The new year arrives Tuesday, and with it comes a deluge of new and returning series. No fewer than 30 shows have their series or season premieres in the first week of 2019, threatening to squash any get-off-the-couch resolutions before they can even start. Such is life in the Peak TV era.
Below is The Hollywood Reporter‘s rundown of some of the coming week’s highlights. It would be next to impossible to watch everything, but THR can point the way to some worthy options. All times are ET/PT unless noted.
On broadcast …
New: Based on a South Korean format, The Masked Singer (8 p.m. Wednesday, Fox) puts 12 celebrities into elaborate costumes and has them perform songs, while judges Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong, Jenny McCarthy and Robin Thicke (and the audience) try to figure out who they are. Only when they’re eliminated do the contestants reveal themselves.
Also new: Hosted and executive produced by Dwayne Johnson, The Titan Games (8 p.m. Thursday, NBC) pits competitors against each other in a series of grueling athletic challenges. It’s a little bit American Gladiators and a little bit American Ninja Warrior.
New (Year’s Eve): Close out 2018 with specials on ABC (New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, 8-11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.), NBC (NBC’s New Year’s Eve, 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.) and Fox (New Year’s Eve with Steve Harvey, 8-10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.), along with cable-news channels CNN and Fox News.
Golden Globes: Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh are hosting the annual awards honoring the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s favorites in both TV and movies (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT Sunday, Jan. 6, NBC).
Returning: Gotham kicks off its final season at 8 p.m. Thursday on Fox; The Blacklist has a two-part premiere on NBC (10 p.m. Thursday, 9 p.m. Friday).
On cable …
Special: Rather than its Christmas special, Doctor Who will air a New Year’s Day special (8 p.m. Tuesday, BBC America) with the Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) encountering an old foe.
New: MTV revives its True Life franchise with True Life/Now, a four-part series profiling people who are “immersed in today’s biggest social phenomena.”
Returning: The week brings new seasons of, among others, Married at First Sight (9 p.m. Tuesday, Lifetime); Love & Hip Hop: Miami and Black Ink Crew: Chicago (8 and 9 p.m. Wednesday, VH1); Grown-ish (8 p.m. Wednesday, Freeform); Project Runway All Stars (9 p.m. Wednesday, Lifetime); Dr. Pimple Popper (9 p.m. Thursday, TLC); and Gold Rush: White Water (10 p.m. Friday, Discovery).
On streaming …
New: DC Universe’s first animated original series, Young Justice: Outsiders, reunites Nightwing, Superboy, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash and introduces several new characters as well. It arrives Friday.
Also new: Taylor Swift fans can ring in the new year with a concert film of her Reputation Stadium Tour, streaming on Netflix Monday; those with a “reduce clutter” resolution for 2019 may be interested in reality series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, premiering Tuesday on Netflix.
Returning: The third and final season of A Series of Unfortunate Events comes to Netflix Tuesday.
In case you missed it …
Derry Girls is a “gloriously foul-mouthed sitcom” about four teenage girls (and the drippy male cousin of one of them) growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1990s amid sectarian violence between Catholic and Protestant factions. Per THR’s review, think a gender-swapped version of The Inbetweeners. It’s streaming on Netflix.
