TV Break: January 2026 TV Preview Plus Netflix Acquires Warner Bros. & Heated Rivalry Catches Fire

Welcome to TV Break, where Pop Break’s Podcasts Editor Alex Marcus is joined by editor-in-chief Bill Bodkin, and TV Columnist Josh Sarnecky to talk about the happenings in television.Here’s the format of the show:The Best Thing I Saw on TV Last Month – Alex, Bill, Josh and special guest TV Editor Avani Goswami talk about a show/episode/event they liked from the last month including HBO’s I Love LA & The Chair Company, AppleTV’s Pluribus, Prime Video’s Fallout, Disney Plus’s Taylor Swift: The End of An Era, and Netflix’s Stranger Things & Death By Lightning. Streaming Wars – Alex, Bill, & Josh pick a streamer they think “won the month” based on new shows airing/upcoming shows announced etc. All three hosts plus their special guest handed the month’s honors to Netflix after their successful acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, their hugely successful Stranger Things Season 5 rollout, and their NFL Christmas Day telecasts.New Series Spotlight – This month, we are reviewing HBOMAX’s Heated Rivalry The series, based on the Game Changers queer romance novel series by Rachel Reid and adapted for the small screen by the Canadian TV powerhouse behind Letterkenny and Shoresy Jacob Tierney, stars Hudson Williams and Connor Story as Shane Hollander & Ilya Rozanov, the top two picks in the 2008 Major League Hockey Draft, who strike up a secret affair the summer before their rookie season. The series first season follows roughly seven years of their closeted love affair, and also features a subplot following a veteran hockey player Scott Hunter, played by Francois Arnaud, and his love affair with art history grad student and smoothie barista Kip, played by Robbie GK, who are the focus of one of the other novels in the book series. Most Anticipated Series of 2026 – Alex, Bill, Josh, and Avani break down their five most anticipated series of the year, along with some runners-up as they kick off 2026.Avani Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End S2Blue Eye Samurai S2Yellowjackets S4Spider-Man NoirBlade Runner 2099Josh One Piece S2LanternsHouse of the Dragon S3Daredevil: Born Again S2Avatar: The Last Airbender S2Bill Blue Eye Samurai S2X-Men ’97 S2Daredevil: Born Again S2One Piece S2LanternsAlex VisionQuestThe Comeback S3The Pitt S2Euphoria S3Shrinking S3