{"id":512411,"date":"2026-01-13T04:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/512411\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T04:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:53:10","slug":"a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-ponies-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/512411\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,’ ‘Ponies,’ and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your TV GPS, a look at the week ahead in television, appears every Monday morning on BostonGlobe.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s column covers Jan. 12-18.<\/p>\n

Will Smith \u2014 actor, rapper<\/a>, producer \u2014 adds another title to his resume: nature documentarian. In \u201cPole to Pole with Will Smith<\/b>,\u201d premiering at 9 p.m. on the Nat Geo channel Jan. 13 and streaming on Hulu and Disney+ the next day, the performer heads out into the wilds to witness some nature firsthand. As implied by the title, he\u2019ll visit both the North and South poles, although thankfully they let him warm up a bit by sending him to the Amazon as well. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The question of who and what qualifies as punk rock is nearly as old as the genre itself, but in \u201cRiot Women<\/b>,\u201d premiering Jan. 14 on BritBox, the answer is a group of middle-aged women who form a punk rock band to enter a talent competition. The series comes courtesy of Sally Wainwright, who also created \u201cGentleman Jack<\/a>,\u201d \u201cHappy Valley<\/a>,\u201d and \u201cLast Tango in Halifax<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

While it sounds like something she could have used to program a time machine, \u201cAgatha Christie\u2019s Seven Dials<\/b>,\u201d out Jan. 15 on Netflix, is an adaptation of the legendary mystery author\u2019s<\/a> book of the same name. The miniseries stars Mia McKenna-Bruce as Lady Eileen \u201cBundle\u201d Brent, who begins investigating after a prank at a country estate goes seriously awry (usually pranks go awry when the person figures out what\u2019s going on, but this one goes murderously awry). Helena Bonham-Carter and Martin Freeman costar.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPonies<\/b>,\u201d out Jan. 15 on Peacock, does not involve the four-legged equines (at least, it probably doesn\u2019t). Instead, the term refers to a \u201cperson of no interest\u201d in the intelligence world. The show is about two women (played by Emilia Clarke<\/a>, of \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d and Haley Lu Richardson<\/a>, of \u201cThe White Lotus\u201d) whose husbands are killed while undercover in Russia in the late \u201970s. Given the ability of two women to fly under the radar, the duo decides to try to investigate what happened to their husbands.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Every great Starfleet captain has to start somewhere. In \u201cStar Trek: Starfleet Academy<\/b>,\u201d premiering Jan. 15 on Paramount+, the world of Star Trek expands to include the college years, so to speak, as a group of talented youngsters goes through the challenging academy. The cadets have Holly Hunter\u2019s Captain Nahla Ake to guide them along the way. \u201cLate Show\u201d host Stephen Colbert<\/a>, known for his nerdy interests, voices a digital dean.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The \u201cGame of Thrones<\/a>\u201d spinoff efforts continue with \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/b>,\u201d premiering Jan. 18 at 10 p.m. on HBO. Set 100 years before the events of the original \u201cGoT,\u201d the new series follows the exploits of Ser Duncan the Tall, a struggling knight who hopes to make his name. He\u2019s accompanied by a very young squire named Egg. The series seems to be skewing slightly more comedic than the other shows we\u2019ve seen, and unlike \u201cPonies,\u201d this show does appear to have actual horses in it. It also has a lot of mud and swords, just like \u201cGoT.\u201d Flagons of ale may even get quaffed.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at lisa.weidenfeld@globe.com<\/a>. Follow her on X @LisaWeidenfeld<\/a> and Instagram @lisaweidenfeld<\/a>.<\/p>\n