The Best Shows and Movies to Watch This Week: Another Special Euphoria Episode, Snowpiercer Season 2

Throw your phone out the window, fire your secretary, and send the kids to computer camp, because you're going to need all the time you can get to watch all the best TV shows and movies out this week. There's pretty much something for everyone, including drama in the volatile teen ecosystem, the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field, the even more frozen tundra of a post-apocalyptic Earth, and a comedy that's literally from another world. 

Our list of editors' picks for the week of Jan. 24-Jan. 30 is below, but if this isn't enough and you're looking for even more hand-picked recommendations, sign up for our free, spam-free Watch This Now newsletter that delivers the best TV show picks straight to your inbox. You can also look at our massive collection of recommendations, or our list of suggestions of what to watch next based on shows you already like. 

Euphoria

Special episode premieres Sunday at 9/8c on HBO, now available on HBO Max
One of the great surprises of the past few months was the first of two special episodes of Euphoria, HBO's flashy and gritty teens-be-wildin' drama. That episode focused on Rue (Zendaya) and reversed course for the series with a quiet, contemplative conversation between an addict and her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor. The second episode focuses on Jules (Hunter Schafer) and what she did over Christmas break following her row with Rue, and if it's half as good as the first episode, it's a must-watch. [TRAILER]

NFL Playoffs: The NFC Championship Game, aka Tom Brady vs. Aaron Rodgers

Sunday at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT on Fox
In the dream matchup that Fox was praying for, the Green Bay Packers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers will battle the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and supermodel Tom Brady for a spot in the Super Bowl. This is the matchup that mouthy sports radio personalities will use as the measuring stick for the ongoing "Who is the better QB?" debate, so you'd better tune in. Later that day (6:30 p.m. ET, CBS), the Kansas City Chiefs and a partially concussed Patrick Mahomes will take on the resurgent Buffalo Bills and quarterback/all-around-great-guy Josh Allen in the AFC Championship, beginning the next "Who is the better QB?" argument that we'll have to hear for years to come. 

Snowpiercer

Season 2 premiere Monday at 9/8c on TNT
I didn't really like the first season of Snowpiercer, the entirely unnecessary TV adaptation of Bong Joon-Ho's excellent film about a dystopian future in which the remnants of humanity circumnavigate the Earth on a superlong train, but the final episodes seemed to embrace the fun nonsense of it all with [spoilers for Season 1, beware!!!] a second train thrown into the mix that carried the believed-to-be-dead Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean). Given how much of a game-changer the Season 1 finale was, it's worth checking out the Season 2 premiere to see if this choo-choo train sci-fi drama is on the right track or is truly going off the rails. [TRAILER]

Resident Alien

Series premieres Wednesday at 10/9c on Syfy
The comic book series Resident Alien comes to the screen as an incredibly fun combination of the alien invasion miniseries V and misanthropic medical drama House, but with a lot more laughs. Sci-fi mainstay Alan Tudyk plays an alien who crash lands on Earth and disguises himself as a small-town doctor in snowy Patience, Colorado, taking on medical oddities and solving murders, all while executing his grand plan of learning about human behavior and plotting how to destroy them all. Tudyk is wonderful in the role, as is scene-stealer Corey Reynolds as the no-nonsense sheriff who sniffs something suspicious is going on. This is classic light-hearted Syfy for fans of shows like Monk. [TRAILER]

The Dig

Friday on Netflix
In the mood for a sweeping drama with plenty of British accents, an abundance of old-timey clothes, and a whiff of romance? The Netflix film The Dig is here for you as the latest potential awards season title that you might not have gone to see in the theaters, but is much more appealing now that it's just a few clicks away. Set in 1939 in Suffolk, England, The Dig stars Carey Mulligan as a landowner whose property catches the eye of an archaeologist (Ralph Fiennes) who discovers some goodies underneath piles of dirt in her backyard. Based on the 2007 book by John Preston, it recounts the Sutton Hoo excavation, where an Anglo-Saxon burial site was discovered on the precipice of World War II. [TRAILER]

The Little Things

Friday on HBO Max
Denzel Washington! Rami Malek! Jared Leto! This... is acting!!! Watch all three of these Academy Award-winning thespians go nuts in this neo-noir crime drama, in which Denzel and Rami play a couple of clashing cops chasing a creep (Leto) who may have murdered a lot of young women in Central California. Like most movies you see hitting streaming, this was supposed to be out in theaters, but due to the pandemic, we get to watch it at home instead. [TRAILER]

We Are: The Brooklyn Saints

Series premiere Friday on Netflix
Between Netflix's Last Chance U, HBO's The Cost of Winning, the Oscar-winning documentary Undefeated, and others, there are plenty of series and movies about high school football programs saving at-risk youth from dead-end options. But few follow football programs working with younger children (Starz's Warriors of Liberty City is a rare recent example). We Are: The Brooklyn Saints follows a small program run out of Brooklyn, New York, that helps kids as young as 7 learn to become young men and throw a 15-yard hard out. But it's not just about the kids. These are heartwarming stories of dedicated people making a difference in their communities and in kids' lives, and they're good for sports fans and non-sports fans alike. Plus, the kids are cuuuuute. [TRAILER]

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