It's been two years since we had new episodes of Star Trek: Discovery , which debuted back in 2017. Now Paramount+ has dropped the official trailer for the fifth and final season of the spinoff series.

(Spoilers for prior seasons below.)

As previously reported , Sonequa Martin-Green plays Michael Burnham, an orphaned human raised on the planet Vulcan by none other than Sarek (James Frain) and his human wife, Amanda Grayson (Mia Kirshner)—aka, Spock's (Ethan Peck) parents. So she is Spock's adoptive sister. As I've written previously , the S2 season-long arc involved the mysterious appearances of a "Red Angel" and a rogue Starfleet AI called Control that sought to wipe out all sentient life in the universe.

Enlarge / A bold jumping spider struggles to survive in New York City in A Real Bug's Life , narrated by Awkwafina. (credit: National Geographic/Jamie Thorpe)

Pixar's 1998 animated film A Bug's Life celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and National Geographic decided to mark the occasion with a new science docuseries, A Real Bug's Life , narrated by Awkwafina. As with the Pixar film, the bugs (and adjacent creatures) are the main characters here, from cockroaches, monarch butterflies, and praying mantises to bees, spiders, and even hermit crabs. The 10 episodes tell their stories as they struggle to survive in their respective habitats, capturing entire ecosystems in the process: city streets, a farm, the rainforest, a Texas backyard, and the African savannah, for example.

The genesis for the docuseries lies in a rumored sequel to the original film. That inspired Producer Bill Markham, among others, to pitch a documentary series on a real bug's life to National Geographic. "It was the quickest commission ever," Markham told Ars. "They said yes literally over a weekend. It was such a good idea, to film bugs in an entertaining family way with Pixar sensibilities." And thanks to an advent of new technologies, plus a couple of skilled "bug wranglers," the team was able to capture the bug's-eye view of the world beautifully.

According to Director of Photography Nathan Small, long tube-like probe lenses enabled the camera crew to capture footage from inside tiny cracks and holes to better document the buggy behavior. They also made better use of macro lenses. "Before when we had macro lenses, they were all quite long and the background would be really smoooshy with everything out of focus," Small told Ars. "We tried to shoot everything from very low, very wide angles with lots of context, so you can experience the world from the point of view of the animal and see how it sits in its location, rather than just a smooshy background."

You know the premiere date for Netflix's live-action adaptation, Avatar: The Last Airbender , is drawing nigh because the streaming giant just released an official trailer featuring moments drawn from the original anime series and lots of snazzy element-bending action, plus several adorable shots of Appa. We have high hopes for this series.

As we reported previously , the original anime series was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It was set in an Asian-inspired world where certain chosen individuals have the ability to telekinetically manipulate one of four elements (earth, air, water, and fire)—a practice known as "bending." Each generation, there is one Avatar who can bend all four elements and is thus responsible for maintaining harmony among the four elemental nations, as well as serving as a link between the physical and spirit worlds.

A 12-year-old Air Nomad boy named Aang is the current Avatar, but he hid in a state of suspended animation for a century because he was afraid of taking on that huge responsibility. Two Water Tribe siblings, Katara and Sokka, eventually revive Aang, who finds that the Fire Nation has wiped out most of the Air Nomads in his absence. Katara and Sokka join Aang, an airbender, on his quest to master bending each of the remaining three elements. Their mission is hampered by the banished Fire Nation Prince Zuko, who seeks to capture Aang to restore his honor with his father, Fire Lord Ozai, with the help of his uncle Iroh.

Netflix debuted the official full trailer for 3 Body Problem at CES in Las Vegas today, an eight-episode sci-fi series adapted from the award-winning novel The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, the first book in his Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. The series was created by David Benioff, D.B. Weiss ( Game of Thrones ), and Alexander Woo ( True Blood ). CES attendees also had the opportunity to participate in a 3 Body Problem "immersive experience," intended to transport them "into the mysterious world of the series in a fun and experimental way."

(Some spoilers for the novel below.)

The novel began as serialized fiction in Science Fiction World in 2006 and received the Galaxy (Yinhe) Award for Chinese science fiction that same year. Liu published it as a standalone book in 2008. But it was Ken Liu's 2014 English translation for Tor Books—complete with informative footnotes to acquaint Western readers with the many references to Chinese history, particularly the Cultural Revolution —that rocketed The Three-Body Problem to international acclaim. Liu is also the author of two follow-up novels to complete the trilogy ( The Dark Forest and Death's End ), as well as The Wandering Earth —adapted into film in 2019—and Ball Lightning .

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)

Warning: Although we’ve done our best to avoid spoiling anything major, please note this list does include a few specific references to several of the listed shows that some might consider spoiler-y. The segment for The Great contains major reveals, so skip it if you haven't watched the latest season. (We'll give you a heads-up when we get there.)

