12 of the best TV shows to watch this January

The Beauty premieres 21 January on Hulu in the US and 22 January on Disney+ in the UK

Apple TV

11. Shrinking

With Harrison Ford as its droll standout, this sophisticated comedy has one of the best ensemble casts on television, along with the rare ability to be funny and touching while avoiding any sappiness. The plot has grown from its early focus on Jimmy (Jason Segel) and his unconventional psychiatric methods as he spirals after his wife’s death.  In this third season, Paul (Ford), Jimmy’s friend and mentor, deals with the increasing symptoms of Parkinson’s, while Jimmy seems ready to move into a relationship. Jeff Daniels guest stars as Jimmy’s dad and Michael J Fox plays a Parkinson’s patient, a role tailored to his own well-known experience living with that condition. But it’s the regular cast that shines. Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie, Michael Urie, Christa Miller and Ted McGinley are more comfortable than ever as the friends and neighbours who are endlessly, comically, meddling in each other’s lives. As Bill Lawrence, the show’s co-creator, told TV Insider: “This is a show about a tiny found family that built a nuclear safety bubble around themselves” – and that continues to evolve.

Shrinking premieres 28 January on Apple TV internationally

Netflix

12. Bridgerton

Season four belongs to the second Bridgerton son, the licentious, artistically-minded  Benedict (Luke Thompson). According to the rules of his society (and of historical romances on TV) it is time for him to grow up and settle down. At a masked ball, he spies a young woman he calls The Lady in Silver, and is instantly taken with her. We soon know, and Netflix has revealed, what he doesn’t: Cinderella-style, she has made her way into the ball but is actually a lowly maid. How will he ever find her unless she loses a shoe? Yerin Ha plays the mysterious love interest, Sophie Baek. She works for another new character, the harsh Lady Araminta Gun (Katie Leung, Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films), who has two daughters to marry off. The regular cast returns, including (for at least a bit) Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton, along with Claudia Jessie as the spirited Eloise and Nicola Coughlan as Penelope, now married to Colin Bridgerton and having admitted that she has been the gossiping Lady Whistledown all along. Half of the season premieres this month, and the remaining four episodes on 26 February.

Bridgerton premieres 29 January on Netflix internationally

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