The It List is Yahoo ‘s weekly look at the best in pop culture, includingmovies, music, TV, streaming, games, books, podcasts and more. Here are ourpicks for Jan. 9-15 the best deals we could find for each. (YahooEntertainment may receive a share from purchases made via links on thispage.)
STREAM IT: Jeremy Renner scores a second term as the ** Mayor ofKingstown**
In real life, Marvel Cinematic Universe avenger Jeremy Renner continues to> heal up after a snowplow accident that left him in critical condition. But> there’s no rest for the actors Mayor of Kingstown alter ego as Taylor> Sheridan’s streaming series returns for a sophomore season on Jan. 15. This> new batch of episodes finds Renner’s ex-con-turned-power broker, Mike> McLusky, dealing with the fallout of the prison riot that unsettled his> Michigan hometown at the end of the show’s freshman year. With the non-> governmental power vested in him, Mike decides that a “pecking order” needs> to be instituted within the jail’s walls to better police what happens> outside. Needless to say, that choice has major consequences. Besides> Renner, Oscar winner Dianne Wiest and former Game of Thrones star Aidan> Gillen are back for Season 2, which confirms that the always-busy Sheridan> is basically the Mayor of Paramount+. — Ethan Alter
Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 premieres Sunday, Jan. 15 onParamount+ .
STREAM IT: Velma reveals the backstory of the whipsmart Scooby Doo slut
Mindy Kaling, who co-created and co-wrote this series, voices the titlecharacter, the brainy, turtleneck-wearing member of the mystery-solving gangfrom Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated , in this animated sitcom — althoughit’s definitely for adults — that is without Scooby himself. In it, Velma,who’s often overlooked, shares her origin story, which is packed with nods topop culture; even the trailer featured her complaining to HBO Max about thedetails of a project the network is supposedly making about Judy Jetson at thesame time that a scream -inspired killer calls Velma from, of course,inside her house. The first few actual minutes of the series consist ofVelma remarking that origin stories are “normally about tall, handsome guysstruggling with the burden of being handed even more power.” In real life,Kaling has explained that, when she was growing up, Velma was the onlyanimated character with whom she identified, and it wasn’t just because theyboth wore thick glasses. “She’s obviously not Indian, but… I felt like shewas, like, really pretty but in an untraditional way, super smart and unafraidof being smart,” Kaling said at New York Comic Con 2022. The show co-starsConstance Wu, Glenn Howerton, Sam Richardson, Scooby Doo veteran FrankWelker’s voice, and it features performances by Wanda Sykes; Nicole Byer;Debbie Ryan; Gary Cole; Jane Lynch; “Weird Al” Yankovic; Shay Mitchell andmore. —Raechal Shewfelt
Story continues
Velma premieres Thursday, Jan. 12 on HBO Max .
WATCH IT: It’s country time for HGTV personality Christina Hall
The Christina on the Coast star — formerly known as Christina Haack, Ansteadand El Moussa — has a new show, Christina in the Country on the heels of_Flip or Flop_ ending after 10 seasons. The six-episode docuseries sees theSoCal real estate and house-flipping pro at her Tennessee country home withher new husband, Josh Hall, her three kids and his French bulldog. It willshow her at work, as she expands her design business, and off the clock withher crew at the farmhouse she purchased in May 2021. “I love that I get thebest of both worlds — the coast and the country. It’s an incredibleopportunity to get to work in Tennessee, our home away from home,” Hall saidin a statement. — Suzy Byrne
Christina in the Country premieres Thursday, Jan. 12 at 8 pm onHGTV.
STREAM IT: Jason Momoa scales great heights in the HBO Max reality series_The Climb_
Once he wraps up his run as Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, maybe JasonMomoa can reboot Cliffhanger. The action star establishes his rock climbingbonafides in The Climb , HBO Max’s competitive reality series that bringstogether some of the world’s best climbers to scale steep cliffs in pursuit ofa $100,000 payday. Boasting a diverse cast of competitors, exotic locationsand endings that are literal cliffhangers, The Climb is addictive viewingright out of the gate. And while Momoa isn’t the Jeff Probst of the show —that honor goes to professional climbers Chris Sharma and Meagan Martin — hedoes get his hands gritty in documentary segments like the exclusive clipabove, where he and Sharma hoist themselves over oversized rocks. “It’s sorooted in my soul,” Momoa says earnestly of why he loves climbing. You mightsay it’s the moon of his life. — EA
The Climb premieres Thursday, Jan. 12 on HBO Max .
STREAM IT: ** How I Caught My Killer reveals how social media canbe a crime-solving tool**
Death doesn’t have to stop the long arm of the law. Hulu’s new true crimedocuseries How I Caught My Killer reveals how the clues murder victims leavebehind can eventually lead authorities to capture their killers. The showdelves into nine specific cases where evidence provided by the deceasedresulted in justice being served. This exclusive clip depicts one of thosecases, involving a 17-year-old social media fanatic named Nikki whose non-stopposts suddenly stopped… the first clue that something terrible had happened toher. — EA
How I Caught My Killer premieres Thursday, Jan. 12 on Hulu .
