Winter TV Watch List: 'The Mayfair Witches' Continues the Anne Rice Universe, 'The Menu' Comes to HBO Max

This week also sees the premiere of an adult take on Scooby-Doo and the second season of "Hunters" No images? [Click here]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=556351;uid={EMAIL}7196973;click=watch-list; [TheWrap - SUMMER TV WATCH LIST] Week of January 7 – 13 As we drift through winter, there’s plenty of great content to keep you out of the weather (or at the very least give you something to watch while you’re taking down your holiday decorations). This week is no different, with a splashy new Anne Rice adaptation to fill that “Interview with the Vampire”-sized hole in your heart, a new true-crime documentary about a viral sensation turned killer, plus a new adult take on “Scooby-Doo,” the return of “Hunters” and a “SpongeBob SquarePants” crossover. Plus a Netflix series from Hirokazu Kore-eda and the end of “Willow.” Stay in, snuggle up and binge away. On with the television! [Premiere of the week] “Mayfair Witches”Sunday, January 8, AMC+ Photo: AMC The Anne Rice television universe expands! “Mayfair Witches,” based on a series of books by the late author, stars Alexandra Daddario as Dr. Rowan Fielding, a neurosurgeon who discovers that she is the heiress to a long line of very powerful witches. Sounds fun right? The novels eventually crossed over with Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” books; the same will surely happen with both series being produced by AMC (the network is calling it the Immortal Universe). The supporting cast for “Mayfair Witches” is supernaturally good too, with Harry Hamlin, Annabeth Gish, Beth Grant and Jack Huston as Lasher, a paranormal entity with links to the witches (who becomes a hugely important figure in Rice’s series). And if you don’t have AMC+, fret not – the premiere episode will also air at 9 p.m. across five owned networks, including AMC, Sundance and BBC America. If that’s not the most impressively synergistic witchcraft, we don’t know what is. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7196973;click=watch-list; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Willow”Wednesday, January 11, Disney+ [Willow] Photo: Lucasfilm One of Disney+’s best (and, conversely, least talked-about) shows, [“Willow,”]( based on the Ron Howard fantasy film from 1988, is an absolute delight. And considering the extreme lack of buzz, it feels like this season finale will also double as a series finale. And that’s a shame because the new series, which saw Warwick Davis return to the title role, this time to assist a band of adorable adventurers (including the grown Elora Danan, now played by Ellie Bamber) to rescue a prince (Dempsey Bryk) and defeat a kingdom-threatening evil. “Willow” is aided significantly by its breezy storytelling, which never lingers for too long on unnecessary lore or world-building and kept the quest moving at an efficient clip. The finale should see the various threads from the season come together, as our crew has now traveled beyond the Shattered Sea to where the prince is being held. But is it the same prince they left? Or has something altogether unnatural happened in their time apart? [[INTERVIEW](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “The Drop”Friday, January 13, Hulu [The Drop] Photo: Hulu Not to be confused with the excellent 2014 crime drama starring Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace (seriously, you should watch it, it’s streaming on DirecTV), this new movie called “The Drop” is a self-described “cringe comedy” from director Sarah Adina Smith and executive producers Mark and Jay Duplass. The official synopsis reads: ““Lex and Mani are a happily married young couple, running their dream artisanal bakery in Los Angeles and excited about starting a family together. A trip to a tropical island resort for a friend’s destination wedding, coinciding with Lex’s ovulation cycle, feels like the perfect opportunity to conceive. But good vibes and high hopes are cut short when, shortly after their arrival to paradise, Lex accidentally drops her friend’s baby in front of all their friends. Paradise becomes purgatory for our couple as recriminations, passive-aggression and old wounds begin to permeate the island reunion and throw Mani and Lex’s future into deep uncertainty.” The new comedy stars Anna Konkle, Jermaine Fowler, Jillian Bell, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Robin Thede, Aparna Nancherla, Joshua Leonard, Jennifer Lafleur, and Elisha Henig. Don’t fumble and miss this one. