Winter TV preview 2015: Watch the trailers

Scarcely have the holidays departed, the last bite of figgy pudding or sip of egg nog cycled through our system, the last present sorted for use or reuse, than the winter television season comes crashing down upon us, laden with gifts of its own. Yes, friends, there are more television shows to watch, and quite a few are shows you will want to watch or feel as a citizen of the culture that you really should watch. Damn you, New Golden Age of Television! Do you think we are made of time? Here is a look at not even all of it.

Tags:
  ABC
  BBC America
  CBS
  Comedy Central
  Discovery Life
  FXX
  Fox
  HBO
  Lifetime
  NBC

Galavant’

(ABC Networks)

Medieval-modern musical comedy will recall “Spamalot”/”Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” “The Princess Bride” to anyone who was alive to see them, but songs by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater, who have Disney features under their belt (and are working for Disney here) are catchy and some jokes do make it through the briers. Not G-rated, it seems worth pointing out. ABC, 8 p.m. Sundays

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ABC

Child Genius’

(Lifetime)

Like “MasterChef Junior,” for knowing math and history and stuff. Lifetime, 10 p.m. Tuesdays

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Lifetime

Living Different’

Four-part series profiles women “unrestricted by social norms as they follow their passion whether it be love, spirituality or profession.” Oxygen, 9 p.m. Tuesdays

Marvel’s Agent Carter’

(ABC Networks)

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” prequel/”Captain America” movie sequel finds Hayley Atwell breaking the glass ceiling for fictional women in post-World War II American espionage.
ABC, 8 p.m. Tuesdays

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ABC

Empire’

(FOX)

What is this? We ‘King Lear’ now?” asks arty gay son Jussie Smollett as music-biz mogul father Terrence Howard announces the impending disposition of his kingdom in this hip-hop family drama from Lee Daniels and Danny Strong (“The Butler”). (Of course, it’s “Dallas” too.) Taraji P. Henson shines as the mother who took the rap — took the rap! — and is back like Sally Brown to get what’s coming to her, to get her fair share. Fox, 9 p.m. Wednesdays

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Fox

Hindsight’

(VH1)

Fictionally embodying the network’s basic pitch, Laura Ramsey is a middle-aged woman transported back into her younger self in an age of innocence — 1995, this year’s TV nostalgia destination (see also: “Fresh Off the Boat”). VH1, 10 p.m. Wednesdays

Babylon’

(Sundance)

Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”) joins with Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong (“Peep Show”) in a several-toned yet smoothly complected workplace satire set among the higher and lower reaches of London’s Metropolitan Police. James Nesbitt runs the place; Brit Marling is the American P.R. consultant hired to spin the spin. Sundance, 10 p.m. Thursdays

Togetherness’

(HBO)

Veteran indie filmmakers (and sometime TV personalities) Mark and Jay Duplass and Steve Zissis bring an intimate, big-screen vibe to a comedy of friends and family living in too-close quarters; Melanie Lynskey and Amanda Peet costar (only Jay is invisible). HBO, 9:30 p.m. Sundays

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HBO

Eye Candy’

(MTV)

Victoria Justice is a Web-age Nancy Drew tracking a cyber-stalking serial killer in an adaptation of R.L. Stine’s not-so-young-adult novel. MTV, 10 p.m. Mondays

Wrestling With Death’

(WGN)

These Arkansas morticians are also professional wrestlers! You wouldn’t pitch it as a sitcom, but as reality TV, it just sells itself. WGN, 10 p.m. Tuesdays

Man Seeking Woman’

(FXX)

Jay Baruchel, still looking for love. Eric André is here too. FXX, 10:30 p.m. Wednesdays

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FXX

Rock This Boat’

(TVGN)

New Kids on the Block takes a cruise! Like the Brady Bunch in Hawaii, or snakes on a plane, but NKOTB, on a boat. Pop, 8 p.m. Wednesdays

Snoop & Son: A Dad’s Dream’

(ESPN)

Snoop is Snoop (Dog/Lion/Zilla); son Cordell is a high school football star with hot college prospects. Time is passing. ESPN, 7 p.m. Wednesdays

50 Ways to Kill Your Mother’

(Discovery Life)

Imported series in which brash Irish media personality Baz Ashmawy takes his 71-year-old mom traveling to fulfill an “extreme bucket list” in the invented hope that she will drop dead. (Reviews from abroad are encouraging.) Discovery Life, 10 p.m. Thursdays

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Discovery Life

Breaking Point’

From the producer who brought you “Intervention,” more surprise interventions but with the possibility of jail time added for spice. “Certified interventional professional” Darren Kavinoky has been there. ID, 10 p.m. Thursdays

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Discovery Life

Outrageous Births: Tales From the Crib’

(Discovery Life)

