Kick off the new viewing year with some supernatural stories, criminal capers, and a nice big dose of nostalgia. Here are the new shows coming to streaming in January that writer Jenna Guillaume reckons we should be most excited about…
Kaleidoscope (January 1)
Few things are more fun than a good heist story, and this one has the requisite snarky and uniquely skilled team coming together to pull it off, with a bonus revenge plot to go with it. But what’s perhaps most interesting about Kaleidoscope is the way it’s told: billed as a “non-linear streaming experience”, each of the eight episodes drops in at a different point in the storyline—from seven years before the heist to six months after (and not necessarily in that order).
Produced by Ridley Scott and David W Zucker, the show was created by author Eric Garcia and stars Giancarlo Esposito, Rufus Sewell, Jai Courtney, and Tati Gabrielle.
Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (January 8)
Anne Rice is most famous for her vampire stories, but that was far from all she wrote—her Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy was a bestseller in the 1990s and is now coming to streaming in an eight-episode first season starring Alexandra Daddario, Harry Hamlin, Tongayi Chirisa and Jack Huston. It’s about a family of witches whose lives are bound up with a powerful spirit named Lasher. Because everything is a “universe” now, it takes place in the same narrative world as Interview with the Vampire, also based on Rice’s work and a truly excellent show—hopefully Mayfair Witches is a worthy companion.
The Last Of Us (January 16)
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey were two Game of Thrones minor players who became fan favourites, and now they’re teaming up in this very different series, set in a post-apocalyptic world where a mutated fungus has turned much of humanity into cannibalistic creatures. Fun times!
Pascal plays Joel, a cynical and hardened man who must smuggle the young Ellie (Ramsey) out of the strict quarantine zone and across what remains of the United States. The show is based on a hit video game of the same name and is highly anticipated by fans of the game, but having played it isn’t a requirement for enjoying the series. Nick Offerman, Anna Torv, Murray Bartlett, Melanie Lynskey, and Storm Reid also star.
That 90s Show (January 19)
For 90s kids, it’s a somewhat terrifying reminder of our crumbling bones that we’re now at the stage to warrant a That 90s Show in the same way That 70s Show appeared in the 90s (in fact, we’re well overdue for it). And yet there’s also something familiar and comforting in returning to the Formans’ basement, plus it’s hard not to be curious about how our own childhoods will be repackaged for the sitcom. The fact that Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith return as Kitty and Red Forman, as well as the bright, over-the-top format adds to the nostalgia of it all.
Extraordinary (January 25)
In a world where everyone gets a superpower at age 18, Jen is a 25-year-old tired of waiting to get hers, and sets about trying to make it happen. Created by new talent Emma Moran and produced by Killing Eve’s Lee Morris alongside Sally Woodward Gentle and Charles Dawson, Extraordinary is fresh, fun, and very funny. It stars Máiréad Tyers alongside Sofia Oxenham, Robbie Gee, Siobhan McSweeney, Patricia Allison, and John Macmillan.
Poker Face (January 27)
Rian Johnson sets his sights and storytelling smarts on television in his first series Poker Face, a 10-episode show about Charlie Cale—played by the spectacular Natasha Lyonne—a women who has the ability to tell when someone is lying, which comes in handy for solving crimes. Although the show will be released in batches, Johnson has promised it’s a return to mystery-of-the-week style dramedy, which feels especially refreshing at a time when everything is made to binge.
Wolf Pack (January 27)
Sarah Michelle Gellar returns to supernatural teen shows, this time as part of the older generation. She plays an arson investigator on the hunt for whoever started a massive wildfire that seems to have awakened a supernatural creature. Meanwhile two teens who were caught up in the fire and attacked by the creature start to develop strange abilities and find themselves mysteriously drawn to one another.
As the title suggests, it turns out they’re actually werewolves, but if that didn’t tip you off enough, then the fact that the show is created by Teen Wolf showrunner Jeff Davis might have. It’s not exactly covering new ground, but every crop of teens deserve their own supernatural fare, plus the wildfire angle connects it to themes of climate change in a way that’s particularly relevant. And who can resist the great SMG kicking supernatural butt?
