What's New In January: Cashmere Mafia, American Gladiators and More!

Traditionally, January has been the month where midseason replacements make their debut, as the networks unload their weak fall performers and see if they can get something new to stick the way that Grey's Anatomy caught on in 2005. Here are the new broadcast network shows premiering in January, along with some debuting cable programs that look interesting.

American Gladiators (NBC, January 6 premiere): This show was a hit in syndication for years, and NBC felt the time was ripe for a revival. The concept is simple enough: two contestants square off in contests against a team of gladiators with comic book names like Mayhem, Stealth, and Fury, and whoever scores the most points wins. Laila Ali and Hulk Hogan will host. Male viewers are already used to tuning in NBC for football on Sundays, so this has a chance to be a good complement.

Breaking Bad (AMC, January 20): AMC's first foray into original programming, Mad Men, was one of the major successes of 2007. Breaking Bad may be a tougher sell, but the premise is interesting: a chemistry teacher who believes he's dying gets involved in the meth business as a means of making some quick cash before he croaks. Bryan Cranston, who was the farthest thing from menacing as the dad on Malcolm in the Middle, plays the teacher.

Cashmere Mafia (ABC, January 6): This show has a Sunday premiere but its regular timeslot will be Wednesdays at 10:00. This looks like yet another women-wearing-gorgeous-clothes-in-New York show, but what supposedly sets it apart from its most obvious predecessor, Sex and the City (like Cashmere Mafia, produced by Darren Star), is that these women all have Ivy League educations and high-powered careers. Of course, the Sex and the City women all had excellent jobs as well, jobs so good that we really never saw them working that much. A non-soapy show about the real issues facing female high achievers is overdue; time will tell if this series will develop in that direction. One of the characters is a lesbian, so that's a significant change from the norm right there. Lucy Liu, Miranda Otto, Bonnie Somerville, and Frances O'Connor star.

Celebrity Rehab (VH1, January 10): I would like to believe that Dr. Drew Pinsky wouldn't lend his name to a show that will serve no purpose but to make fun of people in trouble, but celebrity train wrecks are what VH1 does best, so I'm wary. Many of the celebrities featured on this eight-episode series are veterans of previous reality shows, such as Jessica Sierra of American Idol, who had a spectacular relapse complete with an arrest not long after filming was completed. I tend to think that a serious rehab process is not compatible with cameras, but all we can do is hope things are kept tasteful.

Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann (ABC, January 7): The Dancing With the Stars judges will each put together a singing and dancing troupe, with people getting voted out until only the best remain. I'm not really sure what futures the winners will have ahead of them, since I don't think Lola Falana variety specials are coming back to television anytime soon, but it could be a worthwhile trifle for seven weeks. Former Dancing With the Stars winner Drew Lachey will host, as we near the point where all talent-based reality shows must have a Lachey in them by decree.

Eli Stone (ABC, January 31): This will debut following the season premiere of Lost, so ABC won't have any excuses if this is ignored. The most recent effort from Brothers & Sisters producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Ken Olin, the show stars Jonny Lee Miller as the title character, a cutthroat lawyer who changes his ways after he begins to experience hallucinations. It sounds like the sort of thing that might have worked out better as part of the menagerie of wackos on Boston Legal, but Berlanti tends to keep things relatively down to earth, so this might surprise.

Ghost Hunters International (SciFi, January 9): Has America already run out of indigenous ghosts? This spinoff from the Sci Fi Channel's popular Ghost Hunters will examine the biggest mysteries of Europe, a continent whose supply of ghosts will almost certainly be never-ending -- the various royal families alone could keep them going for years. I'm basically like Agent Scully when it comes to the existence of anything supernatural, but this might be entertaining.

How to Look Good Naked (Lifetime, January 4): With a title like that, you're going to have to watch at least once. Host Carson Kressley will give advice tips in order to help individual women feel good about themselves and their bodies. This is a worthwhile goal, although it might come across as more sincere if Kressley weren't currently part of Crowned, which isn't doing much for the image of women, or for the human race in general.

In Treatment (HBO, January 28): This is a new twist from HBO: a five-nights-a-week serial drama, with a season running for nine weeks. The show stars Gabriel Byrne as a psychotherapist, with a rotating cast of patients, each of whom will be seen every week on the same day. The Friday episode will focus on the Byrne character seeing his own therapist, played by Dianne Weist. This show will have to be awfully good to expect people to tune in at 9:30 five nights a week. In order to keep people watching a serial, you need insanity along the lines of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. A therapist's office doesn't sound like it will deliver the requisite thrills.

Make Me a Supermodel (Bravo, casting special January 2, regular premiere January 10): Superficially (pun intended), it looks like America's Next Top Model, but there are two main differences: First, the show has male models in addition to women, which means we'll likely see more of an emphasis on contestants canoodling and not simply the backbiting ANTM is infamous for; second, America votes on who stays and who goes every week, so a diva personality will be more of a drawback here than on Tyra's show. Niki Taylor and Tyson Beckford will host.

The Moment of Truth (Fox, January 23): Fox has done well with game shows of late -- Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget the Lyrics! seem to be becoming entrenched -- and it's trying again with this program, which will lead into American Idol on Wednesdays. The gimmick is that people will have to be willing to truthfully answer questions while hooked up to a polygraph in order to get cash. Naturally, the questions get more potentially uncomfortable as the money rises. Mark Wahlberg hosts.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Fox, January 13): Fox is already promoting this one half to death, as it is getting the Sunday-Monday premiere slot that was originally to have gone to 24. Lena Headey, already a fanboy favorite coming off her role in 300, stars as the heroine of The Terminator; and Thomas Dekker, best remembered as Claire's ambiguously non-gay friend on Heroes, plays son John. Seeing The Terminator on television every week, even with prime time-sized portions and production values, sounds like an irresistible idea, albeit one that would have been a better idea in 1995. Early fan reaction seems to indicate that Headey has overcome most of the "Where's Linda Hamilton?" backlash, which was always going to be much of the battle. Fox badly needs a new hit that doesn't depend on doses of Ryan Seacrest, and this could fill the bill.

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