The weather might be chilly, but January wiil be a hot zone for TV debuts. Alcatraz escapees, girls with bombs, racetrack racketeering, arctic airlines, John Grisham, Steven Spielberg and Napoleon Dynamite – welcome to 2012.

THE 2-2
Premieres: Midseason | Where: Global | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

Similar to Rookie Blue, which also concerns itself with the life lessons, heartaches and pitfalls that conspire to derail and fluster freshly appointed cops, The 2-2 is the latest in a long history of TV cop shows. In what amounts to a rehash, The 2-2 follows six foolish, overeager and stressed-out NYPD newbies (Leelee Sobieski among them) who patrol the not-so-gritty streets of Manhattan, each with a chip on the shoulder and a desperate need to be taken seriously. But with a script by novelist/screenwriter Richard Price (The Wire, Clockers), it can’t be all bad, can it?

ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA
Premieres: Midseason | Where: Global & NBC | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemand online.com

In a recent Entertainment Weekly survey of late-night TV hosts, Chelsea Handler won by a nearly 3-to-1 margin over second-place contender Conan O’Brien. But will Handler’s brilliantly barbed brand of take-no-prisoners comedy translate to prime time in this series, with a vaguely fictionalized version of her slightly younger self (played by That ’70s Show’s Laura Prepon)? The jokes come fast, furious and often below the belt, and a peroxided Prepon, waitressing in a Jersey sports bar, ably affects Handler’s rapid-fire, deadpan delivery. Best of all, Handler herself is onboard, playing her own, straight-laced, born-again sister, Sloane.

Check out the trailer and follow the show on Twitter through @NBCChelsea

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
Premieres: January | Where: Global & Fox | When: Sundays at 8:30pm | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

Seven years have passed since Napoleon Dynamite made the journey from quirky indie film to cult classic, but little has changed in Preston, Idaho. The obnoxious, and ofttimes just plain noxious, art of small-town slackerdom is still centre stage, the side effects of extreme high school nerdiness haven’t subsided and the now-cartoon characters of Napoleon, Pedro, Rico and Kip remain as clueless as ever, though grandma has finally recovered from that nasty dune buggy accident. All the film’s actors are back to voice their characters. But the llama may be new.

Check out the trailer and tweet along @NapoleononFOX

DON’T TRUST THE B—- IN APARTMENT 23
Premieres: Midseason | Where: Citytv & ABC | When: Tuesdays at 9:30pm | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

A naïve Midwesterner (Dreama Walker) relocates to Manhattan for her dream job, only to discover that it (along with a company apartment) has disappeared. A frantic search for affordable digs leads her to the wildly sophisticated but morally bankrupt Chloe (Breaking Bad’s Krysten Ritter), whose best friend happens to be former Dawson’s Creek heartthrob James Van Der Beek.

ALCATRAZ
Premieres: January | Where: Citytv & Fox | When: Mondays at 9pm | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

In 1963, San Francisco’s notorious Alcatraz prison was shuttered, its inmates scattered among other penitentiaries. Or were they? From J. J. Abrams, and promising as many twists, turns and conspiracy theories as Abrams’ Lost, Alcatraz purports that 302 convicts simply vanished. And now one of them, aged not a day, has returned, igniting a grisly killing spree and paving the way for other missing prisoners to follow.

THE FIRM
Premieres: January 8 | Where: Global & NBC | When: Sundays at 10pm | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

Fans of the mega-selling John Grisham novel and the equally successful film version, starring Tom Cruise, know that at story’s end lawyer Mitchell McDeere turns whistleblower against his mob bosses. The small-screen version moves the action forward a decade, as McDeere (Josh Lucas) emerges with his family from witness protection to face fresh legal adventures and battle evildoers new and old. The Toronto-filmed series showcases plenty of top-grade Canadian talent, including Molly Parker as McDeere’s wife Abby, Callum Keith Rennie as brother Ray, plus Tricia Helfer and Shaun Majumder in recurring roles.

Get a behind-the-scenes perspective with the cast, follow the show on Facebook or tweet along @NBCTheFirm

SMASH
Premieres: February 6 | Where: CTV & NBC | When: Mondays at 10pm

Anjelica Huston, Debra Messing and Jack Davenport unite for Steven Spielberg’s backstage, Glee-for-grown-ups drama. Tracing the evolution of a multimillion-dollar Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe, the show features all the backstabbing, breakdowns and casting-couch come-ons you can handle. A green Iowan (Katharine McPhee) and a stage vet (Megan Hilty) face off for the show-within-a-show’s title role. But if Smash is a smash, what happens in Season 2? A couple of young guys duking it out for the lead in Brando The Musical?

Check out the trailer and follow the show on Facebook!

