TV will switch from jolly to witchly

As soon as sweet Santa and his jolly elves depart, TV will go the other way. It will be time for witches and a demon.
The dark takeover will be on the AMC cable channel, plus its streaming service (AMC+) and, sometimes, its sister channels,
AMC has obsessed on Christmas all month, with a few films – led by “Elf” and “Christmas Vacation” – running often. But this is also the channel that scored with “The Walking Dead” and bought all of Anne Rice’s novels.
So its next move is the second season of Rice’s “Mayfair Witches” (shown here) It starts at 9 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, simulcast on Sundance, BBC America, IFC and WeTV; other witchly things will precede or follow it.
“Mayfair” centers on Dr. Rowan Mayfair (Alexandra Daddario, shown here), who accepted a barter from a demon named Lasher: He gave her his powers; she gave him a human-like body.
In her mind, she can use the powers to save lives; he might even help. His mind has other ideas.
To get us in the mood, plans call for:
— A marathon of the first season. That’s on AMC, starting Jan. 3.
— The second season of “Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale.” It will follow “Mayfair” on Sundays.
— Two shows that are already on AMC+. There’s the three-season “A Discovery of Witches” (also on Sundance Now and Acorn) and the 2024 film “Domino Day: Lone Witch” (also on Sundance Now and ALLBLK).
— “Burying the Ex,” on AMC+ starting Dec. 27. It’s a 2014 horror comedy from director Joe Dante, with Daddario as one of the three stars.
— “Two Witches.” It arrives Jan. 6 on the Shudder channel.