It’s another week of unstoppable television. As we barrel towards the end of Emmy eligibility, the mixture of highbrow prestige fare (like “The Staircase”) and four-quadrant blockbusters (like the Mike Myers-led “The Pentaverate”) just keep on coming. Plus, we’ve got new documentaries about Sheryl Crow and a social security scam artist that you won’t believe, Guillermo del Toro’s masterful “Nightmare Alley” like you’ve never seen and the Muppets invading “Holey Moley.” Buckle up. It’s a big week.
On with the television!
“The Pentaverate”
Thursday, May 5, Netflix
Mike Myers has been off the radar for a little while. His last film appearances happened in 2018 (including a small role in the Oscar-winning “Bohemian Rhapsody”), the same year he showed up as Dr. Evil in a pair of appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Now, he’s back. And true to form, it’s a wildly ambitious, genre-bending comedy that sees Myers play several roles. “The Pentaverate” riffs on an idea Myers first introduced in his 1993 comedy “So I Married An Axe Murderer” – that a secret society has been working for the good of humanity since around the time of the Black Plague. In other words, a benevolent Illuminati! Precious little else is known about the series, save for a brief teaser trailer and a supporting cast that includes Ken Jeong, Keegan-Michael Key, Debi Mazer and Jennifer Saunders. We are ready for a dose of unfiltered Myers insanity. Schwing! [TRAILER]
“Moon Knight”
Wednesday, May 4, Disney+
Easily the most experimental and offbeat Marvel Studios series since “WandaVision,” “Moon Knight” stars Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector/Steven Grant, a man who suffers from dissociative disorder and who might be the human avatar for an immortal Egyptian god (voiced with gravelly intensity by F. Murray Abraham), who transforms him into the nocturnal vigilante Moon Knight. The show has ping-ponged so much in its first five episodes, both tonally and aesthetically (from superhero show to “Mummy”-style horror adventure to WTF-worthy mind-bending thriller), which makes the finale even more unpredictable and exciting. Will Marc/Steven reconcile with his mental instability and defeat zealot Arthur Harrow (Ethan Hawke), who wants to resurrect a genocidal god? And perhaps most tantalizingly, how does this character fit into the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? (Can you imagine this guy fighting alongside, say, Captain Marvel?) The only way to find out, is to watch. [RECAP]
“Sheryl”
Friday, May 6th at 9 p.m., Showtime
This documentary, which focuses on the life of singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, promises to peel back the curtain, looks to be both raw and revealing. “Sheryl,” directed by Amy Scott (who directed 2018’s Hal Ashby documentary “Hal”), premiered at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival and features talking head interviews with Laura Dern, Keith Richards, Joe Walsh and Emmylou Harris and charts the singer’s ‘90s breakthrough to her battle with cancer in the early 2000s to her life and career today. Even if you haven’t listened to her since “All I Wanna Do” dropped in the year of our lord 1993 (and have been humming it ever since), this doc should be a must-watch. [TRAILER]
“The Big Conn”
Friday, May 6, Apple TV+
How many scammers is too many scammers? While we have been riddled with scammers, both in dramatic series based on real life cases (like “The Dropout” and “WeCrashed”) and in documentaries (like “The Invisible Pilot” and “The Tinder Swindler”), there’s still something utterly gripping about their tales of grift and greed. The latest documentary to follow in this long succession is “The Big Conn,” a spirited, unbelievable, occasionally deeply tragic account of a showy West Virginia social security lawyer who somehow managed to screw over the federal government and all of his clients. Directed by James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, the filmmakers behind HBO’s highly addictive “McMillion$,” the four-part “Big Conn” shows you that when it comes to stories about scammers, the more the merrier. [TRAILER]
“Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light”
HBO Max / Hulu
