10 new must-see TV shows to chill with this winter
“Black Monday” cashes in on comedy, a new superhero series arrives, and singers are unmasked one by one.
New year, new TV.
While you work on New Year’s resolutions and put 2018 behind you, your favorite TV networks and streaming services are doing the same. Early 2019 is full of new TV shows jockeying for your attention, along with returning favorites (“Star Trek: Discovery”), shows you probably forgot were never canceled (“True Detective” on HBO) and fan-powered seasons (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which moves to NBC).
To help you sort through the shows you haven’t yet heard of, we picked 10 must-see shows, ranging from one that features singing celebrities dressed as monsters to a superhero show that actually stands out.
‘The Masked Singer’ Fox, Wednesdays, 9 EST/PST
Not since “The Voice” arrived in 2011 has a new reality competition captured the nation’s attention. At last, Fox might have found a variation on the formula that will shock and delight you even more. Ten celebrities – described as athletes and Emmy and Grammy winners – in elaborate costumes sing their hearts out, and viewers and celebrity judges – Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger – try to guess who they are. Each week the losing singer, decided by the in-studio audience and judges, leaves the show and takes off their mask. It’s such bizarre and brilliant fun that you may not even care who the celebrities are. Or you might wish that your favorite voices lose quickly so you can see who’s hiding secret talents. – Kelly Lawler
‘The Passage’ Fox (Jan. 14), Mondays, 9 EST/PST
“The Passage” is adapted from the kind of epic sci-fi/fantasy book series you’d expect to see brought to life on premium cable or streaming, with bells, whistles and a huge budget. But Fox manages to scale down a massive and complex story to fit into its lineup without corrupting what makes it fun and gripping. The series is about a government research project that, while aiming to cure all diseases, inadvertently creates vampires. Researchers believe experimenting on a child is the only way to fix the problem and send a covert operative (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) to kidnap one, but his morals get in the way. It’s a lot to take in, but it’s packaged cleanly and tensely. – Lawler
‘Black Monday’
Showtime (Jan. 20), Sundays, 10 EST/PST
Starring Don Cheadle, Regina Hall and Andrew Rannells, “Black Monday” is like “The Wolf of Wall Street” without all the annoying parts. It’s a near-parody of 1980s macho finance culture mixed in with a fictionalized account of how the so-called Black Monday crash happened. The costumes and style are all you’d ever want from a series set in this period, but it’s the
performances from the three leads that make the series more than just another take on “Greed is good.” – Lawler
‘The Other Two’
Comedy Central (Jan. 24), Thursdays, 10:30 EST/PST
Chris Kelly’s bittersweet cancer comedy “Other People” was one of our favorite films of 2016, so we couldn’t have been more excited for the “Saturday Night Live” writer’s latest TV outing, which re-teams him with “SNL” alums Sarah Schneider and Molly Shannon. The show follows a hapless aspiring actor named Cary (Drew Tarver) who, along with his sister Brooke (Helene Yorke), is riding the coattails of his winsome teenage brother (Case Walker), a Justin Bieber-esque pop star known as Chase Dreams. Like Hulu’s canceled “Difficult People,” “Other Two” is acerbically funny and deeply cynical, with snappy showbiz humor and a fully formed leading man who just happens to be gay (which is, sadly, still a rarity on the big and small screen). – Patrick Ryan
‘I Am the Night’
TNT (Jan. 28), Mondays, 9 EST/PST
Long before she shattered box-office records with 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” director Patty Jenkins gave us the brutal yet human “Monster” (2004), starring Charlize Theron as serial killer Aileen Wuornos. The filmmaker returns to her truecrime roots with the ’60s-set “Night,” which reunites her with “Wonder Woman” heartthrob Chris Pine, who plays a disgraced journalist whose life becomes intertwined with that of Fauna Hodel (India Eisley), a young woman seeking answers about her apparently mixedrace background and wealthy grandfather (Jefferson Mays), a prime suspect in the infamous “Black Dahlia” murder. Pine is charismatic as always, but it’s Eisley’s mesmerizing performance that gives this mystery its beating heart. – Ryan
‘Pen15’ Hulu (Feb. 8)
Try not watching this one through your fingers. Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island cohorts produce this cringeworthy coming-of-age comedy, set in middle school and featuring actual middle-schoolers. The catch? The show’s adult creators, Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine, star as seventhgrade versions of themselves, awkwardly cursing out bullies in the schoolyard and swooning over crushes in homeroom. While the joke seems one-note at best (and creepy at worst) the premise works because of Konkle and Erskine’s commitment to their painfully relatable characters. And although the jokes are decidedly not family-friendly, their believable friendship as brace-face besties gives “PEN15” a sweet center. – Ryan
‘Miracle Workers’
TBS (Feb. 12), Tuesdays, 10:30 EST/PST
“SNL” producer Lorne Michaels is behind this spiritual cousin to “The Good Place,” a quirky workplace comedy set in heaven where God (Steve Buscemi) is a lazy, semi-sadistic oaf whose employees carry out his bidding on Earth. Tired of her insipid job in the dirt division, angel Eliza (Geraldine Viswanathan) transfers to the Department of Answered Prayers, where she works alongside neurotic recluse Craig (Daniel Radcliffe). While it lacks the brain of “Good Place” – one episode centers on God seeking to explode Bill Maher’s penis – “Miracle Workers” still has plenty of heart, morphing into a rom-com as Eliza and Craig try to match up two lovebirds whose romance could literally save the world. – Ryan
‘The Umbrella Academy’ Netflix (Feb. 15)
There was no shortage of superhero shows on TV in 2018, but Netflix is making another run – or, rather, flight – with “Umbrella,” an adaptation of the comic book series by My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way. It’s about a misfit group of superkids, adopted by an eccentric millionaire, who grow up to become troubled adults. It’s a darker and more demented take on the “family of superheroes” story than you’ve seen before, but it still maintains a sense of fun. It certainly stands out amid the glut of interchangeable caped hero series. – Lawler
‘Desus & Mero’
Showtime (Feb. 21), Thursdays, 11 EST/PST
Showtime is wading into the late-night talk-show waters with “Desus & Mero,” which moves from its daily home on Viceland. Hosts Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, who first gained popularity in 2013 with their “Bodega Boys” podcast, don’t appear to be switching up the format much: inviting famous guests on to chop it up about music, sports and pop culture. But knowing their raunchy comedy, easy chemistry and frequently insightful takes on politics, this dynamic duo promises to be as unpredictable as ever. – Ryan
‘Shrill’ Hulu (March 15)
Aidy Bryant finally gets a chance to step outside her “Saturday Night Live” personas with this series, adapted by writer and fat-acceptance activist Lindy West from her memoir. “Shrill” tells the story of Annie (Bryant) a young woman and aspiring journalist trying to sort through her messy love life and career in Portland, Oregon. She also happens to be plus-size and isn’t consumed with trying to change that. Fat women in pop culture are rarely allowed to be happy with their bodies (unless they’re villains), so the mere concept of the show is radical and novel enough. But it avoids being a public service announcement in sitcom form; instead, it’s as sweet and chill as Portland itself. – Lawler