WHERE IS ‘IDOL’ HEADED?

“American Idol” won’t be the biggest show of 2014, but it might be the biggest story.

The ratings struggles of the show were big news last year: The No. 1 show for a record eight consecutive years and No. 2 in 2012 fell to No. 7 in the rankings in its 11th season. Worse, the ratings declined more sharply as the year wore on. The finale drew about 14 million viewers – a third fewer than the 2012 finish.

Such a tumble for what had been the biggest moneymaker in television led to some serious housecleaning. Judges Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey were dumped and Randy Jackson was demoted to mentor. It looked like Keith Urban was on the way out, too, with a panel of former “American Idol” favorites taking over.

That was before Fox tossed out executive producers Ken Warwick and Nigel Lythgoe and replaced them with Swedish producer Per Blankens. Blankens scrapped the former-contestants idea, kept Urban and added former judge Jennifer Lopez and longtime friend of the show Harry Connick Jr.

The promos for Season 12, which premieres Jan. 15, have been pushing the camaraderie of the new judging trio, hoping to erase memories of last year’s dysfunctional quartet and make itself look more like the happiest place on Earth: “The Voice.”

The question “American Idol” will face this year is whether the judges were the problem, or whether the viewers are simply tired of it. Either outcome – continued slide or revival – “AI” will be a newsmaker.

We tend to greet the new year with such optimism, more full than usual with belief in the yet-unsullied future. And it's the same way in Televisionland, where 2014 arrives with new and returning shows filled with promise – because they haven't had a chance to disappoint us yet.

TV fans are lucky in this regard: We actually get two new years. There's the one in September, when the “TV year” starts, and then there is the more conventional new year, which TV labels its “midseason.”

In many ways, this second new year is the better one. The stronger shows from the fall have survived, and they'll be joined by a smaller but (we hope) stouter group of new offerings. A bunch of old favorites start new seasons, too, joining the fall favorites that are coming out of holiday hibernation.

The next two months ought to be enjoyable, if busy, ones for TV fans. Here's a guide to help you get through it all.

NEW SHOWS

Five to watch …

“Intelligence” CBS, premieres Jan. 7 – A far-from-perfect show, but one with a cool premise and lots of room to improve. Josh Holloway (Sawyer from “Lost”) stars as a modern Six Million Dollar Man – a spy with a special chip that connects his brain directly to the Internet. Holloway is great, as is Meghan Ory (Ruby from “Once Upon a Time”) as the Secret Service agent charged with protecting Holloway and his chip. The action sequences are strong, although the show takes itself too seriously. If the writers loosen up, this could be a hit.

“Chicago P.D.” NBC, Jan. 8 – We expected NBC to try to cash in on the popularity of “Chicago Fire,” but we didn't expect the new show to be so much better. “Chicago P.D.” is not a thinly disguised soap opera like its predecessor, but a sharp police drama. Jason Beghe stars as an any-means-necessary sergeant of suspect loyalties who nonetheless heads an elite squad. Sophia Bush is a tough sell as a streetwise young cop, but the rest of the cast is strong.

“True Detective” HBO, Jan. 12 – Looking for a fun hour on Sunday nights? Look elsewhere, because “True Detective” is a big plate of Southern-fried grim with some dark sauce on the side. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson star as a pair of Louisiana lawmen recalling a serial-murder case that they worked nearly 20 years before. The story moves back and forth from past to present, from a conventional story to a pair of unsettling confessionals. The lead actors are brilliant: McConaughey as a nearly psychotic misfit and Harrelson as an almost archetypically conventional TV detective with secrets of his own. Grim, yes, but fascinating.

“Broad City” Comedy Central, Jan. 22 – Men don't always have to be the stupid ones. Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer bring a 30-minute version of their popular Web series to television. It's part “Flight of the Conchords” smart-dumb comedy and part “Workaholics” dumb-dumb comedy, and it works in both realms.

“Fleming: The Man Who Would be Bond” BBC America, Jan. 29 – I haven't had a chance to see this miniseries, but the previews and its pedigree make it look like a show stopper. Dominic Cooper stars as Ian Fleming, the author who created James Bond, drawing on his own experience as a naval intelligence officer. The four-part series shows ushow Fleming based Bond on his life – and his fantasies.

… and five to skip

“Killer Women” ABC, Jan. 7 – The title is the best part about this new series, which stars Tricia Helfer as a Texas Ranger. Those hoping for some Quentin Tarantino-esque offbeat drama will be disappointed to discover a standard-issue female-cop series. In fact, fans of the late “In Plain Sight” will find “Killer Women” very familiar, if not as good.

“Enlisted” Fox, Jan. 8 – After punching a superior, a combat-veteran Army sergeant is redeployed to Florida and sentenced to lead a misfit platoon that includes his two loser brothers. An episode of this comedy will have you longing for the heady days of “McHale's Navy” and “C.P.O. Sharkey.”

“The Spoils of Babylon” IFC, Jan. 9 – As timely as a Pet Rock, and just about as funny. A pretty amazing cast – Will Ferrell, Tobey Maguire, Kristen Wiig, Tim Robbins, Jessica Alba, Val Kilmer – star in a spoof of 1970s and '80s miniseries. We might excuse the time lag if there were more genuine laughs, but this feels like it was thrown together in a couple of drunken bouts in someone's hot tub. It would have been better as a five-minute short on the website FunnyOrDie.com.

“Looking” HBO, Jan. 19 – This “daring” series about gay men in San Francisco will have you nodding off in no time. The characters are gay, they live in San Francisco … and that's about it. If you thought “The L Word” was bad – and it was – this is worse.

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