NBC
Law and Order: Organized Crime
Elliot Stabler returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. However, the city and police department have changed dramatically in the decade he’s been away, and he must adapt to a criminal justice system in the midst of its own moment of reckoning. Stabler will aim to find absolution and rebuild his life while leading an elite new task force that is taking apart the city’s most powerful crime syndicates one by one.
Starring: Christopher Meloni, Danielle Moné Truitt, Dylan McDermott, Tamara Taylor, Ainsley Seiger
Quick Thoughts: Well, yes. This seems like the exact right time to bring back a famous New York police detective nicknamed Unstabler by the internet. I love Law and Order: SVU. I grew up on it but come on. I dunno…maybe he’s had some time to reflect and grow since he retired after shooting that teenage girl. Maybe he’ll be a kinder, nicer Stabler to…the various criminal syndicates of New York. Also Christopher Meloni and Dylan McDermott have very similar energies and I’m curious to see how that’ll translate on the show.
Premieres April 1st
ABC
Home Economics
Home Economics takes a look at the heartwarming yet super uncomfortable and sometimes frustrating relationship between three adult siblings: one in the 1%, one middle-class and one barely holding on.
Starring: Topher Grace, Caitlin McGee, Jimmy Tatro, Karla Souza, Sasheer Zamata, Chloe Jo Rountree, Jecobi Swain, Jordyn Curret, Shiloh Bearman
Premieres April 7th
Rebel
Inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich today, Annie “Rebel” Bello is a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She’s a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves. When Rebel applies herself to a fight she believes in, she will win at almost any cost.
Starring: Katey Sagal, Andy Garcia, John Corbett, Tamala Jones, James Lesure, Lex Scott Davis, Kevin Zegers, Ariela Barer, Sam Palladio
Quick Thoughts: I am currently very mad at Krista Vernoff for a Grey’s Anatomy thing but she is very talented and this looks interesting and has people I like.
*mutters*
Just goes around murdering perfectly good himbos like Grey Sloane wasn’t a depressing enough hospital…grumble grumble grumble
Premieres April 9th
CBS
The United States of Al
A comedy about the friendship between Riley, a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio, and Awalmir (“Al”), the Interpreter who served with his unit in Afghanistan and has just arrived to start a new life in America.
Starring: Adhir Kalyan, Parker Young, Elizabeth Alderfer, Dean Norris, Kelli Goss, Farrah Mackenzie
Quick Thoughts: Look…I think they mean well. I remember the Bob Hearts Abishola TCA panel. I remember Chuck Lorre talking about trying to use his influence to make a CBS audience more tolerant and loving. But Bob Hearts Abishola has a pretty big cast of African characters, and this kind of feels like “Look! A magical man from the Middle East has come to solve all of this white family’s problems.” Traditionally, not a great foundation to build a show on. And I say Middle East, Adhir Kalyan is an Indian from South Africa. I liked him a lot on Aliens in America, a show with a similar premise, but they probably should have tried a little harder to find an actor from at least the same region. This apparently has Afghan writers and Reza Aslan is a producer here so maybe it will turn out okay at some point. But just judging from the early reviews, it’s gonna take some doing.
Premieres April 1st
CW
Kung Fu
A quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese American woman, Nicky Shen, to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to San Francisco, she finds her hometown is overrun with crime and corruption and her own parents Jin and Mei-Li are at the mercy of a powerful Triad. Nicky will rely on her tech-savvy sister Althea and Althea’s fiancé Dennis, pre-med brother Ryan, Assistant District Attorney and ex-boyfriend Evan, and new love interest Henry as well as her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice…all while searching for the ruthless assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor Pei-Ling and is now targeting her.
Starring: Olivia Liang, Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Shannon Dang, Tony Chung, Jon Prasida, Gavin Stenhouse, Eddie Liu, Vanessa Kai
Quick Thoughts: May all Asian actresses have Tzi Ma as a dad at least once. I’m a Chinese-American woman and I’m going to watch this because of course I am, but this feels very Arrowverse. Maybe it’s just because I know it’s produced by Greg Berlanti. I might be a little burned out on the sheer number of crimefighting kickass hot people on The CW. We should maybe have a conversation about their pilots for next season because they’re fascinating.
Premieres April 7th
PBS
My Grandparents’ War
Follow leading Hollywood actors as they re-trace the footsteps of their grandparents and learn how World War II changed the lives of their families – and the world.
Premieres April 4th
Hemingway
Hemingway, a three-part, six-hour documentary film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, examines the visionary work and the turbulent life of Ernest Hemingway, one of the greatest and most influential writers America has ever produced. Interweaving his eventful biography — a life lived at the ultimately treacherous nexus of art, fame, and celebrity — with carefully selected excerpts from his iconic short stories, novels, and non-fiction, the series reveals the brilliant, ambitious, charismatic, and complicated man behind the myth, and the art he created.
Premieres April 5th
Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World
This revealing series follows Greta Thunberg as she steps from behind the podium and onto the front lines. Over the course of the three episodes, Greta explores the science as she travels to extraordinary locations across the globe, meeting leading climate scientists, witnessing first hand the consequences of climate change and confronting the complexity of what is required to make change happen.
Premieres April 22nd
Comedy Central
Doing the Most with Phoebe Robinson
The series stars Phoebe Robinson as she creates adventures and experiences with her celebrity guests that take us into their world and out of her comfort zone. From tackling a high ropes course with Kevin Bacon, learning magic with The Property Brothers, horseback riding with Whitney Cummings and more, each episode of the series features one-on-one interviews and unique experiences with pop culture luminaries.
