What's new on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and HBO in January 2020

What's new in January 2020
What's new in January 2020 (Image credit: Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/HBO)

Now that smartphones have hit their stride, we look to the services we use to shake things up. And you could well argue that streaming video has done more to shape our daily ingestment of entertainment over the past 10 years than all the Crossy Roads and Flappy Birds and Fortnites combined. (OK, maybe not Fortnite.)

So what's in store for the next decade? Only time will tell. But meanwhile we've got another stellar stable of shows on the way in the first month of the first year of the next 10 years.

What's new on Netflix in January 2020

What could Netflix possibly do in the new decade that it hasn't already done in the past 10 years? Quite frankly, we don't know.

Maybe instead of revolutionizing the way we watch TV — again — it'll just be more of the same. And maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing. It'd just mean more great original shows alongside some of the best of the past. Of course, Netflix's going to have to adjust as a good chunk of those aging favorites jump ship to their home streaming services.

But if anyone's poised to make that sort of shift, it's Netflix.

Anyway. In January we're getting new episodes of Sex Education, Janelle Monae narrates Sex Explained, and there are some other shows that aren't about sex. (For that, you'll have to see the full list.)

See what's new on Netflix in January 2020

What's new on Amazon Prime Video in January 2020

If you're looking to start the new year with some serious female star power, it's tough to better than this duo. Viola Davis and Allison Janney are in the Amazon Original Troop Zero.

The gist? This:

Troop Zero tells the story of a misfit girl dreaming of life in outer space but living in rural 1977 Georgia. When a national competition offers her a chance at her dream, to be recorded on NASA's Golden Record, she recruits a makeshift troop of Birdie Scouts, forging friendships that last a lifetime and beyond. Streaming on January 17, 2020.

We've got a couple weeks until it premieres, but in the meantime there's still so much more on Prime Video.

See what's new on Amazon Prime Video in January 2020

What's new on Hulu in January 2020

Hulu's first month of 2020 is one part serious, one part hilarious. Saturday Night Live's Aidy Bryant stars as Annie in Shrill, whose second season gets going on Jan. 24.

Up this time around? Annie is trying to start her career while juggling bad boyfriends, a sick parent, and a perfectionist boss.

And that's just the tip of the Hulu iceberg.

What's new on Hulu in January 2020

What's new on HBO in January 2020

HBO is about two things — great original series and shows, and some of the biggest blockbusters Hollywood has to offer.

And we're going to get both in January 2020, of course.

For the former, The New Pope gets going on Jan. 13. And just one day earlier we'll get The Outsider. And if you were wondering if it's any good, consider this recommendation from the man who wrote the source material. (And who has a ... complicated past with adaptions of his work.)

See more

On the movie front, we're looking forward to Tolkien on Jan. 5, John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum on Jan. 11, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters on Jan. 18.

What's new on HBO in January 2020

Phil Nickinson