Between streaming and cable, there is a seemingly endless variety of things to watch. Here is a selection of TV shows and specials that are available live or streaming this week, Jan. 13-19. Details and times are subject to change.
Office space
The Apple TV+ drama “Severance” combines the most mundane aspects of the corporate office with a decidedly uncanny premise. Here, severance refers not to compensation but rather to a form of on-the-clock memory wiping that separates workers from their off-hours consciousness. The actor Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation”) plays a grieving widower and an employee at the fictional Lumon Industries who opted to undergo the procedure for reasons that became clearer in the first season, which aired in 2022. Escape your own office drama with the second season’s premiere this week. Streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday.
Prepper-core finale
“Silo” is a dystopian series that conjures the grimmest moments of a Cormac McCarthy novel. The main silo is an underground concrete structure where some 10,000 people must survive the strict edicts of their postapocalyptic society. Rebecca Ferguson, already a sci-fi favorite as Lady Jessica in “Dune,” has swapped her Bene Gesserit robes for combat boots and cargo pants in her starring role as Juliette, an engineer who becomes a silo sheriff. Streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday.
The Sean Combs trial
The rapper Sean Combs, also known as Diddy and Puff Daddy, is set to have a high-profile trial this spring for sex trafficking and racketeering charges. A new documentary, “Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy,” offers a refresher on his early life and reputation through interviews with Combs’s associates, including a body guard, a makeup artist and an intern. Streaming Tuesday on Peacock.
A Delhi procedural
The first season of “Paatal Lok” opens with police officers driving around the streets of Delhi in this gritty crime thriller. The show, whose title translates to “netherworld,” offers viewers a vision of just that. When four individuals are seemingly caught red-handed in an assassination attempt of a high-profile journalist, a washed-up local policeman, played by Jaideep Ahlawat, is tasked with taking on the investigation. But what seems to be a clear-cut case ends up leading Ahlawat, Dante-like, ever deeper into Delhi’s criminal networks, which extends to the city’s echelons of power. The series offers a drive-by view of greater rifts in Indian society, and the second season promises as many twists and turns as the first. Streaming Thursday on Amazon Prime Video.
‘More cowbell’
“Saturday Night Live” turns 50 this year, and networks love few things more than the chance to celebrate their own successes. NBC’s four-part series “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night,” with the first episode airing this week, includes interviews with cast mainstays like Kenan Thompson and alumni like Amy Poehler as well as behind-the-scenes looks at some of S. N. L’s most storied segments. If you have unanswered questions about the cowbell sketch or want to hear more anecdotes about the weekly mad dash to showtime, this will be one of the year’s first — though certainly not last — chances to do so. Streaming on Peacock on Thursday.
Nature’s bounty
“A Real Bug’s Life” will start its second season this week, offering an up-close view of our planet’s insects. Although the show’s title offers a nod to the 1998 animated feature “A Bug’s Life,” the series from National Geographic is instead real-world footage. It’s like “Planet Earth,” but instead of Sir David Attenborough’s dulcet tones, you have the zany commentary of the comedian Awkwafina. Whether you’re basking in nature’s wonders or combating your own entomophobia through exposure therapy, this series is a family-friendly viewing option. Streaming on Disney+ on Wednesday.
“Guy’s Grocery Games” is back with another supermarket aisle-staged episode, and this week’s challenge has the tantalizing title: “Masters of Cheese.” Watch Guy Fieri bark orders at a crew of chefs, his spiky hair framed against a box of Betty Crocker cake mix. The show, now in its 38th season, has the feel of a gonzo “The Great British Bake Off,” and is similarly good humored. If you fancy some high-octane domestic entertainment, watch four chefs go head-to-head in this cheesy competition. Airing Wednesday at 9 p.m. on the Food Network.
