Shake off Blue Monday 2023 with a selection of TV shows on air this week

Monday January 16 is officially Blue Monday on the calendar - the so-called ‘worst day of the year’. With Christmas and New Year’s a distant memory except for the bank balance, alongside the cold harsh weather January brings, there is no scientific reason why people get the blues on that particular Monday.

But in the UK, with a cost of living and energy crisis, bills still to pay and the looming threat of a new financial year and if things will get even more pricey, it’s hard not to understand why people might feel the tinges of doom and gloom this early on in the year. Add to that a case of the Sunday Scaries (a form of anticipation anxiety ahead of the working week), and could this Monday be as bad as the name suggests?

We’re not ones to leave it up to fate, so to ease your Blue Monday and the remainder of the week, PeopleWorld has taken a look through TV listings and streaming services to bring six of the best television shows to be broadcast for the week ahead. Some of them are beloved water cooler favourites, others a throwback to the late 90s and one of which could be the catharsis needed to get through the week.

So sit back, try and unwind and start scheduling your television viewing for the week ahead as PeopleWorld brings to you the seven TV shows airing this week to soothe Blue Monday 2023 and the week ahead.

Love Island - ITV 2 / ITVX

A brand new series of Love Island returns to ITV 2 and ITVX this week, with among those looking for love in the South African villa the first partially-sighted contestant on the show, Ron Hall. He will be joined by other Islanders including a Michelle Keegan body double, a P.E teacher and a TV salesman, as Maya Jama hosts the brand new season kicking off Monday evening.

Love Island begins airing on January 16 2023 on ITV 2 and ITVX.

The Last of Us - Sky Atlantic

A critically acclaimed and commercially successful video game franchise in its own right, Naughty Dog’s celebrated work The Last of Us was picked up for a television series by HBO and now fans of the game can see if the adaptation is a faithful one. The series, starring Pedro Pascal as one of the main protagonists, Joel, is a gritty and at times very downbeat affair; if it successfully captures the post-apocalyptic mood that made the game an enduring addition to anyone's video game collection.

Though you may ask yourself why watching a desolate, bleak television series will help get over Blue Monday, think of viewing it as a form of catharsis from what’s going on in the real world. In other words, watch the series and think “it could be worse!”

The Last of Us premieres on Sky Atlantic on Monday January 6 at 2am, followed by an encore presentation that evening on the channel. This is set to also be the regular time slots for the new HBO series

Our Flag Means Death - BBC iPlayer

A celebrated hit online since its release in early 2022, many British fans of the swashbuckling romantic-comedy series Our Flag Means Death have wondered who and when will air the series in the UK. We found out the exploits of gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet and his crew of misfits would find themselves on the BBC.

Featuring the acting talents of Flight of the Conchords actor Rhys Darby and Thor director Taika Waititi, the show is part revisionist history, part love story and one of the most recent television series to earn unanimous praise from the LGTBQIA+ community for its honest depictions of gender identity and homosexuality. Plus it’s been hailed as a show that has brought the pirate genre back to the forefront of popular culture.

Our Flag Means Death is currently available to stream now through the BBC iPlayer.

That ‘90s Show - Netflix

Those who wondered about whatever happened to Eric Forman, Donna and the gang at the end of the 70s no longer need to wonder any further. That ‘90s Show will bring back the majority of the original cast of the incredibly popular That 70s Show to bring viewers up to speed on how the lives of the basement-dwelling gang changed after the 80s.

Given how popular That ‘70s Show was within popular culture, including a poorly received British remake Days Like These, if much of the talk among family and friends isn’t about Love Island or The Last of Us, surely it will be regarding how great of a dad Red Foreman truly is. We know deep down he’s a softy, despite the threat of kicking derrieres.

That 90s Show begins streaming on Netflix on January 19 2023.

Little Demon - Disney+

Another television show that has had to wait a little while to be exported to the UK, Disney+ (via their Star network) will be screening FXX adult animation Little Demon finally, featuring the voice acting talents of Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) and Lucy DeVito, the daughter of Danny and partner Rhea Pearlman.

The premier of Little Demon is simple enough - Thirteen years after being impregnated by the Devil (Danny DeVito), a reluctant mother (Aubrey Plaza) and her Antichrist daughter (Lucy DeVito) attempt to live an ordinary life in Delaware, but are constantly thwarted by monstrous forces, including Satan, who yearns for custody of his daughter’s soul.

Little Demon begins streaming on Disney+ on January 18 2023

The Office US - Netflix

Netflix fans (and the password-sharing users among them also) can rejoice over the news that The Office will not be leaving the streaming giant as previously indicated. Netflix somehow at the 11th hour managed to retain the rights to keep the multi-award-winning series on the platform, allowing a reprieve for those who were getting ready to bid farewell to Michael Scott, Jim and Pam.

It makes perfect sense also for Netflix to keep what is one of the most comforting television comedies in recent history on the platform - streaming data showed that The Office was one of the most streamed shows on Netflix.

The Office US (Seasons 1-9) is currently streaming on Netflix.