What to Watch This Week: January 23 to 28

From pop royalty to animated antics, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Billions – Sunday, January 23, 8 p.m., Crave1 | Season Premiere

As season six of this financial thriller debuts tonight, the Axe has—most definitely—fallen. Building on that season-five finale, which saw Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) lose all his companies to rival billionaire Michael Prince (Corey Stoll) before going on the run in Switzerland, character and actor alike have both departed the series. But while we’ll undoubtedly miss the chess match between Axe and Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), the attorney general will find a more-than-worthy new opponent in Prince. (One could even say he has another Axe to grind!) Now that the pair are firmly planted on opposite sides and no longer working together to take down Axelrod, the gloves are sure to come off. Especially since Prince double-crossed Rhoades in the last episode, and is also now Wendy’s (Maggie Siff) boss, which is guaranteed to make things even more personal for the crusading lawyer. Add in the fact that Wags (David Costabile) and Taylor (Asia Kate Dillon) don’t seem all that thrilled with their new Axe Capital leader, and there are plenty of compelling new dynamics to delve into this year.

“Billions season six really does have all the stuff you love about the tone and ensemble and feel,” co-creator Brian Koppelman recently told Entertainment Weekly. “It is a Billions season, but it is structured differently; it’s the next evolution of the show. But the characters are still set. All the characters still have their own needs, desires, wants—and those needs, desires [and] wants might very well come into conflict with other characters on the show.”

2. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | Wednesday, January 26, 6:40 a.m., Starz 2

Aardman, the world’s premier stop-motion animation house, gave their signature franchise its first feature-length outing in 2005, as the cheese-lovin’ inventor and his pooch battle a giant, crop-eating bunny.

3. Resident Alien – Wednesday, January 26, 6 p.m. & Midnight, CTV Sci-Fi | Season Premiere

In season two, Harry Vanderspeigle (Alan Tudyk, playing an extraterrestrial invader who landed on Earth and took over the physical form of a small-town doctor) has embraced a new role as defender of humanity, after his initial mission of destroying the human race crashed and burned. As Harry struggles to hold onto his alien identity, his human emotions overwhelm him as they grow stronger by the day.

4. Grown-ish – Thursday, January 27, 7 p.m. & 10 p.m., ABC Spark

Year four of this college-set black-ish spinoff returns from midseason hiatus. Aaron is dealing with the fallout of his actions during that outrageous luau; Ana and Vivek try to keep their hook-up quiet; Jazz tries to make sense of her feelings for Des; and Zoey turns to Pops and Ruby for advice.

5. Single Drunk Female – Thursday, January 27, 7:30 p.m. & 10:30 p.m., ABC Spark

With a title like Single Drunk Female, you might reasonably assume this recently debuted series revolves around a college girl who’s drinking, laughing and loving her way through her years of higher education… In fact, most of the drinking in this series takes place before the first episode even begins, since it kicks off with a 20-something writer named Samantha Fink—played by Your Honor alum Sofia Black-D’Elia—being confronted about her alcoholism by her boss. The confrontation goes… poorly. And by that, we mean it leads not only to her being fired, but forced into court-ordered rehab and public service.

After moving in with her mom (The Breakfast Club‘s Ally Sheedy), Samantha’s first night home results in some big-time backsliding that manages to make her crumbling life even worse. Ultimately, she has no choice but to face her flaws and try to change. This is a good thing, of course, but the problem is, she’s back home, which means our troubled protagonist must regularly grapple with all of the people, places and things that first sent her down the path of self-destruction.

And given that Sam is now legally obligated to maintain her sobriety, lest she find herself behind bars, she’s got a tough road ahead. But she’s also in the process of developing a new support system that might just lead to a better tomorrow… if she can keep herself from screwing it all up again.

One thing we can’t help but mention about Single Drunk Female is that, yes, it’s definitely full of enough laughs to warrant its inclusion as a “Hot Comedy,” but rest assured that the creative team is taking the topic of alcoholism very seriously.

6. Janet Jackson. – Friday, January 28, 5 p.m. & 9:03 p.m., A&E

As the younger sister of Michael Jackson, it’s not surprising that Janet Jackson will always be in the shadow of the self-proclaimed King of Pop. However, that shouldn’t diminish her own immense achievements—such as being the only artist in music history to chart seven top-10 singles from just one album, 1989’stJanet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. Jackson finally gets her due in this two-part, four-hour documentary, promising the deepest dive into her life that’s ever been undertaken. Reportedly in the works for more than three years, Jackson granted her full cooperation to the project, in addition to complete access to personal home videos. Described as an “intimate, honest and unfiltered look” into the singer’s life and career, Janet Jackson. also “lifts the lid on her private life for the very first time and reveals some of her most intimate moments ever caught on camera.”

Among those interviewed are such close friends and collaborators as Missy Elliott, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, her brother Tito Jackson and longtime backup dancer Whyley Yoshimura, in addition to stars like Janelle Monáe, Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson, Teyana Taylor, Tyler Perry and others. In fact, Jackson herself has declared, “This is my story told by me. Not through someone else’s eyes.”

