Winter TV Preview
Best new and returning shows
Sherlock (January 1)
While the short-and-sweet seasons of this sleek-and-modern take on literature’s greatest detective will always leave us wanting more (only three episodes are slated for this year), we’ll take what we can get.
Homeland (January 15)
After a whole year, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), our favorite terrorist-hunting, pill-popping, psychosis-having intelligence agent is back for her sixth season. No Damian Lewis? No problem!
The Young Pope (January 15)
In director Paolo Sorrentino’s lavish new series, Jude Law plays ultraconservative Lenny Belrado, the first American to be made pope. Considering our current political climate, HBO’s new project—largely about the corrosive nature of power—couldn’t have come at a better time.
Scandal (January 19)
Much to our delight and chagrin, D.C.’s best fixer returns later this January. To clarify: We’re delighted by Olivia Pope’s return but disappointed that she can’t be around in D.C. to fix things for real this coming term.
Black Sails (January 29)
Before sending it down to Davey Jones’s Locker, Starz mercifully decided to keep the epic Treasure Island prequel afloat for one final season. Landlubbers rejoice!
Girls (February 12)
Now that it’s returning for its last season, we can only hope that Lena Dunham and her crew, the poster children for urban millennials, can finally figure it out.
Billions (February 19)
Showtime’s slugfest between U.S. attorney Chuck Rhoades and hedge-fund billionaire Bobby Axelrod will enter its second round the February. And unlike another televised struggle for power that ended this fall, this ugly, no-holds-barred battle will be one you can actually enjoy.
