(NOTE: All premiere dates remain subject to change as long as the writers’ strike goes on. And with SAG-AFTRA and the DGA poised to join the party, you’d better be brushing up on your Pictionary!)
Premieres Wednesday:
Fake Profile — Prepare yourself for an entire season’s worth of sexy revenge, as a Colombian woman sets out to get even with a guy who misrepresented his identity and marital status on a dating app. Honestly, those seem like relatively harmless fibs. When a guy says he enjoys “all kinds of music,” that’s when you need to break out the duct tape and shovel. (Netflix)
Premieres Thursday:
A Beautiful Life — Danish pop sensation Christopher may have found his very own Glitter in this story of a fisherman who has to think very hard when he’s offered the chance to become a singing star. And he’s right to feel trepidatious, because not everyone is cut out to withstand the harsh glare of the spotlight like the immortal Lukas Forchhammer. (Netflix)
The Days — HBO’s Chernobyl scored big in the ratings and got great reviews, so here’s a dramatic series adaptation of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. If this one’s a hit too, it’s going to be clear that the public can’t get enough of watching historic meltdowns. Fingers crossed that somebody was following Brett Butler around with a camcorder in the ’90s. (Netflix)
iCarly Season 3 — Now that Pearl has broken up with Freddie so he can be free to act on his feelings for Carly, will #Creddie once again be a smooth-sailing ‘ship? Your answer probably depends on how much you believe Ben Affleck is “just goofing around” in those photos. (Paramount+)
Lego Ninjago: Dragons Rising — The Lego franchise that couldn’t cut it in feature films is apparently still good enough for TV. Its latest series incarnation has heroic ninjas fighting evildoers for control of dragon energy that could destroy the world. “I’d like to help, but I still have a career, huhuhuh,” taunts Lego Batman in a priceless flyby. (Netflix)
Naked. Loud. Proud. — Documentary cameras capture the colorful drag scene that manages to exist in Poland, in defiance of that country’s draconian anti-LGBT laws. Yeah, but could they pull off a decent production of James and the Giant Peach? (Max)
Premieres Friday:
Deadloch — Mismatched lady detectives have a murder to solve when a rotten, stinking corpse washes up on an Australian beach during a big cultural festival. Either that, or somebody botched a delivery to the Vegemite factory. (Prime Video)
Queen of the Universe — Orlando expat Jazell Royale is among the contestants in Season 2 of the drag sing-off. I was going to snark that the grand prize is never having to come back to Florida … but given that she now lives in Texas, that’s two around-the-world trips the show would have to pony up for. (Paramount+)
Love Allways — Contestants from across the gender spectrum line up to win the love of pansexual bachelorette Lexi Paloma in a dating show that’s sure to give Randy Fine conniptions. But the appearances by relationship experts Anthony Recenello and Spicy Mari probably won’t bother him that much, because his kids told him those are anime characters. (Paramount+)
Manifest Season 4 Part 2 — The final episodes of the series will reveal if the passengers from Flight 828 can manage to save a world that hates and fears them. Forget “can”; I want to know if they should. I wouldn’t even save Tavares if it looked at me funny. (Netflix)
Medellín — French actor-filmmaker Franck Gastambide directs himself in an action comedy about a guy who comes up with a bold plan to rescue his brother from Colombian drug lords. Let me guess: a deadly alliance with the coffee people? (Prime Video)
Searching for Soul Food — Chef Alisa Reynolds travels from Mississippi to South Africa to L.A., investigating local dishes that meet the definition of “soul food.” A particularly illuminating trip to the Hamptons reveals the wonders of raisins. (Hulu)
Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets — Though they’ve been exposed as a bunch of dangerous freaks and sickos, America’s first family of ludicrous fertility is somehow being given another platform to burnish their public image. In their own words, hear the Duggars blame their horrific crimes on the unorthodox religious environment in which they were raised. As opposed to those orthodox religious environments, you understand, where you never see anything weirder than a girl going to the prom with her dad. (Prime Video)
Shooting Stars — When the finishing touches were being put on this documentary profile of LeBron James’ incredible life and career, nobody involved expected he’d soon be facing retirement after a humiliating loss in the playoffs. It’s too late to incorporate that major plot twist, but maybe there’ll be the chance of a follow-up series if he can find his way into a good interstate crime spree. (Peacock)
An Unforgettable Year: Summer — In the first of four seasonally themed romps dropping over the coming weeks, a fashion student aspires to become the seamstress for a famous costume designer. And just in time, because those MegaCon Naruto outfits ain’t gonna hem themselves. (Prime Video)
Valeria — It’s been over a year and a half since this Spanish Sex and the City left us wondering if Val would be getting back with Victor permanently, or if she’d prioritize her career instead. In the interim, star Diana Gomez had time to have a whole-ass baby. If her character follows suit in the show’s third and final season, we may have to admit we’ve been witnessing history’s sneakiest end run for breaking your kid into show business. (Netflix)
With Love — Also back after a lengthy hiatus, the Latinx romcom will reveal which of its three central couples got engaged at the end of Season 1: the straight one, the gay one or the cis/trans one. I’m hoping it’s the straight one, because we’ve made everybody else suffer enough. (Prime Video)
Premieres Sunday:
Joe Pickett — And yet another protracted wait comes to a close, with the adventures of Joe the Wyoming game warden landing on a new streaming service for Season 2. This time, Joe is trying to find the culprit in a killing spree that’s put his own family in jeopardy. Given that it’s Wyoming, I’m assuming the biggest risk they’re facing for exposing the criminal is expulsion from Congress. (Paramount+)
Premieres Monday:
The Age of Influence — This six-part docuseries probes the ways in which social-media influencers guide our perception of what’s important. If you’re going to watch, I recommend you do so with a cold can of Living Vitalitea Kombucha firmly in hand! (Hulu)
Barracuda Queens — A combination of boredom and debt drives a group of Swedish teenage girls to start burglarizing their neighbors. The series that chronicles their exploits is said to have been “loosely inspired by true events,” which I guess means that even in Scandinavia, nobody wants to be too overt about ripping off The Bling Ring. (Netflix)
Premieres Tuesday:
Destination: European Nights — Soccer journalist Guillem Balagué hosts a five-episode docuseries that sets the stage for Saturday’s UEFA Champions League final. Just think: When Orlando gets Major League Baseball, we won’t have to pretend to care about this stuff anymore! (Paramount+)
This article appears in May 31 – Jun 6, 2023.