Top new TV series/shows to watch in January 2024
Fool Me Once
Release date: January 1, 2024
Platform: Netflix
Country: UK
Cast: Michelle Keegan, Richard Armitage, Joanna Lumley
Plot: Harlan Coben's Netflix deal, which covers 14 of his novels (and now includes the Myron Bolitar series), seems to be going from strength to strength, with 'Fool Me Once' the seventh Coben novel to be turned into a Netflix series. In 'Fool Me Once' a horrified Maya Stern watches as her murdered husband breaks into her home, while her nephew and niece investigate the murder of their mother. Is there a connection between the two cases? And how has Maya's husband returned 'from the dead'?
Why we're excited: One name: Joanna Lumley. As fans of Lumley from those heady 'Absolutely Fabulous' days, we're waiting for this like kids at Christmas. And Richard Armitage in his THIRD Harlan Coben series finally seems to have found the stardom he has so deserved over the years.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
2 out of 5
Boy Swallows Universe
Release date: January 4, 2024
Platform: Netflix
Country: Australia
Cast: Lee Tiger Halley, Christopher James Baker, Phoebe Tonkin, Felix Cameron
Plot: First up don't be fooled by the appearance of 'Mentalist' Simon Baker or 'Raised by Wolves' Travis Fimmel on the cast list, in fact on Wikipedia they appear up top. Both are in 'Boy Swallows Universe' for just one episode. But that does not take anything away from the fact that this Australian show sounds amazing. Set in 1980s Brisbane (cue amazing soundtrack) it centers around a young boy and his 'selectively mute' brother who set off on a journey into the mob underworld to save their mother. Young Felix Cameron looks outstanding as Eli Bell.
Why we're excited: The Aussies have been on top of their game recently with some truly brilliant shows. We're huge fans of both seasons of 'The Newsreader' whose second season dropped in 2023 and the exceptional comedy 'Fisk'. And with John Collee (who wrote the screenplay for the most underrated film of all-time 'Master and Commander') adapting Trent Dalton's novel, this should be a no-holds-barred feast.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
4 out of 5
The Brothers Sun
Release date: January 4, 2024
Platform: Netflix
Country: USA/Taiwan
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Justin Chien, Sam Song Li
Plot: Netflix is kicking off 2024 in some style. Michelle Yeoh (who seems to be ubiquitous at the moment) plays Sun family matriarch Eileen 'Mama' Sun, who lives with her youngest son Bruce in Los Angeles. But when her estranged husband and crime boss is killed by assassins in Taipei, her oldest son Charles, who's also a gangster, heads to LA to protect his mother and brother from what he fears are coordinated attacks on his family. But Charles's arrival in LA means that Bruce finally learns of his family's crime-ridden past that his mother tried to shield him from and Charles learns the real reason his mother left Taipei.
Why we're excited: East meets West gangster movies tend to bomb pretty hard, but with a solid cast and created by Brad Falchuk (who also writes a few episodes) 'The Brothers Sun' could provide some serious entertainment, that's as long as they don't try and make it too funny for its own good. Jury's out for now.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
3 out of 5
Funny Woman
Release date: January 7, 2024
Platform: PBS
Country: UK
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Tom Bateman, Rupert Everett, Arsher Ali
Plot: OK so this is not technically a new show having aired in the UK in February 2023 on Sky, but it is new to the US, hence its inclusion on this list. Airing on PBS (which once again proves why it's so important to American cultural expansion) 'Funny Woman' charts the career of beauty queen Barbara Parker (Arterton) who takes on the male-dominated world of British sitcoms in the 1960s.
