TV Heartbeat! Binge on Holiday Marathons! A Preview of the New Mid-Season Shows!

Happy holidays everyone!

With the expectations that everyone is out partying/traveling, we basically have some marathons this week and that’s about it. We’ll start to get more fresh programming next week so hang on!

For the people who reading this and haven’t seen Outlander yet (I imagine that’s maybe 2 people and you know who you are!), you can catch up from the beginning as Starz is marathoning marathons for some of its most popular new shows. Outlander kicks things off on Thursday followed by Power, The Missing and then Black Sails.

Never missing an opportunity to re-run The Walking Dead, AMC is running the full series for New Years. The dead festivities start on Tuesday.

Tonight: Kaiju Christmas marathon (El Rey)
Thursday: Outlander marathon (Starz), Doctor Who marathon (BBC America), Doctor Who Christmas special (BBC America)
Friday: Power marathon (Starz)
Saturday: The Missing marathon (Starz)
Sunday: Black Sails marathon (Starz) Call the Midwife Holiday special (PBS), The Comeback season finale (HBO)
Tuesday: The Walking Dead full series marathon (AMC), Kennedy Center Honors (CBS)
Wednesday: Penny Dreadful marathon (Showtime)
Mid-season preview

What’s dead may never die! While we’re in the depths of winter now and there are lots of re-runs, the mid-season shows will start to drop next week! While The CW hasn’t announced dates yet (probably so we don’t see which shows are cancelled since we’re still waiting on that as well!), a couple should definitely be making their debut in the near future. There’s a ton of interesting new shows and a lot of returning favorites so check out the TV Heartbeat mid-season preview!
12 Monkeys (Syfy)
Cast: Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull
Pitch: A man travels to the past to try to stop a virus that will nearly wipe out the human race. Based on the Terry Gilliam film, this is going to flow a bit different since it’s a series. I’ll have more on this and a review/preview and insight from the creative team in the coming weeks.
Begins: January 16

12 Monkeys (1)

Agent Carter (ABC)
Cast: Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse)
Pitch: Agent Peggy Carter and the early days of SHIELD! Agent Carter was such a fantastic character in Captain America that she got a Marvel One-Shot to test the concept of telling more of her story. Well here it is!
Begins: January 6 (replaces Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD until that show returns in March)

Agent Carter poster - tilt

Allegiance (NBC)
Cast: Scott Cohen, Hope Davis, Margarita Levieva, Kenneth Choi
Pitch: A CIA agent doesn’t know that members of his family are a part of a Russian sleeper cell.
Begins: February 5

American Crime (ABC)
Cast: Timothy Hutton, Felicity Huffman, Johnny Ortiz, Penelope Ann Miller
Pitch: A racially-charged crime and the impact of that trial on the city. (Very timely, no?)
Begins: March 5

Aquarius (NBC)
Cast: David Duchovny
Pitch: In the 1960’s a cop goes undercover to try to stop the Manson gang before their killing spree
Begins: TBA

Backstrom (Fox)
Cast: Rainn Wilson, Kristoffer Polaha, Dennis Haysbert, Thomas Dekker
Pitch: Backstrom (Rainn Wilson) is a highly skilled, neurotic criminal profiler
Begins: January 22

Battle Creek (CBS)
Cast: Josh Duhamel, Dean Winters, Janet McTeer, Kal Penn
Pitch: Yet another CBS procedural, but this is produced by Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad) based on an idea he pitched years ago which automatically makes this more interesting.
Begins: March 1

Better Call Saul (AMC)
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Michael McKean, Michael Mando, Jonathan Banks,
Pitch: Before Walter White turned his life and business upside down, there was Saul. Here’s his story!
Begins: February 9

Better call Saul

CSI: Cyber (CBS)
Cast: Patricia Arquette, James Van Der Beek
Pitch: It’s pretty much in the title: CSI focused on cybercrimes
Begins: March 4

Daredevil (Netflix)
Cast: Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Wohl, Vincent D’Onofrio
Pitch: The Man with No Fear fights crime in Hell’s Kitchen, NY.
Begins: TBA (but filming has wrapped)

Daredevil signing (21)

Dig (USA)
Cast: Jason Isaacs, Anne Heche
Pitch: USA’s big mini-series about a FBI agent in Jerusalem. His investigation into the murder of a archaeologist uncovers an ancient conspiracy.
Begins: March 5

Dig - Jason Isaacs Anne Heche

Empire (Fox)
Cast: Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Malik Yoba
Pitch: King Lear with a hip hop soundtrack (produced by Timbaland). Terrence Howard is Lucius Lyon, the dying head of Empire Records. He has to figure out which son (or grabby ex-wife played by Taraji P. Henson) is worthy to run his legacy. Directed by Lee Daniels, scripted by Danny Strong (Game Change, Hunger Games: Mockingjay), this boasts a bevy of guest stars including Naomi Campbell, Gladys Knight, Courtney Love and more.
Begins: January 7

Empire

Fresh off the Boat (ABC)
Cast: Randall Park, Ian Chan, Ray Wise
Pitch: An Asian family tries to settle down in Florida. The title on this show has gone back and forth quite a bit, but there’s good buzz on the pilot and Ray Wise (Leland Palmer from Twin Peaks) plays a strange neighbor so count me in!
Begins: February 10

