TV Talk: Cable, streaming offer fresh shows to start the new year

Even as broadcast network shows return to the air this month, production on programs at most of the major studios in Los Angeles did not resume as scheduled this week due to rising covid-19 cases.

Many series were pushed back to a Jan. 11 production restart and others, including NBC’s partially Pittsburgh-set “This is Us,” delayed production until Jan. 18. The “Grammy Awards” telecast, slated for Jan. 31, was postponed until March 14 and L.A.-based late-night shows starring Jimmy Kimmel and James Corden left their studios again and resumed taping from the hosts’ homes.

This covid-19 surge-prompted production delay, particularly if it extends beyond a couple of weeks, could result in a new round of prime-time series pre-emptions in a month or two.

Coronavirus or not, cable networks and streaming services will introduce midseason scripted series in the months ahead, including:

“Arthur’s Law” (Jan. 7, HBO Max): A German-language dark comedy about an unemployed man.

“Coyote” (Jan. 7, CBS All Access): “Breaking Bad” director Michelle MacLaren gives this series a “Bad” vibe but that doesn’t insure it is good. Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) stars as U.S. border patrol agent Ben who retires and then immediately starts breaking the law to protect his family (more shades of “Breaking Bad”). Early episodes bog down in an abundance of shots of Ben driving (episode one) and huffing-and-puffing through the desert (episode two). By episode three, a flashback shows Ben making a bad cop play that would make his “Shield” character, Vic Mackey, proud. The entire six-episode first season becomes available upon the show’s premiere and the series improves somewhat as it delves into the backstories of its Mexican characters. “Coyote” proves watchable but too derivative.

“Lupin” (Jan. 8, Netflix): After his father is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, a son avenges his father.

“Everyone is Doing Great” (Jan. 13, Hulu): Refugee actors from a TV vampire drama have a late coming of age in this half-hour comedy starring and written by “One Tree Hill” vets James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti.

“WandaVision” (Jan. 15, Disney+): The first Disney+ Marvel universe series about Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) who find themselves living in a classic TV setting.

“Secrets of Sulpher Springs” (8 p.m. Jan. 15, Disney Channel): While other basic cable networks pull back on original scripted series, Disney Channel takes a big swing with its first-ever mystery, debuting with a one-hour premiere (eight half-hour episodes will follow Fridays at 8 beginning Jan. 22). Set and filmed in Louisiana, “Sulpher Springs” follows 12-year-old Griffin (Preston Oliver) after his father (Josh Braaten) moves the family from Chicago to a supposedly haunted hotel, The Tremont, where a girl disappeared 30 years earlier. Adventures involving hidden underground bunkers, time travel and the mysterious past of two parents ensue. Spooky without getting too scary, the show walks a fine line – edgy enough but not too mature as to be off-brand for Disney — as it embraces a serialized storyline by creator Tracey Thomson (“The Young and the Restless”) that will keep young viewers (and their parents) guessing as the characters attempt to unlock the town’s secrets.

“Fate: The Winx Saga” (Jan. 22, Netflix): Live-action coming of age story of five fairies at a magical boarding school reimagined from an Italian cartoon.

“Losing Alice” (Jan. 22, Apple TV+): Neo-noir psychological thriller about an aging director who becomes obsessed with a young screenwriter.

“The Sister” (Jan 22, Hulu): Russell Tovey (“Looking”) stars in a four-part British thriller (from the writer of “Luther”) as a family man who finds secrets from his past threaten to upend his present.

“Bridge and Tunnel” (9 p.m. Jan. 24, Epix): Written and directed by Edward Burns, this dramedy follows recent 1980 college grads pursuing their dreams in Manhattan.

“Resident Alien” (10 p.m. Jan. 27, Syfy): Based on the Dark Horse comic, Alan Tudyk stars as an alien who’s assumed the identity of a human doctor in this comedic drama.

“The Investigation” (10 p.m. Feb. 1, HBO): Six-part limited Scandinavian series about an investigation into the real-life 2017 murder of a Swedish journalist. Pilou Asbaek (Euron Greyjoy on “Game of Thrones”) stars as a prosecutor.

“Firefly Lane” (Feb. 3, Netflix): Best friends story told over 30 years starring Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke.

“Punky Brewster” (Feb. 25, Peacock): Soleil Moon Frye returns for this continuation of the 1984-88 sitcom.

“The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (March 19, Disney+): A Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries about Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) fight anarchists.

Returning:

“Dickinson” (Jan. 8, Apple TV+).

“A Discovery of Witches” (Jan. 9, Sundance Now).

“American Gods” (8 p.m. Jan. 10, Starz).

“Finding Joy” (Jan. 11, AcornTV).

“Search Party” (Jan. 14, HBO Max).

“Disenchantment” (Jan. 15, Netflix).

“Servant” (Jan. 15, Apple TV+).

“Bunk’d” (7:30 p.m. Jan. 15, Disney Channel).

“Gomorrah” (HBO Max).

“grown-ish” (8 p.m. Jan. 21, Freeform).

“Snowpiercer” (9 p.m. Jan. 25, TNT).

“Studio C” (9 p.m. Feb. 8, BYUtv).

“For All Mankind” (Feb. 19, Apple TV+).

“When Calls the Heart” (9 p.m. Feb. 21, Hallmark Channel).

“Snowfall” (10 p.m. Feb. 24, FX).

“The Walking Dead” (9 p.m. Feb. 28, AMC).

“Solar Opposites” (March 26, Hulu).

Pittsburgh’s Fords back on HGTV

Pittsburgh natives Leanne and Steve Ford will be back on HGTV in Pittsburgh-set “Home Again with the Fords” (9 p.m. Feb. 2), a successor series to their HGTV show “Restored by the Fords.”

The seven-episode season follows the Ford siblings as they help families moving back to Pittsburgh renovate their new homes.

Channel surfing

WQED-TV’s new 30-miute documentary “Out of the Woods: Battlefields of Western Pennsylvania” (8 p.m. Jan. 14) visits local sites – Fort Ligonier, Fort Necessity, Fort Pitt, Bushy Run Battlefield, Braddock’s Battlefield and Hanna’s Town – from the French and Indian War (1754-63). … New York news anchor Roma Torre, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon and is the daughter of the late KDKA-TV news anchor Marie Torre, was one of five women who settled a gender and age discrimination lawsuit against Charter Communications’ NY1 late last week. Details were not made public but the women will leave NY1 as part of the settlement. … MeTV will remember its first celebrity marketing ambassador and “Gilligan’s Island” star Dawn Wells with a “Best of Mary Ann” “Gilligan’s Island” marathon 2-5 p.m. Sunday.