January is going to be a big month for new TV shows: Here are 42 premieres to catch
Lindsay Lohan stars in MTV's "Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club." Credit: MTV/Sebastian Kim
January is just chock full of great viewing — here are 42 shows to keep an eye on, almost one every night!
JAN. 1
"A Series of Unfortunate Events," Netflix
The adventures of the Baudelaire orphans come to an end, along with those of the dastardly Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris). In seven episodes.
JAN. 2
There's a celebrity hidden beneath the Unicorn costume on Fox's "The Masked Singer," premiering Jan. 2, Credit: FOX/Michael Becker
"The Masked Singer," Fox/5, 8 p.m.
Hosted by "AGT's" Nick Cannon, this celebrity singing game shows features panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke — who must guess the identity of a celebrity singer dressed in a ridiculous costume.
"American Masters: Decoding Watson," WNET/13, 9 p.m.
This "American Experience" film explores the life and legacy of James Watson, 90, Nobel laureate, co-discoverer of the double helix structure, and former chief of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He's also a man given to controversial comments and views.
JAN. 3
"Gotham," Fox5, 8 p.m.
The fifth and final season gets underway, essentially wrapping up Batman's origin story, with — per Fox — "a farewell event that will focus on Bruce Wayne’s (David Mazouz) transformation into the caped crusader. "
"The Titan Games," NBC/4, 8 p.m.
This sports competition series will be hosted by (who else?) Dwayne Johnson, in which people or, um, "titans." undergo a series of endurance challenges.
"The Blacklist," NBC/4, 10 p.m.
The sixth season begins. Finally.
JAN. 6
"76th Annual Golden Globe Awards," NBC/4, 8 p.m.
Two hosts (Andy Samberg, Sandra Oh), 25 awards categories and five nominees in each. It should be a busy night.
JAN. 7
LI's own Sal Valentinetti will make an appearance on "America's Got Talent: The Champions," which premieres Jan. 7 on NBC/4 at 8 p.m. Credit: Jeffrey Basinger
"America's Got Talent: The Champions," NBC/4, 8 p.m.
Hosted by Terry Crews (the regular season judges will return), this brings a couple dozen former winners, runners-up, and runners-up to the runners-up, including Prince Poppycock (season 5), Sara and Hero (season 12) and of course, Sal Valentinetti, LI's own, who had a fifth-place finish in season 11.
"The Bachelor," ABC/7, 8 p.m.
Yup, back and in a three-hour launch because — after all — it should take the 30 would be Mrs. Colton Underwoods that much time to get to know him.
JAN. 8
Lindsay Lohan stars in MTV's "Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club." Credit: MTV/Sebastian Kim
"Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club," MTV, 8 p.m.
MTV says it all — "Welcome to Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club! It's her club. Done her way." It's also in Greece, and this is the regular season launch.
"USS Indianapolis: The Final Chapter," WNET/13, 9 p.m.
Extraordinary film on the so-called "Indie," flagship of the 5th Fleet that went down in the final days of World War II, with nearly 900 men dropped in shark-infested waters. This film tells the story of Paul Allen's search and discovery of the wreck nearly three miles beneath the ocean surface.
"Project Blue Book," History, 10 p.m.
Rare (new) scripted series on History, based on true — History says — top secret investigations into UFOs; with Michael Malarkey, Aiden Gillen, Neal McDonough.
JAN. 9
"Schooled," ABC/7, 8:30 p.m.
Spinoff of "The Goldbergs" stars Tim Meadows as principal of an eccentric school, and the high jinks therein. Set in Philadelphia of the '90s.
JAN. 10
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine," NBC/4, 9 p.m.
Canceled at Fox, revived at NBC, with the gang all mostly intact, including Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatiz, Terry Crews and Joe Lo Truglio.
"Fam," CBS/2, 9:30 p.m.
This new Nina Dobrev/Tone Bell sitcom is about a woman who moves in with her older half-sister and fiance — and the show already has a bit of controversy at controversy-plagued CBS: The showrunner was fired for using inappropriate language on-set.
JAN. 11
"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," CW/11, 9 p.m.
Critically adored "Crazy Ex" begins its final mad dash to the finish line, with nine episodes to go in this fourth and extended (a total of eighteen episodes) season.
"Informer," Amazon Prime
In this British streamer, a second-generation South Asian has a brush with the law, and is then coerced by a counterterrorism official to become an informer; six episodes.
"Sex Education," Netflix
Otis (Asa Butterfield) decides to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at his school, with his mom (Gillian Anderson) serving as inspiration: She's a sex therapist. This 8-episode series is also a British production.
JAN. 13
Mahershala Ali and Carmen Ejogo in HBO's Season 3 of "True Detective." Credit: HBO/Warrick Page
"True Detective," HBO, 9 p.m.
Series creator Nic Pizzolatto writes and directs this third season — one episode by David Milch --- set in the Ozarks, starring Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight") as Wayne Hays, a state police detective investigating the disappearance of two missing children in 1980 (the series will cover three different time periods). Also stars Scoot McNairy as the father who had a terrible loss and Mamie Gummer as mom of the missing kids. Much riding on this third edition after the second faltered so badly.
"Valley of the Boom," NatGeo, 9 p.m.
This scripted six-parter is about the '90s tech bubble, and stars Bradley Whitford and Steve Zahn as a pair of tech entrepreneurs.
JAN. 14
"The Passage," Fox/5, 9 p.m.
