The hunt is on with Clarice, The Equalizer, and more of February’s TV premieres
TV Features Gwen Ihnat
Left to right: Uli Latukefu in Young Rock (Photo: Mark Taylor/NBC); Rebecca Breeds in Clarice (Photo: Brooke Palmer/CBS); Bitsie Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin in Superman & Lois (Photo: Niño Munoz/The CW); the cast of Punky Brewster (photo: Robert Trachtenberg/Peacock); The Snoopy Show (Image: Apple TV Plus); Kevin James in The Crew (Photo: Eric Liebowitz/Netflix) Graphic: Graphic: The A.V. Club
February TV looks, if not wholly impressive, then almost normal. The Super Bowl is scheduled for a CBS broadcast on February 7, the premieres of two CWverse (as the Arrowverse is now known) shows—one returning, one debuting—are on the horizon, and Kenan Thompson is leading a sitcom again. Even Punky Brewster and Katherine Heigl are back. (Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia would have us believe the Gilmore Girls have returned as well, but that’s debatable.) This month’s offerings also tap into our ongoing obsessions with comfort shows and true crime, and the desire to watch Queen Latifah and Clarice Starling hunt bad guys. Like we said, a downright normal month of TV.
27 Comments
Dammit, I was perfectly content ignoring the Lois and Superman series, and then you gotta tell me Emmanuelle Chriqui is Lana Lang. No fair!
A Clarice series that doesn’t feature or even mentions Hannibal Lecter, that’s exactly what the world has been clamoring for.
Maybe Young Rock and Young Sheldon can have a crossover and hopefully be destroyed under the weight of so much crap.
Wasn’t “Rock Sheldon” a B-52s song?
I love Hannibal, but I also hope Clarice is good.
Really loved Eve Hewson in The Knick, glad to see her in another series again!
I would enjoy a Young Rock timeskip season that solely covers the filming of Southland Tales.
It’s a Sin is something I’ll try, but I have to say… I quit Years and Years a few insufferable episodes in. I really hated that show! Hopefully Sin will be more successful. I don’t see anything else on the list that’s more than a “maybe?” and a lot of “hard pass” shows. (Also, Black Lightening is returning for season 4, not 2.)
I thought It’s a Sin was brilliant–but I’m a big Russell T Davies fan(atic) (who has had a particularly great past few years–in four years he’s done A Very English Scandal, this and… Years and Years which I found to be the best show of 2019 so… maybe you won’t like this. Though, obviously it’s quite different).
The idea that Clarice can’t appear on Hannibal, and Hannibal can’t appear in Clarice, is the most baffingly stupid thing today. Nothing comes close to how stupid that is.
I can’t imagine how the dialogue will find new ways to tiptoe around not mentioning Lecter by name. A lot of “You know what I’m talking about…” and knowing nods, I guess. Or a lot of talk about “Shmannibal Shmecter”.
They should’ve set it 4 or 5 years after, at the very least. Or maybe not even done it at all.
Just keep all references in the script, and edit in the Peanuts adult-talking-noise over anything that is copyright-worthy.
Or “that guy who looks like Anthony Hopkins and/or Brian Cox and/or Mads Mikkelsen”.
I mean, will there be any reason to allude to it after the first few episodes? Once they’ve got the main overlaying story arc down, they can do whatever.
That’s not true. Fictionalized David Bowie movie with no involvement from his family and none of his music is at least equally stupid. We live in dark times.
It’s like having Batman & Superman in the same…wait. Nevermind.
It is completely baffling why they would even want a Clarice TV show where you cannot mention the main antagonist. Without the novel’s villains, Clarice Starling is literally just some girl who works at the FBI. This might be the stupidest brand reach since Young Sheldon
The Punky Brewster reboot better have Glomer or there will be hell to pay. Hell to pay.
The only must watch out of this bunch for me is Superman. I do not know if it will be good (it is the CW) but Stargirl and the rash of “arrowverse” shows ending is a good sign that they might not put this in the same arrowverse formula, as it is old.
Looks like it may be worth subscribing to Starz again!
Is one of the shows “Young She-Hulk”? Then why is that kid in the pic green?
Theres alteady been two episodes of The Great North aired as far as I know.
Yeah I watched those episodes as they aired last month. It’s off to a decent start, and better than Bob’s Burgers initial airing a decade ago. One drawback is the cold Alaskan setting, which gives me the chills as I reside in the great Northwest. I’d better eat or drink something hot while watching it next time.
Disappointed that no one at the AV Club decided to review The Great North – unless they didn’t get a screener or they’re planning a pre-air in a few weeks. I don’t know how that works if the show “premieres” with its third episode.
Remember that scene in Hannibal where he cooks and serves Ray Liotta his own brain? I wonder if someone developed that as a fetish because of that movie.
Hey, I got a Lucy, Daughter of the Devil notification for this! Neat!
It’s a Sin is amazing television—I say that with the caveat that I consider Russell T Davies perhaps the best current writer working in TV (and I don’t even rank his beloved Dr Who all that high on the list of his works). The final episodes are rough going (Davies has been pitching the show for over 5 years—originally hoping to get an 8 episode deal, but due to its subject most networks were only interested in a one off movie which, as Davies has said, would leave no room for any of the joyous moments), but obviously earned. I hope it gets its due on HBO Max—they aired RTD’s last show on HBO, Years and Years, and, despite being a UK hit, it seemed to get zero attention in the US (though, judging by a comment here, I guess some people disliked it—AVClub reviewing the early episodes just complained that it was depressing—myself, I thought it was the best series of 2019).
Can’t say this list overall is particularly exciting…
Literally none of these are appealing to me.