Winter's Best New TV Bets: NBC & FOX

FOX Mid-Season:

Backstrom | Rainn Wilson stars in his first television role since “The Office” wrapped in 2013. FOX’s crime procedural sounds like a cross between “Monk” and “House”. It could potentially get lost in the shuffle of similar procedurals that also star an eccentric detective solving crime (“Elementary”, “The Mentalist” etc). Its premiere wasn’t too shabby in the ratings department so if time is money and your currency is Schrute Bucks, this might be worth your investment. Premiere Date: Jan 22/Currently Airing

NBC Mid-Season:

Allegiance | The peacock’s answer to the FX series “The Americans” centers on a newly recruited CIA analyst (Gavin Stenhouse) who learns his parents (Hope Davis, Scott Cohen) and sister (Margarita Levieva) are part of a Russian sleeper cell of spies. Despite the storyline's complexity, it's difficult to imagine it having the legs to last in a long term capacity.

Nonetheless, it is still a compelling premise and if handled with diligent pacing it could prove to be a taut mystery series similar to the network’s big hit “The Blacklist”. One of the stars of “Allegiance”, Margarita Levieva, already proved she could handle some hard core fight sequences when she guest starred on “The Blacklist” last year. It could be a positive sign of things to come from this freshman series. Premiere Date: Feb 5


Related: Summer TV's Best New and Returning Bets | "Wayward Pines", "Aquarius", "Mr. Robinson", "True Detective", "Tyrant" and more!