Broadcast TV networks get early jump on midseason
You don’t have to wait for the new year for a new wave of TV shows.
The broadcast networks are getting an early start on their midseason, which kicks off with “Flirty Dancing” (5 p.m. Sunday, Fox), a reality series that combines the stress of blind dates with the hazards of choreographed dance moves.
Fox obviously has high hopes for the show. It’s giving the series, hosted by Jenna Dewan, a solid lead-in directly following an NFL doubleheader. But in doing so, the network is starting the clock early on a season that also includes “Lego Masters” (9 p.m. Feb. 5, Fox), a competition series that asks viewers to watch people they don’t know play with tiny plastic bricks.
Existing ideas
Both of those reality shows are adaptations of British series, which is in keeping with this winter’s trend of relying on remakes, adaptations, sequels and reimaginings.
The most anticipated new series is no doubt “Star Trek: Picard” (Jan. 23, CBS All Access). Patrick Stewart returns to the franchise as Jean-Luc Picard, and he’s bringing fan favorites Data (Brent Spiner) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) along with him.
Fox is expanding the world of “9-1-1,” which is inexplicably the network’s biggest scripted hit, with “9-1-1: Lone Star” (7 p.m. Jan. 19). The new series finds Rob Lowe portraying the only survivor of his Manhattan firehouse after Sept. 11, 2001, who relocates to Austin, Texas, to rebuild a station following another tragedy.
Producer Dick Wolf, who’s never met a series he didn’t want to franchise — “Law & Order,” the “Chicago” shows — is debuting “FBI: Most Wanted” (10 p.m. Jan. 7, CBS), which stars Julian McMahon and focuses on the agency’s Fugitive Task Force.
The “Archieverse,” which already includes The CW’s “Riverdale” and Netflix’s “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” is growing to include “Katy Keene” (8 p.m. Feb. 6, The CW). After Josie (Ashleigh Murray) leaves Riverdale for the big city, she moves in with Katy (Lucy Hale), an aspiring fashion designer.
“High Fidelity” (Feb. 14, Hulu) has been reconceived as the story of a record store owner (Zoe Kravitz) in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“Party of Five” (9 p.m. Jan. 8, Freeform) is being reborn with a focus on immigration as the five Acosta children struggle with daily life after their parents are deported.
Jude Law’s Pope Pius XIII is back, albeit in a coma, in “The New Pope” (9 p.m. Jan. 13, HBO), which co-stars John Malkovich as John Paul III and features unlikely guest stars Sharon Stone and Marilyn Manson.
A paralyzed forensic genius (Russell Hornsby) tracks a serial killer in the mouthful “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector” (8 p.m. Jan. 10, NBC). It’s an adaptation of the best-selling novel “The Bone Collector” that spawned the 1999 thriller starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
The titular Stephen King novel inspires “The Outsider” (9 p.m. Jan. 12, HBO), about the gruesome murder of an 11-year-old and two of the investigators (Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo) on the case.
Reese Witherspoon looks to continue her TV hot streak, which includes executive producing and starring in “Big Little Lies” and “The Morning Show,” with “Little Fires Everywhere” (March 18, Hulu), based on the Celeste Ng novel and co-starring Kerry Washington.
And “Sherlock” creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat go back to the literary public domain well with their interpretation of “Dracula” (Jan. 4, Netflix).
Something new
Believe it or not, there are a few new ideas floating around this winter.
Big changes are coming to L.A. law enforcement as a horse-riding lawman (Stephen Dorff) is unexpectedly named acting sheriff of Los Angeles County in “Deputy” (9 p.m. Jan. 2, Fox), while Edie Falco stars as a former NYPD officer who becomes the city’s first female police chief in “Tommy” (10 p.m. Feb. 6, CBS).
“Veep” creator Armando Iannucci returns with “Avenue 5” (10 p.m. Jan. 19, HBO), a futuristic comedy, set aboard a luxurious space cruise ship, that stars Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad.
A computer coder (Jane Levy) begins noticing people around her singing their innermost thoughts, via songs no one else can hear, in the musical “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” (10 p.m. Jan. 7, NBC).
After a long absence, a woman (Rosario Dawson) returns to her offbeat hometown to look into her estranged sister’s murder in “Briarpatch” (10 p.m. Feb. 6, USA).
Ordinary people are recruited to solve a mysterious puzzle in “Dispatches From Elsewhere” (10 p.m. March 1, AMC), starring Sally Field, Richard E. Grant, Andre Benjamin and series creator Jason Segel.
A CIA officer (Michelle Monaghan) tracks a man in the Middle East (Mehdi Dehbi) whose followers claim he’s performing miracles in “Messiah” (Jan. 1, Netflix).
The gritty underbelly of Midwestern cheerleading is explored in the murder mystery “Dare Me” (10 p.m. Sunday, USA).
A man (Nicholas Pinnock) sentenced to life in prison begins representing other inmates in their fights for freedom in the drama “For Life” (10 p.m. Feb. 11, ABC), executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
Army medics stationed in Afghanistan are the focus of the drama “68 Whiskey” (10 p.m. Jan. 15, Paramount Network), from executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.
Finally, a trio of family comedies is on tap. Young parents (Adam Pally, Abby Elliott) have their lives disrupted when his parents (Fran Drescher, Steven Weber) arrive, unannounced and homeless, in “Indebted” (9:30 p.m. Feb. 6, NBC). An Atlantic City couple (Jason Biggs, Maggie Lawson) raises four kids, three of whom are geniuses, in “Outmatched” (8:30 p.m. Jan. 23, Fox). And Amy Poehler voices a 15-year-old and his mother, Annie, in the animated “Duncanville” (8:30 p.m. Feb. 16, Fox).
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence @reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.