December is almost upon us — which, in addition to frigid weather and lots of holiday gatherings, means we’ll also be getting a slew of fantastic new and returning TV shows to watch over the next several weeks. Streamers from Netflix to Apple TV+ have some pretty solid lineups in place to keep us busy during the winter months, thanks to everything from new seasons of old favorites (like Apple’s Slow Horses) to upcoming standouts a la Netflix’s Griselda.
In this post, we’ll take a closer look at six such TV shows, compiled by the staff of TheWrap. You’ll find them all listed below, arranged by their respective release dates.
The Brothers Sun (Jan. 4 on Netflix)
First up on our list of the most anticipated TV shows is an eight-episode crime drama, one involving the head of a Taiwanese crime organization who’s shot by a mysterious assassin. That spurs the boss’ eldest son, a legendary killer, to travel to Los Angeles to protect his mother and younger brother — the latter of whom has been sequestered from the truth of his family’s deeds until now.
Continues the streamer: “As Taipei’s deadliest societies and a new rising faction go head-to-head for dominance, Charles, Bruce, and their mother must heal the wounds caused by their separation and figure out what brotherhood and family truly mean before one of their countless enemies kills them all.”
Ted (Jan. 11 on Peacock)
There are lots of dark dramas on this list of upcoming TV shows, but this new seven-episode comedy from Peacock thankfully offers a more lighthearted exception.
Ted is a prequel to Seth MacFarlane’s Ted movies, and it finds Ted living back home in Framingham, Massachusetts, with his best friend — 16-year-old John Bennett (Max Burkholder), along with John’s parents, Matty and Susan (Scott Grimes and Alanna Ubach) and cousin Blaire (Giorgia Whigham). “Each generation develops its own unique artistic style, its own way of seeing the world,” executive producers MacFarlane, Paul Corrigan, and Brad Walsh said in a press note about the show.
“In the twenties, it was the subversive musical phrasings of jazz. In the fifties, it was the bold brushwork of the abstract expressionists. Our generation’s unique art is streaming content based on previously successful intellectual property. In that proud tradition, we humbly give you Ted.”
Criminal Record (Jan. 12 on Apple TV+)
Peter Capaldi is fantastic in just about everything he’s done, from Doctor Who to Prime Video’s The Devil’s Hour, and in this next Apple TV+ crime drama, he stars as a well-connected detective who’s consumed with protecting his legacy.
Co-starring with Capaldi in Apple’s Criminal Record is Cush Jumbo, who plays a young detective still in the early stage of her career. Thanks to an anonymous phone call, they’re drawn into a confrontation over an old murder case.
True Detective: Night Country (Jan. 14 on HBO)
The critically acclaimed True Detective is set to release its highly anticipated fourth season soon, with detectives played by Jodie Foster and Kali Reis attempting to solve the mystery of eight men who disappear in Alaska.
“When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace,” WarnerMedia explains about True Detective: Night Country, from showrunner Issa Lopez. “To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.”
Griselda (Jan. 25 on Netflix)
This next series comes from the creators of Narcos, a super-violent cartel drama that I’ve previously ranked as one of Netflix’s best franchises of all time — though all involved with Griselda have taken pains to point out this new show is not directly connected to either Narcos, which tracked the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, or to its spinoff series Narcos: Mexico.
“This is Sofía Vergara like you’ve never seen her before,” Netflix teases about the new series, in which Vergara portrays real-life cocaine queenpin Griselda Blanco. The show follows the rise of “La Jefa” from obscurity in Colombia all the way to the top of one of the most profitable cartels in history.
Masters of the Air (Jan. 26 on Apple TV+)
This next series is another Apple TV+ release that serves as the completion of a World War II trilogy that began over on HBO (with the series Band of Brothers, followed by its sequel, The Pacific).
Based on Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name, Masters of the Air follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group (the “Bloody Hundredth”) who helped destroy Hitler’s Third Reich as they conduct bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with “the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen, and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air.”