If these wombs could talk. Horrible/hilarious birth stories to make you put away that story about driving to the wrong hospital forever. Discovery Life, 9 p.m. Thursdays

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Discovery Life

12 Monkeys’

(Syfy)

A televisionication of Terry Gilliam’s 1995 picture about a time traveler from a plague-decimated future (Aaron Stanford), in which there is nevertheless time travel, sent back to change history. Syfy, 9 p.m. Fridays

World’s Funniest Fails’

(FOX)

YouTube brand brings contemporary cachet to this latest turn on “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” Terry Crews hosts, though. Fox, 8 p.m. Fridays

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Fox

Bella and the Bulldogs’

(Nickelodeon)

Bad News Bears”-ish football story, with Brec Bassinger as a cheerleader turned quarterback, rocking it Nick tweencom-style. Nickelodeon, 8 p.m. Saturdays

Grantchester’

(PBS)

James Norton is a mystery-solving vicar in this ‘50s-set British mystery series. PBS, 10 p.m. Sundays

Hoarding: Behind Closed Doors’

This too is set in Britain. Just in case you thought it was an American thing. Discovery Life, 10 p.m. Sundays

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Discovery Life

K.C. Undercover’

(Disney)

Zendaya (“Shake It Up”) is the teenage daughter, which is to say person who matters, in a Disneyfied family of spies. Disney, 8:30 p.m. Sundays

The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore’

(Comedy Central)

Daily Show” Senior Black Correspondent Wilmore moves in to fill a Colbert-shaped hole. Formerly titled “The Minority Report,” but you can see how that might not have tested well. Comedy Central, 11:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays

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Comedy Central

Best New Restaurant’

(Bravo)

One recently established eatery is judged, somehow, to be the best in America. Money is awarded. Tom Colicchio hosts, Gordon Ramsay produces. Bravo, 10 p.m. Wednesdays

The Mistress’

Speaking of Ramsay, his “self-proclaimed former mistress” (I am reading here) Sarah J. Symonds is here to save other Other Women from having to host a show like this. Discovery Life, 10 p.m. Wednesdays

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Discovery Life

Backstrom’

(FOX)

Rainn Wilson, only slightly less worked up than on “The Office,” plays a Pacific Northwest police detective of the brilliant yet disheveled, impolitic and amusingly self-destructive sort. “I don’t see the worst in everyone; I see the everyone in everyone,” says he. Colorful partners, subordinates and superiors dance attendance around him. “Rain” puns to come. Fox, 9 p.m. Thursdays

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Fox

World’s Worst Mom’

Ironic title. “Parenting expert” Lenore Skenazy, who caused some sort of public kerfuffle some years back when she let her 9-year-old son ride the New York subway by himself, counsels overanxious parents to just chill. Discovery Life, 9 p.m. Thursdays

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Discovery Life

Nightwatch’

(A&E)

Dick Wolf (“Law & Order” shows, those “Chicago” shows) produces this reality show about late-shift emergency services in New Orleans, where all is not as quiet as you might suspect. A&E, 10 p.m. Thursdays

Million Dollar Critic’

London Times writer Giles Coren (Ramsay’s “The F-Word”) visits North American restaurants, pronounces his doom. The million dollars is merely figurative. BBC America, 10 p.m. Thursdays

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BBC America

This Is Not Happening’

Ari Shaffir imports to big-time TV his online series in which comics, including Rob Corddry, D.L. Hughley, Keegan-Michael Key and Marc Maron, tell tales on themselves, object: hilarity. Comedy Central, 12:30 a.m. Fridays (late Thursday nights)

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Comedy Central

Mud, Sweat and Gears’

(BBC America)

British car-customizing competition. Just in case you thought that was strictly an American thing. BBC America, 10 p.m. Mondays

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BBC America

Fortitude’

(IMDb)

Global warming — yes, it’s happening — plays a part in this Arctic murder mystery filmed in Iceland and the U.K. Stanley Tucci, Richard Dormer, Michael Gambon, Christopher Eccleston, Jessica Raine star. Pivot, 10 p.m. Thursdays

Mel Brooks Live at the Geffen’

It’s not a series, but it is Mel Brooks. Live. At the Geffen. HBO, 9 p.m.

