What to Watch This Week: January 8 to 13

From the return of the Golden Globes to a three-show NCIS crossover event, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Giuliani: What Happened to America’s Mayor – Sunday, January 8, CNN | Series Premiere

CNNCNN strives to answer a question that’s been nagging a lot of folks over the past decade or so. Among the world’s most recognizable politicians, Rudy Giuliani played an instrumental role in taking down the New York mafia during the 1980s in his role as U.S. Attorney, before becoming the city’s mayor—credited with leading the Big Apple (and the country as a whole) through the painful aftermath of September 11.  

But following a disastrous presidential campaign in 2008, Giuliani’s lustre began to fade. He eventually reemerged as a far-right conspiracy theorist on the cable news circuit and the personal lawyer to President Donald Trump—furthermore accused of, among other transgressions, stoking the fires of the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol Building attacks.  

Premiering with two episodes tonight before wrapping with two more next Sunday, this docuseries delves into the man’s “operatic life of victories and defeats,” via archival footage and new interviews with friends and former colleagues.  

Unconventional, inherently problematic and undeniably fame-hungry, Giuliani is, alas, a political figure for our times. 

2. Chef Dynasty: House of Fang – Sunday, January 8, Food | Series Premiere

Food Network CanadaThe personal drama is nearly as delectable as the food in this new reality series about San Francisco chef Kathy Fang, who sets out to modernize her family-owned restaurant, despite the objections of “her father, business partner and toughest critic,” Peter Fang. Walking a tightrope between honouring tradition and changing the perception of Chinese cuisine, Kathy gets started tonight by inviting a few influencers to sample her bold fusion menu. 

3. Alert: Missing Persons Unit – Sunday, January 8, CTV & Fox | Series Premiere

CTVAfter a 10-season run on Hawaii Five-0, Scott Caan is back in a badge. This time, he’s playing Philadelphia detective Jason Grant, who, along with ex-wife Nikki Batista (Dania Ramirez), works in the city’s Missing Persons Unit. All the while, they’re both searching for answers about the fate of their long-missing son. 

4. Koala Man – Monday, January 9, Disney+ | Series Premiere

Dinsey+Produced by Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland, a cartoon lark from Down Under follows Kevin (voice of series creator Michael Cusack), a middle-aged dad who resolves to clean up his small town by becoming a superhero… except, one who specializes in stopping “jerks who don’t take their rubbish bins down on the proper days.” But unknown to Kev, far more sinister enemies are afoot. Co-stars include Succession Emmy-nominee Sarah Snook and Australia’s favourite son, Hugh Jackman.

5. NCIS / NCIS: Hawaii / NCIS: Los Angeles – Monday, January 9, Global & CBS

GlobalThese days, “crossover events” are the norm thanks to The CW’s Arrow-verse and producer Dick Wolf’s FBI and Chicago One franchises. So it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for the various NCIS branches to unite in a three-part barnburner.  

It all kicks off with the original NCIS, when agents from Washington, Los Angeles and Hawai’i attend the retirement party of a beloved Federal Law Enforcement Training Center professor. There, things take a surprising turn when they jointly investigate a suicide. The action continues on NCIS: Hawai’i, as Palmer and Hanna are captured alongside a woman claiming to be a CIA agent. Then, at 10 p.m., it all caps with NCIS: Los Angeles, when Roundtree and Fatima learn that every last member of the team has a $200,000 bounty on their head. Needless to say, it will be all hands on deck as they evade every hit man, cartel thug and garden-variety low-life trying to cash in. 

6. Andrew Santino: Cheeseburger, Tuesday, January 10, Netflix

NetflixIt’s rare to find a standup comedian who has several different pseudonyms listed on his Wikipedia page, but such is the case with Andrew Santino, a.k.a. Slugger Santino, a.k.a. The Red Rocket, a.k.a. Cheeto Santino, a.k.a. The Last of the Great Gingers. (No, seriously, these are all listed on his Wiki page, where he’s also referred to as a “Cheeto dust cultivator,” for some reason.)  

Santino first began making mainstream inroads with appearances on such hit TV series as Punk’d, The Office, Arrested Development and Childrens Hospital before securing a series-regular role on ABC sitcom Mixology. He’s still doing plenty of acting, including the FX series Dave, but after popping up with sets on various standup showcases, he graduated to a full-length special in 2017 with Home Field Advantage.  

