era setting of his last book, "Perfida," and promises to further explain how monstrous L.A. cop Dudley Smith became one of the most terrifying characters in literature.


The final season of "Veep" (Spring?) I wish it weren't the final season, but I'll be glad to see the return of arguably the sharpest show on TV. Mean-spirited, fast-paced and consistently hilarious, it's just the sort of political show we need today. (Let's face it, this isn't exactly the time for the warm fuzziness of "The West Wing.") Related question: Is Julia Louis-Dreyfus one of the greatest comedians in history? Related answer: You bet.


Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (Aug. 9) I'd watch any movie that Tarantino makes, because I genuinely think he's one of the most compelling filmmakers I've ever seen (yes, I said it), but a story set in 1969 Los Angeles that is somehow connected to the Manson murders feels like the movie he's been waiting his entire life to make. I'm trying to go in as cold as possible, but the glimpses we've seen of sections of Hollywood returned to their vintage late '60s glory get my hopes high indeed.


Season 2 of "Mindhunter" (June? October?) This David Fincher Netflix show about two FBI agents pioneering the work of profiling serial killers in the 1970s was arguably the best show of 2017, and now that filming is done on season 2, we can count on it arriving, well, sometime this year. This season is going to include an appearance by none other than Charles Manson, who will be played by Damon Herriman -- who plays the same role in Tarantino's movie.

Jordan Peele's new movie, "Us" (March 14) "Get Out" was great, obviously, and have you SEEN this trailer?



Coming up: Three books about weird pop culture, part two of a groundbreaking graphic novel, a biopic starring Eddie Murphy and the podcast you've all been dying to hear again.