Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Sunday, January 1. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
The Mick (Fox, 8 p.m.): Congratulations everyone, we survived one of the most disheartening years in living memory, and it’s time for the clean slate of a new year. The first new television show to be entered into said year is The Mick, where human trainwreck Mickey (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olson) relocates to wealthy Greenwich to become the unwilling guardian of her niece and nephews due to her sister’s criminal activities. Erik Adams took a look at the early episodes, and feels that while the show is somewhat unformed in the early going, there’s enough FX sensibility to the program that it smartly avoids the more heartwarming tropes of its premise:
If a pilot is a statement of purpose, then The Mick’s purpose is comic outrageousness, a gentler variation of the kind that Olson has stirred up for 11 seasons (and booked through a record-tying 14th) on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. (Mick creators John and Dave Chernin are co-executive producers on Sunny.) Seen elsewhere in the episode: light shoplifting, a heavily stained wedding dress, shattered objects aplenty, and drastic bodily harm visited upon the main character. It’s as if Uncle Buck (John Candy edition) stumbled out of Paddy’s Pub and into the Kardashian’s house.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 8:30 p.m.): Brooklyn Nine-Nine moves back to its old Sunday home for a two-part winter finale, as a prison van crash leads to a sea of escaped prisoners in the streets of Brooklyn and a competition between Jake and Amy on who can arrest the most convicts. The only witness to the event? Former Seattle Seahawks running back and “refuge of sublime quiet amid a meaningless cacophony” Marshawn Lynch. It remains to be seen if Lynch’s performance in her past fantasy football leagues (or in The League itself, come to think of it) will color LaToya Ferguson’s judgment of the episodes one way or the other.
Sherlock (PBS, 9 p.m.): Richard III died in the Battle Of Bosworth Field on last week’s installment of The Hollow Crown, but there’s no rest for Benedict Cumberbatch. Sherlock returns for its fourth (and possibly final) season tonight, a season where the trailers promise a reckoning for Sherlock and the reliably creepy presence of Toby Jones. Tonight’s premiere is called “The Six Thatchers,” a reference to “The Adventure Of The Six Napoleons.” We encourage Allison Shoemaker to inspect any Margaret Thatcher busts she may own for giant black pearls.
Premieres and finales
The Bachelor: Countdown To Nick (ABC, 8 p.m.): After being the runner-up in seasons 10 and 11 of The Bachelorette, software sales executive Nick Viall gets his next shot at “true” love as the next lead of The Bachelor. An hour-long special reintroduces audiences to Viall, but all we needed to hear is that he’s from Milwaukee. Hopefully instead of champagne, all contestants drink Bloody Marys with no fewer than eight toppings.
A Rose For Christmas (Hallmark, 8 p.m.): Just when you think Hallmark‘s out for the season, they manage to find a loophole with a film about a “passionate and talented artist” and “a demanding businessman” who need to collaborate on a Rose Parade float and get it done before New Year’s Day. Never give up, Hallmark!
Mommy, I Didn’t Do It (Lifetime, 8 p.m.): A sequel to 2013’s The Wrong Woman, wherein a mother attempts to exonerate her 17-year-old daughter from charges of murdering her teacher. The supporting cast includes George Wendt, Jaleel White, and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, which could also serve as the punchline to a joke. “So Norm, Urkel, and Meadow Soprano walk into a bar…”
Ransom (CBS, 8:30 p.m.): Fox isn’t the only one trying out the New Year’s Day sneak peek option, as CBS debuts its newest crime procedural. Not (as we previously thought) an adaptation of the 1996 Mel Gibson/Gary Sinise thriller, but a show about “a world-renowned crisis and hostage negotiator whose team is brought in to resolve the most difficult kidnap and ransom cases.” Luke Roberts, who played Ser Arthur Dayne in Game Of Thrones, will be the lead of said team. Come to think of it, “Swords Of The Morning” would be a pretty badass name for a hostage negotiation team.
Beyond (Freeform, 9 p.m.): Also sneak-peeking tonight is Freeform’s newest sci-fi drama Beyond, with a special presentation before the series premiere tomorrow. “Holden, a young man who wakes up from a coma after 12 years and discovers new abilities that propel him into the middle of a dangerous conspiracy.” Sounds like X-Men by way of Rectify.
Conviction (ABC, 10 p.m.): While there’s new hope in a new year, there’s also the dregs of the old, as dead show walking Conviction limps to its end in its new time slot, and Hayley Atwell draws ever closer to freedom. Gods of 2017, if you want to get things off to a good start, a new Agent Carter-related project would make many of us very happy.
Regular coverage
No other regular coverage, which is good given we’re all hungover this morning. That status will continue until further notice.
Streaming pick
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, “Who Got Dee Pregnant?” (Hulu/Netflix): If the success of The Mick is largely dependent on Kaitlin Olson, we’re feeling good about it’s chance since Olson has long been the secret weapon of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, thanks to her frenetic energy and barbed performance. Both of which were on display in one of Sunny’s crown jewels, this Rashomon-themed episode that tried to figure out who put the bun in Sweet Dee’s oven. Or the egg in her nest, as it were.