The idea might seem crazy, but you're gonna actually have to wait for some big shows in 2018. Yes, you will need to exercise that long dormant muscle of patience. I know this might sound totally bonkers with everything right at your streaming fingertips. But there just has to be some other content you can binge in the meantime. 

Why am I writing in such foreboding tones, you ask? Well, it's because 7 shows that fans cannot get enough will not be back with new episodes until 2019. Are you still reading? Or, are you convulsing and thrashing you computer, tablet, phone or TV in frustration?

The reality of this whole smart TV boom is that the ante is continuously being upped. Companies like Netflix, Amazon along with traditional cable providers like HBO and Showtime have changed the game. They have made television so elaborate and specialized that traditional year after year content can't just be squeezed like it is on an assembly line.

Basically, do you want your favorite shows to be good or do you want have the "jump the shark" discussion? (Do people still have that?) The shows on this list have a lot going on. They are doing everything they can to expand the special medium they have helped create. If they are forced out to meet some self-imposed deadline, the special qualities they exude will naturally suffer.

So it is with both sadness and hope that we give you 7 big shows you can't watch again until 2019. That might seem like an eternity in the TV world. You may wonder what you will do with yourself. Chances are you will experience withdrawals. Don't worry you can re-read this article as many times as you want so you know the aforementioned shows will be coming back. Sometime. Just not anytime soon.

7 Big Little Lies

Network: HBO

Returning: Unknown

One of the big jewels in HBO's crown Big Little Lies was a lot bigger than most people realized it would be. Or, maybe HBO planned on keeping this series simple and have a new cast every season ala True Detective? Whatever the case this show was a monster hit. Winning numerous accolades it just makes sense that it's going to continue. However, with cast members like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman (they also happen to be producers on this juggernaut), schedules just couldn't mesh to have this show comeback anytime sooner than 2019.

6 Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones

Network: HBO

Returning: 2019

Yes, it has been officially confirmed that the next trip to Westeros won't happen until 2019. Game of Thrones is a true example of Goliath vs. Goliath. Year after year in this show's storied run, Game of Thrones has gotten bigger and better. It's like a sales force that constantly exceeds expectations until the expectations are in another stratosphere. Also factor in that the upcoming season is going to be this show's swan song and that only increases the already storied expectations for Game of Thrones. In fact, anticipation for what they might do is going to be so high that chances are a whole cottage industry of doubters will be born. The spectrum will run from "Can Game of Thrones live up to the hype?" to "There's no way it can live up to the hype?" Wherever this final season falls in the Game of Thrones canon it will surely benefit from it's extra time in the 2018 oven.

5 Fargo

fargo

Network: FX

Returning: 2019

With the fate of this show being up in the air Fargo fans got a nice gift (albeit one they are going to have to wait for), when it was announced that this show would indeed be coming back. The fact that the this gift will have to wait until 2019 to be unwrapped is the biggest bit of bad news, it seems. I say that because there's precious little information about the direction that this season is going to take. Sure, we can pontificate all manner of Midwestern shadiness but the reality is that, until 2019 makes its bow, we're going to have to settle for a litany of teaser trailers, vague comments, and press conferences that only serve to remind us that we are waiting for Fargo to come back. Or, watching the current administration in action.

4 True Detective

True Detective

Network: HBO

Returning: 2019

This is probably the show on the list that fans are happy that they have to wait for. It wasn't that Season 2 of True Detective was so bad. It's just that Season 1 was so good. Sophomore efforts rarely match the original (sorry, Stranger Things), but Season 2 of True Detective went so far afield that more time in the development oven is just what this show needs. With a cast that includes Carmen Ejogo, Stephen Dorff and Mahershala Ali, it looks like this interesting procedural can subvert expectations. Also, apparently this show hasn't even started shooting yet, it's supposed to next month, so 2019 it will have to be!

3 Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty

Network: Cartoon Network's Adult Swim

Returning: Unknown

Okay, we are saying that Rick and Morty will be back in 2019. The reality is that we just don't know. What we do know is that people love this show, they want to see more of it, but right now viewers will have to be satisfied with what they've have. Also, it seems like these shows don't come out as easily as other animated offerings. Sure, on paper (no pun intended) the amazing adventures of a scientist and his grandson seem like they would be easy to put together. However, not everything is as easy to produce as it is appears so fans must wait for inspired writing and animation unlike any they have ever seen.

2 Stranger Things

Stranger Things

Network: Netflix

Returning: End of 2018 at the earliest

Okay, you don't have to work in Scotland Yard to do the math here. The Duffer Brothers are still writing the third season of this show. With everything that goes into making Stranger Things happen there's not chance they can have another season (unless it was 2-3 episodes) ready this year. However, they can't wait too long. Their cast is growing up rapidly. So, it seems like they may have to account for that within the internal timeline of the show. However, we won't know how they do this until 2019.

1 Veep

VEEP

Network: HBO

Returning: Unknown

Like Game of Thrones, Veep is not running for re-election after this season. Given that gravitas, it only seems right that they should take a little longer before this show bows out of the Oval Office. Having been universally lauded, and featuring one of TV's most beloved stars (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), they really need to get the ending of this thing right. Apparently, the creative team behind this show wanted to take some extra time with it anyway. So having this show give it's final State of the Union (yes, I know that in reality the Vice President doesn't do that) in 2019 seems like a fairly safe bet.