Could It Be … Satan? Sabrina Returns to Netflix Today

Today’s batch of new television really runs the gamut. Netflix delivers the back half of a really promising first season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Between Kiernan Shipka’s charming lead performance and a wide array of fascinating characters, there’s a lot of potential here. Meanwhile, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — a series that delivered on its potential and then some — ends its four-season run tonight, while Fresh Off the Boat celebrates a milestone episode, and Cinemax premieres a new series about opium gang wars in 19th century San Francisco. All that, and The Tick, too!

SERIES RETURN: One of last year’s many strong Netflix debuts was The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, a Riverdale-esque (if not Riverdale-connected) re-imagining of the story of Sabrina Spellman, teenage witch once played for canned laughter on ABC’s Sabrina the Teenage Witch by Melissa Joan Hart. On Netflix’s version, Man Men alumna Kiernan Shipka steps into Sabrina’s, uh, shawls, balancing her more human life with the life of a young girl living with her two witch aunts (scene-stealers Lucy Davis and Miranda Otto) and poised to take up the same pledge to Satan all young witches must make. After ten episodes and a Christmas Midwinter special, Sabrina returns for the back half of season 1. And after Madame Satan ended the front half with such a … well, chilling declaration of purpose to reign in Hell by any means necessary, this next batch of episodes could see Sabrina in deep peril. Streaming on Netflix

SERIES FINALE: After four seasons of brilliant musical comedy and genre parodies — accompanied by more-daring-than-it-got-credit-for storytelling about matters like borderline personality disorder, the gender dynamic, and fluid sexuality — Crazy Ex-Girlfriend comes to an end tonight. And while Rebecca finds herself torn between multiple lovers, as has often been her condition, don’t expect this series to end neatly or cleanly. 8:00 PM ET on The CW

NEW SEASON: If the masked superhero genre has felt a little purged from streaming platforms lately, what with Netflix essentially getting out of the Marvel business, viewers ought to consider The Tick on Amazon as a fresh and funny alternative. With its second season dropping all ten episodes at once, you’ll be able to jump back into the adventures of the big, blue, bombastic hero played by the deeply funny Peter Serafinowicz and his ever-nervous sidekick Arthur (Griffin Newman). Season 1 ended in triumph (the Terror defeated! For now!) and a hint of intrigue (our heroes are being monitored), but in many ways, the plot of this series is secondary to the fun of watching these comic — though quite sincere — characters bounce off of each other. Available on Amazon

MILESTONE EPISODE: Quietly one of the best sitcoms on network television, ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat celebrates its 100th episode tonight with an episode that sees Eddie (Hudson Yang) stranded in Taiwan after his cultural-exchange trip goes terribly wrong. Beyond how important the series has been to representing Asian-American families on television, Fresh Off the Boat has consistently been a warm and funny half-hour, fitting in well with ABC’s underrated sitcom lineup. Not to mention giving Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu a platform from which to showcase her talents. 8:00 PM ET on ABC

SERIES PREMIERE: Based on the writings of martial arts icon Bruce Lee, Cinemax’s Warrior promises action and drama from the same people who brought you Banshee. Set in 1870s San Francisco, the series follows a Chinese immigrant (Andrew Koji) who gets introduced to the city’s gang scene on the brink of an opium war. 10:00 PM ET on Cinemax

ALSO TONIGHT

• Following the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend series finale, The CW presents Yes, It’s Really Us Singing: The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Concert Special, which ought to send even the most bummed-out CXG fan into the streets on a high note. 9:00 PM ET on The CW
• Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas returns for its second season of the comedy/docu-series. 11:00 PM ET on HBO
• Netflix is dropping the first season of Our Planet, a chill-vibes-inducing nature doc series featuring the mellifluous narration of Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, and Sir David Attenborough. Available on Netflix

Joe Reid is the senior writer at Primetimer and co-host of the This Had Oscar Buzz podcast. His work has appeared in Decider, NPR, HuffPost, The Atlantic, Slate, Polygon, Vanity Fair, Vulture, The A.V. Club and more.