What Are You Watching This Winter?

In the realm of television, February is a ratings "sweeps" month (although it's difficult to imagine how that archaic metric is going to remain relevant much longer), so the broadcast and cable networks roll out lots of new programming. Here are a few shows that are worth your time (if you aren't watching them already).

If you watched any of the Super Bowl, you saw plenty of promotion for Fox's new police drama The Chicago Code, which premiered Monday night. The show comes from creator Shawn Ryan, who was responsible for The Shield, one of the most viscerally compelling shows of the past decade. So right there, you've got me interested enough to give it my attention. It's being shot on location in Chicago, so it looks authentic. The plot is going to weave weekly cases with an overarching story about fighting corruption in the city's government. (Watch the first episode here, on Hulu.)

Over on Fox's cable cousin FX (where The Shield ran for seven seasons), the second season of Justified arrives tonight. Based on short stories by Elmore Leonard, Justified follows US Marshal Raylan Givens, who has been assigned to the county in Kentucky where he grew up. This is a sly, thoroughly engaging show that at times feels like a modern Western, with humor, action, and indelible characters, and Timothy Olyphant is utterly magnetic in his portrayal of Raylan. (Episodes of Justified are not streamed online, but each episode is repeated several times over the course of the week; check the schedule on the FX web site for information.)

Also on FX, the hilariously raunchy animated spy spoof Archer returned for its second season a couple of weeks back. Sterling Archer is a superspy and a huge asshole to everyone around him, including his boss (who also happens to be his mother) and fellow spy Lana Kane (who also happens to be his ex). The show derives much of its humor from showing us that even spies have to put up with difficult coworkers and workplace shenanigans. (Episodes of Archer don't post for online viewing until 30 days after they have aired on FX; three of last season's episodes are currently available here, and the multiple airings each week are in effect here as well.)

Does your cable or satellite system carry the IFC channel? If so, you may want to flip over there on Fridays at 10 pm (speaking of archaic... don't flip, just set your DVR) for the TV version of web favorite Onion News Network. ONN makes The Daily Show seem like Meet The Press; instead of merely spoofing news and events, the ONN folks just flat-out make shit up, and really funny shit at that.

Paired with ONN on Fridays is Portlandia, a spoof of life in the laid-back Pacific Northwest city, created by and starring Saturday Night Live's Fred Armisen and musician Carrie Brownstein. My favorite bits so far have been the woman who freaks out when she finds an unattended dog tied to a post outside a restaurant, and Fred and Carrie playing a couple who employ Aimee Mann as their housekeeper (the conceit is that the music business is so bad these days that even talented people like Ms. Mann have to take menial jobs to survive). (Watch clips from Portlandia here.)

Elsewhere: Parks And Recreation is finally back (Thursdays at 9:30 on NBC), and absolutely crushing it. For me, it's tied with 30 Rock for the funniest show on TV right now. New episodes of Top Gear are airing Mondays at 9 on BBC America, and this is the current season that is still airing in the UK, with a delay of only a week or two—quicker than they've ever made it across the pond. (The Middle East Christmas special that was posted on YouTube for a few days will air this coming Monday, the 14th, at 10:20 pm,) And White Collar is cleverly and stylishly playing out the second half of its second season (Tuesdays at 10 on USA).