Television Premieres and Notables: January 23-29, 2017

Monday, 1/23

Supergirl; CW. 7 pm CST. Mid-season Premiere.
With Kevin Smith directing.


Tuesday, 1/24

The New Edition Story; BET. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.

Face Off; Syfy. 11th Cycle Premiere.

Outsiders; WGNA. 2nd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 1/25

The Magicians; Syfy. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Suits; USA. 9 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

The Path; Hulu. Streaming. 2nd Season Premiere.


Thursday, 1/26

Scandal; ABC. 8 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Riverdale; CW. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
The Archie Comics gang in a teen soap opera that doesn't very Archie-ish...
But the show is brought to us by Greg Berlanti, who gets a hit more often than a strikeout, so I'll give it a shot.


Friday, 1/27

Z: The Beginning of Everything; Amazon. Streaming. Series Premiere.
A look at the love affair between Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald.


Sunday, 1/29

Black Sails; Starz. Final Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: January 16-22, 2017

Tuesday, 1/17

Neal Brennan: 3 Mics; Netflix. Streaming. Special.


Wednesday, 1/18

Six; History. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Walton Goggins leads a team of Navy SEALs.


Thursday, 1/19

The Good Place (NBC; 7 pm CST). Season Finale.

Baskets; FX. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.


Friday, 1/20

Real Time With Bill Maher; HBO. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Frontier; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Jason Mamoa stars as a fur trapper in 18th Century Canada.

Television Premieres and Notables: January 9-15, 2017

Monday, 1/9

Big Fan; 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Fans are quizzed about their knowledge of celebrities.


Tuesday, 1/10

Being Mary Jane; BET. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Taboo; FX. 9 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
Tom Hardy stars in this mini I know nothing about.


Wednesday, 1/11

Jeff & Some Aliens; Comedy Central. 9:30 pm CST.

Thursday, 1/12

Colony; USA. 9 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Caraoke Showdown; Spike. 9:30 pm CST.
Craig Robinson drives people around in a van and has them sing for money.


Friday, 1/13

The Wheel; Discovery. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
About people surviving tough environments.

A Series of Unfortunate Events; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Neil Patrick Harris stars as the titular character in this series based on the books.

Sneaky Pete; Amazon; Streaming. Series Premiere.
Giovanni Ribisi plays a just-released con and finds himself in trouble again.


Sunday, 1/15

Vistoria; PBS. 8 pm CST (check local listings). Series Premiere.
In 1837, teenage Victoria becomes Queen of England.

The Young Pope; HBO. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere
Jude Law stars a young pope.

Television Premieres and Notables: January 2-8, 2017

Monday, 1/2

The Bachelor; ABC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.

The New Celebrity Apprentice; NBC. 7 pm CST. Season Premiere.
Now with 100% more Schwarzenegger...

The Wall; NBC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Then moves to Tuesdays at 7 pm.


Wednesday, 1/4

Wahlburgers (A&E. 9 pm CST.) Season Finale.


Thursday, 1/5

Nashville; CMT. 8 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.
Now at its new home network.

Portlandia; IFC. 9 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Friday, 1/6

Grimm; NBC. 7 pm CST. Final Season Premiere.

Sleepy Hollow; Fox. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Emerald City; NBC. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A new take on The Wizard if Oz.

Television Premieres and Notables: December 26, 2016-January 11, 2017

Tuesday, 12/27

Chasing Cameron; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Social media star Cameron Dallas travels and the world and meets his fans.


Wednesday, 12/28

My Crazy Sex; LMN. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
People tell their sex stories.


Thursday, 12/29

The Pizza Show; Viceland. 9:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A Brooklyn pizzeria owner travels the world to see how others do it.


Sunday, 1/1

The Mick; Fox. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Ransom; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Sherlock; PBS. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: December 12-18, 2016

Wednesday, 12/14

Star; Fox. 7 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Younger; TV Land. 9 pm CST. Season Finale.


Friday, 12/16

Man in the High Castle; Amazon. Streaming. 2nd Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: December 5-11, 2016

Tuesday, 12/6

Reggie Watts: Spatial; Netflix. Streaming. Special.


Wednesday, 12/7

Shut Eye; Hulu. Streaming, Series Premiere.
Jeffrey Donovan stars as a con artist.


Friday, 12/9

Fuller House; Netflix. Streaming, 2nd Season Premiere.


Sunday, 12/11

The 22nd Annual Critics' Choice Awards; A&E. 7 pm CST. Special.
Hosted by T.J. Miller, so who knows what might happen?

Last Man on Earth (Fox; 8 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.

Television Premieres and Notables: November 28-December 4, 2016

Whoops-- missed this one last week (yes, I know I didn't do one; Thanksgiving Week is typically dead). Luckily it's streaming. And if you were a fan, you'd have already known about it.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life; Netflix. Streaming. Four specials.