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HBO

Fresh Off the Boat’

ABC

Real-life restaurateur Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name is the basis of this mid-‘90s Asian “Wonder Years”-cum-fish-out-of-water-out-of-water story, with 11-year-old Eddie (Hudson Yang), a Chinese American hip-hop fan relocated from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Fla. I will be haranguing you to watch this in the weeks ahead. ABC, 8:30 p.m., moving to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Feb. 10

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ABC

Allegiance’

Scott Cohen as Mark O'Connor, Alex Peters as Sarah O'Connor, Kenneth Choi as Sam Lutrell, Hope Davis as Katya O'Connor, Gavin Stenhouse as Alex O'Connor, Margarita Levieva as Natalie O'Connor, Morgan Spector as Victor Dobrynin in "Allegiance."
Scott Cohen as Mark O'Connor, Alex Peters as Sarah O'Connor, Kenneth Choi as Sam Lutrell, Hope Davis as Katya O'Connor, Gavin Stenhouse as Alex O'Connor, Margarita Levieva as Natalie O'Connor, Morgan Spector as Victor Dobrynin in "Allegiance." (Joe Pugliese/NBC)

Gavin Stenhouse is a CIA analyst who learns that his parents (Hope Davis, Scott Cohen) are Russian spies reactivated by the Kremlin as part of some plot to finally stick it to America once and for all. Not satire, surprisingly. Adapts Israeli series “The Gordin Cell. NBC, 10 p.m. Thursdays

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NBC

Better Call Saul’

(ABC)

The only “Breaking Bad” spinoff any sane person would care to see, with Bob Odenkirk’s legal beagle at the center, six years before that other stuff happened; Jonathan Banks is happily back as sensible fixer Mike Erhmantraut, with Michael McKean newly on board as someone I know nothing about. AMC, 10 p.m. Sundays

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ABC

Schitt’s Creek’

(Pop)

Canadian-import sitcom teams SCTV alums Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara with Chris Elliott — what else do you need to know? Pop, 10 p.m. Wednesdays

The Slap’

Event series,” remaking an Australian original, begins with a person slapping a child not his own, goes on from there. Peter Sarsgaard, Uma Thurman, Thandie Newton, Melissa George and Zachary Quinto elevate the tone in front of the camera; writer Jon Robin Baitz, director Lisa Cholodenko, behind. NBC, 8 p.m. Thursdays

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NBC

The Book of Negroes’

(BET Networks)

Aunjanue Ellis stars in a six-part, Colonial-era historical drama from a novel by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill, following one black woman’s odyssey in Africa, America (the Colonies and Canada), Africa again, and England. Cuba Gooding Jr., Louis Gossett Jr., Lyriq Bent, Jane Alexander also star. BET, 8 p.m. for three consecutive nights

The Odd Couple’

Matthew Perry, left, and Thomas Lennon star in "The Odd Couple."
Matthew Perry, left, and Thomas Lennon star in "The Odd Couple." (Monty Britton / CBS)

Neil Simon’s influential trope, as it was in the beginning, with Matthew Perry as the Oscar and Thomas Lennon as the Felix. CBS, 8:30 p.m. Thursdays

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CBS

Outlaw Country’

(WGN America)

Sets of brothers on the right and the wrong sides of the law face off in far Buckner, Mo., without a script. WGN, 10 p.m. Tuesdays

Good Witch’

Actress Catherine Bell stars in "Good Witch."
Actress Catherine Bell stars in "Good Witch." (Hallmark)

As Pinocchio was made a real boy, the likable Catherine Bell TV movie franchise — small-town Wicca, safe for handling, Hallmark style — goes to series. Hallmark, 8 p.m. Saturdays

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’

Tituss Burgess, left, and Ellie Kemper in Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."
Tituss Burgess, left, and Ellie Kemper in Netflix's "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt." (Eric Liebowitz / Netflix)

Tina Fey and “30 Rock” partner Robert Carlock created it, NBC passed on it, Netflix wanted it, and Ellie Kemper stars in it, as a woman who leaves a cult after 15 years for a new life in New York City; Jane Krakowski and Carol Kane are there waiting. Netflix, March

Battle Creek’

Dean Winters, left, and Josh Duhamel in "Battle Creek."
Dean Winters, left, and Josh Duhamel in "Battle Creek." (Monty Brinton / CBS)

The Eye’s other Odd Couple series, with Dean Winters and Josh Duhamel as colorfully mismatched crime fighters cleaning up the makes-a-good-title town of Battle Creek, Mich. (They have crime, along with the corn flakes.) A Vince Gilligan creation dormant since long before “Breaking Bad” broke, awakened by the sweet smell of success. CBS, 10 p.m. Sundays

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CBS

Secrets and Lies’

(ABC)

Ryan Phillippe is an innocent man accused of murder, like in a Hitchcock film, and Juliette Lewis the detective on the case, in a suburban mystery miniseries, based on an Australian original. ABC, 9 p.m. Sundays

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ABC

The Last Man on Earth’

(Fox)

Will Forte is the last man on Earth. It had to be somebody. Fox, 9 p.m. Sundays, moves to 9:30 p.m. (March 8)

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Fox

CSI: Cyber’

