From a new Star Trek movie to a documentary on Canadian funnyman Tom Green, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week
1. The Gone – Monday, January 20, Acorn TV | Series Premiere
When two Irish tourists vanish while visiting New Zealand, Dublin Special Branch detective Theo Richter (Richard Flood, Grey’s Anatomy) travels there to assist with the search for the missing young couple, who were last seen on New Zealand’s North Island. He winds up partnering with Kiwi detective Diana Huia (Acushla-Tara Kupe), a recently promoted local cop who helps him try to gain the community’s trust and find the victims before it’s too late. However, the picturesque rural town of Mount Affinity hides a dark history of disappearances and death, leading to concerns that this latest case may be linked to those historical murders.
2. W.A.G.s to Riches – Wednesday, January 22, Netflix | Series Premiere
Take a jaunt to the wonderful world of W.A.G.s — a.k.a. the wives and girlfriends of rappers and athletes.
Across eight episodes, we’ll experience the glamour and turmoil of life in this exclusive clique, as an array of spouses (and ex-spouses) look to build careers of their own. In so doing, they must “balance the challenges of fame and relationships with their personal ambition amid the often chaotic world of professional sports and music. Dating men in the public eye might tie these women together, but these W.A.G.s navigate their unique lives — from settling scores to handling ‘side chicks’ — on their own terms.”
Per Netflix, a few of season one’s more notable W.A.G.s include:
–Sharelle Rosado, ex-fiancée to ex-football star Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson. Dubbed the “queen bee” of this W.A.G. hive, Sharelle is a former Army paratrooper, a mother-of-four and founder of Allure Realty in Florida — a business which connects her to many of the other W.A.G.s.
–Maranda Johnson, the headline-grabbing, on-again/off-again paramour of rapper Kodak Black. She works with Sharelle at the agency, while also raising two young kids and trying to launch her own rap career.
–Sadé Vanessa, who is engaged to NFL-er Robbie Chosen Anderson, runs a swimwear company, hosts a podcast and is now starting to dabble in real estate. Plus, she and Anderson have a baby on the way!
–Julz Goddard, previously engaged to Miami Dolphins linebacker Duke Riley, rose from humble beginnings in the foster care system to build a very lucrative marketing firm.
-Finally, Lastonia Leviston is the one-time flame of hip-hop icon Rick Ross, with whom she shares a child. Lastonia is eager to turn her high-end Miami fashion boutique into an empire — and like her notoriously volatile ex, she can “go from 0 to 60 in an instant.” Click here to watch trailer.
3. Whiskey on the Rocks – Wednesday, January 22, Disney+ | Series Premiere
It’s easy to forget that Netflix’s first original series didn’t arrive until 2012: Lilyhammer, an American-Norwegian co-production starring Bruce Springsteen sideman/Sopranos alum Steven Van Zandt as a New York City mobster who hides out in Lillehammer, Norway, after entering the Witness Protection Program.
While that was the first exposure to Scandinavian TV for many North American viewers, it certainly wasn’t the last. Notable Nordic hits since then have included such series as The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge, and this week sees the debut of another.
The first Nordic offering ever to stream on Disney+, Whiskey on the Rocks is a Swedish miniseries described as a “Cold War political satire” dramatizing an actual 1981 incident when a Soviet U-137 “Whiskey” class submarine ran aground in Sweden’s Blekinge archipelago. The accident sparked an 11-day standoff between Sweden and the USSR that brought us to the brink of World War III.
At the centre of the six-episode series is Swedish Prime Minister Thorbjörn Fälldin (played by Rolf Lassgård), who finds himself caught in the awkward position of mediating a squabble between superpowers in the wake of the submarine’s mishap. With U.S. President Ronald Reagan (Mark Noble) and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (Kęstutis Stasys Jakštas) in open conflict over the incident, Fälldin was forced into a delicate diplomatic dance, attempting to cool escalating tensions while the threat of global nuclear annihilation loomed on the horizon.
“I’d say that about 80 per cent of all of the events actually occurred, though not in the exact way that we depict them, or in that order,” the series’ director, Björn Stein, told Cineuropa. “As our opening disclaimer reads: ‘Due to national security concerns, some names and places have been changed. Quite a few, to be honest.’ ”
4. Prime Target – Wednesday, January 22, Apple TV+ | Series Premiere
Breakout heartthrob of HBO Emmy-magnet The White Lotus and Netflix romance One Day, Leo Woodall plays a more intellectual sort of stud in this eight-part thriller produced by Ridley Scott.
Here, the young Brit is Edward Brooks, a mathematics scholar who is about to identify a pattern in prime numbers that will create a sort of digital skeleton key to access any computer in the world. Though Edward’s motives aren’t nefarious, his work has naturally attracted the attention of the NSA — which is why Agent Taylah Sanders (Black Adam’s Quintessa Swindell) has been assigned to covertly monitor him, and other mathematicians-of-interest.
But the spy and her subject soon find themselves on the same side after a mysterious enemy takes drastic measures to destroy Edward’s work before it sees the light of day.
Co-stars/suspects include David Morrissey (The Walking Dead), Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope) and Stephen Rea (The Crying Game). Meanwhile, the show was created by U.K. playwright Steve Thompson, a former writer for Sherlock who actually started out as a mathematician. Click here to watch trailer.
5. The Night Agent – Thursday, January 23, Netflix | Season Premiere
Having saved the president’s life in season one, FBI agent Peter Sutherland has gone from the guy who answers the Night Action phone in the White House basement to a Night Agent himself in season two.
