Our January 2020 Top TV Premieres: Hooray for Hollywood!
It’s 2020: a new year, a new crop of TV shows to watch, and renewed energy—led by Michelle Williams’ impassioned Golden Globes speech—for candid, honest talk from Hollywood and beyond about why all people should have the power to decide if, when, and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child. Her full speech is a must-watch, but I particularly loved how she knitted together the personal, professional, and universal message that getting pregnant on your own terms and timeline truly gives you the power to decide your future:
“I’ve tried my very best to live a life of my own making, and not just a series of events that happened to me, but one that I could stand back and look at and recognize my handwriting all over—sometimes messy and scrawling, sometimes careful and precise, but one that I had carved with my own hand. And I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose: to choose when to have my children, and with whom.”
Through personal stories, scripted stories, and everything in between, Hollywood has helped drive historic declines in teen and unplanned pregnancy over the past two decades. How? By dispelling myths and normalizing birth control use; showing honest depictions of power dynamics in relationships; and modeling helpful conversations between young people and their parents, peers, partners, mentors, and champions—for starters. Some 70% of young people say they have learned something useful about sex, love, or relationships from popular media such as TV shows or movies; and nearly half of teen girls say they’ve learned something useful about these topics just from the social media feed of a TV show they follow.
In January alone, five of our favorite TV series (and media partners!) are returning with more smart, thought-provoking stories about sex, love, relationships, and the power to decide. Check out the lineup below and encourage the young people in your life to tune in and talk through how they might handle the situations depicted in these shows.
Find out why critics and audiences are raving about these shows, and why we’re so proud to support them. Join @PowertoDecide as we live tweet with @GoodTrouble, @Grownish and @TheBoldTypeTV and @FreeformTV all month long.
Happy new year, and happy bingeing!
Good Trouble: Season 2 Returns January 15 10/9c @FreeformTV. Emily Nussbaum, TV critic for the New Yorker, listed it as one of her top 10 shows of 2019 and praised it as, “A warmhearted, woke-headed ensemble soap.” In this addictive spin-off of The Fosters, Callie and Mariana face challenges and find meaning in life, love, career, and adulthood in LA.
Sex Education: Season 2 arrives January 17 @Netflix. One of Forbes’ top 20 most anticipated shows in 2020, this informative, explicit, and funny coming-of-age story reveals that the desire for connection and relationships are at the heart of the many sexual dilemmas that teenage Otis and his mom each deal with in their respective sex therapy practices.
Grownish: Season 3 Premieres January 16 8/7c @FreeformTV. Check out this sneak preview of the hit spin-off of ABC’s “black-ish.” College student Zoey Johnson balances friendships, relationships, academics, and figuring out who she is and wants to be.
Shrill: Season 2 arrives January 24 on @Hulu. We love the warm, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking honesty that Aidy Bryant brings to her role as Annie. Based on Lindy West’s brilliant book of the same name, season one drew praise for frank portrayals of emergency contraception, abortion, sex, and relationships as Annie examines her life, work, and starts to find her incredible journalistic voice.
The Bold Type: Season 4 Premieres January 23 9/8c @FreeformTV. Check out the new trailer and follow Jane, Sutton, and Adena as they face work without their mentor Jacqueline, infidelity, new relationships, and new life stages. Inspired by life at Cosmopolitan magazine, NPR praised the show for its “fresh take” on “career advancement, sexuality, race, women's health and the #MeToo movement.”
