Rueben's Ramblings

Here is a list of the programming options to expect on TV this week:

There will be several dramas returning from their holiday hiatus this week, including all the following on January 6:

Castle on ABC at 10 PM and Almost Human and Sleepy Hollow on FOX at 8 and 9 PM respectively.

The CBS drama Hostages will air its two-hour finale at 9 PM. Meanwhile, Teen Wolf will be back for a new season on MTV starting at 10 PM; and the second seasons of the Canadian dramas Cracked and King will premiere on Reelz Channel at 8 and 9 PM respectively.

Then there is a boatload of programming options on January 7, starting with the new dramas as follows:

Intelligence on CBS at 9 PM. Josh Holloway (Lost) stars Gabriel Black as a high-tech intelligence operative enhanced with a super-computer microchip in his brain. With this implant, he is the first human ever to be connected directly into the global information grid. He can hack into any data center and access key intel in the fight to protect the United States from its enemies. CSI alum Marg Helgenberger stars as Lillian Strand, the Director of the elite government cyber-security agency who supports Gabriel and oversees the unit’s missions. Strand assigns Riley Neal (Meghan Ory from Once Upon a Time), a Secret Service agent, to protect Gabriel from outside threats, as well as from his appetite for reckless, unpredictable behavior and disregard for protocol.

Being Marie Jane on BET at 10 PM. The series, based on the made-for-TV movie that aired in 2013 will focus on the story and life of a black woman, her work, her family as well as her popular talk show which she hosts. The star of the show is Gabrielle Union (FlashForward).

Killer Women on ABC at 10 PM. Of all the notorious lawmen who ever patrolled the violent frontier, none are more storied than the Texas Rangers. Ballsy and badass Molly Parker (Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica) is one of the first women to join this elite group of law enforcement agents. The cast includes Marc Blucas (Necessary Roughness), Michael Trucco (Fairly Legal) and Alex Fernandez (Devious Maids)

Then the following shows will either start their new seasons or return from their holiday hiatus:

Pretty Little Liars and Ravenswood will both be back on ABC Family at 8 and 9 PM respectively. Justified will air its season premiere on FX at 10 PM. NCIS and Person of Interest will be back on CBS at 8 and 10 PM respectively. Chicago Fire will be back on NBC at 10 PM; and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be back on ABC at 8 PM.

On January 8, the People’s Choice Awards will air on CBS at 9 PM.

That same night, Revolution and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will both return from their holiday hiatus on NBC at 8 and 9 PM respectively followed by the new spin-off series Chicago P.D. debuting at 10 PM. Chicago P.D. follows District 21 of the Chicago Police Department, which is made up of two distinctly different groups: the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city’s street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city’s major offenses. The cast includes Jason Beghe, Jon Seda, Jesse Lee Soffer, Sophia Bush, Patrick Flueger and Elias Koteas.

Psych will also air its season premiere on the USA Network on January 8 at 9 PM.

On January 9, White Collar will be back from its short hiatus on the USA Network at 9 PM.

January 10 will be another big night of programming with the following airing:

The new Syfy series Helix will debut at 10 PM with two back-to-back episodes (with limited commercial interruptions). The series follows a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease Control who travel to a research facility in the Arctic to investigate a potential outbreak of disease. While there, they find themselves stuck in a life-or-death situation that could decide the fate of the future of mankind. The cast includes Billy Campbell (The Killing), Hiroyuki Sanada (Revenge) and Jeri Ryan (Body of Proof).

Also, the second season of Banshee will begin on Cinemax at 10 PM; Bones will be back from its holiday hiatus on FOX at 8 PM and Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods will be back from their holiday hiatus on CBS at 9 and 10 PM respectively.

The new drama When Calls the Heart, based on the 2013 made-for-TV movie, will debut on January 11 at 9 PM on the Hallmark Channel. Daniel Lissing (Last Resort) and Erin Krakow (Army Wives) will take over the lead roles from the film about a wealthy young Canadian girl who heads West to be the town’s new school teacher and the town’s constable who is assigned to the town to protect her by her shipping magnate father.

Then on January 12, the Golden Globe Awards will air on NBC at 8 PM.

And that same night, the new HBO series True Detective will debut at 9 PM. The series centers on detectives Rust Cohle (Matt McConaughey) and Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson), whose lives collide and entwine during a 17-year hunt for a serial killer in Louisiana. The investigation of a bizarre murder in 1995 is framed and interlaced with testimony from the detectives in 2012.

Also on January 12, the PBS one-hour special Unlocking Sherlock will air at 10 PM. This special will take viewers on a personal voyage through the versions of Holmes that have served as inspirations for the new series – the original stories, their factual origins, hundreds of film adaptations – to arrive at their thoroughly modern Sherlock. Writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss will explain the challenges they encountered adapting the original adventures of the iconic super-sleuth, going behind the scenes on the set of the hit television series. The special will include interviews with actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Lara Pulver who talk about the reinvention of their fictional characters.

Mark your calendars!