Shows to help you hibernate this winter.

Let’s face it, hibernation has never been easier. Here are some quick suggestions for new television shows that are worth checking out between now and the first signs of spring.

The Chi (CraveTV): Emmy winner Lena Waithe (Master of None) takes a nuanced approach to this drama about kids and young adults living on Chicago’s crime-ridden South Side. There’s a focus on two specific murders, sure, but what’s more striking is how deftly Waithe and her actors create a strong sense of empathy for the characters’ everyday lives. If one has to compare The Chi to other works in this genre, let’s just say it’s less The Wire and more Treme. Black Lightning (Jan. 23

on Netflix): Whatever happened to Black Lightning, the energy-controlling DC Comics superhero who first appeared in 1977? In this imaginative reboot, Black Lightning retired and, as Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), became a much-admired high school principal. But with his city terrorized by a violent gang called the One Hundred, Jefferson starts to reconsider. Of course, there are consequences to superhero-ing while black. It’s a thoughtful approach to the genre’s usual tropes. The Assassination of Gianni

Versace: American Crime Story (Jan. 17, at 10 p.m. on FX Canada): Having ignited a nonfiction re-enactment craze with The People v. O.J. Simpson, Ryan Murphy and company return with this less-remembered tale of the psychopathic serial killer (Andrew Cunanan, played by Darren Criss) who murdered Versace (Edward Ramirez) on the steps of the fashion mogul’s Miami mansion in 1997. The first episode hits a hoped-for sweet spot between fact and sensation.

Counterpart (CraveTV): Oscar winner J.K. Simmons gets dual roles in this dark mindbender. In one dimension, Howard Silk is a longtime schmo who labours at a desk job in a Berlin-based U.N. intelligence office; but in another dimension, he’s a ruthless agent who must cross over to this dimension to take care of some deadly business. Bullets fly, but it’s more interesting to watch Simmons in scenes where Howards No. 1 and 2 realize how different yet still alike — they are. Altered Carbon (Feb. 2 on

Netflix): This series adaptation of Richard K. Morgan’s 2002 cyberpunk novel certainly looks like a million bucks, based on a quick preview of the pilot episode. It’s set in the 2400s, where consciousness is digitized and transferable on vertebrae-like hard drives. Thus, an interstellar warrior (Will Yun Lee) is revived in a new body “sleeve” (The Killing’s Joel Kinnaman) by a billionaire (James Purefoy) who wants him to solve a murder. Rise (March 13 on NBC): Loosely based on journalist Michael Sokolove’s book Drama High, this engaging series from Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights) takes some of Glee’s exuberance and mixes it with a This Is Us-style feel. Josh Radnor stars as a high school English teacher who takes over the drama department with the unlikely goal of staging a musical that’s more provocative than another production of Grease. (Answer? Spring Awakening.)