Thursdays at 8pm beginning Jan

THE TOP 20

BEST SHOWS TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR

Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski

THE GILDED AGE

NEW SERIES!

Imagine a time in American history when rich white people discriminated against other rich white people for being the wrong kind of rich white people.

From Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes comes The Gilded Age, a period drama set in 1882 New York City, where new technological advances, new ideas and new money are challenging the established social order.

Young Pennsylvania woman Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) is left penniless following her father’s death, and she seeks help from the only family she has: crusty upper-crust aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon) in New York. Marian moves in with her aunts and finds herself thrust into the social sphere of old money and its nearly impenetrable caste system.

Marian befriends Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), a talented Black writer from Brooklyn, who is hired by Aunt Agnes to help her catch up on her correspondences. Peggy’s presence complicates the social strata within the house, fueling resentment among some who do not want her there.

Across the street from Marian’s aunts’ manor, George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon), who’ve made a fortune in the railroads, have built a lavish mansion. Bertha is desperate to be accepted by the old guard, but they humiliatingly spurn her. As architect Stanford White (John Sanders) explains, “They have been in charge since the Mayflower landed and now it’s your turn. Because you are the future. And if you are the future, then they must be the past. That’s what frightens them.” Unable to join them, Bertha makes it her mission to destroy them.

And in true Fellowes fashion, The Gilded Age is teeming with intrigue for the housekeepers and servants to murmur about.

Premieres on HBO Mondays beginning Jan. 24

JANET

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Janet Jackson’s first album, Janet Jackson (1982), the superstar shares her own story. This twonight, four-hour documentary “is my story told by me,” Janet shares. “Not through someone else’s eyes.” The music powerhouse was in her teens when she signed her first recording contract. She went on to become one of the bestselling and highest-earning artists in music history. Janet enjoyed immense levels of success, experienced incredible tragedy and endured a tumultuous private life in the face of extraordinary public scrutiny over that infamous wardrobe malfunction at the 2004 Super Bowl. The docuseries is an intimate, honest and unfiltered look at her untold story, which lifts the lid on her private life for the very first time and reveals some of her most intimate moments ever caught on camera.

Premieres on Lifetime & A&E Friday, Jan. 28 and Saturday, Jan. 29

Good Sam: © 2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Credit: Ramona Diaconescu Janet Jackson: Credit: Lifetime

GOOD SAM

NEW SERIES! Sophia Bush stars in the new medical drama Good Sam as Dr. Sam Griffith, a gifted heart surgeon who takes over as chief of surgery after her arrogant, egotistical boss (Jason Isaacs) falls into a coma. Months later, however, he wakes up from his coma and demands to resume his leadership. Now Sam must deal with supervising him, even though he has never supported her or her talent. And adding insult to injury, he’s her father. Now the two are butting heads over everything from running the hospital to dealing with patients. Will they ever be able to work together or fix their relationship?

Premieres on CBS Wednesdays beginning Jan. 5