January 2023 Television Preview

Whether you’re looking for a new series to binge or awaiting the return of an existing series, January has plenty to offer. If one of your resolutions for 2023 is to practice a new language, there are several internationally-produced series premiering in January: Italian-language show “The Lying Life of Adults” (January 4), Danish-language show “Copenhagen Cowboy” (January 5), and German-language show “Woman of the Dead” (January 5) all launch on Netflix.

If you’re as big of a bookworm as you are a TV enthusiast,  you may recognize “The Lying Life of Adults” as an Elena Ferrante title. Yep, it’s another adaptation of the author behind the source material for HBO series “My Brilliant Friend” and Maggie Gyllenhaal drama “The Lost Daughter.” “The Lying Life of Adults” tells the story of an aunt taking her niece under her wing. Fans of AMC’s “Interview with a Vampire” will be happy to see another Anne Rice adaptation coming to the small screen. “Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches” stars “The White Lotus” alumna Alexandra Daddario as a neurosurgeon who discovers that she’s the descendant of witches — and has powers herself. The series debuts on AMC and AMC+ January 8.

Ringing in the old with the new, Debrah Jo Rupp returns as Kitty Forman January 19 in Netflix’s “That ’70s Show” reboot, “That ’90s Show,” set two decades after the original sitcom. The comedy is co-created by Lindsey Turner with her parents, and original creators of the show, Bonnie and Terry Turner.

Returning series include the sophomore seasons of Netflix’s mother-daughter dramedy “Ginny & Georgia” (January 5) and Hulu’s Hilary Duff-starrer “How I Met Your Father” (January 24).

Here are January’s premiering and returning women- and nonbinary-centric, directed, and written TV projects. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted. 

TV and Episodic Premieres:

“Sometimes When We Touch” (Docuseries) — Directed by Lauren Lazin (Premieres January 3 on Paramount+)

The untold story of soft rock, whose artists dominated pop music worldwide in the ‘70s, only to crash and burn in the ‘80s, eventually experiencing one of the most unlikely comebacks in music history. The series presents all-new interviews with some of soft rock’s biggest legends, like Air Supply, Dan Hill, Kenny Loggins, Ray Parker Jr., Rupert Holmes, and Toni Tennille.

“The Lying Life of Adults” (Premieres January 4 on Netflix)

In 1990s Naples, brash and bold Aunt Vittoria (Valeria Golino) helps her sheltered niece (Giordana Marengo) experience a different side of the city, upsetting the teen’s strict parents. “The Lying Life of Adults” is based on the latest novel by Elena Ferrante.

“Copenhagen Cowboy” — Created by Sara Isabella Jønsson Vedde and Nicolas Winding Refn (Premieres January 5 on Netflix)

After a lifetime of servitude, Miu (Angela Bundalovic) traverses the ominous landscape of Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld. Searching for justice and enacting vengeance, she encounters her nemesis, Rakel (Lola Corfixen), as they embark on an odyssey through the natural and the supernatural. The past ultimately transforms and defines their future, as the two women discover they are not alone, they are many.

“Woman of the Dead” — Created by Barbara Stepansky, Benito Mueller, and Wolfgang Mueller (Premieres January 5 on Netflix) 

A story about the lengths a passionate woman (Anna Maria Mühe) will go to for vengeance after her husband’s death, and the tug-of-war between good and evil that exists in all of us.

“Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches” — Created by Esta Spalding and Michelle Ashford (Premieres January 8 on AMC and AMC+)

Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario), an intuitive young neurosurgeon, discovers that she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches; as she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations in this show based on the trilogy book series “The Lives of Mayfair Witches” by Anne Rice.

“Gina Yei” (Premieres January 11 on Disney+)

Gina (Didi Romero) won a scholarship at the Instituto Musical del Caribe. Her ultimate dream is to compose songs for great artists and let everyone know her ideas and feelings, but she finds things seem immensely more complex than she expected.

“That ’90s Show” — Created by Bonnie Turner, Lindsey Turner, and Gregg Mettler (Premieres January 19 on Netflix)

Now it’s 1995, Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) is visiting her grandparents for the summer where she bonds with a new generation of Point Place, WI, kids under the watchful eye of Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and the stern glare of Red (Kurtwood Smith).

“Women at War” (“Les combattantes”) — Created by Cécile Lorne (Premieres January 19 on Netflix)

France, 1914. The destinies of four women intersect: Marguerite (Audrey Fleurot), a mysterious Parisian prostitute; Caroline (Sofia Essaïdi), propelled to the head of the family factory; Agnes (Julie De Bona), Mother Superior of a requisitioned convent; and Suzanne (Camille Lou), a feminist nurse.

“Shahmaran” (Premieres January 20 on Netflix)

When Şahsu (Serenay Sarıkaya) goes to Adana for a lecture, it’s the perfect chance to face her estranged grandfather. But soon, she finds herself in the midst of a legend.

“Extraordinary” — Created and Written by Emma Moran (Premieres January 25 on Hulu). 

Meet Jen (Máiréad Tyers). She lives in a world where everyone has a superpower. Everyone except her. Which is just sodding great. “Extraordinary” is an eye-popping, shocking, hilarious, and bittersweet comedy about finding your way in the world, when all you’ll ever be is “ordinary.”

“Against the Ropes” — Created by Carolina Rivera; Written by Carmen Castro, Olfa Masmoudi, and Cynthia Fernández Trejo (Premieres January 25 on Netflix)

Released from prison, Ángela tries to regain the respect of her daughter, who loves lucha libre wrestling, by entering the ring as a mysterious persona.

“Mila in the Multiverse” (“Mila no Multiverso”) — Directed by Júlia Pacheco Jordão and Jessica Queiroz (Premieres January 25 on Disney+)

Mila (Laura Luz) is 16 years old and living the adventure of her life, traveling through the multiverse in search of her mother, Elis (Malu Mader). As she travels, she will come face to face with The Operators, a mysterious and dangerous group that wants to exterminate all universes. She will have to face them in order to save the vast multiverse.

“The 1619 Project” (Docuseries) — Created by Nikole Hannah-Jones (Premieres January 26 on Hulu)

This six-part limited doc-series is an expansion of “The 1619 Project” created by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine, seeks to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative. 

“Poker Face” (Premieres January 26 on Peacock)

Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve.

“The Snow Girl” (“La chica de nieve”) (Premieres January 27 on Netflix)

When a little girl goes missing during a parade in Málaga, a young newspaper journalist (Milena Smit) becomes fiercely determined to help Amaya’s parents find her.

“The Watchful Eye” – Created by Julie Durk (Premieres January 30 on Freeform)

“The Watchful Eye” follows Elena Santos (Mariel Molino), a young woman with a complicated past, maneuvering her way into working as a live-in nanny for an affluent family in Manhattan. She quickly learns that everyone in the mysterious building has deadly secrets and ulterior motives. What they don’t know, however, is that Elena has some shocking secrets of her own.

Returning Series

“Ginny & Georgia” — Created by Sarah Lampert (Netflix, January 5)
“Miss Scarlet and the Duke” — Created by Rachael New (PBS, January 8)
“Sky Rojo” (Netflix, January 13)
“How I Met Your Father” — Created by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker (Hulu, January 24)