Galavant (ABC)
Cast: Timothy Omundson, Joshua Sasse, Vinnie Jones, Karen David, Mallory Jansen, Luke Youngblood
Pitch: Medieval knights singing. Yes, it’s a musical and that hasn’t always gone well on TV. Remember Cop Rock? Even with Hugh Jackman in Laughlin, musicals can be a hard sell. Galavant will be a musical comedy (not musical drama) with tunes by Disney favorites Alan Menkin (Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Little Shop of Horrors) and Glenn Slater (Tangled)
Begins: January 6

iZombie (The CW)
Cast: Rose McIver, Robert Buckley, Malcolm Goodwin, David Anders, Nora Dunn
Pitch: From the team behind Veronica Mars, iZombie features a zombie girl who works in morgue to have access to all the brains she needs to survive. Each time she eats one, she learns about the dead person’s life. This is the fifth TV show based on a DC Comic this season.
Begins: TBA

IZombie cast autograph signing SDCC comic con rob thomas Rose McIvers 4

The Last Man on Earth (Fox)
Cast: Will Forte
Pitch: Well, there are 2 people left on earth. This is their story.
Begins: March 1

The Messengers (The CW)
Cast: Shantel VanSanten, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Joel Courtney, JD Pardo, Diogo Morgado, Jason Dohring
Pitch: An object from space kills a bunch of random people who resurrect to learn they have to stop the upcoming apocalypse.
Begins: TBA

Odd Couple (CBS)
Cast: Matthew Perry and Thomas Lennon
Pitch: An update of the old TV show, Matthew Perry is once again living with another guy who’s a bit different from himself.
Begins: February 19

Odyssey (NBC)
Cast: Peter Facinelli, Anna Friel, Jake Robinson, Treat Williams, Nate Mooney, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Daniella Pineda, Elena Kampouris, Jim True-Frost
Pitch: NBC is liking conspiracy theories these days. In this one, three different families are pulled into an international, military conspiracy.
Begins: April 5

Odyssey - Anna Friel

Secrets & Lies (ABC)
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Juliette Lewis, KaDee Strickland, Natalie Martinez, Clifton Collins Jr., Charles Dutton
Pitch: Ryan Phillippe stubbles upon a young boy’s dead body and the investigation into that boy’s death threatens his family and his business empire.
Begins: March 1

Sense8 (Netflix)
Cast: Tuppence Middleton, Brian J Smith, Naveen Andrews, Darryl Hannah, Jina Kim
Pitch: From the Wachowskis, this is Neflix’s biggest production to date. The story center around a group of people, mentally link together, who are seen as a threat to world order.
Begins: TBA

Sense8 logo
Whispers (ABC)
Cast: Barry Sloane, Lily Rabe, Milo Ventimiglia,
Pitch: Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, an unseen force is manipulating our kids to bring down humanity
Begins: TBA

Weird Loners (Fox)
Cast: Zachary Knighton, Becki Newton, Nate Torrence
Pitch: Four single people form a bond in a townhouse in Queens.
Begins: March 31

And let’s not forget that we have some returning shows to look forward to as well! Here’s a general calendar of when you can catch them. (As always, tune into TV Heartbeat for an alert on the specific day.)

January
American Idol (Fox)– Back again, but only for 1 night a week
The Americans (FX) – FX’s prestige show is back for more conspiracy
Black Sails (Starz) – Season two will give us a wider look at our favorite pirates including more about Captain Flint’s (Toby Stephens) history and what’s going on in London.
Cougar Town (TBS) – This final season will feature a lot of red wine. A lot.
Glee (Fox) – With a final, shortened season and a Friday time slot, I doubt the show would have come back if it weren’t for that long-term contract.
Hart of Dixie (The CW)– Back again! Enjoy what is likely to be the last season for this show.
Justified (FX) – Final season for Timothy Olyphant and the gang.
Musketeers (BBC America) – BBC America’s family adventure fun returns
Parks & Recreation (NBC) – Last chance to visit Pawnee, IN!
Sirens (USA) – USA network’s first comedy will return. The strange and charming EMTs will be back to administer their own brand of comedy.
Suits (USA) – They’re back for more of their own brand of justice.

Black Sails season 1 - Flint Vane

February
Broadchurch (BBC America)– The original and British Gracepoint is back for a second season.
House of Cards (Netflix) – The adventures of President Frank Wood. Should be a hoot, right? My guess is he’s planning to take over the world by the end of this season.
Night Shift (NBC) – NBC’s summer show gets a promotion to mid-season.
Perception (TNT), Rizzoli & Isles (TNT) and Vikings (History) – Oh my!

vikings season 2 promo

March
The Following (Fox) – More cat and mouse games…
Game of Thrones (HBO) – Too many plots to re-count here, but book readers will probably be getting book spoilers as some stories have already caught up with the last book.
Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (ABC) – Yes, the show is on break for several months. It’ll be back with the likely transformation of Skye into Quake.
Once Upon A Time (ABC) – OUAT is also taking an extended break until March.

GoT - Battle Castle Black

April
Orphan Black –Project Castor?!?!?!?!?!
Outlander – When we last left Scotland 1743, Jamie had a gun pointed at Black Jack Randall who had a knife at Claire’s throat. Time is crawling until April 4th, isn’t it?

OUT_108 Jamie and Claire horses forest

Stay tuned!

Comment below or email me at Erica@MikeTheFanboy.com
For more adventures, follow me on twitter: @Cambear

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