Winter is one of my favorite times in TV land because they dust off the shows that didn’t quite make it to the fall premiere schedule and give them a chance to show the world what they’re made of. It’s also a time for summer shows to make a part-B comeback, filling in gaps where all our favorites lived on our DVRs. Some of my all-time favorite shows were once mid-season “replacement” shows. Did you know that Buffy the Vampire Slayer started as a mid-season replacement? Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, and Dawson’s Creek were all part of the replacements crew too.

Anyway, this season features a great mix of mid-season replacements and returning favorites that will have those DVR gaps filled up in no time! When Mother Nature strikes with another Jonas-level storm, you’ll be ready to hibernate with some great binge-worthy lineups! Check out 7 TV shows on my winter watch list!

7 TV Shows to Watch This Winter

Pretty Little Liars on Freeform (former ABC Family) Tuesdays

The Liars are back and better than ever! Well, maybe not better (they’ve had a few really stellar seasons so far), but definitely older than ever! Season 6B jumped us ahead 5 years, which actually puts us closer to the stars true ages. It’s almost like a whole new show!

After watching the first two episodes of the second half of the season, I’m just as hooked as I was the day I started binge-watching this show back during the summer. That’s right, unlike some of you PLL fans, I only had to wait a couple of months to find out who A was, rather than almost six years. Hey, it felt like years! My Teen Guide has all your Pretty Little Liars news, including weekly recaps, so if you need help catching up, head over there!

Second Chance on Fox (just moved to Fridays)

I just caught the first two episodes of this show back-to-back the other night, which actually prompted me to write this post. At first, I was skeptical, especially since I’m pretty sure this was originally on my TIVO under the name “The Frankenstein Code, or Code Frankenstein” or something. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be hokey. Now, I can’t wait for the next episode! Sadly, it just got moved to Fridays after those two shows got low ratings. Which means it’ll be gone in a week, given Fox’s track record (Firefly, anyone).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XfujuzhmCs

Second Chance is about a pair of brilliant twins who happen to run a massive social media network. One is dying, so the other brings a 75-year-old dead guy back to life to make a serum to save her. Except he comes back as a super buff super hero with super strength. That’s the super condensed version.  According to Variety, Fox isn’t writing the show off yet, so maybe Second Chance still has a chance?

X-Files, Fox, 

After like a billion years (14, actually, give or take a few months), Mulder and Scully are back! Don’t call it a reboot, though. It’s a revival, my friends. A pretty surprising one, at that, considering one particular character that is literally revived. I won’t spoil. The premiere was a massive hit on Twitter, too, scoring 276,000+ tweets, according to The Wrap. Can the revival come close to pulling off the atmosphere and odd charm that made the original so, well, original? I guess we’ll have to watch and see! Now, Fox, let’s talk about Firefly…

Fuller House, Netflix Original

I’ll be honest, I couldn’t stand half the characters of the original Full House. Still, I’m totally fascinated by the spin-off all these years later, featuring a grown-up widowed DJ raising her three sons along with her sister Stephanie and BFF Kimmy. So basically, it’s the girl power version of Full House. A lot of the originals make a cameo appearance throughout the series, with the exception of the Olsen twins. They’re busy designing clothes, from what I read. I’m planning to tune in to Fuller House just for the novelty sake of it. I’m not a big fan of the Cameron’s politics or religious zeal (Kirk just plain creeps me out), but I do like Candace in all the Hallmark Channel movies, so it’ll be fun to watch her reprise the role that made her famous.

Lucifer

On the totally opposite end of the spectrum (and something I’m sure Kirk Cameron won’t be watching), we have Lucifer. I haven’t caught the first episode yet, it’s still on my DVR, but I’m watching it this week. I’m a little sad because when I saw that it was based on a character in The Sandman, I though they mean Neil Gaiman’s comic, even though I didn’t recall a Lucifer. Turns out they meant the DC comic with totally different characters. Anyway, it still sounds fun.

Basically, the devil gets bored of running the underworld and comes topside to live a bit. When his pal gets killed, he throws his lot in with the good guys for a change and solves crimes or something. Sounds fun, right? I love the whole “bad guy solves crimes” genre, but not in the creepy Dexter way. Not serial killer solves crimes, but more like Crowley from Supernatural.

The Magicians, Sy-Fy (which I still think should go back to being Sci-Fi)

So this show is pretty interesting! I watched the first part of it the other night on Demand. My mom wandered in and out, then asked “is this hard to follow?” Honestly, a little, if you don’t pay attention. It’s kind of like a weird Harry Potter graduate school, except not as whimsical and innocent. Two best pals are invited to take an entrance exam into a magical university. The guy gets in, the girl fails. The girl NEVER fails at ANYTHING, so she freaks out. Like mental breakdown, Jack in the Shining freak out.

Magical weird stuff happens, you really have to watch it to follow. It’s surreal. Like a love child between JK Rowlings and Dali, with a bit of genes thrown in from Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” and a less religious touch of Narnia.

The 100

If you were starting to think the 100 (which, with 12 clans, including the Sky People and the Ice Nation, is more like the 1,000 or so) was gone for good, you can relax. Bellamy, Clark, Octavia, Jasper and the rest of the Ark are back, even though they’re far from united. At the end of the last season, Clark was all depressed and guilt-ridden over her massacre at Mount Weather, so she went off on her own.

She’s still gone, although now everyone is looking for her. Apparently, they want her “power.” Bellamy took over as leader of the Sky People. There’s also hints that this season we’ll find out what caused the apocalypse. Always good to know, so we can scratch that off our list of “ways to avoid ending the world.”

While my tastes tend to run more towards the strange, magical and mystical, I think there’s something for everyone here. I do tend to be eclectic in my tastes!