New Year; New TV. Here are some January TV highlights that are #CouchWorthy. Maybe you missed em or didn’t hear about em. What about something fresh? Or something different? Or fun! Then here ya go!
January Highlights
Offside: The Harold Ballard Story (Anytime / CBC Gem)
Jason Priestley’s pandemic project debuts today on CBC; it had its world premiere at the Whistler Film Festival back in December. Priestley’s documentary focuses on Harold Ballard who owned the Toronto Maple Leafs from 1972 until his death in 1990. Basically? Ballard was a Canadian Donald Sterling who drove the Original Six hockey team into the ground; he fired 13 coaches and six general managers during his reign. He was misogynistic, homophobic and racist all on the record too; though many of his comments with aligned with past societal values. (Documentaries like this are great because they reveal how far we’ve come while underscoring many of the common values we hold today will be super cringey to future generations; thankfully we’ll all be dead.) So those are the basic bio beats of Harold Ballard but who was he really? This is what Priestley will unpack in this decidedly unCanadian heritage minute. Programming Note: The Leafs won their last championship in 1967. Their 48-season drought between championships is currently the longest in the NHL. And yet with an estimated worth of US$1.3 billion, the Leafs are the most valuable franchise in the NHL. So that’s where they are these days.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: SHRINKING: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / APPLE TV+)
Shrinking follows a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules and tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Ignoring his training and ethics, he finds himself making huge, tumultuous changes to people’s lives…including his own.
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Jason Segel, who wrote the show, plays a therapist grieving the loss of his wife has hit his breaking point. He begins to tell his clients exactly what he thinks. Soon, his blunt truths begin changing both their lives and his own: classic hijinks. While Harrison Ford portrays Dr. Phil (for real…), a by-the-book therapist who specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy and has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I mean it’s Jason Segel and Harrison Ford in this 10-episode comedy; you’d be crazy to overlook this show.
January Highlights
Ginny & Georgia: Season Two (Anytime / Netflix)
Netflix Gilmore Girls Returns: How do you live with the knowledge that your mother is a murderer? That’s what Ginny is going to have to figure out.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE LAST OF US: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / HBO MAX & CRAVE)
Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across post-pandemic America.
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Post-apocalyptic drama is my love language. Last of Us is of course adapted from the 2013 video game of the same name. The series follows Joel (Pedro Pascal), a smuggler tasked with escorting the teenage Ellie (Bella Ramsey) across a post-apocalyptic United States in 2033. This is 20 years after humans been decimated by a fungal infestation that makes its victims violently insane and feral. Kind of like an I Am Legend vibe you know? Eventually the feral humans evolve and develop echo-location to find people to devour. Kind of like a Daredevil vibe you know? Ellie is immune to the brain infection that created the apocalypse. So…can the smuggler survive this epic journey outside of the quarantine zone and west across the United States with his precious cargo? The Game is afoot!
January Highlights
Star Wars: The Bad Batch: Season 2 (Anytime / Disney+) Title
When the new season opens, months have passed since the events on Kamino, and the Bad Batch continue their journey navigating the Empire after the fall of the Republic.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE ARK: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / PEACOCK (US) & CTV SCI-FI (CANADA))
Created by Dean Devlin, The Ark takes place 100 years in the future when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race.
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Ark One is the Godspeed Little Doodle of the human race. The 12 episode sci-fi show is set “100 years in the future when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race.” Only a year away from reaching the target planet Ark One suffers catastrophic damage. Nothing disrupts a road trip like a passenger who has to pee…right now! This is a harrowing tale of human race survival. To far from home and not close enough to safety…The Ark is adrift and only Noah can relate.
January Highlights
Mayor of Kingstown: Season 2 (Anytime / Paramount+)
The series follows the McLusky family, power brokers in Kingstown, Michigan, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. (Godspeed Jeremy Renner)
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE HUNTERS: SEASON 2 (ANYTIME / PRIME VIDEO)
After an accident derails their exploits in Europe, the Hunters must band back together to hunt down history’s most infamous Nazi, Adolf Hitler, who’s hiding in South America.