Why we're excited: We're big fans of Gemma Arterton, right from her early role in 'Rocknrolla' to her latest lauded series 'Culprits'. She is superb in 'Funny Girl' and having an excellent supporting cast doesn't hurt either. Critics loved it when it aired in the UK although there was some confusion over whether it was a comedy or a drama (it's a drama). Don't go into it thinking this is something like 'The Marvelous Mrs Maisel', it isn't. Treat it on its own merits and it will reward you handsomely.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
We've seen it so we're thrilled for you: 4 out of 5
Echo
Release date: January 9, 2024
Platform: Disney+/Hulu
Country: USA
Cast: Alaqua Cox, Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio
Plot: Let's get one thing straight up front, Alaqua Cox is NOT related to Charlie Cox. Ostensibly 'Echo' is a spinoff from the Marvel TV series 'Hawkeye' and sees Alaqua Cox reprising her role as Echo aka Maya Lopez. Here we see her hunted by Wilson Fisk's goons as she returns to her home in Oklahoma where she hopes to connect with her ancestral roots. Charlie Cox returns as Daredevil (if you blinked you would have missed him in 'She-Hulk: Attorney at Law') so fans will hopefully be fully primed by 'Echo' before Daredevil makes a proper return in 'Daredevil: Born Again'.
Why we're excited: Let's face it superhero shows and movies off-late have been truly awful at worst and forgettable at best, and it would be putting an unfair amount of pressure on the exceptional Alaqua Cox to change that. But with Matt Murdock by her side, a very strong story, and Vincent D'Onofrio being...well...Vincent D'Onofrio, this could be the show that makes superheroes cool again. We're cheering it on, but we're not holding our breath either. Although, speaking of Vincent D'Onofrio, we're more interested in finding out when 'Godfather of Harlem' returns!
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
This is a tough one. We really want to be excited, and we are honestly quite thrilled that both Alaqua and Charlie are returning, but just the word 'superhero' sends us dozing at the moment. So 2 out of 5 for us
Criminal Record
Release date: January 10, 2024
Platform: Apple TV
Country: UK
Cast: Peter Capaldi, Cush Jumbo
Plot: When an anonymous call reopens an old murder, a grizzled veteran cop locks horns with an idealistic rookie in a case that threatens the very fabric of society.
Why we're excited: American viewers who are not 'Doctor Who' devotees may not have heard of Peter Capaldi, but take a gander through the superb TV series 'The Thick of It' and you'll be instant fans. This role seems like it was written for Capaldi and he should absolutely blast it out of the water, and in Cush Jumbo -- who lit up the excellent 'The Good Wife' and the so-so spinoff 'The Good Fight' -- he has the perfect foil.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
Stratospheric. 5 out 5
Ted
Release date: January 11, 2024
Platform: Peacock
Country: USA
Cast: Max Burkholder, Seth MacFarlane, Scott Grimes, Alanna Ubach
Plot: Set before the events of the hit 2012 movie starring Mark Wahlberg, 'Ted' the miniseries sees the foul-mouthed teddy bear living with his first family, the Bennetts. Whether Peacock will give MacFarlane free rein to reprise Ted's often politically incorrect albeit hilarious zingers from the movies remains to be seen, but one hopes that MacFarlane will resist any pressure to do otherwise, else all you're left with is a series about a mildly funny talking teddy bear, and we think A A Milne's done that already.
Why we're excited: Seth MacFarlane will hopefully be back to his best. But in all honesty, seeing the launch platform, we're restraining our expectations. This could end up being quite the damp squib.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
3 out 5
Belgravia: The Next Chapter
Release date: January 14, 2024
Platform: MGM+
Country: UK
Cast: Daisy Sequerra, David Fynn, Julie Barclay
Plot: Set decades after the original series 'Belgravia' ended, the new show will focus, according to Deadline: "On the love story of Frederick Trenchard and his new love interest, Clara Dunn, who is a newcomer to London society. Unaware that his birth was the product of an affair between his mother Susan and the scoundrel John Bellasis, a troubled childhood has left Frederick deeply insecure, which challenges his courtship of and marriage to Clara." Hmmmm.