The concluding second part will air on Saturday, January 29th.

7. Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness – Friday, January 28, Netflix | Series Premiere

Ever since Jonathan Van Ness first hit the TV scene on Netflix’s Queer Eye reboot in 2018, the grooming expert has been winning over audiences with his upbeat attitude, his love of all things sparkly and, above all, that perfectly coiffed man-bun! Add in the fact that he’s talked openly about being HIV-positive, thereby becoming a role model for those in the community through his warm, honest, fearless dialogue, and it’s no wonder fans are clamouring for more of this style guru. Luckily, more Van Ness is exactly what those fans are about to get, as the star launches a spinoff of his Getting Curious podcast this weekend. Similar to the format used in said podcast, each episode finds Van Ness tackling a question that piques his interest, scouring the world for as much info as he can muster, sparking thoughtful conversations in the process. Along the way, our intrepid host will be tapping the brain power of a slew of experts, putting his interviewing skills to the test—which is a whole different look than TV fans are used to from him.

In the podcast, over the years, Van Ness has covered every-thing from vaccine misinformation to the history of scissors, with fun segments like “How Do You Bring It On?” with Bring It On star Gabrielle Union and “What’s the Soundtrack to Your Life?” with Brandi Carlile to break things up. Some of the topics set to be explored on the television show? Skyscrapers, bugs, gender identity, and the one we’re looking forward to most: snacks!

“I have been working towards this moment for almost 10 years and it’s finally here!” Van Ness gushed on social media. “My first-ever solo network TV project created and executive produced by yours truly!”

8. Home Team – Friday, January 28, Netflix

Fans of the NFL will recall how Sean Payton, head coach of the New Orleans Saints, led that team to victory at the 2009 Super Bowl—and then, in 2012, was suspended an entire season for his role in the “Bountygate” scandal, in which players were allegedly offered cash rewards for injuring members of opposing teams. In this new comedy flick (“inspired by actual events” but still pretty fictionalized) from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company, King of Queens‘ Kevin James plays Payton, during his lost year.

As Home Team tells it, that year wasn’t so “lost” after all, with Payton returning to his hometown to help coach his 12-year-old boy’s (Tait Blum) Pop Warner football team, bringing father and son closer than they’ve ever been as they reconnect during Payton’s exile from the NFL. In addition to Taylor Lautner (The Twilight Saga) as the team’s other coach and Rob Schneider as the inventor of a dubious energy bar, the cast also features Sandler’s wife, Jackie Sandler, and nephew Jared Sandler.

9. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild – Friday, January 28, Disney+

When did the Ice Age begin? Well, it was during the Paleolithic era… oh, wait: you’re asking about the movies, aren’t you? Silly us! Let’s try that again. The first film in this franchise about a group of prehistoric critters (voiced by Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo) was released in 2002, followed by four big-screen sequels—2006’s The Meltdown, 2009’s Dawn of the Dinosaurs, 2012’s Continental Drift and 2016’s Collision Course—along with Christmas and Easter specials, plus seven shorts revolving around mischievous rodent Scrat.

On Friday, we get another feature-length outing, but this one premieres directly on streamer Disney+ and gives the spotlight to a fan-favourite supporting player. Mission: Impossible funnyman Simon Pegg returns as swashbuckling adventurer Buckminster the Weasel, a.k.a. Buck Wild. Unfortunately, most of the other returning characters are getting new voices, but rest assured: they sound similar enough that it won’t bother you for long. Meanwhile, new additions to the cast include Ghosts‘ Utkarsh Ambudkar and One Day at a Time‘s Justina Machado.

10. The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window – Friday, January 28, Netflix

Psychological thrillers featuring imperiled women, typically based on bestselling novels, have become a fixture on both the big and small screen, and now a new Netflix limited series aims to spoof a very specific subgenre of these types of movies.

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, Kristen Bell stars in The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window, boasting a mashup title that folds in the likes of Emily Blunt’s The Girl on the Train and Amy Adams’ The Woman in the Window.

Bell plays the title role: a heartbroken woman named Anna, for whom every day is identical as she sits by her window and mopes, slurping wine while watching the world go by without her.

Her small, sad existence is turned upside down, however, when a handsome new neighbour (Tom Riley) and his adorable young daughter (Samsara Yett) move in across the street. Captivated by their seemingly sweet lives, Anna begins to see a potential end to her self-imposed hell—until she witnesses a brutal murder, that is.

According to Netflix’s synopsis, the miniseries is “a darkly comedic, wine-soaked, satirical slant on the psychological thriller that will have you guessing who, what, where, why and how in the hell?! until the very end.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bell admitted she was hooked by the overbaked title alone. “It was like nothing I’d ever heard before, and it made me laugh,” she said. “It was so outside the box and absurd that I knew I had to be involved.”

According to showrunner Rachel Ramras, while the series may be a spoof, she actually views it as more of a comedic homage than utter mockery. “We are having fun with the genre, as opposed to making fun of the genre,” she explained.