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker”Tuesday, January 10, Netflix [Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker] Photo: Netflix From meme to murder suspect, “The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker” follows the unlikely story of Kai, a drifter who saved a woman’s life after she was pinned by a driver that Kai was riding with. His account of the accident on a local television turned Kai into a viral sensation, but just a few months later Kai was arrested for the murder of a 73-year-old New Jersey attorney, leading his entire story up until that point to be called into question. It’s a bizarre, cautionary fable about internet celebrity and the quickness that the media appoints fame and we’re pretty sure this new doc will become something that everybody is talking about. [[TRAILER](] ID=167008;size=300x250;setID=492280;uid={EMAIL}7196973;click=watch-list; [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “The Menu”HBO Max [The Menu] Photo: Searchlight “The Menu” is a delicious horror comedy set in the world of upscale dining that snuck onto HBO Max last week. Ralph Fiennes plays a talented (but insanely pretentious) chef who brings together an assortment of clientele, including a fanboy (Nicholas Hoult) and his date (Anya Taylor-Joy), a movie star (John Leguizamo), a critic (Janet McTeer) and a regular customer (Judith Light) to his remote destination restaurant. And then people start to die. To give away any more would be downright criminal, but “The Menu” luxuriates in both the satire and the scares, sending up the world of fine dining and those who give it too much oxygen. (Fun fact: the lovely little interludes with the plated food was shot by the team behind “Chef’s Table!”) While “The Menu” was a real theater experience (hearing the roar of the crowd was everything), it’s still utterly scrumptious on streaming. [[WATCH](] [- - -] [Premiere of the week] “Koala Man”Monday, January 8, Hulu“Koala Man” is a new adult animated series from creator Michael Cusack (who co-created “Smiling Friends”) and executive producer Justin Roiland (“Rick and Morty,” “Solar Opposites”) that follows a middle-aged Australian man (Cusack) who decides to be a superhero for his sleepy backwater town. Of course, things take on a different tenor when actual threats descend, leading Koala Man to spring into action and save the day. Featuring a ridiculously talented voice cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook, Jemaine Clement, Rachel House and Hugo Weaving, this looks like a ton of very inappropriate fun. [[TRAILER](] “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House” Thursday, January 12, Netflix Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda comes to streaming for this new series based on the acclaimed manga series “Kiyo in Kyoto.” The series follows the life of a young woman who Makanai — a cook who prepares meals for a house full of apprentice geishas (the titular Maiko). Kore-eda wrote for the new series and directs multiple episodes, in addition to being the showrunner. This seems like kind of a big deal, something that Netflix would heavily publicize, especially after the success of its many foreign-language series. But nope! Still, it sounds great. [[TRAILER](] “Velma”Thursday, January 12, HBO MaxThis new adult animated series from regular collaborators Charlie Grandy and Mindy Kaling is an adult take on “Scooby-Doo,” with Velma (Kaling) at the center of a murder mystery that might have supernatural overtones (because of course). Sam Richardson, Constance Wu and Glenn Howerton give new life to familiar characters and the series’ more adult tone also makes room for more thoughtful characterizations. (The animation is also terrific.) If you grew up loving “Scooby-Doo” and want to reconnect with those characters in a whole new way, “Velma” is for you. [[TRAILER](] “Hunters”Friday, January 13, Prime VideoAlmost three years after the initial season streamed, Prime Video’s outrageous thriller series returns for 8 final episodes. The wait has been agonizing considering how insane the final twist of the first season was – after a season of watching a band of Jewish-led mercenaries hunt down Nazi war criminals in 1970s New York, the series got even nuttier, suggesting that Hitler was very much alive and living well in South America. Season 2 runs with this idea, with screen legend Udo Kier playing the Fuhrer and Al Pacino returning (even though he was killed during the first season). Whatever. Either you go with “Hunters” or you don’t. [[TRAILER](] “SpongeBob SquarePants Presents The Tidal Zone”Friday, January 13 at 7 p.m., NickelodeonThis three-part, loosely “Twilight Zone”-themed crossover sees characters from the three “SpongeBob SquarePants” shows – the original series, “The Patrick Star Show” and “Kamp Koral: SponeBob’s Under Years” – collide in hilariously undersea fashion. [[TRAILER](] [- - -] That does it for this week’s edition of The Wrap’s Summer TV Watch List. If you aren’t a subscriber, you can fix that by [signing up here](. Any suggestions for an upcoming premiere, finale or re-watch? [Drop us a line!](mailto:inquiries@thewrap.com) [- - -] [Update your profile]( | [View our privacy policy]( | [Unsubscribe]( Sent from: TheWrap | 1808 Stanford Street | Santa Monica, CA, 90404 | attn: Email Coordinator [TheWrap]( ID=167008;size=700x180;setID=556352;uid={EMAIL}7196973;click=watch-list; This email was sent to {EMAIL}. 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