10 new shows to watch in 2017

Baby, it's cold outside, so there's no better time than January to curl up and binge on a sizzling new TV or streaming show.

From period pomp, to musical sass, to Neil Patrick Harris, here area few promising entries coming to the #PeakTV landscape.

Star

Debuts Jan. 4 onFox

The latest from Empire co-creator Lee Daniels also employs the music industry as a backdrop in exploring the tale of aspiring young singers hopingto make it big. Aside from the trio (Jude Demorest, Brittany O'Grady and Ryan Destiny) playing the girl group at the centre of the story, the cast also includes the magnetic Queen Latifah, Lenny Kravitz and Benjamin Bratt among the adult figures surrounding the young performers.

Pure

Debuts Jan. 9 onCBC

Pure, CBC's new Mennonite mob drama

8 years ago

Duration 1:01

CBC's new drama revolves around a newly elected pastor who attempts to clean up unsavoury elements inside his community.

Mennonites trafficking in drugs? It's the eyebrow-raising premise behind Pure, the CBC's new drama about a newly-elected pastor who attempts to clean up unsavoury elements inside his community. It's a fascinating premise and definitely an unusual take on exploring a protagonist's moral compass.

Taboo

Debuts Jan. 10 onFX

Tom Hardy teamed up with his dad, Chip, and Locke director Steven Knight for this dark and ominous-looking mini-series about a man, believed dead, who arrives home in 19th-century London to inherit his father's shipping empire. He's greeted by murder, mystery, betrayal and conspiracy.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Debuts Jan. 13 onNetflix

Forget that earlier movie: Neil Patrick Harris brings his take on the evil Count Olaf to Netflix's anticipated series based on Lemony Snicket's (aka real-life author Daniel Handler's) blockbuster kids series about the twisty, tumultuous lives of orphaned siblings Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. Handler wrote and co-produced this project, which features an onslaught of actors (Joan Cusack, Patrick Warbuton, Alfre Woodard, Aasif Mandvi, Catharine O'Hara and Don Johnson all pop up in the trailer).

Victoria

Debuts Jan. 15 onPBS

You've re-watched Downton Abbey all the way through again and burned through The Crown. What's left for fans of British period drama? It just might be this newcomer spotlighting the early reign of Queen Victoria, starring Jenna Coleman as the diminutive but feisty teen who becomes the long-reigning monarch andmost powerful woman in the world. The drama's, ahem, liberal approach to accuracy has prompted some British historians to declare: "We are not amused." Still, that didn't stop Victoria from becoming a hit already heading for season two across the pond.

The Young Pope

Debuts Jan. 15 onHBO

What happens if you mix Vatican intrigue, a heavy dose of Sopranos swagger and Jude Law? You get HBO's new international co-production about a complex, calculating and controversial pontiff who'sthe first-ever American elected to the post. He's from Brooklyn! His name is Lenny! It sounds like a delicious kind of madness from award-winning Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino.

And, beyond January, here are four more shows we're eagerly awaiting.

Legion

Debuts Feb. 8 onFX

This new series from Fargo creator Noah Hawleyis setin the X-Menworld, butwith the off-kilter,menacing vibe from the early trailers, it seems to channel a different, more sinister tone than the blockbuster movie franchise.

Big Little Lies

Debuts Feb. 19 onHBO

American actors have definitely fallen in love withCanadian filmmakerJean-MarcValle, the C.R.A.Z.Y. and Caf de Flore director whose recentHollywood collaborations include Demolition, Wild and Dallas Buyers Club.He teams up again with Wild's Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern, andadds NicoleKidman,Shailene Woodleyand Zoe Kravitz in this limited HBO series. Based on a hit novel,the story follows several women connected by their kindergarten-agedkids who cover-up a variety of secrets in their seemingly perfect lives, with murder eventually joining the mix.

The Handmaid's Tale

Debuts April 2017 onHulu

Margaret Atwoodherself said she couldn't wait to see the finished episodes of this freshly relevant and sumptuous-looking adaptation of, arguably, her most famous dystopian novel. Along with starring as the protagonist, Offred,actress Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men,Top of the Lake) signed on to produce the project, which also featuresJoseph Fiennes andSamira Wiley.

American Gods

Debuts sometime in 2017 onStarz

Neil Gaiman'saward-winning fantasy novel. A diverse cast led by the indelible Ian McShane. Adapted by celebrated TV writer-producer Bryan Fuller with collaborator Michael Green. "Highly anticipated" is the understatement of the year.