What's on your HDTV: 'The Wire', 'Galavant', 'Downton Abbey', 'Friends'
If you're reading this, then you might not be watching HBO Signature's The Wire HD marathon as it covers season four, which some consider to be the best in the series. Of course, you can jump in anywhere you want with the remastered version thanks to HBO Go, although series creator David Simon points to the 4x3 DVD release as the best way to see the show as originally intended. This week there's the usual slew of New Year's Eve celebrations and bowl games (with the addition of a new playoff wrinkle), ABC is kicking off 2015 with its new show Galavant, and PBS has season five of Downton Abbey. Netflix's introduction to 2015 starts with every episode of Friends (but watch Bad Boys, The Breakfast Club, Spaceballs and Happy Gilmore before they fade out Wednesday night), while on Blu-ray we have Denzel Washington in The Equalizer and Kevin Smith's horror flick Tusk. Gamers can dig in to the Halo 5 beta, but there's not much else new out there for now. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Blu-ray, Streaming movies & Games
The Equalizer
Tusk
Banshee (S2)
Shameless (S4)
Reach Me
Monday
Liberty Bowl: Texas A&M vs. West Virginia, ESPN, 2PM
Russell Athletic Bowl: Clemson vs. Oklahoma, ESPN, 5:30PM
Texas Bowl: Arkansas vs. Texas, ESPN, 9PM
WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
Mike & Molly, CBS, 8:30PM
Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
Tuesday
Music City Bowl: LSU vs. Notre Dame, EPSN, 3PM
Belk Bowl: Georgia vs. Louisville, ESPN, 6:30PM
The 37th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, CBS, 9PM
Bye Felicia!, VH1, 9PM
Inside the NFL, Showtime, 9PM
San Francisco Bowl: Maryland vs. Stanford, ESPN, 10PM
Jim Tom Special, Discovery, 10PM
Ground Floor, TBS, 10PM
The Real World, MTV, 10PM
Benched (season finale), USA, 10 & 10:30PM
The Real World Road Rules Challenge, MTV, 11PM
The Listener, Ion, 11PM
Wednesday
Peach Bowl: Ole Miss vs. TCU, ESPN, 12:30PM
Fiesta Bowl: Arizona vs. Boise State, ESPN, 4PM
Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech vs. Mississippi State, ESPN, 8PM
Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2015, ABC, 8PM
Pitbull's New Year's Revolution, Fox, 8PM
NBC's New Year's Eve with Carson Daly, NBC, 10PM
Live from Lincoln Center: New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve, PBS, 8PM
Jennifer Lopez: Dance Again, HBO, 9PM
NFL Turning Point, NBC Sports Network, 10PM
MTV's NYE 2015, MTV, 11PM
Thursday
Friends (complete series), Netflix
Outback Bowl: Auburn vs. Wisconsin, ESPN2, 12PM
Cotton Bowl: Baylor vs. Michigan State, ESPN, 12:30PM
Citrus Bowl: Minnesota vs. Missouri, ABC, 1PM
Rose Bowl: Florida State vs. Oregon, ESPN, 5PM
Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Ohio State, ESPN 8:30PM
The Biggest Loser, NBC, 8PM
The Taste, ABC, 8PM
Bad Judge (winter premiere), NBC, 9PM
A to Z (winter premiere), NBC, 9:30PM
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Bravo, 10PM
Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, MTV, 10PM
Ridiculousness, MTV, 10:30 & 11PM
Lucas Bros. Moving Company, FXX, 12AM
Stone Quackers, FXX, 12:15AM
Friday
Armed Forces Bowl: Houston vs. Pittsburgh, ESPN, 12PM
Gator Bowl: Iowa vs. Tennessee, ESPN, 3:20PM
Alamo Bowl: Kansas State vs. UCLA, ESPN, 6:45PM
Cactus Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Washington, ESPN, 10:15PM
Undercover Boss, CBS, 8PM
Whale Wars (season premiere / finale), Animal Planet, 8, 9 & 10PM
WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
Hawaii Five-0 (winter premiere), CBS, 9PM
A Football Life: The 2006 Rose Bowl, NFL Network, 9PM
Blue Bloods, CBS, 10PM
Saturday
Damaged, Lifetime, 8PM
The Missing, Starz, 9PM
Surprised By Love, Hallmark, 9PM
Transporter: The Series, TNT, 10PM
Sunday
60 Minutes, CBS, 7PM
Galavant (series premiere), ABC, 8PM
Madam Secretary (winter premiere), CBS, 8PM
The Simpsons (winter premiere), Fox, 8PM
The Librarians, TNT, 8PM
Brooklyn Nine-nine (winter premiere), Fox, 8:30PM
The Apprentice (season premiere), NBC, 9PM
Resurrection (winter premiere), ABC, 9PM
Downton Abbey (season premiere), PBS, 9PM
The Good Wife (winter premiere), CBS, 9PM
Family Guy (winter premiere), Fox, 9PM
Bob's Burgers (winter premiere), Fox, 9:30PM
Revenge (winter premiere), ABC, 10PM
CSI, CBS, 10PM
The Manners of Downton Abbey, PBS, 10:15PM