Here are shows to keep an eye on this month.
TODAY
• A Discovery of Witches, Sundance Now, 7 p.m.
This 8-episode adaptation of the 2011 historical/fantasy novel by Deborah Harkness is about Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a Yale professor, who's also a witch. She discovers a secret manuscript that forces her back into the world of magic, and who is given a helping hand by Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode, The Crown), a geneticist ... and a vampire.
• Star Trek: Discovery, CBS All Access
The second season drops on this day, with new episodes streaming weekly on Thursdays. This one will feature a new and young Spock -- played by Ethan Peck (grandson of Gregory) -- while Anson Mount joins the cast as captain of the Enterprise. (Rebecca Romijn is also aboard this season.)
FRIDAY
• Butterfly, Hulu
This British drama -- starring Anna Friel and Emmett J. Scanlon -- is about separated parents who are struggling over how to "approach" their youngest child, born a boy, now identifying as a girl.
• Carmen Sandiego, Netflix
Another Netflix reboot -- this time Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) voices Carmen. The series will focus on her origin story.
• Girl, Netflix
This debut film by Belgian director Lukas Dhont -- about a transgender teenager who wants to become a ballerina -- made a big splash at Cannes for star Victor Polster.
SATURDAY
• Brexit, HBO, 8 p.m.
This drama stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings, the British political strategist who led the effort to disengage Britain from the European Union.
• Dynasties, BBC America, 8 p.m.
Yet another sprawling beautiful world trek by TV's pre-eminent naturalist, David Attenborough, as he explores five imperiled species -- penguins, chimpanzees, lions, painted wolves and tigers.
SUNDAY
• Black Monday, Showtime, 9 p.m.
Raucous comedy about the 1987 stock market crash, with Don Cheadle and Regina Hall (also starring Paul Scheer and Andrew Rannells) with the series opener directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
TUESDAY
• Conan, TBS, 10 p.m.
After months of looking for friends (he says) and roaming the world, Conan O'Brien returns to late night, this time without Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band. The new show will be only a half-hour, and the emphasis is now on comedy.
JAN. 24
• Broad City, Comedy Central, 9 p.m.
The final season begins.
• The Other Two, Comedy Central, 9:30 p.m.
This new comedy from Chris Kelly and former SNL writer Sarah Schneider, about an aspiring actor Cary (Drew Tarver) and his older sister Brooke (Broadway star Helene Yorke) also has a Long Island connection -- West Islip's Ken Marino (Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later) also stars.
JAN. 25
• Black Earth Rising, Netflix
This eight-episode British thriller is about Kate Ashby (Michaela Coel) who is rescued from Rwandan genocide and grows up the daughter of a famed human rights lawyer, to become a legal investigator herself, under the auspices of international lawyer Michael Ennis (John Goodman).
• The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix
The final six episodes of the final season drop.
JAN. 27
• Screen Actors Guild Awards, TBS, TNT, 7 p.m.
The 25th annual ceremony will air live, with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Ozark leading the TV nominees, and A Star Is Born, BlacKkKlansman and The Favourite the film nominees.
• Rent: Live, Fox, 7 p.m.
The Jonathan Larson musical -- originating from the Fox Studios and directed by Obie winner Michael Greif -- stars Vanessa Hudgens as Maureen Johnson, Tinashe as Mimi Marquez, Brandon Victor Dixon as Tom Collins, Kiersey Clemons as Joanne Jefferson, Joran Fisher as Mark Cohen, Mario as Benjamin Coffin, and Valentina as Angel Dumott Schunard.
JAN. 28
• Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists, HBO, 7 p.m.
This portrait of the longtime Daily News (and Newsday) columnist Jimmy Breslin and his rival/friend, Pete Hamill of the News, Post (and Newsday, too, very briefly), is directed by Jonathan Alter, John Block and Steve McCarthy.
• I Am the Night, TNT, 8 p.m.
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins directs this six-episode series about a reporter, Jay Singletary (Chris Pine) who helps Fauna Hodel (India Eisley, The Secret Life of the American Teenager) investigate her mysterious past -- which possibly involves one of Hollywood's most infamous crimes, the Black Dahlia. Based on Hodel's autobiography.
Weekend on 01/17/2019