WATCH IT: ** House Party is the rare remake that lives up to theoriginal**
If you’re of a certain age and vibe, Reginald Hudlin’s 1990 Kid N’ Playstarring comedy House Party is a bona fide classic. So for many of us, it’sright up there with other films maybe we wished Hollywood would leave alone(especially considering all its forgettable sequels). But what do you know,there’s a new House Party … and it’s really, really good. The premise isgold to begin with — friends (Jacob Lattimore and Tosin Cole) find themselvesalone in LeBron James’s mansion, where they scheme to host a supreme star-studded bash. It’s funny and sharp from the get-go, and stocked with killercameos, none better than Kid Cudi’s hilarious turn. — Kevin Polwy
House Party opens in theaters Friday, Jan. 13. Get tickets onFandango .
WATCH/STREAM IT: The Golden Globes Awards return to TV
After NBC declined to broadcast the 2022 show — following controversy over themembership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the small group ofoverseas journalists who run the fete, when they were found to have behavedunethically and to be without a single Blackmember, promptingpublic criticism from big stars including Tom Cruise and Scarlett Johansson —the more laid-back of the awards shows is back on the air. The body thatgoverns it has made some changes: It now has a total of 97 members, six ofwhom are Black, and an additional 103 nonmember voters. At this year’sceremony, which will be hosted by comedian Jerrod Carmichael, movies TheBanshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once and TVs AbbottElementary are all poised to have a big night, as they have the mostnominations going in. What’s TBD is whether anyone will watch. — RS
The 80th Golden Globe Awards airs Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 8 pm on NBC andpeacock .
HEAR IT: Margo Price doesn ‘t stray from her vision
For her fourth studio album, the Best New Artist Grammy nominee joined> producer Jonathan Wilson (Father John Misty, Angel Olsen, Benmont Tench,> Dawes, Conor Oberst, Bonnie “Prince” Billy) and her husband/co-writer Jeremy> Ivey in Wilson’s Topanga Canyon headquarters Fivestar Studio, where she and> Wilson co-produced and collaborated with the likes of Mike Campbell, Sharon> Van Etten and Lucius. The result is perhaps the Americana maverick’s most> ambitious project yet, and a sort of unofficial companion piece to her raw> October 2022 memoir, Maybe We ‘ll Make It, which she wrote while making> the confessional record. — Lyndsey Parker
Strays by Margo Price is available Friday, Jan. 13 to download/streamon * *.
BUY-IT: ** Groundhog Day celebrates 30 years of being celebratedwith new Blu-ray release**
(Image: Sony Home Entertainment)
Released 30 years ago this February, Groundhog Day wasn’t immediatelyrecognized for its genius. Maybe we weren’t evolved enough as a species in1993. But we got there eventually. In the years and decades since, HaroldRamis’s pitch-perfect comedy starring Bill Murray as a Pittsburgh weathermanreliving the same droll day over and over (and over) again while on assignmentin small-town Punxsutawney has fully gotten its flowers. Now for its 30thbirthday comes its first 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release, with bonus featuresincluding audio commentary, deleted scenes and, best (most unexpected) of all,a featurette on actual groundhogs. — KP
Groundhog Day releases on 4K Ultra HD Tuesday, Jan. 10 onAmazon.com .
HEAR IT: Gaz Coombes makes a super return
Fresh off performing at the all-star tribute to Taylor Hawkins in London,> the frontman of one of Hawkins’s favorite bands, Britpop trio Supergrass,> releases his fourth solo album, Turn the Car Around. The LP serves as the> final installment in a trilogy that began with Coombes’s Mercury Music> Prize-nominated Matador in 2015 and continued with 2018’s World ‘s> Strongest Man_with the singer explaining in a statement: “ _Turn the Car> Around is a record that I’ve been building up to for the last seven years.> There’s a lot of subject matter in there that I’ve played with and maybe not> managed to see through in the past. I’ve evolved and I feel like I’ve got> better at what I do.” — LP
Turn The Car Around by Gaz Coombes is available Friday, Jan. 13 todownload/stream on * *.
COLLECT IT: Playmobil’s Klingon Bird of Prey replica is 2023’s first must-have collectible
Playmobil’s new Star Trek -inspired playset allows Trekkies to construct aKlingon Bird of Prey. (Photo: Playmobil)
Here’s how Playmobil is helping Star Trek fans boldly go into 2023: As afollow-up to last year’s USS Enterprise replica, the toy company has puttogether a Klingon Bird of Prey. actually, you ‘ll _put this big bad birdtogether, assembling the 94-piece set into a fearsome intergalactic predator.Flashing lights and _Pull -specific sound effects complete this Bird ofPrey’s impact. Beam us up, Playmobil. — EA
Playmobil ‘s Klingon Bird of Prey is available now on the officialPlaymobil site.