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Ten New and Returning Shows to Watch on Netflix in January 2022

Kristen Bell, Ozark and Too Hot To Handle ring in the new year with big red.
  • Photos: Netflix
    Photos: Netflix

    January is set to see an array of returning favorites on Netflix, including the long-awaited fourth season of Ozark, a new dose of Too Hot to Handle, and a promising new dramedy starring Kristen Bell. Plus, with shows like Lupin and Squid Game huge hits for the streamer, several new international titles are hoping to the repeat their success. Here are the new releases and returning series we're most looking forward to this month:

    Rebelde (NEW series)

    For the unitiated, the international boarding school backdrop and Battle of the Bands storyline would suggest Rebelde is some sort of Frankensteined amalgam of Glee, Elite, Riverdale, and Gossip Girl, but this one actually predates them all. A reboot of the 2004 Mexican telenovela of the same name, this updated Netflix version takes place at the show's same Elite Way School — rebranded as EWS — and the prestigious music program is at the heart of the conflict.

    Available January 5

    The Journalist (NEW series)

    The Journalist won Best Picture at the Japanese Academy Awards in 2019; now director Michihito Fujii has adapted the searing political thriller for Netflix. Anna Matsuda (Ryoko Yonekura) plays the Toto Newspaper reporter who will stop at nothing to expose the political scandals impacting Japanese society. Known as the “maverick of the news media,” Anna poses a big threat to some very powerful people and this series looks set to deliver plenty of twists and turns.

    Available January 13

    Archive 81 (NEW series)

    Loosely based on the podcast of the same name, Archive 81 is an unnerving story set over two timelines. Dan Turner (Mamoudou Athie) is an archivist who has taken a job restoring damaged videotapes from 1994. His task is to reconstruct the work of a documentary filmmaker who was investigating a dangerous cult, but he soon finds himself obsessed with finding out what happened to Melody Pendras (Dina Shihabi). They're separated by nearly three decades but Dan becomes convinced he can save Melody from an awful fate that has already occurred.

    Available January 14

    The House (NEW series)

    This three-part stop-motion animation anthology series takes place in a single house with a trio of unconnected stories. Helena Bonham Carter voices an eccentric tenant, while other names lending their vocal talents include Mia Goth, Matthew Goode, Dizzee Rascal, and Miranda Richardson.

    Available January 14

    Too Hot to Handle, Season 3

    You know the drill: a group of hot and horny singles enter the Too Hot villa and must refrain from any sexual contact (including self-gratification). The paradise setting provides the backdrop and the cash prize is the show's largest yet. But all of this is contingent on the contestants abstaining; the final Season 2 total (out of a possible $100,000) dropped to $55,000 after several competitors couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

    Available January 19

    Ozark, Season 4 Part 1

    It's been nearly two years since Ozark’s third outing, but the Emmy-winning series is finally back. The Byrdes saga is set to concluse with a final season in two parts consisting of seven episodes each, and somehow the stakes are even higher. A first-look clip reveals little time has passed since the last episode, as a very bloody Marty (Jason Bateman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) attempt to clean antagonist Helen Pierce’s (Janet McTeer) brains out of their hair. Veronica Falcón and Ali Stroker are set to join the cast in key roles.

    Available January 21

    Munich: The Edge of War (NEW movie)

    Based on the novel by Robert Harris, George MacKay stars as a British civil servant tasked with helping pull Europe back from the brink of war. As Hitler edges closer to invading Poland, Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons) attempts to find a peaceful solution. In order to help do this, Hugh Legat (MacKay) must meet an old university friend who is now a diplomat in Germany, and the pair soon end up caught in a web of political subterfuge.

    Available January 21

    In From the Cold (NEW series)

    The Cold War is TV heating up again in this new female-driven espionage series that sees Margarita Levieva playing a single mother from New Jersey who's confronted with her long-buried role as a Russian agent with “special abilities” — think Black Widow and Alias. Before long, her peaceful suburban life is shattered when she's tasked by the FBI to help fight against the underworld drug trade and election interfering.

    Available January 28

    The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (NEW series)

    Considering The Woman in the Window had such a turbulent release journey before it finally found a home on Netflix, it might seem like an odd choice that a satirical limited series skewering the Amy Adams movie is debuting this month. However, co-showrunner Rachel Ramras insists they “are having fun with the genre, as opposed to making fun of it.” Kristen Bell stars as the titular woman who drinks too much wine and thinks she saw a crime being committed before everything spirals out of control.

    Available January 28

    Home Team (NEW movie)

    Kevin James stars in this new family comedy as NFL football coach Sean Payton, who returns home to small-town life (and his 12 year-old son) after a one-year suspension coaching the New Orleans Saints.

    Available January 28

    Emma Fraser has wanted to write about TV since she first watched My So-Called Life in the mid-90s, finally getting her wish over a decade later. Follow her on Twitter at @frazbelina

    TOPICS: Netflix, Archive 81, In from the Cold, Ozark, Too Hot to Handle, The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window