What to Watch This January: 20 Programs You Must See
The ball has dropped, the calendar has been reset, and a new year has come crashing through the door! Kick off 2023 with this month's curated selection of our streaming highlights, featuring a new French crime drama "Astrid," returns of audience favorites like "La Otra Mirada" and "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors," and as usual, revealing documentaries on global topics with "American Experience" and "Independent Lens."
This season's star-studded lineup of "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors" includes Viola Davis, Michelle Yeoh, Eddie Redmayne, Adam Sandler, Brendan Fraser and many more — be sure to catch it when it streams on KCET starting Jan. 13!
See below for the full January lineup.
Sunday, Jan. 1
The Good Road (New Season) – Sundays, 7:30 p.m.
Returning for Season 3, two best friends travel the world to meet philanthropists and change-makers who have dedicated their lives to addressing global humanitarian issues. Watch Now.
Wednesday, Jan. 4
Icon: Music Through the Lens: On Camera – 8 p.m.
Get to know some of music photography's greatest names and what factors define an iconic image. Watch Now.
Friday, Jan. 6
On Story: On Writing Barry – 10:30 p.m.
"Barry" co-creators Alec Berg and Bill Hader discuss their award-winning dark comedy about a hitman from the Midwest who develops a passion for acting and how they created an honest and convincing story about a bizarre anti-hero. Watch Now.
Saturday, Jan. 7
American Experience: Lie Detector – 9 p.m.
Discover the story of the polygraph, the controversial device that transformed modern police work, seized headlines and was extolled as an infallible crime-fighting tool. A tale of good intentions, twisted morals and unintended consequences. Watch Now.
Frontline: Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus, Part 1 – 10 p.m.
Investigating the powerful spyware Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. Part one of a two-part series with Forbidden Stories into the hacking tool used to spy on journalists, activists, the fiancee of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and others. Watch Now.
Independent Lens: Children of Las Brisas – 11 p.m.
In an impoverished Venezuela neighborhood, the power of music is put to the test for El Sistema national youth orchestra. Watch Now.
Tuesday, Jan. 10
Astrid – Tuesdays, 9 p.m.
Astrid Nielsen, who has Asperger's syndrome, works in the library of the judicial police. With an incredible memory she excels at analyzing files of ongoing investigations. The district commander decides to use it to the fullest, entrusting her with very complex investigations which have remained unsolved to date. Watch Now.
La Otra Mirada (New Season) – Tuesdays, 10 p.m.
Set in 1920s Seville, where Teresa, a woman with a mysterious past, flees to a young girls' academy with a secret goal related to the academy itself. This series, returning for its second season, portrays the journey of brave women finding their own voice. Watch Now.
Wednesday, Jan. 11
23rd Annual Newport Beach Film Festival Honors – 7:30 p.m.
The "23rd Annual Newport Beach Film Festival HONORS" celebrates outstanding achievement in film and television, featuring personal interviews with Oscar winners Ron Howard and Eddie Redmayne, actors Jonathan Major, Patton Oswalt, Keke Palmer, Aubrey Plaza, Colson Baker and writer/producer Paul Feig. Also highlighted, Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch. Watch Now.
Friday, Jan. 13
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors (New Season) – 9:39 p.m.
Candid half-hour conversations with today's most accomplished Hollywood actors and Academy Awards® acting category frontrunners. Now on its 17th season, each episode brings together pairs of actors engaging in intimate one-on-one discussions about their craft and work. Watch Preview.
Saturday, Jan. 14
American Experience: Riveted: The History of Jeans – 9 p.m.
Discover the fascinating story of this iconic American garment. From their roots in slavery to the Wild West, hippies, high fashion and hip-hop, jeans are the fabric on which the history of American ideology and politics are writ large. Watch Now.
Frontline: Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus, Part 2 – 10 p.m.
Investigating the powerful spyware Pegasus, sold to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. Part one of a two-part series with Forbidden Stories into the hacking tool used to spy on journalists, activists, the fiancee of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and others. Watch Now.
POV: I Didn't See You There – 11 p.m.
Spurred by the spectacle of a circus tent outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker launches into a meditative journey exploring the history of freakdom, vision, and (in)visibility. Watch Now.
Sunday, Jan. 15
The Stone of Hope: Moving the Dream Forward – 4 p.m.
The first decade of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Now the fifth most visited Memorial averaging 3-5 million visitors a year, the King Memorial uniquely serves the country as the only Memorial on the National Mall honoring an activist, a preacher, and a man of peace. Watch Now.
Wednesday, Jan. 18
Icon: Music Through the Lens: On the Record – 8 p.m.
Explore the evolution of album cover photography, from its roots in jazz and early rock 'n' roll, with anecdotes by art directors, musicians and the photographers responsible for some of the world's most iconic album covers. Watch Now.
Saturday, Jan. 21
American Experience: Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space – 9 p.m.
Meet the influential author and key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Also, an anthropologist, Hurston collected folklore throughout the South and Caribbean — reclaiming, honoring and celebrating Black life on its own terms. Watch Preview.
Independent Lens: The Big Payback – 11 p.m.
The story of how a rookie alderwoman in Evanston, Illinois led the passage of the first tax-funded reparations bill for Black Americans and stirred up a debate about the debt owed from the U.S. Watch Preview.
Sunday, Jan. 22
87th Annual Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards – 4 p.m.
Highlighting the 2022 winners of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards and their work. Hosted by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards is the only national juried prize recognizing literature that has contributed to our understanding of racism and human diversity.
Saturday, Jan. 28
Trezoros: The Lost Jews of Kastoria – 10 p.m.
A chronicle of the Jewish life and culture of Kastoria, where Jews and Greek Orthodox Christians lived together in harmony for more than two millennia until World War II, when this long and rich history would be wiped out in the blink of an eye. Watch Now.
Independent Lens: No Straight Lines – 11 p.m.
From DIY underground comix scene to mainstream acceptance, meet five queer comics artists whose uncensored commentary on LGBTQ+ life left no topic untouched and explored art as a tool for social change. Watch Preview.