Right before Guillermo del Toro’s masterful “Nightmare Alley” racked up a handful of Oscar nominations, it was briefly exhibited in a black-and-white version, which played for a few weeks in a limited number of theaters. Now that black-and-white version is finally available on streaming. And it might be the definitive way to watch the film, which stars Bradley Cooper as a morally compromised drifter who falls in with a traveling circus (run by Willem Dafoe) and eventually becomes a mentalist for the wealthy, teaming up with an even more unscrupulous psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett). The velvety black-and-white emphasizes the movie’s film noir origins (it was made once before in 1947 by Edmund Goulding) and gives the images deeper resonance and greater dimension. If you saw “Nightmare Alley” once before in color and only liked it, try it again in black-and-white and you just might love it. [WATCH or WATCH]
“Ziwe”
Sunday, May 1 at 11 p.m., Showtime
The singular late night talk show/variety show returns after nearly a year. “Ziwe” stars comedian Ziwe Fumudoh, whose interview style is both adorable and antagonistic. Quite frankly this season is on the top of our most-anticipated list if only because we can’t wait to see her interrogate Chet Hanks about his faux “island” accent and frequent appropriation of Black culture. (Also, because Adam Pally has, for some reason, decided to return.) If you have never seen this charmingly lo-fi, A24-produced marvel, it’s never too late to start. nd don’t worry — there will be more “Ziwe” very soon. After these initial six episodes there will be more in the fall! [TRAILER]
“Holey Moley”
Tuesday, May 3 at 8 p.m., ABC
No joke, “Holey Moley,” ABC’s insane competitive miniature golf show, might be one of the best shows on television. If you’ve never seen it before, it features elaborately designed (and sometimes deeply stupid) courses that have mini golf enthusiasts getting into insane situations. (One year the final course involved flaming windmills.) Hosts Rob Riggle and Joe Tessitore add even more comedic commentary (as does executive producer and occasional star Steph Curry). And if things weren’t bizarre enough, this year’s installment (“Holey Moley Fore-Ever,” because, you know, it’s the fourth season) also features the Muppets. Talk about Gonzo. [CLIP]
“Disney Gallery: The Book of Boba Fett”
Wednesday, May 4, Disney+
After specials detailing the making of the first and second seasons of “The Mandalorian,” we’re getting one for “The Book of Boba Fett.” Did you already forget about this “Mandalorian” spin-off? Fair enough! But we’re sure that the making of the series, from re-creating the iconic armor to the technology used to bring the oversized set pieces to life, will be gripping none the less. Hopefully we get to see how they built a better Rancor! [RECAP]
“The Staircase”
Thursday, May 5, HBO Max
2004’s true-crime documentary series “The Staircase” (directed by French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade) is still one of the all-time greatest of the genre, especially since it hit before the boom of prestige true-crime series and podcasts. Now, the inevitable dramatic retelling is here. And it looks like a humdinger. Colin Firth plays Michael Peterson, a novelist accused of killing his wife after she is found in a bloody pile at the bottom of the titular staircase. It only gets wilder from there. The supporting cast is unbelievable and includes Toni Collette, Rosemarie DeWitt, Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey, Sophie Turner, Dane DeHaan and Michael Stuhlbarg, with directorial duties split between Antonio Campos (who directed episodes of “The Sinner”) and Leigh Janiak (last year’s excellent “Fear Street” trilogy). Hopefully they don’t leave out the owl theory. Either way it’ll be a hoot. [REVIEW]
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”
Thursday, May 5, Paramount+
There is a season, turn, turn, turn. Just as season 2 of “Picard” comes to a close, a new “Star Trek” series arrives on Paramount+. A spin-off of “Star Trek: Discovery” and a prequel to the original “Star Trek” series, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” follows Captain Pike (Anson Pike), Number One (Rebecca Romjin) and Spock (Ethan Peck) as they travel the galaxy on the U.S.S. Enterprise. If you love this new show, you’ll have plenty to be happy about – season 2 has already started filming, with Paul Wesley cast as some marginal “Star Trek” character named James T. Kirk. Boldly go. [TRAILER]
