'How I Met Your Father,' 'Afterparty' Among January Streaming Recs

by Julian Spivey

Photos: Hulu, Apple

Bergman Island (Hulu) – 1/14
One of 2021’s critically-acclaimed films I’ve been looking forward to is director/writer Mia Hansen-Love’s “Bergman Island,” starring Vicky Krieps and Tim Roth. “Bergman Island” is a drama-romance about a married couple – both filmmakers – spending a working retreat on Faro island off the southeastern coast of Sweden, where legendary filmmaker Ingmar Bergman lived, died and filmed many of his movies. “Bergman Island” makes its streaming debut on Hulu on Friday, Jan. 14. 

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How I Met Your Father (Hulu) 1/18
I know the mostly great CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” (2005-2013) left many if its viewers cold with its series ender almost a decade ago now, but I’m willing to give the show’s spinoff “How I Met Your Father,” seemingly many years in the making, a chance to win me over. The show will be run by different showrunners than “How I Met Your Mother,” so it could be quite a bit different in its approach. “How I Met Your Father” will star Hilary Duff in the lead role and debuts on Hulu on Tuesday, Jan. 18. 

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As We See It (Amazon Prime) – 1/21
I will always give showrunner Jason Katims the opportunity to win me over once again as he was the showrunner of two of my favorite dramas ever in “Friday Night Lights” and “Parenthood,” but he’s failed to have success with his most recent TV series. Now he returns with Amazon Prime Video’s “As We See It,” a drama series about twentysomething roommates who are all on the autism spectrum, a topic Katims has approached before in “Parenthood.” The series stars Rick Glassman, Albert Rutecki, Sue Ann Pien and Sosie Bacon and premieres on Friday, Jan. 21. 

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The Afterparty (AppleTV+) – 1/28
AppleTV+ is coming in hot in the first month of 2022 with what looks to be potentially one of the best new comedies on TV of the year in “The Afterparty.” The comedy from Christopher Miller, who played a major role in creating “The Lego Movie,” “21 Jump Street” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, is a murder mystery set at a high school reunion where the host is killed, and each episode tells a different character’s perspective on the night. The cast features some of the funniest people working in television today with Tiffany Haddish playing the lead detective on the case, while Sam Richardson, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer and Ben Schwartz are among the partygoers and suspects.