That means a whole new life of globetrotting spy games for our scrappy young hero. But right off the bat, his first big field mission goes awry, putting Peter in a very familiar position: on the run and on the trail of a massive conspiracy that seems to have ties to his own government — amidst a coterie of other shady international interests. Alas, the only person he can trust for sure, tech CEO Rose Larkin, has left her harrowing experience with the Night Action program behind to start life anew — having bid Agent Sutherland farewell on the tarmac in the season-one finale as he jetted off to who knew where.
Fortunately for Peter (and for fans), it won’t be long before Rose is dragged back into the mix. When she learns he’s in trouble, the computer whiz drops everything to track Peter down and renew their unlikely partnership.
Given the body count that stacked up last year, the supporting cast will feature a lot of new faces, including The Leftovers’ Amanda Warren as Catherine, Peter’s handler, who isn’t so sure her new recruit has what it takes to hack it in the Night Action program — especially after he drops off the grid; Pitch Perfect alum Brittany Snow as Alice, Peter’s new partner/training officer; Arienne Mandi (Tatami) as Noor, aide to an Iranian U.N. delegation in New York, who is hoping to trade confidential intel to secure a new life in America for herself and her family; Imposters’ Rob Heaps as Tomás, the son of a jailed dictator caught between his cushy life in the West and his familial obligations; and Westworld’s Louis Herthum as Jacob Monroe, the ruthless power broker who serves as the connective tissue between this season’s seemingly disparate players. Click here to watch trailer.
6. Harlem – Thursday, January 23, Prime Video | Season Premiere
It’s been just shy of two calendar years since Camille, Quinn, Tye and Angie last graced our screens with their lovably messy attempts to balance work, romance and friendship.
Making the wait all the more interminable? That game-changing season-two cliffhanger that revealed one of the core four is pregnant — but very much neglected to reveal which one!
That and other burning questions will be addressed as the show returns on Thursday.
What’s more, joining the cast this year are a bevy of top-notch guest stars, including Dear White People’s Logan Browning as Portia, a woman from Ian’s past who suddenly reappears; Queen Sugar alum Kofi Siriboe as Seth, a studly MLB player who looks to get on base with one of the ladies; and Snowfall’s Gail Bean as Eva, a “flirty venture capitalist” who drifts into Tye’s orbit.
7. Funny Woman – Thursday, January 24, W Network
England’s cheeky retort to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is back on stage for season two (which premiered January 2).
Having gone from beauty queen to comedy phenom in the male-dominated TV world of the ’60s, Barbara Parker (stage name: Sophie Straw) is living large. Alas, professional, romantic and ideological turmoil await, as her new sitcom tanks, her relationship with Dennis hits a major speedbump due to his exceedingly complicated divorce, a stunning family secret comes to light and, in general, Sophie struggles to push show business into a more progressive creative space — ultimately realizing that “having a voice doesn’t mean it will be heard and that fame is a fickle friend.”
Luckily, with these challenges come new opportunities, as our indefatigable funny woman tries her hand at arthouse cinema in France (where rumours of an on-set affair abound), and even flirts with Hollywood stardom. Yet as life-changing success beckons, Sophie still can’t help but feel her path lies askew of the status quo — in creating something that’s not only hilarious, but messy, authentic and thoroughly her own. On that note, tonight’s episode finds Sophie boldly taking matters into her own hands in the face of a “threatening revelation.”
Anyone who’s fallen a bit behind on this hidden gem can catch up on episodes one through three via streamer STACK TV. Click here to watch trailer.
8. Father Brown – Thursday, January 23, BritBox | Season Premiere
God’s honest sleuth is back for a 12th season that includes a shady death at a medieval battle re-enactment, a top-secret mission from the Vatican and the arrival of a “new nemesis.” Meanwhile, Chief Sullivan and Mrs. Devine get hitched . . . just before the latter is accused of murder!
9. Star Trek: Section 31 – Friday, January 24, Paramount+
From martial arts opus Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to 007 flick Tomorrow Never Dies to rom-com Crazy Rich Asians to her Oscar-winning turn in genre-bender Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh has crafted a remarkably diverse career for herself. She’s even made her mark on the world’s most iconic sci-fi franchise.
The Malaysia-born phenom first debuted on season one of Star Trek: Discovery as murdered Starfleet captain Philippa Georgiou before later playing her evil alt-universe self, Emperor Georgiou. Now, Yeoh reprises the latter role in a Trek TV movie that follows this erstwhile tyrant’s quest for redemption as she joins covert-ops agency Section 31, which carries out the squeaky-clean Federation’s dirty work.
Joining her in this outer-space suicide squad are Power alum Omari Hardwick and Veep’s Sam Richardson.
10. This Is the Tom Green Documentary – Friday, January 24, Prime Video
After making a mark on Ottawa public access television, Tom Green brought his bizarro antics to Canada’s erstwhile Comedy Network in the mid-1990s before the show was picked up by MTV in the U.S., catapulting Green to international fame.
Whether he was pulling cruel pranks on his parents, ambushing pedestrians or derailing movie junkets, viewers weren’t sure what to make of the man’s weird stunts, such as the time he brought a rotting raccoon carcass with him on Mike Bullard’s talk show, dumping it on the desk of the unsuspecting host. A new documentary — arriving in advance of next week’s comedy special and reality show following Green’s new life as a farmer — chronicles the life of the Canadian comedian, who was briefly married to Drew Barrymore and flirted with movie stardom before retreating from Hollywood. “With thousands of hours of digitalized personal footage, rare episodes and unseen raw footage . . . the documentary captures the early days of his humble beginnings in Canada, to stardom in Hollywood, as he goes full circle and returns to his roots, moving from his L.A. home to a rural farm in the country,” reads the synopsis. “Tom reveals the highs and lows of his journey, including his creative process, his controversial antics and unique brand of humour that has had a lasting impact on a generation of comedians.”