Staying in this time of year? Creative minds are presenting plenty of compelling and engaging options that promise to keep the whole family entertained from the comfort of their couches

BY LAURA D.C. KOLNOSKI

INVENTING ANNA NETFLIX/ Premiering February 11
Creator Shonda Rhimes’ production company Shonda land delivers more “must see TV” with this thriller starring Anna Chlumsky and Laverne Cox, along with Julia Garner (Ozark), playing the titular con woman who joins Manhattan’s high society through subterfuge. The plot of the nine-episode limited series is based on the true “torn from the headlines” story of a young Russian-born woman who rebranded herself as a wealthy German heiress until she was exposed by a dogged journalist. The real life New York Magazine reporter Jessica Pressler, who wrote the article in 2018, is among the producers.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA AMAZON PRIME VIDEO/Streaming Now
This fourth installment of the highly successful animated Hotel Transylvania franchise moves to streaming, where it will air in 240 countries. The monsters we know and love are mistakenly turned into powerless humans by a malfunctioning Van Helsing invention. With help from Dracula’s daughter Mavis and the Drac Pack, the group must find a cure to turn them back into their real selves before it’s too late. Celebrity voices are provided by Andy Samberg, Kathryn Hahn, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Fran Drescher, and Selena Gomez as Mavis.

THE GILDED AGE HBO MAX/Streaming Now
In 1882 Manhattan, the times were a changin’ as the staid upper class clashed with the newly rich. Enter young Marian (Louisa Jacobson Gummer, Meryl Streep’s youngest daughter), who moves in with her Grande Dame aunts played by Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon, who disdain their new neighbors, a railroad tycoon and his family. Ten episodes of drama, romance, and intrigue come from Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey. To portray real-life journalist T. Thomas Fortune, actor Sullivan Jones researched at Red Bank’s acclaimed T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. Other notables of the era sprinkled throughout the fictionalized story include Clara Barton, Sanford White, and Astor family members. The cast features Broadway luminaries Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, and Donna Murphy.

HOW I MET YOUR FATHER HULU/Streaming Now
Hilary Du plays the young mother, Sophie, who we meet in the future (portrayed by Kim Cattrall) as she tells her son how she met his father in this ten-episode spin-o set in New York City. Similar to the original CBS comedy starring Neil Patrick Harris, the story revolves around the lives of Sophie and her friends. Duff, lives of Sophie and her friends. Duff, a producer of the show, said in an Elle interview, “As a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother, I’m honored and a little nervous the creators would trust me with the sequel.” Former child actor Josh Peck of Drake & Josh has a recurring role as a school vice principal.

SUPERNATURAL ACADEMY PEACOCK/Streaming Now
Twin sisters Jessa and Mischa, marked for greatness, headline this new animated series aimed at young adults adapted from the popular books by Jaymin Eve. In the first 16-episode season, viewers will learn about the twins’ otherworldly adventures and see them reunite at the Academy. With one raised human and the other in the supernatural world, tensions and trust issues define their early relationship as they learn to work together to…wait for it…save the world. The voice actors include experienced thespians who have voiced characters for Marvel, and fi lm and television productions including Ice Age, Battlestar Galactica, and Fraggle Rock.

VIKINGS: VALHALLA NETFLIX/Premiering February 25
Rejoice, fans of the History Channel hit drama Vikings! The Netflix spinoff takes viewers on a new voyage set in the early 11th century, 100 years after the events of the original series’ finale. Netflix promises the show “dramatizes the adventures of the most famous Vikings who ever lived.” Leif Erikson (Australian actor Sam Corlett) and the Norman King William the Conqueror jump out of the history books through tales that combine action, adventure, drama, history, and of course, romance. The series has been given a rare upfront order of 24 episodes, which will be split across three seasons.

It’s Not Too Late To Catch Up With…

COBRA KAI SEASON 4 NETFLIX/Streaming Now
The welcome return of this runaway hit series based on the Karate Kid films began streaming New Year’s Eve. Speculation abounds over what will transpire between warring dojos Miyagi Do and Cobra Kai. Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), villain supreme from the movies, returns to the television version to support his friend, the cunning and manipulative Cobra Kai Sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove). This season culminates at the same All-Valley Karate Tournament that provided the memorable climax of the beloved original 1984 film starring the late Pat Morita.

BOOK OF BOBA FETT DISNEY+/Streaming Now
This backstory series takes place five years after 1983’s Return of the Jedi, focusing on the original Star Wars franchise’s popular anti-hero. Bounty hunter Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) was thought to have died inside the creature Sarlacc in that fi lm, but the first episode proves otherwise. In the series, we’re back on Tatooine, where Fett and the mercenary whose life he saved in The Mandalorian, Fennec Shand, attempt to control the late Jabba the Hutt’s underworld operation.