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The debut season of Hunters followed a diverse band of Nazi hunters including Al Pacino living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters have discovered that hundreds of Nazi officials are living among us and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the United States. Replace Eliot Ness with Al Pacino, the Untouchables with Hunters and substitute booze for Nazis and you get this Prime TV show. For this second (and final) season The Nazi is still alive: Hitler. (So…yeah Al Capone.) Though beyond that revelation is Al Pacino nurturing a secret? The entire season is now out; this is a binge release. Programming Note: The Hunters released an official six-episode companion podcast series Chutzpah: Hunters Presents True Stories of Resistance on December 13 if you want to Hunt that down.
January Highlights
The Rig: Season 1 (Anytime / Prime Video)
Workers on an oil rig off the coast of Scotland are about to take a break: when the time comes for them to return back to land, the oil rig becomes engulfed by a supernatural mist. Will they make it back?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: LOCKWOOD & CO. (ANYTIME / NETFLIX)
In a world plagued by ghosts, three teens band together as paranormal investigators, risking what little they have to unravel a diabolical conspiracy.
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Hardy Boys with ghosts? Amidst the many corporate adult-run Ghostbusters agencies there is Lockwood & Co. A slim startup founded by two teenage boys who’ve recently added a gifted girl. This is helpful in a universe where ghosts require an “exterminator” or at least to be captured and removed from the premises. But in this creepy world only kids have that distinct ability. Kids gradually lose their ability to detect ghosts as they get older. This British detective thriller television show is based on a series of supernatural young adult novels by Jonathan Stroud released between 2013 and 2017. Should be a welcome snack in between Strange Things seasons.
January Highlights
Your Honor: Season 2 (Anytime / Paramount+ & Crave)
In season two, some will seek salvation in response to the tremendous loss they suffered, while others will seek revenge and they will all be pursued by their enemies at every turn. Ultimately, the question remains: How far are you willing to go to protect what matters most to you?
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: POKER FACE: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / PEACOCK)
Follow Charlie on a cross-country road trip as she meets a rogue’s gallery of characters and avenges a new injustice each episode, armed with little more than her uncanny ability to detect lies and a genuine appreciation for her fellow humans (and the occasional dog).
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Rian Johnson’s TV debut (well like real TV not a Netflix movie) is a 10 episode case-of-the-week mystery series with Charlie Cale. Charlie can always tell when someone’s lying — a skill that helps when she encounters one strange criminal after another. The lengthy list of guest stars/criminals includes Adrien Brody, Ron Pearlman, Judith Light, Lil Rel Howery and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, among others. The hook here is viewers witness who did the crime and how they did it early on in the episode. Charlie Cale’s focus is cracking the case and that’s what we follow. To quote the media release: “She hits the road with her `69 Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.” Intriguing premise; no poker face here you can see my enthusiasm on my face.
January Highlights
Servant: Season 4 (Anytime / Apple TV+)
Following the suspenseful season three finale, season four will bring the final chapter of the Turner story to an epic and emotional conclusion. Leanne’s war with the Church of Lesser Saints heightens, threatening Spruce Street, the city of Philadelphia, and beyond.
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SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE WATCHFUL EYE: SEASON 1 (ANYTIME / FREEFORM & HULU)
Elena Santos is a young woman with a complicated past, maneuvering her way into working as a live-in nanny for an affluent family in Manhattan. She quickly learns that everyone in the mysterious building has deadly secrets and ulterior motives.
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A Hitchcockian Rear Window all set in the same building this time: The Greybourne in Manhattan. After a woman’s mysterious death (is there any other kind?) her aunt enlists the live-in nanny for the affluent family who may have had something to do with the young woman’s death to investigate. So basically the aunt turned her into a Nanny-Cam?? As the ah…Nanny-Cam conducts her investigation she learns…of course everyone in the freaky building has deadly secrets and ulterior motives (is there any other kind?). This is a serious Only Murders In The Building. Programming Note: two back-to-back episodes tonight; streams the next day on Hulu.
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