Monday, 11/28

Alright: this is the shiznit we've been waiting for.
The CW has four DC Comics Super Hero shows airing now, and what do the big companies love doing more than anything? Crossovers.
Taking inspiration from the short 1989 DC Universe crossover Invasion, this storyline shows us how the Arrowverse heroes react when the Dominators invade the Earth.
It begins (sort-of; heard it's the tag at the end) with Supergirl (Monday, 7 pm), then moves to The Flash (Tuesday, 7 pm), Arrow (Wednesday, 7 pm), and (presumably) ends with DC's Legends of Tomorrow (Thursday, 7 pm).
Previous crossovers (between two shows) have been a lot of fun, and I expect this one to follow that pattern.


Tuesday, 11/29

Fixer Upper; HGTV. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.


Thursday, 12/1

Top Chef; Bravo. 9 pm CST. 14th Season Premiere.


Friday, 12/2

Mr. Neighbor's House; adult swim.  11 pm CST. Special.


Saturday, 12/3

Pete Holmes: Faces and Sounds; HBO. 9 pm CST. Special.


Sunday, 12/4

Once Upon a Time (ABC; 7 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.

Westworld (HBO; 8 pm CST). Season Finale.

Television Premieres and Notables: November 14-20, 2016

Monday, 11/14

Mars; Nat Geo. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer bring us this mini about the first manned trip to Mars in 2033.


Tuesday, 11/15

Religion of Sports; AT&T Audience. 7 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.
Tom Brady and Michael Strahan bring us this six-part look at the cultural impact of sports.

Good Behavior; TNT. 8 pm CST.  Series Premiere.
A series based on Blake Crouch's books starring Michelle Dockery as a con artist.

Teen Wolf; MTV. 8pm CST. 6th--and final-- season.

Sweet/Vicious; MTV. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Two college women beat up sex offenders at night.


Wednesday 11/16

Undercover; BBC America. 7 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.

American Horror Story: Roanoke ( FX. 9 pm) Season Finale.


Thursday, 11/17

How to Get Away With Murder (ABC; 9 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.

Lovesick; Netflix. Streaming. Season Premiere.


Saturday, 11/19

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks; BBC America. 7:25 pm CST.
BBC America put up the coin to animate some of the legendary "lost episodes" (episodes that aired, but were never saved) using existing audio recordings (usually from fans who wired an audio recorder to their 1960's televisions) and stills from the time.
Power of the Daleks is notable for having the first "renewal" (later known as regeneration) when Second Doctor came from the First.
I'm a minor Whovian, and even I know this is a big deal.  Part of the cool factor of this show is just seeing how hard people are working to make the missing past a little less missing.

Versailles (Ovation; 9 pm CST). Season Finale.


Sunday, 11/20

The Affair; Showtime. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: November 7-13, 2016

Monday, 11/7

People Magazine Investigates; ID. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
The hard-hitting journalists from People Magazine investigate ten true-crimes.


Tuesday, 11/8

Vanderpump Rules; Bravo. 8 pm CST. Season Premieres.

And I am hoping our National Shit Show is finally done today (but I can see the loser not conceding, so it's bound to take a while).
Just about everyone will be doing election specials tonight. The big ones being:
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah (Comedy Central; 10 pm) and
Stephen Colbert's Live Election Night Democracy's Series Special (Showtime; 10 pm CST)
^^^Note: Colbert's on Showtime.


Thursday, 11/10

The Blacklist (NBC; 9 pm CST). Mid-season Finale.

Television Premieres and Notables: October 31-November 6, 2016

Monday, 10/31

People of Earth; TBS. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A reporter brings together people who have had alien experiences.
--And we'll also see how the aliens cope with their experiences.

Chewing Gum; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Netflix brings this British sitcom to The States.
In it, a young woman comes of age when she decides to enjoy all that life has to offer.


Wednesday, 11/2

Stan Against Evil; IFC. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
John C. McGinley stars as a demon hunter, and Janet Varney stars as his sidekick.

Salem; WGN America. 9 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Friday, 11/4

The Crown; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon and The Queen) brings us this ambitious series that tells the story of Queen Elizabeth over six seasons.
It begins as Princess Elizabeth and her new husband try to figure out their future.

Dana Carvey: Straight White Male, 60; Netflix. Streaming. Special.

Television Premieres and Notables: October 24-30, 2016

Monday, 10/24

Man With a Plan; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Matt LeBlanc stars as a contractor who has to become more involved with his kids now that his wife is going back to work.


Wednesday, 10/26

Rectify; SundanceTV. 9 pm CST. 4th-- and final-- Season Premiere.

Jon Glaser Loves Gear; TruTV. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A reality show host tries out new outdoor gear-- and it doesn't go well.


Thursday, 10/27

The Great Indoors; CBS. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Joel McHale stars as a magazine writer who must learn to live in the digital world.

Life in Pieces; CBS.  8:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Mom; CBS. 8 pm CST. 4th Season Premiere.

Pure Genius; CBS. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A billionaire opens a hospital to treat really odd cases.


Friday, 10/28

Tracey Ullman's Show; HBO. 10 pm CST. Series Premiere.

Good Girls Revolt; Amazon. Streaming. Series Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: October 17-23, 2016

Monday, 10/17

Jane the Virgin; CW. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.
It's silly and soap opera-y, but it's so fun and whimsical and crazy that it's also extremely delightful.

The Odd Couple; CBS. 8:30 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.


