Premieres Wednesday:
Dubai Bling — A trip to Dubai Fashion Week is among the plotlines in Season 3, which promises enough public meltdowns to once again prove that the West holds no monopoly on tacky behavior. We’re just faster at honoring it with its own cryptocurrency, is all. (Netflix)
Fake Profile — It’s Season 2 for the steamy suspense drama about a woman who tumbles into a web of lies and deceit after she’s seduced by a mysterious Colombian. Hey, remember when you had to watch cable to have your night ruined by reminders of Dan Newlin? (Netflix)
Hound’s Hill — A Polish true-crime writer gets more than he bargained for when he returns to his hometown and is forced to confront the skeletons in his closet. If this were Queer Eye, he’d at least get to donate them to Goodwill. (Netflix)
I Am a Killer — Convicted murderers telling their stories in Season 6 include Leroy Schmitz, who got a 100-year sentence for killing his wife 14 years after he had offed his girlfriend. Whatever else you might hold against the guy, he had clearly conquered his fear of commitment. (Netflix)
Subteran — Hiding from the vicious thugs who murdered her fiancé, a Romanian woman adopts an entirely new name and persona. Unfortunately for her, “Sasha Fierce” was already taken. (Netflix)
Premieres Thursday:
American Primeval — Taylor Kitsch and Betty Gilpin star in a six-episode limited series set in 1857, at the height of westward expansion. And now Taylor Sheridan is kicking himself, because that’s the one year he forgot to copyright. (Netflix)
Asura — Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters) wrote and directed this adaptation of his novel Ashura no Gotoku, in which four sisters begin to suspect their dad has another child with a woman who isn’t their mother. But you know what they say: Gossip can travel halfway around the world before Nick Cannon puts his pants on. (Netflix)
I Am Ilary — Formerly one-half of “Italy’s Beckhams,” newly divorced TV host Ilary Blasi has to learn to live a whole new life. Well, it’s technically not entirely new, since she’s documenting it for reality TV. Entirely new would be a convent. (Netflix)
On Call — The ubiquitous Dick Wolf returns with a half-hour cop show set on the mean streets of … Long Beach. Listen, don’t laugh. People in real cities didn’t think Orlando was tough either until we declared drone war on New Jersey. (Prime Video)
The Pitt — Noah Wyle is back in the ER, headlining a medical drama that follows a hospital team’s 15-hour shift in real time, one hour per episode. That’s if you count Episode Four, which shows the anesthesia unit working for five minutes and then using their out-of-network fees to fund a personal spending spree at Williams-Sonoma. (Max)
The Traitors Season 3 — Another group of “celebrities” tries to fend off betrayal in their pursuit of a quarter-million dollars, with Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser and Bob the Drag Queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race among the possible double agents. If we’re doing Bobs now, my money’s on Iger, because who trusts that dude at this point? (Peacock)
The Upshaws — This 10-episode run of the Mike Epps/Kim Fields/Wanda Sykes sitcom is being billed as its Part 6, although it’s technically Season 4. The 12-episode Part 7, aka Season 5, will be the show’s last, and I think it’s obvious why: math fatigue. (Netflix)
Premieres Friday:
Ad Vitam — An attempt on his life and the kidnapping of his wife are two signs that retirement is not going to be particularly quiet for a former member of the French national police. And things are really going to heat up if he wins that big prize from Le Clearinghouse des Éditeurs. (Netflix)
Alpha Males 3 — Our quartet of middle-aged Spaniards are back to examine their male privilege, this time by exploring head-scratching phenomena like incel culture. The misogyny they get; what escapes them is the relentless focus on Zack Snyder. (Netflix)
Black Warrant — This sobering drama series lets us view the corruption of the Indian penal system through the eyes of a newbie prison guard. How bad is it? Even the dance routines end in retributive violence. (Netflix)
Get Away — Nick Frost wrote and stars in a horror comedy that follows a British family on vacation to a Swedish island, where they become prime pickings for a demented killer. I think I preferred these package tours when the worst risk was an impromptu limbo contest. (Shudder)
Goosebumps: The Vanishing — This season presents David Schwimmer as a scientist whose family becomes immersed in an insidious evil that’s been bedeviling his Brooklyn neighborhood for decades. It’s called gentrification, Ross. Don’t pretend you’re unfamiliar with the concept. (Disney+)
LOL: Last One Laughing Quebec Season 3 — Ten more French-speaking funny people step up to the challenge of keeping a straight face for six hours. How to send the game into sudden death: breaking out the one about them becoming the 51st state. (Prime Video)
Ski Jumpers — Learn the state of the art of this thrilling sport from Kamil Stoch, Piotr Żyła and other members of the Polish national ski jumping team. In the series’ exciting climax, we learn if they can jump all the way to England before Putin shows up on their doorstep. (Prime Video)
Premieres Saturday:
Sakamoto Days — The “hitman comes out of retirement” trope just might be redeemed by this anime series, which begins with the assassin in question pursuing a quieter life as … the proprietor of a convenience store. Yeah, that’s somebody you don’t want to push by reading the magazines. (Netflix)
Premieres Tuesday:
Ari Shaffir: America’s Sweetheart — Taped earlier this year at Capital Turnaround in D.C., the comic’s second Netflix special explores the lighter side of mass shootings, antisemitism and drug addiction. “I thought that was the lighter side.” — Uncle Fester. (Netflix)
Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy — While you’re waiting for the next set of allegations to drop, brush up on the rags-to-riches-to-orange-jumpsuit story of one Sean Combs. Honestly, he seemed like such a nice guy when he was doing benign stuff like singing with Sting and having Tupac murdered. (Peacock)
Single’s Inferno — Season 4 sends another crew of ambitious South Koreans to a deserted island, where they’ll be encouraged to flirt their way out of humble living and into the lap of luxury. But that’s nothing: Have you ever sweet-talked your way into the VIP room at Perkins? (Netflix)
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This article appears in Jan 8-14, 2025.