When it rains, it pours. It's either feast or famine.
I can't think of any other cliches, but the bottom line is there is a surplus of good, new programming on today and Monday from which to chose.
Consider: Today, there's the AFC championship game (New England vs. Denver) at 2 p.m. on CBS, followed by the NFC championship (Arizona vs. Carolina) at 6 on Fox. Winners go to Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7. The X-Files returns for those who still want to believe, and an intriguing new fantasy/drama is debuting on Syfy.
And Monday, the Little Rock episodes of PBS' Antiques Roadshow finally arrive, followed by Lucifer, a bold new drama from Fox.
Here's an overview:
• The X-Files. The highly anticipated two-night premiere of The X-Files' six-episode miniseries is officially set for approximately 9 p.m. today, immediately following NFC game coverage. I'm betting it's a bit later, so set your DVRs to run way long.
Episode 2 of The X-Files arrives at 7 p.m. Monday, the same time that the remaining episodes will air.
What do fans need to know? What they've always known: Trust no one. And forget everything you thought you knew about the ground-breaking series that aired on Fox from 1993 to 2002.
Well, maybe not everything. The miniseries quickly catches us up with what's been happening to Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) since last we saw them in the post-series film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008).
"All these years we've been deceived. A decade of my life, I'm being led by my nose through a dead end," says Mulder in the first episode, "My Struggle."
Indeed. Mulder has stumbled across something huge involving a possible alien abductee and, naturally, Scully is still skeptical.
The case is brought to Mulder's attention by a conservative talk-show host played by Joel McHale (Community) and, according to the trailers (therefore, this isn't a spoiler), it involves a far-flung conspiracy to use a perceived terrorist attack as a smokescreen for an invasion of the United States.
The invasion will be executed "by a well-armed, multinational group of elites using alien technology the government's been hiding for 70 years."
I've seen the first episode, and it's a thriller.
Asked a couple of weeks ago at the Television Critics Association winter press tour if the miniseries would be it, series creator Chris Carter said, "If we do well in the ratings, I can't imagine we wouldn't be asked to do more."
We can only hope.
• The Magicians. This promising fantasy/drama debuts with back-to-back episodes at 8 p.m. today on Syfy.
We're not at Hogwarts anymore, Harry.
Based on best-selling novels by Lev Grossman, The Magicians centers on Brakebills University, a secret institution in upstate New York specializing in magic that accepts 20 new students each year.
At Brakebills, a group of young friends soon discovers that a magical Narnia-esque fantasy world they read about as children is real and poses a serious danger to humanity.
As the series opens, Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) arrives at Brakebills, where he and his fellow students hone their skills and form new relationships, all while facing a dangerous threat from the magical world.
Back home, Quentin's friend Julia Wicker (Stella Maeve) finds herself rejected from Brakebills, so she pursues magic on her own "down a dark, often dangerous, path."
Quentin's four friends at Brakebills are:
Alice Quinn (Olivia Taylor Dudley), a painfully reserved but talented magician with a deep secret and hidden agenda.
William "Penny" Adiyodi (Arjun Gupta), a gifted loner whose power may know no limits.
Margo Hanson (Summer Bishil), a brutally honest party girl who is intellectual, yet academically unfocused.
Eliot Waugh (Hale Appleman), one of the older, more established students at Brakebills, he's a proponent of "vigorous hedonism" who knows that magic comes from pain.
I've seen three episodes and recommend the series to anyone who enjoys the genre. The special effects are outstanding.
• Antiques Roadshow. The three Little Rock-based episodes of the hit PBS series will air at 7 p.m. Monday, and at the same time Feb. 1 and 8 on AETN.
Watch it to see yourself or somebody you know.
The series visited Little Rock in July as part of its six-city summer production tour. Almost 5,000 hopefuls attended the all-day event to have their antiques and collectibles checked out by specialists from the country's leading auction houses and independent dealers.
• Lucifer. If you aren't horrified by the thought of a show about the devil, check out this witty new drama at 8 p.m. Monday on Fox following The X-Files. It stars Tom Ellis (Rush) as a bored Lucifer who resigns from hell to seek adventure in Los Angeles. There he teams with spunky Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German) to solve crimes.
The series is rated TV-14 for obvious reasons. It does, after all, star Satan.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 01/24/2016