That's a wrap: TV shows ending in 2018 and what else to watch

The Americans, New Girl, Nashville, The Middleand Portlandiaare just some of the long-running hit series coming to an end in 2018.

Many wrapping up havestrong, complex female characters at the helm as well, still far from the norm in Hollywood.That can make it doubly disappointing to see them go.Butthere are other shows to exploreif you're looking to fill the void.

Here are a few popular ones ending in the coming year:

Scandal

The Shonda Rhimes-created political drama about crisis manager Olivia Pope, played by Kerry Washington, will air the second half of itsseventh and final season starting in January of 2018.Ithas, at times, been an uncannyreflectionofreal-life events, including storylines about amillionaire businessman trying to run for office and the plight of the first female U.S. presidential candidate. Life was just getting too close to art it seems, especiallywhen a seemingly outlandish plot about Russians hacking the U.S. election had to be scrapped because it all of a sudden wasn't so outrageous anymoreit was headline news.

Veep

The shooting schedule for this Emmy-winning comedy is being re-jigged to accommodate star Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. But the seventh and last season is set topremiere sometime in 2018.

Being Mary Jane

Gabrielle Union plays Mary Jane, a powerful career woman balancing professional goals and personal relationships. The show has been lauded not just for being one of the few dramas with a woman of colour in the lead role, but also for how it hastackled issues of race, identity and beauty. It'll end as a two-hour TV movie.

House of Cards

Given the recent sexual harassment scandal surrounding House of Cards'sformer star Kevin Spacey and his subsequent termination,Robin Wright, who has played his cold-hearted and unflinching wife, will now take the lead for the final sixth season.

Saying goodbye to these showsdoesn't have to be all bad. Open your screens to the ones below (if you haven't already) and you might find some new faves.

Insecure

Insecure stars Issa Rae (who also co-created the series) navigating her love and work life in L.A. through the all-too-rare but much-neededlens of an African-American woman and her friends.

Black Mirror

This anthology sci-fi series focuses on the collision course between modern society and technology. Season fourpremieres Dec. 29 with an episode directed by Panic Room's Jodie Foster. Rosemarie DeWitt (La La Land, Rachel Getting Married) stars as a paranoid parent watching her teenage daughter's every move in a pretty creepy way.

Jodie Foster and Rosemarie DeWitt discuss Black Mirror with CBC's Zulekha Nathoo

7 years ago

Duration 2:42

Jodie Foster directs Rosemarie DeWitt in the season 4 premiere about the perils of parenting in the digital age

This is Us

If you already watch This Is Us, you know to keep a tissue box close by. And if you don't, there's still time to catch up before the second half of season two picks upin January.The show about relationships, parenting and career crises follows three siblings and their parents in both present day and the past. The series, which stars Mandy Moore and Emmy-winning Sterling K. Brown, will have even the most stoic TV watchers weeping like babies.

Westworld

Westworld, an ambitious sci-fiseries about the drastic lengths of artificial intelligence, is set to debut its second season in the spring of 2018.Thandie Newton, Ed Harris and Anthony Hopkins also star in this western thriller where androids function as humans andconsequences are virtually erased.

Handmaid's Tale

The first season was based on Margaret Atwood's novel and shot in and around Toronto. After cleaning up at the 2017 Emmy Awards, the series is back for Season 2set for April of 2018. This dystopianthriller is not the series to watch when you need levitybut its darkness carries a stinging relevanceintoday's world.

The Assassination of GianniVersace:American Crime story

For all those obsessed with true crime stories (and who isn't?), thiscomes from the sameanthology series whichbrought the award-winningThe People v. O.J. Simpson. Similar to Season 1, Season 2will explore a high-profile murder in multiple parts. This onestars Edgar Ramirez asrenowned fashion designer Gianni Versace,who was shot in front of his Miami home in 1997. Penelope Cruz plays his sister Donatellaand Glee star Darren Criss plays his killer.

Worth the wait

There is a lot of anticipation for the final season of Game of Thrones, which will be in production next year but isn'texpected to airbefore 2019.

Big Little Lies, which started out as a miniseries only to later announce it would return for a Season 2, will reunite Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley as friends and mothers living in an affluent California community.

Reboots of both the working class comedy seriesRoseanne and the '80s film Heathers (this time, for TV) are also in the works for 2018, with another one soon to begin production: The Twilight Zone. The director behind the2017 horror hit Get Out, Jordan Peele, will serve as an executive producer.