Jerry Seinfeld's tasty movie, Billy Joel's concert doc, Kate Winslet's satirical series and 29 more great shows to catch this spring
Just about a year ago at this time, the TV industry was on a doomscroll spiral. Girding for a major strike and general slowdown, the “streaming revolution” seemed played out, and “linear TV” seemed kaput. Sure, there would be lots to watch (always is) but the pipeline was hardly limitless. When would the “supply” dry up? When would the shakeout begin?
When would TV — all of it, from the networks to the streamers — turn into the pumpkin so many expected at the figurative stroke of midnight?
Never happened. Still hasn't.
And this spring as resounding proof: There will be so much to watch over the next 10 weeks, so much to talk about afterward, that you could almost wonder where you'll find the time to do something else. Besides the return of the linear (network) lineups, there are major offerings on each of the streaming services, with leader Netflix poised to be particularly active this spring.
What follows is a glimpse at some of these — but hardly all.
ALREADY ON
ELSBETH (CBS/2, 10 p.m.)
Everyone's favorite character from “The Good Wife,” Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), arrives from the Windy City to the city that never sleeps (along with Wendell Pierce).
MARCH 1
THE COMPLETELY MADE-UP ADVENTURES OF DICK TURPIN (Apple TV+)
In fact, there was a real highwayman in merry old 18th-century England whose exploits were celebrated in ballads, much later a '70s-era TV series. This latest comedy stars Noel Fielding, co-host of “The Great British Bake Off.”
MARCH 3
THE REGIME (HBO, 9; Max)
Kate Winslet stars in HBO's "The Regime." Credit: HBO/Miya Mizuno
Kate Winslet as a tinpot dictator of an unnamed middle European country, in this satire from Will Tracy, one of the top creative forces behind “Succession,” “The Menu,” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
MARCH 7
THE GENTLEMEN (Netflix)
Theo James (“The White Lotus”) stars in this series loosely based on Guy Ritchie's movie of the same name. He plays Eddie who's called home from military service to help care for his father's vast estate — now a pot plantation. Cast includes Joely Richardson, Giancarlo Esposito and Peter Serafinowicz.
MARCH 12
BOAT STORY (Freevee)
Two strangers, Janet (Daisy Haggard) and Samuel (Paterson Joseph), come upon a shipwrecked boat packed with cocaine on a quiet English beach, then make an impromptu decision that has nothing to do with calling the authorities. By the way, Joseph — a distinguished Shakespearean actor — was just named chancellor of an English university.
MARCH 14
APPLES NEVER FALL (Peacock)
Sam Neill as Stan, Annette Bening as Joy in "Apples Never Fall." Credit: Peacock/Jasin Boland
Aussie novelist Liane Moriarty (“Big Little Lies”) has her 2021 bestseller about a mom and married tennis coach (Annette Bening) who goes missing turned into another hotly anticipated U.S. series; with Sam Neill, Alison Brie and Jake Lacy.
THE GIRLS ON THE BUS (Max)
Christina Elmore, Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino and Natasha Behnam in Max's "The Girls on The Bus." Credit: Max/Nicole Rivelli
Former newspaper reporter Amy Chozick's memoir, “Chasing Hillary,” is turned into a (lightly?) fictionalized account of the press scrum that surrounded a prominent candidate a couple of election cycles ago, but this one is from a female perspective; with Melissa Benoist, Natasha Benham, Christina Elmore and Carla Gugino.
MARCH 15
MANHUNT (Apple TV+)
Lili Taylor and Hamish Linklater in "Manhunt" on Apple TV+. Credit: Apple TV+
This adaptation of the 2006 book by historian James L. Swanson about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth was nearly made into a movie with Harrison Ford — and now, instead, the series with Tobias Menzies (“Outlander”) as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton; Anthony Boyle (“Masters of the Air”) plays the bad guy.
MARCH 17
NOLLY (WNET/13, 9)
Helena Bonham Carter plays star/diva Noelle Gordon, of a long-running British soap opera, “Crossroads” for laughs, with an assist from writer/showrunner Russell T Davies (“Doctor Who,” “Queer As Folk,” “A Very British Scandal”).
ALICE & JACK (WNET/13, 10)
Polar opposites Alice (Andrea Riseborough) and Jack (Domhnall Gleeson) fall into one another's arms, then out of them again. Victor Levin, a co-executive producer in the later seasons of “Mad Men,” is behind this one.
IN RESTLESS DREAMS: THE MUSIC OF PAUL SIMON (MGM+)
Two-parter from acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney (“Gooing Clear,” “Silence in the House of God,” “Enron” and much, much else).
MARCH 20
PALM ROYALE (Apple TV+)
Kristen Wiig in "Palm Royale" on Apple TV+. Credit: Apple TV+
It's 1969, and Maxine (Kristen Wiig) decides to break into Palm Beach “high society” via one exclusive club named the Royale. The huge cast includes Allison Janney, Josh Lucas and Laura Dern. Carol Burnett even has a cameo.
MARCH 21
3 BODY PROBLEM (Netflix)
Based on the novels of Liu Cixin — who proposed the famous Dark Forest theory, which says we haven't made contact with extraterrestrials because every other civilization in the galaxy is hiding, fearful of destruction by a much bigger, badder civilization — this begins with the disappearance of prominent scientists from around the globe. (Aliens to blame?) From David Benioff and D.B. Weiss of "Game of Thrones" and Alexander Woo of “The Terror.” (That title refers to a complex problem — solving for the position of three separate particles.)
