“High Maintenance”
What You Need To Know: With an eccentric leading character and premise, “High Maintenance” is one the best, and undoubtedly strangest, shows you’re probably not watching. Following a man who sells weed to his clients in New York City, the HBO series offers quiet hilarity as we’re given full access to seemingly supporting players finally given a moment to take center stage for themselves. Developed initially as a web series and then adapted for television, it’s easy to do familiar comedy, which makes “High Maintenance” all the more special as it dares to go weird and dark with its already offbeat humor.
Release Date: Season 3 premieres January 20th on HBO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO9UmeRlUsw
“The Magicians”
What You Need To Know: If you checked in with “The Magicians” back in Season 1 and made the decision that no, this show wasn’t really your thing, it wouldn’t be hard to blame you. A touch hokey with performers getting comfortable in their own skin, it worked best for fans of the original book series and few others. However, Season 2 improved vastly upon itself and Season 3 was a genuinely superb collection of episodes; its playful, shocking, musical, action-packed and deeply romantic in a manner that felt fresh and specific to the show. “The Magicians” never comprises its vision, and as we go into Season 4 after the cliffhanger of last year’s season finale, here’s hoping that the showrunners continue their pace of moving the plot forward at breakneck speed.
Release Date: Season 4 premieres January 23rd on SyFy
“Broad City”
What You Need To Know: We need more shows like Comedy Central’s situational slice of life series “Broad City.” Starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson as two best friends navigating NYC culture, love, professional goals and mid-to-late-20s anxiety, since the start, it’s had a clear-eyed intention to showcase two messy women as imperfect but loveable humans. The hilarious duo may find themselves in absurd situations more episodes than not, but the moments that stick come from a place of honesty, be it a montage that shows a year for them from the point of view of their bathrooms, to a hookup with a co-worker that turns to more, a heroic Abbi saving Ilana from self-inflicted shellfish allergies, or any moment Ilana shows vulnerability. Long story short, the comedy wouldn’t work if the characters didn’t feel real. Season 5 may be our last outing with these hilarious ladies within the confines of the show, but it’s left a more powerful mark because it refused to over-extend itself.
Release Date: The final season premieres January 24th on Comedy Central
“I Am The Night”
What You Need To Know: Patty Jenkins serves as both director and executive producer on this new mini-series, which will premiere on TNT. The filmmaker is probably best known for her work on “Wonder Woman” and the 2003 film “Monster” (the latter of which earned Charlize Theron her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress). Interestingly, the series reunites the director with Chris Pine and Connie Nielsen, who both previously appeared in “Wonder Woman.” As for the show itself, it revolves around a teenage girl who is given away at birth. As the young woman (played by India Eisley) delves into the secrets of her past, she makes a discovery which leads her and a reporter (Pine) to a person who could be linked to one of the most notorious unsolved crimes in history.
Release Date: Series premieres on January 28th on TNT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcxAaIfKBeI
