Girls is back on Sunday and the onslaught of returning shows is just beginning. Set your DVRs now!
1. Justified (FX)
Season 5 of Justified finds Timothy Olyphant's Raylan Givens tangling with some Florida lowlifes, relatives of Dewey Crowe (Damon Herriman), one of Harlan County's sleaziest denizens. Plus, Boyd (Walton Goggins) tries to find a way to get Ava (Joelle Carter) out of prison... and he exacts a bloody revenge against those who put her there in the first place. Along the way, wisecracks are exchanged, along with gunfire.
Season 5 premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 7 at 10 p.m.
FX
2. Girls (HBO)
The stellar third season of HBO's Girls finds the quartet struggling with new challenges and the first two episodes — which air back to back as a one-hour premiere — reintroduce new realities for these characters. (The brilliant second half of the premiere is a precise and gorgeous tone poem about a road trip.) While Hannah (Lena Dunham) has settled into a life of domestic bliss (relatively) with Adam (Adam Driver), Marnie (Allison Williams) is in a perpetual state of free fall, reeling from her breakup with Charlie (Christopher Abbott). Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) is trying to find her wild side, while Jessa (Jemima Kirke) continues to create chaos in her wake. Change both big and small is on the horizon for these women, and the first few episodes of the season capture the pain and humor of self-transformation. Not to be missed under any circumstances.
Season 3 premieres Sunday, Jan. 12 at 10 p.m.
HBO
3. Shameless (Showtime)
Just when you think things couldn't get worse for the hardscrabble Gallagher clan, it does. In Season 4 of Showtime's addictive Shameless, it finally seems as though life for the Gallaghers has improved — Fiona (Emmy Rossum) is excelling at her new job and her new relationship, Lip (Jeremy Allen White) is enrolled at college, and Debbie (Emma Kenney) is taking her first tentative steps into womanhood — until everything falls apart again. Frank (William H. Macy) takes things to a whole new level of disgusting (you've been warned), while Veronica (Shanola Hampton) and Kevin (Steve Howey) face some surprising news. It's the Molotov cocktail of television shows.
Season 4 premieres Sunday, Jan. 12 at 9 p.m.
Showtime
