It’s a quiet week in terms of school still being out, the NFL still being off, and the weather in most of the country still being of the stay-the-hell-indoors variety. Never fret about crashing on the couch, though, COED’s got you covered.
Basketball and hockey are going strong, music and Blu-rays start seriously coming down the pike again, and the winter TV season is powering up to full steam.
Here are the 14 coolest things to do this week.
Rockets at Bulls
(Jan 5)
Chicago’s first-place, 23-10 Bulls host Houston’s rock-solid, 22-10 Rockets. Coming off a killer holiday season for both squads wherein the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler and the Rockets’ James Harden were respectively awarded Eastern and Western Player of the Week honors, expect a spirited clash of confidence, capability, and high style from each front.
Gotham
(Jan 5)
Fox’s popular pre-Batman run-up Gotham returns for the second half of its successful first season. The last episode saw reptilian assassin Copperhead infiltrating stately Wayne Manor and mobster Carmine Falcone getting very cozy with Oswald “Penguin” Cobblepot. The return installment is titled “Rogue’s Gallery.” You know the bat-time and the bat-channel, so do tune in.
Rae Sremmurd – SremmLife
(Jan 6)
Tupelo hip-hop twosome Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy release their second album as Rae Sremmurd (“Drummers Ear” spelled backward), SremmLife. The LP drops after three successful single releases, “No Flex Zone,” “No Type,” and a hit collaboration with Nicki Minaj and Young Thug, “Throw Sum Mo.” Still want “sum mo”? Pick up the disc on Tuesday.
Marvel’s Agent Carter
(Jan 6)
Hayley Atwell returns in the series premiere on ABC as Peggy Carter, the WWII-era undercover office worker Peggy Carter she also plays in the big-screen Captain America movies. Working for the Strategic Scientific Reserve and arms dealer Howard Stark (Iron Man’s dad), Agent Carter is sort of like Joan from Mad Men, only it’s the ’40s and superhero stuff happens.
Boyhood on Blu-ray
(Jan 6)
Writer-director Richard Linklatter (Dazed and Confused) labored for a dozen years on his coming-of-age epic Boyhood—and he filmed it all. Specifically, Linklatter shot the film over twelve years, chronicling the real-time life arc of characters Mason and Samantha as the actors who play them, Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklatter respectively, literally grew into the roles. It’s a one-of-a-kind cinematic experiment and well worth checking out for the results.
Get On Up on Blu-ray
(Jan 6)
Chadwick Boseman stars as James Brown in a biopic about the Godfather of Soul that seemed to come-and-go too quickly last summer. Now on video, we can delve into the details and see how the movie properly honors the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. Fall to your knees, get a Famous Flame to wrap a cape around your shoulders, and press play.
Sabres at Devils
(Jan 6)
The 14-22 Sabres skate into New Jersey to take on the 13-20 Devils. While it’s been a lackluster season so far for both squads, a palpable tension exists within them that just may spill onto the ice. Whether that means great hockey or brutal fights, it’s worth checking out either way. [image via Getty Sports / Elsa]
Empire
(Jan 7)
Empire premieres on Fox with Terence Howard as Lucious, a hip-hop mogul in secret decline at the heart of this Shakespearean music-biz series from moviemaker Lee Daniels (The Butler). Taraji P. Henson immediately stands out as Cookie Lyon the ex-Mrs. Lucious and reigning queen over all she surveys. Empire looks to be a fun, fiery soap opera that safe for dudes.
People’s Choice Awards
(Jan 7)
CBS airs the 41st annual People’s Choice Awards from L.A., a three-hour extravaganza honoring movies, music, and TV as selected by the voting public. Shailene Woodley leads the nominations with four, and scheduled performers include Iggy Azalea, Fall Out Boy, Lady Antebellum, and, because it’s a TV special and it’s on right now, Taylor Swift.
Celtics at Nets
(Jan 7)
The day after Christmas, Brooklyn beat Boston in a 109-107 squeaker. Beantown passions will be running high, then, as the Celtics try to even the score Wednesday night at the Barclay’s Center. No matter who wins, brace your ears for creatively foul diatribes spewed by hoops fans with severe East Coast accents.
Archer
(Jan 8)
FX premieres season 6 of everyone’s favorite animated spy/drug dealer/spy again adventure. The Archer Vice premise has been dropped, but our hero will not return to the ISIS organization due to all the non-cartoon nastiness now associated with that name. Archer’s baby daughter Abbiejean will be back, though, thereby prompting all kinds of mishaps and mayhem in fatherhood.
Capitals at Flyers
(Jan 8)
The 19-11 Capitals are favored to beat the 14-17 Flyers, but anything can happen at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly, particularly when the guest team hails from a nearby city. Come the drop of a puck, the surrounding environs can quick-change from the City of Brotherly Love to the Asylum of Blood Lust. That’s always fun.
Portlandia
(Jan 8)
Fred Armisen and Carrie Bronstein sock it to hipsters anew in season 5 of Portlandia. In addition to top-notch satire, the show’s tradition of off-the-wall guest stars continues, with this year welcoming Steve Buscemi, Vanessa Bayer, Seth Meyers, Olivia Wilde, Greta Gerwig, Justin Long, Jane Lynch, Natasha Lyonne, Brigitte Nielsen, Parker Posey, Paul Reubens, Paul Simon, Shepard Fairey, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and Oscar the Grouch.
