Winter is a magical time.
It contains a lot of holidays as we humans try in our human way to stave off the dark and the cold.
One of our favorite ways to do that — at least those of us who have to endure the bitter cold winter weather — is TV!
Sadly, due to the magical time of year the shows we love (and love to hate) are on hiatus for a while. Good friends always come back, though, don’t they? In order, you can expect back these shows who managed not to die of frostbite or bad ratings.
- Elementary returns January 2nd at 10:00 pm on CBS.
- Grimm returns January 3 at 9:00 pm on NBC.
- Dracula returns January 3 at 10:00 pm on NBC.
- The Simpsons returns Sunday, January 5 at 8:00 pm on FOX.
- Bob’s Burgers returns Sunday, January 5th at 8:30pm on FOX
- Family Guy returns Sunday, January 5th at 9pm on FOX.
- American Dad returns Sunday, January 5th at 9:30pm on FOX.
- Almost Human returns Monday, January 6 at 8:oo pm on FOX.
- Castle returns Monday, January 6 at 10:00 pm on ABC.
- Teen Wolf returns Monday, January 6 at 10:00 pm on MTV.
- Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD returns Tuesday, January 7 at 8:00 pm ABC. Will Coulson discover the truth about Tahiti? Will Skye discover the truth about her parents? Will Ward wear his shirt a little more?
- Ravenswood returns Tuesday January 7 at 9:00 pm on ABC Family. Color me surprised it lasted this long on the network that brought us (and took from us) Kyle XY, 3 Moons Over Milford and The Middleman.
- Person of Interest returns Tuesday January 7 at 10:00 pm.
- Psych returns Wednesday, January 8 at 9:00 pm on USA.
- Revolution returns Wednesday, January 8 at 8:00 pm on NBC.
- American Horror Story returns Wednesday, January 8 at 10:00 pm on FX.
- Banshee returns Friday, January 10 at 10:00 pm on CINEMAX.
- Lost Girl returns Monday, January 13 at 10:00 pm on SyFy.
- Beauty and the Beast returns Monday, January 13 at 9:00 pm on The CW.
- Being Human returns Monday, January 13 at 9:00 pm on SyFy.
- Sleepy Hollow returns Monday, January 13 at 9:00 pm on FOX.
- Archer returns Monday, January 13 at 10:00 pm on FX.
- Supernatural returns Tuesday, January 14 at 9:00 pm on The CW.
- Arrow returns Wednesday, January 15 at 8:00 pm on The CW.
- The Tomorrow People returns Wednesday, January 15 at 9:00 pm on The CW.
- Sherlock returns (as if you didn’t know) on Sunday, January 19 at 10:00 pm on PBS.
- The Vampire Diaries returns Thursday, January 23 at 8:00 pm on The CW.
- King of the Nerds returns Thursday, January 23 at 10:00 pm on TBS.
- The Walking Dead and Talking Dead both return Sunday, February 9 at 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm respectively on AMC. Comic Book Men closes out the night at midnight.
- Vikings returns February 27th at 10:00 pm on HISTORY CHANNEL.
- And last, but by no means least (because the Fannibals wouldn’t have it — I’m cute, don’t eat me!) Hannibal returns Friday, February 28, at 10:00 pm on NBC.
Sorry, grieving Whovians, the good Doctor won’t be back until summer 2014, when we’re all simmering in our own sweat and wishing for a TARDIS to take us back to winter for a few.
In addition to the too-slow return through the blustering winter winds of old faves or guilty pleasures, there are new shows about to descend like snowflakes into the listings. Will they stick, or will they melt away, quickly forgotten by bored, jaded, or cynical viewers?
- Intelligence stars Josh Holloway as a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain. Sounds a little like Chuck played for serious rather than laughs, but may be worth a shot. Premieres Tuesday, January 7 at 9:00 pm on CBS.
- Killer Women is an interesting premise. It’s not precisely sci-fi, superheroes or fantasy but it is a woman-driven vehicle about a female Texas Ranger. Premieres Tuesday, January 7 at 10:00 pm on ABC.
- Helix is a “race against time to save the world” series. Scientists are checking into disease outbreak. This one’s on our old Sharknado friend-or-foe, SyFy, so we’ll see if it has legs. Lost Girl did. Helix premieres Friday, January 10 at 10:00 on SyFy.
- Bitten has a fair amount of promise, if only because the series is based on Kelley Armstrong’s “Women of the Otherworld”, which has a strong fan following. This series starts out focusing on Elena, the world’s only female werewolf, and how she has to cope with having a mundane job and life, and coping with the pressures and situations her werewolf life brings to her. Bitten premieres Monday, January 13, at 8:00 on SyFy.
- Black Sails features Captain Flint on the high seas with his crew, doing piratey things in a timeframe set before “Treasure Island”. Premieres Saturday, January 25 at 9:00 on STARZ. Premium cable, baby! That means lots of the uncensored salty sex!
- Star-Crossed is a story of an epic romance between a boy and a girl. Doomed! Why can’t it ever be simple?! Oh, wait…he’s an alien? That’s — Roswell-esque. It premieres Monday, February 17, at 9:00 pm on The CW.
So naturally, today’s poll is: What’re you most looking forward to from TV for Winter 2014? Has anything cracked through your icy indifference, or will it be a cold day in you-know-where before you take a chance on something new?
–Jamie
[polldaddy poll=7674135]
How could I forget? Steven Universe returns Monday, January 13 at 8:00 pm on CN.