Now, the funnyman is back with his first Netflix special, wherein he discusses everything from global warming to sex injuries to politics. Material-wise, it’s actually an amalgam of fresh quips as well as ones he grilled up before the world went into lockdown. Either way, it’s all new to you! 

7. 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards – Tuesday, January 10, City & NBC

CitytvIt’s been three years since the most controversial of award shows had an actual broadcast, so there are many industry insiders wondering how this week’s big return to TV will fare for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Has the HFPA changed its ways and cleaned up what many accused of being a corrupt and racist vote? Could this show be the beginning of a new era for the association? NBC certainly hopes so! As the network said in a statement: “We recognize the HFPA’s commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th anniversary.”  

Ahead of the gala, many critics feel as though the predominantly white nominees are an indication of the same-old, so we’re curious to see which celebrities (aside from host Jerrod Carmichael) will support this thing. 

8. Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler – Wednesday, January 11, Showcase | Season Premiere

ShowcaseThe saga of Alfred Pennyworth returns for a third season this week, and with it comes a new subtitle. Per exec producer Bruno Heller, that’s because many viewers had no idea that Alfie (Jack Bannon) is indeed the man who eventually turns into Batman’s most trusted sidekick (all apologies to Robin). “They just thought it was about a bloke who left the army,” Heller told Entertainment Weekly.  

After the defeat of the villainous New Raven Alliance, season three features a five-year time jump into the ’70s. With Alfred’s security business on the rise, a confounding new conspiracy involving MI5, the CIA and corporate espionage emerges—which includes the arrival of Thomas Wayne’s duplicitous father, Patrick.  

9. Vikings: Valhalla – Thursday, January 12, Netflix | Season Premiere

NetflixWhen we last left the Greenlanders and the Vikings, our conquesting heroes were worse for wear. The latest battle for Kattegat yielded many casualties, and in the first episode back it’s clear that Leif (Sam Corlett) remains shattered by Liv’s (Lujza Richter) death. Olaf (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) isn’t in the greatest shape either after trying to end Canute’s (Bradley Freegard) reign, and will have to answer for his crimes. Meanwhile, Harald (Leo Suter) is still healing from his near-death experience, but luckily he has Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) to help him out—at least for a little while.  

There are big adventures in store for this next batch of episodes, including travels to Jómsborg, Russia and Constantinople. Alas, for fans of the Freydis-Harald pairing, that means the lovebirds will split, as she follows a higher calling with fellow Kattegat refugees and he heads off with Leif in search of armies and power.  

Freydis will have a new sparring partner, however, in the form of a power-hungry Jomsvikings leader named Harekr (Bradley James), who lives by a very specific set of rules. Meanwhile, over in Russia, we’ll meet a woman named Mariam (Hayat Kamille); the astronomer is stuck in Novgorod and catches Leif’s eye when she opens his mind to the world of math, science and language.  

“Season two will show that sometimes when you hang out with the people that are just like you, eat like you, talk like you, you can still run into trouble,” showrunner Jeb Stewart tells Tudum. “So you need to stir the pot, which I think is what the Vikings did. So we put together this motley crew of nobles, Muslim astronomers and con men, and they shove off from Novgorod.” 

10. Hunters – Friday, January 13, Prime Video | Season Premiere

Prime VideoIn February of 2020, audiences were introduced to young Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman), a Jewish kid in 1970s New York who, after the murder of his grandmother, meets up with a crew of quirky, deadly assassins hunting down a network of secret Nazis that infiltrated America in the wake of the Second World War. Executive-produced by Jordan Peele (Get Out) and starring Al Pacino as lead Hunter Meyer Offerman, it was one of that TV season’s most provocative, most buzzed new dramas. Yet fans have been forced to wait three whole years for this second and final chapter.  

Season one ended with Jonah killing Meyer, after exposing the old man himself as a Nazi. Picking up two years later, our Hunters have splintered and are on the verge of abandoning their mission… until they learn that Adolf Hitler (Udo Kier) and Eva Braun (Lena Olin) are alive in South America, still plotting a Fourth Reich.  

What’s more, dead though he may be, Meyer is anything but forgotten in this bloody, audacious swan song.