Arjun Gupta stars in "The Magicians"

A magical education: Picking a college to attend can be a terribly difficult decision for young men and women. There are so many to choose from, each with their own strengths, some close to home (and to mom and dad -- for laundry, of course) and many far away.

What about Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy? It's not exactly the best known university around, but for young adults with an interest in becoming magicians, it's definitely the place to be. Oh, but they do have a secret -- magic is, in fact, real, and Brakebills students are being trained to defend all of humanity from its deadly fallout.

This, at least, is the premise behind "The Magicians," the much-buzzed-about new show premiering on Syfy, Monday, Jan. 25.

Based on the critically acclaimed novel by Lev Grossman, "The Magicians" follows Quentin Coldwater, a super smart high schooler with a love of fantasy novels and an interest in magic. When he's accepted to Brakebills instead of the school he is expected to attend, Princeton, it feels like a dream come true -- especially once he discovers the truth about magic.

Jason Ralph ("Aquarius," "Madam Secretary") headlines the cast, starring as the magically gifted Quentin. He is joined by Olivia Taylor Dudley ("Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension," 2015), Hale Appleman ("Private Romeo," 2011), Arjun Gupta ("Nurse Jackie"), Stella Maeve ("Golden Boy") and Summer Bishil ("The Last Airbender," 2010).

A group of youth studying magic together at school may sound very Harry Potter-like, but the similarities between the Potter novels and movie series and "The Magicians" don't go much further than that. This is a much more grown-up story, with, as any of the novels' fans will be quick to point out, a very different style and feel than that other series about a wizarding school.

With a series of critically loved novels supporting it and a successful December preview under its belt, "The Magicians" could be Syfy's next big hit. The fantasy series premieres Monday, Jan. 25.

Look who's coming to town: With the holiday season in the rearview mirror, there's a major event on the horizon for the politically interested: that is, of course, the presidential election scheduled for November of this year. And with any political campaign comes an attempt by candidates to connect with voters.

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is certainly no stranger to the TV spotlight, but this time around she's heading out from behind the podium and diving headlong into scripted programming. Comedy Central's "Broad City" is welcoming the former first lady, who is set to appear in an episode during its upcoming third season, premiering Wednesday, Feb. 17, on Comedy Central.

"Broad City," which first emerged as a web series, stars comedians Abbi Jacobson ("Inside Amy Schumer") and Ilana Glazer ("The Night Before," 2015) as a pair of 20-somethings trying to get ahead -- sort of -- in New York City.

In an interesting twist of fate, Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation") serves as the series' executive producer; back in her "Saturday Night Live" days, she often impersonated Clinton, a fact that hopefully didn't make things too awkward when the two of them were on set together.

There's no official word on when, exactly, Clinton is set to show up in "Broad City," but there is one guarantee: with Jacobson, Glazer and Poehler in charge, the appearance of this former first lady and possible future president is bound to be hilarious.

"Broad City's" third season premieres Wednesday, Feb. 17, on Comedy Central.

Sutherland's a 'Survivor': Pilot? Who needs a pilot? When a network skips its pilot stage and issues a direct-to-series order, you know network executives must have a lot of confidence in a program -- and that's exactly what has happened with ABC's "Designated Survivor."

Scheduled to premiere during the 2016-17 season, "Designated Survivor" is still so early along in its development that details are extremely scarce, but its lead actor has already been cast.

"24's" Kiefer Sutherland will star as a low-level cabinet minister in the federal government who is suddenly and unexpectedly thrust into the role of president of the United States when a massive attack wipes out the country's entire government during the State of the Union address. It's a thriller about an ordinary family man who suddenly becomes the most powerful man in the world and must deal with a massive conspiracy that threatens the entire fabric of the nation.

Sutherland became a household name after he landed the leading role of Jack Bauer in Fox's terrorism thriller "24," but his 2013-14 drama, Fox's "Touch," struggled to find an audience and was canceled after only two seasons.

Despite that blemish, ABC clearly has confidence in both Sutherland and the entire team behind "Designated Survivor," which should premiere either fall 2016 or winter 2017 on the alphabet network.