January 2024 TV preview: True Detective, Echo, and 15 other big shows to watch

in an action comedy already sounds promising. The actor leads as Eileen “Mama” Sun, who lives in California with her younger son, Bruce (Sam Song Li). Their happy existence is to cover up a lie she’s keeping from him: They belong to a huge mafia family, and their rivals are trying to kill them. It’s only when her elder son arrives and forces Bruce to fight that the truth is revealed. It looks like it will lead to some punchy family bonding. [Saloni Gajjar]

Fox is putting a surprisingly bright spotlight on this new animated show starring and executive produced by Jon Hamm, giving it a prime spot on the Sunday night “Animation Domination” lineup in place of Family Guy—which is. Hamm voices detective Marvin Flute, who returns to the titular town to reconnect with his ex-wife and a son he’s never bonded with. Will be as good and as popular as Family Guy? Probably not (what is?), but Fox is giving it more of a chance than some other shows get: It’s already been renewed for a second season. [Sam Barsanti]

Picking up where the 2021 series left off, finds Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) returning to her Native American roots in Oklahoma. It’s because she learns that Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio, reprising his role), who cared for her after her father’s death, was the one responsible for his death. She finds that her past life of crime isn’t so easy to leave behind, though. Cox, who is Deaf like the character, returns to lead the series. The cast also includes , Chaske Spencer (the Twilight films), and Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/Daredevil. Echo is the first release under the new Marvel Spotlight banner, a showcase for characters not connected to the greater MCU continuity, and will run simultaneously on Disney+ and Hulu. [Cindy White]

We’ll admit it, the idea of Ted——having to go to school with a teenage version of Wahlberg’s character doesn’t make any sense, but it’s not like Seth MacFarlane’s Ted movies made any sense. Besides, nobody should let logic get in the way of seeing Ted wearing his little suit or carrying a little backpack while dropping f-bombs around people with very aggressive Boston accents. It looks like . So if you liked the movie, perhaps it’s the TV show for you. [Sam Barsanti]

is a coming-of-age series based on Trent Dalton’s semi-autobiographical novel. Set in the ’80s, the eight-episode season centers on 12-year-old Eli Bell (Zac Burgess), whose upbringing is marred because his mother and stepfather are addicts and drug dealers. He finds solace in his brother and, unexpectedly, an ex-con, who takes on a father figure role in his life. The cast includes Phoebe Tonkin, Travis Fimmel, Sophie Wilde, Simon Baker, and Anthony LaPaglia. [Saloni Gajjar]

leads the British crime thriller , sharing top billing with ’s Cush Jumbo. The two go head to head as police detectives engaged in a battle of wills over a former murder conviction. When Detective Sergeant June Lenker (Jumbo) discovers new evidence that could overturn the case, DCI Daniel Hegarty (Capaldi) steps in to prevent her from reopening the investigation that made his career. The series comes from veteran producer Paul Rutman, creator of the acclaimed police drama Vera. [Cindy White]

Could we be more excited about the return of ? That’s a hard no. And there are so many reasons why. There’s a new showrunner, Issa López (Tigers Are Not Afraid), the return of none other than to the cold world—literally, in this case—of investigation, those stunning-looking Alaska environs (actually filmed in Iceland), the tight six-episode run, that creepy symbol in the trailer, and so much more. Kali Reis co-stars as the other lead detective here, with Christopher Eccleston, Fiona Shaw, and the great John Hawkes rounding out the cast. [Tim Lowery]

Speaking of true detectives, Clive Owen, who is having quite the TV moment, as he just finished his run on FX’s chilly miniseries , takes on the iconic, cig-smoking sleuth Sam Spade in AMC’s new stylish-looking series. This time, Spade is—as you may have guessed from the title—in France, and this revitalization of Dashiell Hammett’s character is helmed and co-written by ’s Scott Frank. [Tim Lowery]

Gather around for another . stars , Rahul Kohli, Violett Beane, Linda Esmond, Jayne Atkinson, Lauren Patten, and Angela Zhou. It centers on Imogene Scott (Beane), who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time when she’s named the prime suspect in a murder that takes place on a luxury Mediterranean cruise. Every guest and crew member is under scrutiny, and the case is in the hands of brilliant detective Rufus Cotesworth (Patinkin). Let the phenomenon continue to rage out. [Saloni Gajjar]