This pre-apocalyptic thriller is based on the Justin Cronin trilogy about a government experiment to wipe out disease in the human race gone badly wrong; with Mark-Paul Gosselaar ("NYPD Blue") as a fed who is also surrogate dad to a 10-year old girl who is the test subject.
JAN. 15
"Roswell, New Mexico," CW/11, 9 p.m.
The CW is calling this a semi-reboot of the original "Roswell," this one about Liz Ortecho (Jeanine Mason), daughter of undocumented immigrants, now a biomedical researcher, who returns to her hometown — you know which one — only to learn that her teenage crush, Max (Nathan Parsons) was an alien all along — the kind of alien from outer space, by the way.
"Temptation Island," USA, 10 p.m.
This full-on reboot of the execrable 2001 series of the same name is about four couples who go to Maui, where their relationships are tempted by 24 other eligible bachelors and 'ettes.
JAN. 16
"Deadly Class," Syfy, 10 p.m.
Based on the graphic novel (of the same name) by Rick Remender and West Craig, about a homeless teen boy "who is recruited into an elite private academy populated by the offspring of the world's top crime families" — think high school teen drama where the cliques are armed. With Benjamin Wadsworth as Marcus Lopez.
JAN. 17
"A Discovery of Witches," Sundance Now, 8 p.m.
This 8-episode adaptation of the 2011 historical/fantasy novel by Deborah Harkness is about Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a Yale professor, who's also a witch. She discovers a secret manuscript that forces her back into the world of magic, and who is given a helping hand by Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode, "The Crown"), a geneticist . . . and a vampire.
"Star Trek: Discovery," CBS All Access
The second season drops on this day, with new episodes streaming weekly on Thursdays. This one will feature a new and young Spock — played by Ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory) — while Anson Mount joins the cast as captain of the Enterprise. (Rebecca Romijn is also aboard this season.)
JAN. 18
"Butterfly," Hulu
This British drama — starring Anna Friel and Emmett J. Scanlon — is about separated parents who are struggling over how to "approach" their youngest child, born a boy, now identifying as a girl.
"Carmen Sandiego," Netflix
Another Netflix reboot — this time Gina Rodriguez ("Jane the Virgin") voices Carmen. The series will focus on her origin story.
"Girl," Netflix
This debut film by Belgian director Lukas Dhont — about a trans teen who wants to become a ballerina — made a big splash at Cannes for star Victor Polster.
JAN. 19
"Brexit," HBO, 9 p.m.
This drama stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings, the British political strategist who led the effort to disengage Britain from the European Union.
"Dynasties," BBC America, 9 p.m.
Yet another sprawling beautiful world trek by TV's pre-eminent naturalist, David Attenborough, as he explores five imperiled species — penguins, chimpanzees, lions, painted wolves and tigers.
JAN. 20
"Black Monday," Showtime, 10 p.m.
Raucous comedy about the 1987 stock market crash, with Don Cheadle and Regina Hall (also starring Paul Scheer and Andrew Rannells) with the series opener directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
JAN. 22
"Conan," TBS, 11 p.m.
After months of looking for friends (he says) and roaming the world, Conan O'Brien returns to late night, this time without Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band. The new show will be only a half-hour, and the emphasis is now on comedy.
JAN. 24
"Broad City," Comedy Central, 10 p.m.
The final season begins.
"The Other Two," Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m.
This new comedy from Chris Kelly and former "SNL" writer Sarah Schneider, about an aspiring actor Drew Tarver) and his older sister (Broadway star Hélène Yorke) also has a Long Island connection — West Islip's Ken Marino ("Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later") also stars.
JAN. 25
"Black Earth Rising," Netflix
This eight-episode British thriller is about Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel) who is rescued from Rwandan genocide and grows up the daughter of a famed human rights lawyer, to become a legal investigator herself, under the auspices of international lawyer Michael Ennis (John Goodman).
"The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," Netflix
The final six episodes of the final season drop.
JAN. 26
"Amanda Seales: I Be Knowin," HBO, 10 p.m.
Amanda Seales — Tiffany DuBois of "Insecure" — gets her first HBO stand-up special.
JAN. 27
"Screen Actors Guild Awards," TBS, TNT, 8 p.m.
The 25th annual ceremony will air live, with "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and "Ozark" leading the TV nominees, and "A Star is Born," "BlacKkKlansman" and "The Favourite" the movies.
"Rent: Live," Fox/5, 8 p.m.
The Jonathan Larson musical — originating from the Fox Studios and directed by Obie winner Michael Greif — stars Vanessa Hudgens as Maureen Johnson, Tinashe as Mimi Marquez, Brandon Victor Dixon as Tom Collins, Kiersey Clemons as Joanne Jefferson, Joran Fisher as Mark Cohen, Mario as Benjamin Coffin, and Valentina as Angel Dumott Schunard.
JAN. 28
"Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists," HBO, 8 p.m.
This portrait of the longtime Daily News (and Newsday) columnist and his rival/friend, Pete Hamill of the News, Post (and Newsday, too, very briefly), is directed by Jonathan Alter, John Block and Steve McCarthy. .
"I Am the Night," TNT, 9 p.m.
"Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins directs this six-episode series about a reporter, Jay Singletary (Chris Pine) who helps Fauna Hodel (India Eisley, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager") investigate her mysterious past — which possibly involves one of Hollywood's most infamous crimes, the "Black Dahlia." Based on Hodel's autobiography.