Actress Patricia Arquette stars in "CSI: Cyber."
Actress Patricia Arquette stars in "CSI: Cyber." (Monty Brinton / CBS)

Knit brows and banter — it’s a new CSI! Patricia Arquette, Peter MacNicol, James Van Der Beek (in action-hero mode) and Bow Wow take on those who would pervert the wired world to nefarious ends. Sample lines: “Evolutionary survival skills will instinctively take them to higher ground.” “A baby’s life is at stake: focus.” “It’s binary” (not referring to code). CBS, 10 p.m. Wednesdays

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CBS

American Crime’

(ABC)

Broadcast TV in a cable mood, with John Ridley (“12 Years a Slave”) writing and directing this mostly down-to-earth, multithread, multicultural, not-what-it-seems, Modesto-set murder mystery, devilishly well played by Felicity Huffman, Timothy Hutton, Benito Martinez, W. Earl Brown, Penelope Ann Miller, others. ABC, 10 p.m. Wednesdays

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ABC

Dig’

(USA)

Jason Isaacs is an American agent investigating a murder in Israel, opening in the bargain a can of worms thousands of years old — those are some old worms. It’s Gideon Raff (“Homeland”) and Tim Kring (“Heroes”) in a Dan Brown mood. Anne Heche, Lauren Ambrose, Richard E. Grant costar. USA, 10 p.m., Thursdays

The Royals’

(E!)

Elizabeth Hurley, William Moseley, Alexandra Park and Vincent Regan are the alternate-reality British royal family of a tabloid editor’s dreams. Joan Collins toddles along at some point in the season. E!, 10 p.m. Sundays

One Big Happy’

Elisha Cuthbert is a lesbian pregnant by straight best friend Nick Zano; Kelly Brook is his suddenly acquired new bride, with whom Cuthbert doth not click. Ellen DeGeneres executive produces. NBC, 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays

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NBC

The Late Show With James Corden’

James Corden, left, with Craig Ferguson on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson."
James Corden, left, with Craig Ferguson on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." (Sonja Flemming / CBS)

English comic actor Corden (currently on view in “The Wrong Mans” and “Into the Woods”) takes over Craig Ferguson’s chair. (Probably, it’s a different chair.) Reggie Watts is in for the robot skeleton, with music. CBS, 12:30 a.m. weeknights

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CBS

Big Time in Hollywood, FL

(Comedy Central)

Alex Anfanger and Lenny Jacobson are aspiring filmmakers of perhaps no talent in a well-provisioned comedy series, by which I mean that Kathy Baker, Stephen Tobolowsky, Cuba Gooding Jr., Michael Madsen and David Keith are also in it. Comedy Central, 10:30 p.m. Wednesdays

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Comedy Central

The Dovekeepers’

Actress Kathryn Prescott in "The Dovekeepers."
Actress Kathryn Prescott in "The Dovekeepers." (Kurt Arrigo / CBS)

Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (see “A.D.” below) adapt Alice Hoffman’s novel of Masada and 1st-century Israel. CBS, 9 p.m. for two consecutive nights

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CBS

Younger’

Actress Molly Bernard in "Younger."
Actress Molly Bernard in "Younger." (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Sutton Foster, who has not retired from television merely because it didn’t fully appreciate “Bunheads,” returns as a 40-year-old trying to pass as 26 to get back into the working world. Debi Mazar and Hilary Duff costar; Darren Star created it. TV Land, 10 p.m. Tuesdays

Weird Loners’

Becki Newton and Zachary Knighton in "Weird Loners."
Becki Newton and Zachary Knighton in "Weird Loners." (Ray Mickshaw / FOX)

Becki Newton, Zachary Knighton and Nate Torrence are in the town house as sudden roommates in Queens, N.Y.(It’s the new old Brooklyn.) Created by Michael J. Weithorn (“The King of Queens”), sticking close to home. Fox, 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays

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Fox

A.D.’

(NBC)

Easter-premiering 12-hour miniseries about post-Crucifixion Christianity, the Early Days. From Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who have a line going in these things. NBC, 9 p.m.

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NBC

Odyssey’

Big old international limited-series thriller, with an Al Qaeda theme. NBC, 10 p.m. Sundays

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NBC

Wayward Pines’

(FOX)

Spooky-town series directed by M. Night Shyamalan is a little bit “Lost,” a little bit “Twin Peaks,” a little bit “Truman Show,” a little bit “Under the Dome,” a little bit “The Lottery,” a little bit the director’s own “The Village” and a whole lotta “The Twilight Zone.” Matt Dillon, Melissa Leo, Toby Jones, Juliette Lewis, Terrence Howard and Carla Gugino keep it real, if not exactly fresh. Fox, 9 p.m. Thursdays

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Fox

Credits: Produced by Jevon Phillips and Andrea Wang.