This co-production between Canadian network CBC and The CW is a lighthearted cops-and-robbers procedural with major rom-com vibes. In Wild Cards, Vanessa Morgan (Riverdale) stars as Max, a clever con artist who teams up with a disgraced police detective Cole Ellis (Grey’s Anatomy’s Giacomo Gianniotti) to help him solve his cases and keep herself out of jail. Canadian national treasure and Beverly Hills, 90210 veteran Jason Priestly is also on board as Max’s father, who taught her everything she knows about the art of the con. [Cindy White]

Created by Vivienne Medrano, is an animated series that she launched back in 2019 with a pilot online. It gained popularity over the years, and now it’s a full-fledged TV show. It centers on the princess of Hell, Charlie Morningstar (Erika Henningsen), who opens up a Happy Hotel to rehabilitate the sinful residents so they can redeem themselves and go to Heaven. She gets help from her devoted girlfriend, Vaggie (Stephanie Beatriz). The voice cast features Jeremy Jordan, Amir Talai, Kimiko Glenn, and Christian Borle. [Saloni Gajjar]

British miniseries makes its way to the U.S. first on Paramount+ on January 19, and two days later on Showtime. The six-episode thriller is about Lorna Brady (Ruth Wilson), who suffers from PTSD after her infant was taken away from her. It manifests in the form of sleepwalking, and one fine night, she realizes there’s a dead woman in her house. Lorna’s world collides with Detective Colman (Daryl McCormack), who is investigating her for a different crime altogether. Color us intrigued. [Saloni Gajjar]

Sofia Vergara is synonymous with her character, Gloria Pritchett. Now, almost four years after it ended, she’s returning to TV with a totally different persona. She leads Netflix’s crime drama , playing Colombian drug lord Griselda Blanco, also dubbed the Godmother of Cocaine. The show charts how she rose to criminal notoriety, creating one of the biggest cartels in the underworld of Miami and orchestrating hundreds of deaths. Her co-stars include Alberto Guerra, Vanessa Ferlito, Karol G, Maximiliano Hernández, Martin Rodriguez, and Juliana Aidén Martinez. [Saloni Gajjar]

Co-created by Zach Woods and Mike Judge, is an animated series about Lauren Caspian (Woods), NPR’s third most popular host. The specificity of this detail is much appreciated, as is his official description: “A well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod.” The episodes follow the making of Lauren’s podcast wherein he collaborates with the NPR staff—everyone’s a puppet and a nimrod, by the way—to conduct in-depth interviews. [Saloni Gajjar]

Lulu Wang follows up on the fantastic with her first small-screen venture, , starring , Sarayu Blue, Brian Tee, Ji-young Yoo, Jack Huston, Flora Chan, and Will Or. A close-knit expatriate community in Hong Kong experiences grief, loss, love, and friendship in the six-part limited series. Margaret (Kidman) and Clarke (Tee) experience tragedy when their young son goes missing, fracturing her bond with her friend, Hilary (Blue), and the other people in their lives. [Saloni Gajjar]

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Gary Goetzman, . This World War II drama takes its inspiration from Donald L. Miller’s book : America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought The Air War Against Nazi Germany, a lengthy title that lays out the premise of this nine-episode limited series pretty well. Austin Butler stars as Major Gale Cleven, one of several pilots of the Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group, nicknamed the “Bloody Hundredth” due to the many casualties it suffered in combat during the war. The cast includes Barry Keoghan, Ncuti Gatwa, and more British actors doing their best approximation of an American accent. Apple beat out HBO in a bidding war for the project and spent somewhere between $200 and $250 million to produce a feature-quality spectacle. [Cindy White]

It’s been nearly seven years since the last season of , which centered on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford filming Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? and its aftermath. The upcoming second season of the anthology series has its sights set on a topic just as campy with personalities just as big: Truman Capote and the “swans,” his circle of female socialites whom he counted as close friends. While Ryan Murphy—who created and executive produces the show—has been spread pretty thin as of late, there is reason to believe this season will be new ground. Besides the top-notch cast that includes Tom Hollander, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, Diane Lane, and many more, all eight episodes are to be directed by Gus van Sant. [Drew Gillis]