Most new shows on your traditional broadcast networks will be debuting as soon as this weekend, after a long layoff for Christmas. The first one is called "Best Medicine" and it premieres on Fox Sunday night. It stars Josh Charles and is based on the British comedy "Doc Martin," seen here on PBS. 

After that, you can expect some of your favourite programs to be back. But not for long. This is one of those rare four year breaks where the Olympics take place in Italy from Feb. 6th-Feb. 22nd, and that means a lot of the shows you usually watch won't be on for almost a month. 

The Games will air on the CBC here and on NBC in the U.S. That means no new "Law & Orders" or "Chicagos." "Brilliant Minds" will stop thinking and "St. Denis Medical" will be taking sick days - among others. It appears the City TV stations will be the most affected in Canada, since they take a lot of those shows, but all the others will have to fill with other programming or reruns while the contests are on, since most of the other networks - ABC, CBS & Fox - often don't want to compete with the high profile race for the medals. 

That could prove a problem for Global and CTV.

I'll be very curious to see who wastes new episodes against this perennial ratings juggernaut, but there is one benefit - shows that tend to wrap up early (by April or May) may have their seasons extended for another month as they run off the shows they couldn't put on during the Olympics. 

I personally hate the hype that surrounds this thing, and I will not be watching a second of it. A shame, since most of my favourite network shows are on NBC - and they'll all be interrupted for several weeks.

This is where streaming services have a big advantage, and it will be worthwhile watching to see what they release during that near month-long period.