Wednesday, 10/19

Chance; Hulu. Streaming. Series Premiere.
Hugh Laurie stars in this series based on the Ken Numm novel about a forensic neurologist.


Thursday, 10/20

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Timewarp Again; Fox. 7 pm CST. Special.


Friday, 10/21

The Vampire Diaries; CW. 7 pm CST. 8th-- and final-- season.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; CW. 8 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Even crazier than Jane, and even more delightful.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency; BBC America. 8 pm CST. Series Premiere.
A new take on Scott Adam's books.
I liked the first series based on them that starred the always-great Stephen Mangan, so I'll give this a shot too.

Black Mirror; Netflix. Streaming. 3rd Season Premiere.


Sunday, 10/23

The Simpsons (Fox; 7 pm CST) airs its 600th episode-- and it's a Treehouse of Terror ep.

The Walking Dead; AMC. 8 pm CST. 7th Season Premiere.
I've watched this show since the beginning, but I am especially fascinated by the idea of how this season is going to play out.
It's one of the biggest shows in the country, and it may have pushed it a little too much last season, so I'm curious to see how the storytelling changes-- and how fans react.
Firstly, I think they made a mistake when they showed what looked like a major character death-- and then held confirmation for a few episodes (and the silliness surrounding the reveal). I think, story-wise, it was an okay choice, but AMC made it a bigger deal than it should have, so fans rebelled a bit.
The second mistake was the cliffhanger. Yeah, it's TV; it's what is done. But I think not showing who Negan killed right away will take away the impact of that death. When Negan was introduced in the comics, he pulped a character in the same issue, and that made him even more terrifying.  But the series decided to hold the reveal over the summer, and I think with an entire eight eps following right after, there won't be time for fans to let it sink in.
And I'm sure things have changed in the TV business of the past few years (more cable shows, shorter seasons), but I wonder if The Walking Dead has the traditional network actor contracts. (I, seriously, don't know; just speculating based on "the way it used to be".)  Traditional contracts locked in an actor for five seasons with the studio getting an additional option for two more (with changes that gave more power to the actor for those additional two years). After that, the actor has the advantage of being able to walk away. That's why you see more cast changes happening around the 7-8 season mark.
It's likely the contracts nowadays are different, but we really are reaching the point in this series where actors may decide to pursue other projects, and character deaths may not be strictly story-based.
The cast makeup of this show may be pretty different in the coming years after being fairly stable (for the main characters) for a the past couple.

Talking Dead; AMC. 9:06 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.
A special 90-minute episode featuring twelve of the actors on Negan's hit list".

Comic Book Men; AMC. 11:40 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.

Television Premieres and Notables: October 10-16, 2016

And The CW now finishes-off their premiere (two)week.
My DVR just got a little more full...

Monday, 10/10

Supergirl; CW. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
Moving from CBS will mean a smaller budget-- but hopefully will also mean it can be a little more free in its storytelling.
Season One wasn't perfect, but it was fun and told the right types of stories.
Kara/Supergirl is just trying to find her place in the world, which is made even more difficult because her cousin is the greatest hero in that world.
And Kara does what she does because it's the right thing to do; because she has the power to do more.
This is the right way to do a superhero show. If you have a young girl in your household, this is the type of role model she should be watching.

Two Broke Girls; CBS. 8 pm CST. 6th Season Premiere.
Yeah, this show is still on...


Tuesday, 10/11

The Middle; ABC. 7 pm CST. 8th Season Premiere.

American Housewife; ABC. 7:30 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Katy Mixon stars as a housewife who decides not to be like the other "perfect" women in her neighborhood.

Fresh Off the Boat; ABC. 8 pm CST. 3rd Season Premiere.

The Real Husbands of Beverly Hills; BET. 8 pm CST. Season Premiere.

Channel Zero: Candle Cove; Syfy. 8 pm CST. Mini-series Premiere.

The Real O'Neals. ABC. 8:30 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.

Chicago Fire; NBC. 9 pm CST. 5th Season Premiere.


Thursday, 10/13

DC's Legends of Tomorrow; CW. 7 pm CST. 2nd Season Premiere.
The weakest of the CW DC shows, but it has the most potential.
It's got a great group of actors, and I hope they can even-out the issues from last season (trying to balance the special effects seemed to be one of the biggest), and with a team shake-up for this season, I think we'll be in a better place for S2.
But whatever. Hourman mentioned The Justice Society in the season finale.
I'm in.
All in.

Supernatural; CW. 8 pm CST. 12th Season Premiere.

Falling Water; USA. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Following on the heels of the surprise Mr. Robot; USA tries to reinvent itself with another mysterious show. This one has to do with people with shared dreams-- and someone(s) are able to hack into others'.

Bajillion Dollar Properties; Seeso. Streaming. 2nd Season Premiere.


Friday, 10/14

Goliath; Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.

Haters Back Off! Netflix. Streaming. Series Premiere.


Sunday, 10/16

Eyewitness; USA. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Dead bodies are found, and a cop has to figure out who did it.

Graves; Epix. 9 pm CST. Series Premiere.
Nick Nolte stars as a Republican former-president, who considers his his ideals.