Why we're excited: Before fans of the original 'Belgravia', 'Downton Abbey', and 'The Gilded Age' start getting all hot-and-bothered it's important to note that 'The Next Chapter' will NOT be written by Julian Fellowes, but by the critically acclaimed playwright Helen Edmundson who also wrote the movie 'Mary Magdalene' starring Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix. This is not to say that it won't be any good, in fact it could be even better, but Fellowes' distinctive tenor may be missed. And although we're big fans of 'The Gilded Age' we're not super excited, but 'Belgravia' fans will certainly be.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
2 out of 5
Monsieur Spade
Release date: January 14, 2024
Platform: AMC
Country: USA
Cast: Clive Owen, Rebecca Root, Oscar Lesage
Plot: In words we never thought we'd ever write: Sam Spade has retired and living in the South of France. Set in 1963, 'Monsieur Spade' tracks down the iconic detective living his best life in sunny Bozouls. But when six nuns are brutally murdered at the local convent, Spade gets dragged back into the murky world of deceit, violence and the supernatural, all while a past ghost begins a new haunting.
Why we're excited: Why not?! It's Sam Spade. Stick to Dashiel Hammett's style and you'll be fine. We were a bit thrown by Clive Owen's casting as Spade but the more we stared at his picture the more he exuded a Humphrey Bogartesque vibe circa 1931. We're on-side now. But in all honesty, this could end up either being a classic or an absolute bore, and if it's the latter then Scott Frank and Tom Fontana will have a lot to answer for. Although seeing their past work, we think it'll be great.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
4 out of 5
True Detective: Night Country
Release date: January 14, 2024
Platform: HBO MAX
Country: USA
Cast: Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, John Hawkes
Plot: Two detectives -- Danvers and Navarro -- are sent to Ennis, Alaska to investigate the disappearance of eight men from a research station.
Why we're excited: Set in Alaska with winter drawing in, deaths at a remote research station: Everything is set for a classic True Detective season. Jodie Foster, fresh off the critical success of sleeper hit 'Nyad', will have to be at her Clarice Starling best for this one, and there is no reason to doubt that she will be anything other than. There is one question though and that is whether Kali Reis, who has done very little mainstream acting before this, has the chops to hold her own alongside Foster. We would be thrilled if she did and there's no reason to believe she won't. The season is directed by Issa López, and let's hope she brings a little more 'Britannia' and a little less 'Casi Divas'.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
4 out of 5, but new variables make us very anxious too.
Death and Other Details
Release date: January 16, 2024
Platform: Hulu
Country: USA
Cast: Mandy Patinkin, Violett Beane
Plot: Not ANOTHER Agatha Christie wannabe whodunnit series, you may say, and to tell you the truth we did too: But then again we thought the 'Knives Out' franchise was a little light. In 'Death and Other Details' we find detective Rufus Cotesworth and his sidekick Imogene investigating a 'locked-room murder' on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean. The plot does seem a little worn, but at least it'll be scenic.
Why we're excited: Mandy Patinkin (how many of you readers remember the iconic scene of Dr Jeffrey Geiger playing the piano for his dementia-stricken wife in the 90s classic 'Chicago Hope' -- yes kids before there was Fire there was Hope). Patinkin will shine, but whether he can carry the whole series remains to be seen.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
We should really give this a 2 out of 5, but we absolutely love Patinkin so it's a 3.
The Woman in the Wall
Release date: January 19, 2024
Platform: Paramount+/Showtime
Country: Ireland/UK
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Daryl McCormack
Plot: Lorna wakes one day to find a woman's dead body in her house and no idea who she is or how she got there. Lorna's long-running battle with active somnambulism means she can't say with any certainty that she didn't kill her. Throw in a past at Ireland's horrifying Magdalene Laundries, and its abusive and child-snatching nuns, and Lorna is pretty messed up. But is she traumatized enough to kill?
Why we're excited: Like 'Funny Girl' this show aired in the UK in August, but is new stateside. Anything that has the amazing Ruth Wilson in it is for us. Some of you readers might know her better as the riveting Alice Morgan in the hit Idris Elba series 'Luther'. Now we've actually seen this and it is pretty darn good. But while Wilson is at her absolute best, it's Daryl McCormack who really shines as Detective Colman Akande.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
Readers need to watch this. Your anticipation levels should be around a 4.