Premieres April 9th
AMC
Gangs of London
For 20 years, Finn Wallace was the most powerful criminal in London. Billions of pounds flowed through his organization each year. But now he’s dead – and nobody knows who ordered the hit. With rivals everywhere, it’s up to the impulsive Sean Wallace, with the help of the Dumani family headed by Ed Dumani, to take his father’s place. If the situation wasn’t already dangerous enough, Sean’s assumption of power causes ripples in the world of international crime. Perhaps the one man who might be able to help him and be his ally is Elliot Finch, who up until now, has been one of life’s losers, a lowlife chancer with a mysterious interest in the Wallace family. But as the wind of fate blows, Elliot finds himself transported to the inner workings of the largest criminal organization in London. It doesn’t end with the Wallaces though, there are shadowy higher powers at play.
Starring: Joe Cole, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Colm Meaney, Lucian Msamati, Michelle Fairley, Paapa Essiedu, Pippa Bennett-Warner
Quick Thoughts: So this went from airing on Sky Atlantic in Great Britain to AMC+ to actual AMC and what is the point of you AMC+? Anyway, here’s Gangs of London again.
Premieres April 4th
TBS
Wipeout
The all-new 20-hour series takes viewers on a white-knuckle ride, featuring new course elements that will push contestants’ athleticism, endurance and determination to even greater extremes as they fight to win the grand cash prize.
Starring: John Cena, Nicole Byer, Camille Kostek
Premieres April 1st
Chad
The series follows a 14-year-old pubescent Persian boy as he navigates his first year of high school on a mission to become popular. Chad’s friendships and sanity are pushed to the limits as he uses every tactic at his disposal to befriend the cool kids, while enduring his mother’s new dating life and reconciling with his cultural identity.
Starring: Nasim Pedrad, Alexa Loo, Ella Mika, Jake Ryan, Paul Chahidi, Saba Homayoon, Thomas Barbusca
Premieres April 6th
TruTV
Big Trick Energy
Best friends for more than 10 years, master magicians and mischievous daredevils Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, Wes Barker and Alex Boyer venture into the real world to both shock and awe unsuspecting spectators – and each other – with their unique brand of extreme, provocative, mind-blowing magic. Fueled by their camaraderie and spontaneous antics, their radical, unconventional and even dangerous magic defies expectations and completely astonishes their subjects.
Starring: Alex Boyer, Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, Wes Barker
Premieres April 22nd
Freeform
Cruel Summer
Cruel Summer is a psychological thriller that follows two young women: Kate Wallis, the popular girl with a charmed life who one day goes missing, and Jeanette Turner, the nerdy wannabe who is accused of being connected to Kate’s disappearance. All signs point to Jeanette’s guilt, but is Kate really who she seems to be? Set over three summers and told through shifting points of view, the series challenges perception and follows how one girl can go from being a sweet outlier to the most despised person in America.
Starring: Olivia Holt, Chiara Aurelia, Michael Landes, Froy Gutierrez, Harley Quinn Smith, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee, Brooklyn Sudano
Premieres April 20th
HBO
The Nevers
August, 1896. Victorian London is rocked to its foundations by a supernatural event which gives certain people – mostly women – abnormal abilities, from the wondrous to the disturbing. But no matter their particular “turns,” all who belong to this new underclass are in grave danger. It falls to mysterious, quick-fisted widow Amalia True and brilliant young inventor Penance Adair to protect and shelter these gifted “orphans.” To do so, they will have to face the brutal forces determined to annihilate their kind.
Starring: Laura Donnelly, Ann Skelly, Olivia Williams, James Norton, Tom Riley, Pip Torrens, Ben Chaplin, Denis O’Hare, Amy Manson, Rochelle Neil, Zackary Momoh, Eleanor Tomlinson, Elizabeth Berrington, Anna Devlin, Kiran Sonia Sawar, Viola Prettejohn, Ella Smith, Vinnie Heaven, Nick Frost
Quick Thoughts: Great gowns. Beautiful gowns.
Premieres April 11th
Exterminate All the Brutes
Exterminate All the Brutes, from acclaimed filmmaker Raoul Peck, is a four-part hybrid docuseries that provides a visually arresting journey through time, into the darkest hours of humanity. Through his personal voyage, Peck deconstructs the making and masking of history, digging deep into the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism — from America to Africa and its impact on society today. Based on works by three authors and scholars — Sven Lindqvist’s Exterminate All the Brutes, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, and Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s Silencing the Past — Exterminate All the Brutes revisits and reframes the profound meaning of the Native American genocide and American slavery and their fundamental implications for our present. The series disrupts formal and artistic film conventions by weaving together rich documentary footage and archival material, as well as animation and interpretive scripted scenes that offer a counter-narrative to white Eurocentric history. Through a sweeping story in which history, contemporary life and fiction are wholly intertwined, the series challenges the audience to re-think the very notion of how history is being written.
Premieres April 7th
Mare of Easttown
As her life crumbles around her, a small-town Pennsylvania detective Mare Sheehan investigates a local murder. The series explores the dark side of a close community and provides an authentic examination of how family and past tragedies can define our present.
Starring: Kate Winslet, Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, Evan Peters, Guy Pearce, Cailee Spaeny, David Denman, John Douglas Thompson, Patrick Murney, James McArdle, Sosie Bacon, Joe Tippett, Neal Huff
Premieres April 18th