REDEMPTION INC
Premieres: January | Where: CBC | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) | & rogersondemandonline.com

Multimillionaire businessman and Dragons’ Den co-host Kevin O’Leary is not interested in dishing out charitable donations to ex-cons, but he does want to offer a second chance to those who can successfully navigate his boot-camp obstacle course. Yes, it’s yet another elimination-style, vote-em-off-the-island game-show reality series. Certain criminals, O’Leary reckons, have precisely what it takes to succeed as entrepreneurs. (No surprise there.) O’Leary will expose character flaws and award the financially sharpest contender with a sizeable cash jumpstart under his guidance.

Follow O’Leary through Facebook or tweet along @kevinolearytv

MISSING
Premieres: Midseason | Where: CTV & ABC

When the son of former government agent (Ashley Judd) disappears in Italy, the ex-CIA-agent-turned-mom must turn to her reckless past to track down her missing boy. Although the premise bears a striking resemblance to the film Taken (which saw Liam Neeson doing the butt-kicking), this new series should not be overlooked. Tapped to direct is Steve Shill (Dexter, The Tudors), whose impressive directorial resumé will ensure that a crafty plot is met with the kind of direction a thriller requires.

Tweet along @missingABC

THE FINDER
Premieres: Midseason| Where: Global & Fox | When: Thursdays at 9pm | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

Think of him as TV’s new mentalist. Introduced last season on Bones, Iraq veteran Walter Sherman (Geoff Stults) has, as a result of frontline injuries, developed a unique ability to find anyone or anything. It’s a handy knack, one that government and law enforcement officials find particularly valuable, especially when the search for the missing person or thing is best kept out of official channels. Working from a surfside bar in Key West, the acerbically charming Sherman is aided by his imposing lawyer (Michael Clarke Duncan) and a Deputy Marshall (Chuck’s Mercedes Masöhn) with whom he shares certain private benefits.

Check out the trailer!

ANGRY BOYS
Premieres: January 1 | Where: HBO Canada | When: Sundays at 10pm | On Demand: HBO Canada On Demand

While huge praise was heaped on Aussie auteur Chris Lilley for his satirical and sometimes controversial mockumentary series We Can Be Heroes (2005) and Summer Heights High (2007), the fearless Lilley will likely face a steeper challenge selling his caustic new show, Angry Boys, to a mainstream North American audience. To be fair, Lilley is an acquired taste, his observational parody often verging into uncomfortable, offensive territory. Placing the 21st century male species under the microscope in Angry Boys, Lilley’s heightened reality hits a definite ceiling; his parody of the self-absorbed, the bigoted and the big-headed merges so scarily close to reality that the humour becomes virtually invisible.

Check out the show’s official site or follow Chris Lilley on Facebook!

ARCTIC AIR
Premieres: January 10 | Where: CBC | When: Tuesdays at 9pm | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

While Pan Am dishes up piping-hot meals and curvaceously girdled 1960s trolley dollies aboard luxurious 707 jetliners, Arctic Air offers a more turbulent, down-to-earth menu of renegade bush pilots, Second World War prop planes and a family-run airline struggling to stay airborne in Yellowknife now that gold-rush fever and tourism has the North booming again. Fifteen years after North of 60, Adam Beach makes his north-of-49 comeback in the lead role.

Follow the frosty arctic action on Facebook!

SCANDAL
Premieres: Midseason | Where: Citytv & ABC | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

Brains, beauty and a touch of brawn is the name of the game for this ensemble legal drama from creator Shonda Rhimes (who’s responsible for primetime juggernauts Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice). Kerry Washington plays a crisis management expert at the helm of a dysfunctional PR firm that’s responsible for keeping the public image of America’s elite from straying into iniquitous waters. The brewing chemistry between Washington and co-stars Tony Goldwyn and Lost alumnus Henry Ian Cusick is an early sign that the show could be primed for success.

Check out the trailer and tweet along @ScandalABC

BOMB GIRLS
Premieres: January | Where: Global | On Demand: Rogers On Demand (Ch. 100) & rogersondemandonline.com

hsPI;u blows the trumpet for the unsung heroes on the homefront, the Canadian women who risked their lives building weaponry for the Allied Forces during the Second World War – liberating themselves from the kitchen and from social convention in the process. This six-part drama from the producer of The Kennedys stars Meg Tilly as a factory supervisor with two sons on the frontline in Europe. Expect epic scenes and equally brilliant characters.

RETURNING SHOWS

30 Rock: Season 6 (Citytv & NBC) | Early 2012

Californication: Season 5 (TMN) | January 8

Cougar Town: Season 3 (Citytv & ABC) | January

King: Season 2 (Showcase) | February

Less Than Kind: Season 3 (TMN) | January

Little Mosque on the Prairie: Season 6 (CBC) | January

Republic of Doyle: Season 3 (CBC) | January

Shameless: Season 2 (TMN) | January 8

Spartacus: Vengeance: Season 2 (TMN ) | January 29

Southland: Season 4 (SuperChannel) | January 23

The Game: Season 5 (BET) | January