The days are short, but the long nights are full of TV premieres. The winter months bring a host of new series and returning favorites, plus a few finales (goodbye, “Mad Men,” “The Mentalist,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Parenthood,” “Glee” and “Two and a Half Men.”)
Matthew Perry, Rainn Wilson and Larry Wilmore tackle new projects. Vince Gilligan resurrects an old one. Perry (“Friends”) returns to prime time as half of “The Odd Couple,” playing Felix Unger to Thomas Lennon’s Oscar Madison in a reboot of the iconic 1970s TV series based on the 1960s Neil Simon play and movie. No pilot was available for review, but, thankfully, the neat freak vs. slob dynamic never gets old.
Wilson (“The Office”) is “Backstrom,” a slovenly Seattle cop who chomps a cigar, eats and drinks to excess, and solves mysteries using psychobabble, hoping to get off the traffic detail and back to working homicides. His dialogue is supposed to be profound: “I don’t see the worst in everyone, I see the everyone in everyone.” Likewise, the pilot feels heavy-handed.
With “The Nightly Show,” Wilmore is taking over Stephen Colbert’s slot on Comedy Central. Long the “senior black correspondent” on “The Daily Show,” Wilmore will lead a panel discussion giving voice to minority points of view. The show, overseen by executive producer Jon Stewart, will have no shortage of topical material.
Gilligan wrote “Battle Creek” long before his masterwork “Breaking Bad,” but it will come to the small screen only this winter. The most promising pilot of the lot, from Gilligan and David Shore (“House”), “Battle Creek” concerns two mismatched cops, one charming, the other gruff, cleaning up the mean streets of Battle Creek, Mich. Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters star, with Janet McTeer as the police commissioner.
“Marvel’s Agent Carter,” a fun medley of period stylings, big-band music and femme fisticuffs inspired by the “Captain America” movies, looks like what retro fans used to call appointment viewing.
Of the comedies, the standout is on FXX, “Man Seeking Woman,” an inspired tour of a millennial mind with Jay Baruchel (“Undeclared”) and frequent flights of fantasy.
Live events remain the most lucrative draw on the networks’ schedules, attracting millions of viewers in real time, defying the DVR. The Super Bowl, the Grammys and the Oscars are on the horizon.
Still, as far as some fans are concerned, it’s all building toward “Game of Thrones” on HBO. Some highlights:
JANUARY
Jan. 6: ABC spinoff of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Hayley Atwell reprises her Agent Peggy Carter from the Captain America films.
Jan. 7: “Empire,” Lee Daniels’ family drama set in the hip-hop music business. Fox.
Jan. 8: “Archer,” FX’s subversive animated spy, begins its sixth season; for starters, the ISIS logo is out.
Jan. 11: “Togetherness” couples comedy premieres on HBO; Matt LeBlanc’s returns on Showtime.
Jan. 11: Golden Globe Awards on NBC.
Jan. 14: “Broad City” returns for season 2, Comedy Central.
Jan. 14: “Man Seeking Woman,” surreal, very funny Jay Baruchel comedy, on FX. My surprise favorite of the available pilots.
Jan. 18-22: “Grantchester,” a six-part mystery on PBS.
Jan. 19: “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore,” on Comedy Central.
Jan. 20: “Justified,” on FX.
Jan. 22: comedic crime procedural starring Rainn Wilson, set in Portland, on Fox.
Jan. 26: “A Path Appears,” PBS Independent Lens, based on Nicholas Kristof/Sheryl WuDunn book on gender inequality.
Jan. 28: “The Americans” returns for season 3 on FX.
Jan. 29: “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How To Get Away with Murder” return on ABC.
Jan. 29: “Parenthood” finale. NBC.
FEBRUARY
Feb. 1: Super Bowl, with Katy Perry halftime show, on NBC.
Feb. 4: “Broadchurch” season 2, on BBC America.
Feb. 5: spy drama, on NBC.
Feb. 8: Grammy Awards, on CBS.
Feb. 8 & 9: on AMC. Eagerly anticipated spinoff of “Breaking Bad” with Bob Odenkirk reprising his sleazy lawyer character, Saul Goodman.
Feb. 10: “Fresh off the Boat,” ABC’s Asian-American culture-clash comedy.
Feb. 12: “The Slap.” The slap of a child spirals to threaten families. Eight episodes, on NBC.
Feb. 15: “Saturday Night Live” 40th anniversary special, on NBC.
Feb. 18: “The Mentalist” two-hour series finale, on CBS.
Feb. 19: Matthew Perry, Thomas Lennon as Felix Unger, Oscar Madison in the CBS remake.
Feb. 19: “Two and a Half Men” finale, on CBS.
Feb. 22: 87th Annual Academy Awards, Neil Patrick Harris hosts, on ABC.
Feb. 24: “Parks & Recreation” finale, on NBC.
Feb. 27: “House of Cards” season 3 release, on Netflix.
MARCH
March 1: “Battle Creek,” CBS’s Vince Gilligan crime drama.
March 1: “Last Man on Earth,” on Fox.
March 1: “Secrets and Lies,” on ABC.
March 4: “CSI: Cyber.” Patricia Arquette leads the latest in the CSI franchise, on CBS.
March 5: “American Crime” anthology, ABC. Felicity Huffman and Timothy Hutton star.
March 17: “One Big Happy” Ellen DeGeneres-produced comedy, on NBC.
March 20: “Glee” finale, on Fox.
March 23: “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” on CBS.
March 30: “Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies,” Ken Burns’ latest, on PBS.
Late March-early April (to be announced): “Game of Thrones,” on HBO.
Spring, TBA: “Mad Men,” AMC.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