Everything was coming up mystery in 2023, judging by our picks for Ars Technica's annual list of the best TV shows of the year. There's just something about the basic framework that seems to lend itself to television. Showrunners and studios have clearly concluded that genre mashups with a mystery at the center is a reliable winning formula, whether it's combined with science fiction ( Silo , Bodies , Pluto ), horror ( Fall of the House of Usher ), or comedy ( Only Murders in the Building, The Afterparty ). And there's clearly still plenty of room in the market for the classic police procedural ( Dark Winds , Poker Face , Justified: City Primeval ). Even many shows we loved that were not overt nods to the genre still had some kind of mystery at their core ( Yellowjackets , Mrs. Davis) , so one could argue it's almost a universal narrative framework.

Streaming platforms continue to lead, with Netflix, Apple TV+, and FX/Hulu dominating this year's list. But there are signs that the never-ending feast of new fare we've enjoyed for several years now might be leveling off a bit, as the Hollywood strikes took their toll and the inevitable reshuffling and consolidation continues. That would be great news for budgets strained by subscribing to multiple platforms, less so for those who have savored the explosion of sheer creativity during what might be remembered as a Golden Age of narrative storytelling on TV.

Netflix concluded its Geeked Week showcase yesterday with the release of the full trailer for director Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon : A Child of Fire . It's the first of two parts (with plans for a third film to make it a trilogy), and Snyder and the streaming giant hope the films will launch a new space opera franchise. There are already plans for a novelization of the film, a four-issue prequel comic, a narrative podcast, an animated series, and a four-player game for the Netflix gaming platform.

As we reported previously , years ago, director Zack Snyder had an idea for an epic Star Wars movie that he pitched to Lucasfilm. That project never panned out for a variety of reasons. But the idea continued to germinate until Netflix got on board. Apart from Star Wars, Snyder has said his influences include the films of Akira Kurosawa, especially Seven Samurai , and The Dirty Dozen . He has set his epic saga in a universe controlled by the ruthless and corrupt government of the Mother World (the Imperium) with an army led by one Regent Balisarius (Fra Fee). The rebel moon of the title is called Veldt.

Per the official premise:

Fresh off its critically acclaimed live-action adaptation of the hugely popular anime series One Piece , Netflix has released the first official teaser for yet another live-action adaptation: Avatar: The Last Airbender , based on the animated Nickelodeon TV series of the same name. As we've noted before , Netflix has a mixed track record for these anime adaptations, but if the teaser is any indication, The Last Airbender could join One Piece as another smashing success for the streaming platform.

(Some spoilers for the anime series below, but no major reveals.)

Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the original anime series was set in an Asian-inspired world where certain chosen individuals have the ability to telekinetically manipulate one of four elements (earth, air, water, and fire)—a practice known as "bending." Each generation, there is one Avatar who can bend all four elements and is thus responsible for maintaining harmony among the four elemental nations, as well as being a link between the physical and spirit worlds.

Enlarge / A wealthy pharmaceutical dynasty faces a horrific reckoning in The Fall of the House of Usher. (credit: Netflix)

Halloween approacheth yet again, and that means it's time for another classic horror miniseries from Mike Flanagan and Netflix, the partnership that brought us The Haunting of Hill House , The Haunting of Bly Manor , and Midnight Mass. For his final (sob!) project with Netflix, Flanagan has gifted us with The Fall of the House of Usher . To say it's an adaption of the famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe wouldn't be doing the miniseries justice. What Flanagan has done is something quite extraordinary: it's more an inventive remix of the best of Poe's oeuvre , creating something that's entirely Flanagan's own while still channeling the very essence of Poe.

(Some spoilers below, but no major reveals.)

In Poe's original short story, an unnamed narrator visits his old friend Roderick Usher, who has fallen ill along with his twin sister Madeline—the last surviving members of a once prominent family. The nature of their illness is never disclosed, but Roderick appears to be going mad, convinced his fate is tied to the Usher house—and there is an ominous crack starting from the roof running down the front of the house. Roderick accidentally entombs Madeline alive, believing she has died, and one dark stormy night, she re-emerges and attacks him in revenge. As the twins expire and the narrator flees in terror, the entire house splits in two and sinks into a nearby lake. It's pure Gothic horror , a genre that inspired Poe's many short stories and poetry in the early 19th century.

Doctor Who marks its 60th anniversary this year with three specials featuring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor , with the first slated to air in November. The latest trailer shows the good Doctor reunited with his former companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and facing off against two classic adversaries from the Whovian archives: an alien race called the Meeps and a celestial being known as The Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris.

(Spoilers below for prior seasons of Doctor Who .)

When the BBC announced that Ncuti Gatwa would succeed Jodie Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor as the new incarnation of Doctor Who , fans naturally expected Gatwa to make his first appearance in the traditional regeneration sequence. Instead, in the 2022 special " The Power of the Doctor ," Whittaker's Doctor regenerated into an incarnation bearing a striking similarity to the Tenth Doctor—both played by Tennant. It was a savvy marketing move, given the enormous popularity of Tennant's Doctor. With showrunner Chris Chibnall stepping down and Russell T. Davies re-assuming the reins for the show's 60th anniversary, what better time to revisit that character, along with my personal favorite of the companions, Donna Noble?