Ah, February. While some TV shows this month will seem as dreary and repetitive as Groundhog Day, others will bring hearts to your eyes. Valentine's Day is coming up, after all. From the final season of HBO’s Girls to The Good Wife spin-off series The Good Fight, there are plenty of shows you’ll fall in love with this month.
Netflix
The Santa Clarita Diet (Netflix, premiering Feb. 3)
The Santa Clarita Diet is perfectly twisted and full of camp. This show stars Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant (Justified) as a married couple whose life gets turned upside down when Barrymore’s character turns into a zombie — with an appetite for human flesh. While I’m not too big on screen depictions of zombies (I think we’re all a little fried out on The Walking Dead), this series provides a fresh and funny twist. I genuinely hope that this series sticks around, as I think the prospect of having Drew Barrymore in a television series is positively wonderful.
HBO
Girls (HBO, returning Feb. 12)
HBO’s Girls has always been a polarizing program. My opinion on the show has varied over the years, but I strongly believe that the last few seasons have been great television, with insightful plot lines, good humor and interesting character development. Sure, all the characters are kind of horrible people, but these millennial women living in Brooklyn are representatives of a generation, whether we like it or not. I find it refreshing that they are allowed to be flawed, difficult and downright annoying — because that’s how people are in real life. The final season begins Feb. 12, and I encourage everyone to give the show another shot; it's come a long way
HBO
Big Little Lies (HBO, premiering Feb. 19)
This show looks hella good, and not just because it has Reese Witherspoon as the lead (in a TV show!!) Big Little Lies, adapted from the novel of the same name, is about three mothers of 1st graders in the same town whose perfect facades begin to crumble (oh yeah, and there’s murder too!). The show also stars Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and more high-quality film actors. With this all-star talent, HBO’s platform and the producer/writer heading the project, David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Legal), Big Little Lies can’t possibly fail, right? I’m eager to see this highly anticipated series. I think it should be a smashing success.
CBS
The Good Fight (CBS All Access, premiering Feb. 19)
The Good Fight is the upcoming spinoff of the critically acclaimed CBS drama The Good Wife, which wrapped up its final season in May 2016. The new program comes from the same showrunners, Robert and Michelle King, and it follows the formidable defense attorney Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), who needs to start a new law practice because she loses all her money in a Madoff-like Ponzi scheme. She must work alongside Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo), a young attorney with whom she clashed with last season, as well as a first-year associate (Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie), whose father is the person who is responsible for the Ponzi scheme. I am excited for this show, not just because I am a Good Wife devotee. A new, intelligent legal drama is exactly what I need right now. And also: Christine Baranski 4EVA.
Netflix
Mike Birbiglia: Thank God For Jokes (Netflix, premiering Feb. 28)
Mike Birbiglia is one of the more underrated stand-up comedians of the modern era. While he has achieved some success through his act (where he talks about his sometimes dangerous sleep disorder), he’s not everywhere, like Kevin Hart or others of the same caliber. Birbiglia also success on the big screen in 2016, with his bittersweet comedy Don’t Think Twice, which he wrote, starred in and directed. In Thank God For Jokes, which recorded his one-man show on Broadway, Birbiglia showcases his talent as a sharp writer and an endearing stage presence. In these tumultuous times, it feels good to let this guy make you laugh and feel a little better.