Ring in the New Year with an exciting slate of new and returning programs coming to TV in the month of January. Zach Galifianakis and Chelsea Handler are the stars of two fresh comedy series premiering this month, and you can look forward to the long anticipated returns of Sherlock, Agent Carter, and yes, The X-Files. Jump after the break for the full rundown.
Before Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat introduce the fourth series, the titular showrunners are primed to debut a Sherlock Christmas special that takes place in the Victorian era. Why move back the hands of time? Well, because Gatiss and Moffat wanted to!
“We discovered there was some precedent for doing Sherlock in the Victorian era,” Moffat told a Comic Con crowd this past summer. “When we first did Sherlock, press asked how can Sherlock possibly survive in the world with an iPhone. And when doing the Victorian [era special], the press came in and said how can he do this without his iPhone?” He later added, “It’s very much the show you know. It’s the Sherlock as you know it, but in the correct era. It’s one of the best ones we’ve made. I think it’s really terrific.”
The 90-minute Christmas spacial, titled Sherlock: The Abominable Bride, airs Friday, Jan. 1 at 9pm on PBS. This marks the first time that the Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman-led series is debuting in the U.S. and abroad simultaneously (at last). Click here to watch a trailer.
Zooey Deschanel had a baby, and so it was decided that Fox sitcom New Girl would be sidelined until midseason. But now I’m happy to report that the network is ready to share the wacky roommates with us again as the fifth season of New Girl is set to premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 8pm on Fox. While Deschanel’s Jessica Day is on jury duty (maternity leave IRL), Transformers star Megan Fox is stepping into the loft to mix things up with Nick, Schmidt, and Winston. Click here for a tiny taste of what’s in store.
John Ridley’s critically acclaimed ABC drama American Crime is prepared to flex its anthological roots in its season 2 debut that promises to tell an entirely new story with fresh characters inhabited by series vets Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Regina King, Lili Taylor, and Elvis Nolasco. While season 1 dealt mostly with race relations, round 2 will explore new territory:
The second season of American Crime is set in the U.S. Midwest — representative of the canvas that is America — at two high schools, one public and one private. Issues of sexual orientation and socioeconomic disparity come to a boil when lurid photos of a high school boy, Taylor Blaine, are posted on social media following a school party. Circumstances become more complicated when Taylor accuses two players on an elite private high school’s championship basketball team, Kevin LaCroix and Eric Tanner, of drugging, assaulting and then posting the pictures of him online.
American Crime premieres Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 10pm on ABC. Click here to watch the extended trailer.
Man Seeking Woman is the best comedy you’re not watching. The show is about the life-and-death stakes of dating and follows Jay Baruchel’s Josh Greenberg on the prowl for a girlfriend. Comic Eric Andre plays his best friend and attempts to help him along the way. It’s utterly surreal in its delivery, and that’s what makes it such a uniquely bizarre show. For example, in its first season there’s an episode where Josh is awaiting a text message from a girl he meets on a train. When it comes time to respond, the anxiety removes him from reality as he’s supplanted into a war room where a roundtable of generals help him decide what to type. It’s nutty on every level and yet (for me, at least) too relatable.
Man Seeking Woman returns Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 10pm on FXX. Click here to view the extended season 2 red-band trailer.
It’s time to get weirder. Adam, Blake, and Ders bring the Rancho Cucamonga mayhem back to your living room with new Workaholics on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 10pm on Comedy Central. Watch the season 6 trailer here.
As previously reported, Sesame Street is relocating to HBO for its 46th season, and now we have a premiere date: Saturday, Jan. 6 at 9pm. It will debut with two back-to-back new episodes, and then on the following Saturday it will begin its regular half-hour installments at 9pm on the premium cable network. In addition to new episodes, HBO will also be home to over 150 library episodes. Have kids but don’t subscribe to HBO? Don’t worry–you will eventually have access to new Sesame Street next fall when PBS will air them free of charge. Now, don’t expect Big Bird and co. to get edgy since it’s on the same network as Game of Thrones and The Sopranos. Sesame Street Workshop simply needed more funds to keep things going, and HBO swooped in to save the day. This partnership is set to last for at least the next five seasons of the children’s program.
Eye the official, cheeky poster above (gotta love that tagline) and click here for the HBO-produced trailer.
Hayley Atwell shined as the kick-ass heroine Agent Peggy Carter in the first season of the ABC-Marvel drama, and now she’s moving the action from New York City to Los Angeles for an even more stylish season 2. Here’s the official logline for Peggy’s LA-bound adventures:
Dedicated to the fight against new Atomic Age threats in the wake of World War II, Peggy must now journey from New York City to Los Angeles for her most dangerous assignment yet. But even as she discovers new friends, a new home – and perhaps even a new love – she’s about to find out that the bright lights of the post-war Hollywood mask a more sinister threat to everyone she is sworn to protect.
Are you also a crazy fan of Peggy Carter and Edwin Jarvis’ (James D’Arcy) infectious chemistry? There’s more where that came from when Agent Carter returns Tuesday, Jan. 19 at 9pm on ABC. It’s a two-hour premiere! Catch the season 2 teaser.
Chip Baskets (Zach Galifianakis) wants to follow his dream of being a French clown—however, reality keeps interfering. Saddled with financial difficulties and facing an impenetrable language barrier, he moves back home to Bakersfield with high hopes. There, he is forced to confront his past while working as a rodeo clown and competing with his siblings for his mother’s approval and affection.
Galifianakis makes his TV series debut in the Louis C.K.-produced FX sitcom Baskets premiering Thursday, Jan. 21 at 10pm. Click here to watch the many laugh-out-loud promotional teasers the cable network has been sprinkling on air for some time now; here’s my favorite one. This looks like a winner.
Comedian and former late-night show host Chelsea Handler is moving on from E! to debut a four-part documentary series on Netflix. Chelsea Does bows on the streaming service Saturday, Jan. 23, and it will tackle topics that fascinate her: namely, marriage, racism, Silicon Valley, and drugs. The trailer works on every level, incorporating her wry, no holds barred sense of humor across her topics of interest. This docu series serves as a prelude to her next talk show coming to Netflix at some point in the future.
Fox is reviving Chris Carter’s iconic sci-fi drama The X-Files as a six-episode limited event series premiering on Sunday, Jan. 24 at 10pm. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are stepping back into the shoes of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to investigate paranormal crimes (read: aliens!). Episodes 1 and 2 will air Sunday the 24th and Monday the 25th, and then the show will fall into its regular Mondays-at-10 timeslot on Feb. 1. Head over to the series’ YouTube channel to see the many promos released leading up to this highly anticipated relaunch. Prominently featured is this 20-minute behind-the-scenes featurette. The truth is out there…