Griselda
Release date: January 25, 2024
Platform: Netflix
Country: USA
Cast: Sofía Vergara, Martín Rodríguez, Alberto Guerra
Plot: Based on the real-life story of notorious drug lord Griselda Blanco, 'Griselda' charts the rise and fall of the woman behind one of the world's biggest drug cartels. But the story of Griselda is more than just one about a drug kingpin and her hold on the Miami drug trade, it is also the story of a devoted mother looking to protect her children from the violent world they were born into and she helped create.
Why we're excited: Sofia Vergara is best known as the hilarious Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, in the hot comedy 'Modern Family', so we're really looking forward to her sinking her teeth into this very different role. She's surrounded by a superb cast and director Andrés Baiz should bring his 'Narcos' pedigree to bear.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
4 out of 5.
Sexy Beast
Release date: January 25, 2024
Platform: Paramount+
Country: UK
Cast: James McArdle, Emun Elliott, Sarah Greene
Plot: When 'Sexy Beast' the movie released in 2000, it was an instant success. Critically acclaimed for superb performances from Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone, and Ian McShane the movie quickly garnered a cult following. Now, 24 years later, Paramount+ is releasing the prequel in miniseries format. The series will look at how Gal (Kingsley in the movie) and Don (Winstone in the movie) came to meet and develop the complex and precipitous relationship they shared in the movie.
Why we're excited: We're not excited so much as trepidatious because we really, really liked the movie. Does Sexy Beast need a prequel? Well let's face it, this one has been in the works for a while and at one point was scrapped and later resurrected. Whether this resurrection is the second coming or a false dawn remains to be seen. One recommendation before we go: Please watch Jonathan Glazer's (the director of the 'Sexy Beast' movie) latest film 'Zone of Interest' -- deeply troubling, but soul-trembling too.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
3 out of 5. Lost one point because we're a tad nervous.
Expats
Release date: January 26, 2024
Platform: Prime Video
Country: Hong Kong/USA/Australia
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sarayu Blue, Ji-young Yoo, Brian Tee
Plot: The official plot has the word 'glee' in it so we're simply not going to share that. But it sufficeth to say, 'Expats' focuses on...well...expats, more specifically the Hong Kong expatriate community. Revolving around the loves and lives of strangers in a strange land bonding over shared piques and interests, 'Expats' forms a tapestry of the expatriate lifestyle (and as anyone who has ever been an expatriate knows, it can get pretty sordid) that threatens to turn sour over one incident.
Why we're excited: Anything with Nicole Kidman in it signals quality, but with Sarayu Blue and Brian Tee also joining the cast this signals some next-level artistry. Based on the novel by Janice Y K Lee, the series -- or rather its subject matter -- has been slammed (in some quarters) as being tone-deaf considering Hong Kong's current political situation. But not to be put off by such criticism Amazon has doubled down and will release not one, but two series based on the Hong Kong expatriate community, the second being based on Naoise Dolan's 2017 best-seller 'Exciting Times'. Damn the torpedoes!
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
4 out of 5.
Masters of the Air
Release date: January 26, 2024
Platform: Apple TV+
Country: USA
Cast: Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan
Plot: Major Robert S. Johnson of the USAF once said: "Nothing makes a man more aware of his capabilities and of his limitations than those moments when he must push aside all the familiar defenses of ego and vanity, and accept reality by staring, with the fear that is normal to a man in combat, into the face of Death." And for the young bomber pilots flying missions over Germany in World War 2 death was a constant companion. Plagued by enemy fighters, peppered by flak from the dreaded .88s, and with one eye on the fuel gauge, bomber pilots were a band of brothers. Even more so because together they went where eagles dare, knowing that the only way out was down. 'Masters of the Air' is considered a companion piece to 'Band of Brothers' and 'The Pacific' and focuses on the US bomber crews in World War 2 and the camaraderie formed from a shared fate.
Why we're excited: That cast! This looks absolutely brilliant, and if it follows the tried-and-tested formula of its companions then it's sure to be a real humdinger and certainly a tear-jerker.
MEAWW Anticipation Levels
5 out of 5.