DIARRA FROM DETROIT (BET+)
Following her divorce, a schoolteacher named Diarra (Diarra Kilpatrick) goes on a Tinder date, then … the guy disappears. Did he ghost her or has something more sinister happened? Diarra decides to find out. With Morris Chestnut and coproduced by Kenya Barris (“black-ish”).
MARCH 22
SHIRLEY (Netflix)
Regina King as Shirley Chisholm in Netflix's "Shirley." Credit: Netflix/Glen Wilson
This biopic from John Ridley (“12 Years a Slave”) stars Regina King as Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to be elected to Congress. Cast includes Lance Reddick in one of his last roles (he died a year ago March 17).
MARCH 28
WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES (Hulu)
In 1939, three generations of the Kurcs — a Jewish family in Radom, Poland — find the will to survive, in this adaptation of the 2017 Georgia Hunter novel (which reflected her own family history).
THE BAXTERS (Prime Video)
"Touched by an Angel's" Roma Downey is back in this 10-episode adaptation (think faith-based) of the popular (also faith-based) novel series by Karen Kingsbury, about a married couple and their five adult children. Ted McGinley (Roger from "Happy Days") co-stars.
MARCH 29
A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW (Paramount+)
Seven years later — Kenneth Branagh was originally in the title role, now Ewan McGregor — the Amor Towles novel is at long last here. This eight-parter tracks the story of Count Rostov, who becomes a prisoner in Moscow's Hotel Metropol. With Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
MARCH 31
PARISH (AMC, 9)
Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) is back on AMC in this New Orleans crime drama about a taxi driver who agrees to chauffeur a Zimbabwean human trafficker. What can go wrong? We've got six episodes to find out. Bradley Whitford costars.
APRIL 4
RIPLEY (Netflix)
Andrew Scott and Dakota Fanning star in this latest adaptation of the 1955 Patricia Highsmith novel (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”), which does offer something unique — it's in black-and-white. From Steven Zaillian, who created HBO's “The Night Of.”
APRIL 5
MARY & GEORGE (Starz, 9)
A seven-parter about King James I (Tony Curran) and George Villiers (Nicholas Galitzine), the “royal favorite” — the King's lover — and George's mother, Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore). From the book by Benjamin Woolley, which strongly suggests that George poisoned the king (who died in 1625).
SUGAR (Apple TV+)
Veteran big-screen writer Mark Protosevich (“I Am Legend”) turns to the small one with this L.A.-set noir series about a private detective (Colin Farrell) hired to find the daughter of a movie producer. Anna Gunn, James Cromwell and Amy Ryan are also on board.
APRIL 12
FALLOUT (Prime Video)
A video game series that's been around a long time (since 1997) has been adapted by “Westworld's” Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, while the basic question here might well be — can the husband-wife team do for this what HBO did for “The Last of Us?” The nuclear post-apocalypse series stars Kyle MacLachlan, Walton Goggins, and Ella Purnell ("Yellowjackets").
FRANKLIN (Apple TV+)
Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin. Now, try to get your head around that.
APRIL 14
THE 100TH: BILLY JOEL AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (CBS/2, 9)
Documentary chronicling the 100th concert of Joel's MSG residency, which is scheduled to take place on March 28.
THE SYMPATHIZER (HBO, 9; Max)
Hoa Xuande in HBO's "The Sympathizer." Credit: HBO/Hopper Stone/SMPSP
Hoa Xuande, as “the Captain,” the North Vietnamese spy who infiltrates the South Vietnamese army; ends up in California where he helps make a movie; then returns to Vietnam, which are also the general plot points of Viet Thanh Nguyen's 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winner. With Robert Downey Jr. (and yes, this seven-parter — one of the spring's major new series — is billed as a “comedy,” or at least a dark one.)
APRIL 17
UNDER THE BRIDGE (Prime Video)
Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) — who may well be an Oscar winner by the time this airs — headlines this adaptation of Rebecca Godfrey's book about the 1997 beating death of British Columbia teen Reena Virk by a group of other teens.
APRIL 19
THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (Roku)
The children's book series of the same name gets another adaptation, this time with Joy Bryant ("Parenthood") and Christian Slater.
APRIL 30
THE VEIL (FX on Hulu)
Elisabeth Moss stars in this spy thriller that largely takes place in Turkey (where it was filmed), and bonus points for the British accent she uses for the part.
MAY 2
THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ (Peacock)
Harvey Keitel as Lali Sokolov and Melanie Lynskey as Heather Morris in "The Tattooist of Auschwitz." Credit: Sky UK/Martin Mlaka
The 2018 bestseller about tattooist Lale Sokolov (Harvey Keitel and Jonah Hauer-King as the older and younger Sokolov, respectively) and the woman he tattooed, Gita Furman (Anna Próchniak), in six parts.
MAY 3
UNFROSTED: THE POP-TART STORY (Netflix)
Jerry Seinfeld directs, stars in this look back at the 1960s toaster pastry wars.
MAY 8
DARK MATTER (Apple TV+)
Based on the 2016 Blake Crouch novel about a physicist (Joel Edgerton) who is taken to a parallel universe against his will.
