As the holiday season approaches, many of your favorite shows go on hiatus so you can spend time with your loved ones. Most will return to the airwaves in early January and with them comes some new programming–some of which are worth checking out. In this year’s midseason TV preview posts, I will recommend which new shows are worth watching as well as offer schedules provided by the networks themselves. Midseason is on the horizon; out your calendars and let’s do this thing!
This midseason The CW is adding two new series to its schedule: mystery Cult and Sex and the City prequel The Carrie Diaries. Cult follows an investigative journalist (played by Matt Davis) who teams with a research assistant (Jessica Lucas) to find his brother and unravel the mystery behind the TV series called “Cult” whose hardcore fans would literally kill to see what happens next. It also stars Alona Tal and Robert Knepper. It premieres Tuesday, February 19 at 9PM.
The Carrie Diaries is all about Carrie Bradshaw before she met Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda. Nineteen-year-old AnnaSophia Robb plays young Carrie and the show takes place in the ’80s so you can expect the glitz and glam from that exciting era. It premieres Monday, January 14 at 8PM.
My recommendation: It’s always hard for me to recommend anyone to invest their time in a show that airs on The CW. (The last time I did was for Ringer and how did that turn out? Not good.) Not that the network’s programming is particularly bad all the time; it just caters to a very young audience mostly. As much as I want Cult to be a fun, exciting, and suspenseful mystery, after watching a preview it just doesn’t reach me. It grabs and pulls at the things I really like to see in a drama, but it contains the glaze that most CW dramas have (it comes off as bizarre and corny, honestly) and it’s hard for me to tell you to invest your time in such an intriguing mess. I tried Ringer, I really did, but the pilot was too horrendous for me to ever get hooked. Cult, unfortunately, might follow the same fate. The Carrie Diaries, however, is easier to recommend because it sits in the shadow of one of the most successful shows of all time (HBO’s Sex and the City). Obviously the prequel can’t be as edgy and risque, but if the preview has anything to offer its that young Carrie isn’t so different from her future self. This show opens up the world of Carrie Bradshaw to a whole new generation of girls and likely they’ll bite. And if you’re older with kids and remember the wild adventures of Carrie and company, perhaps The Carrie Diaries is a new guilty pleasure for you.
Jump after the break to watch previews for both shows.
Look in the gallery below for key art (aka TV promotional posters).
