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What to stream: New TV shows, seasons in full bloom this spring

Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service on

Published in Entertainment News

If it ever feels like April and May bring a rush of new TV releases, know that it’s dictated by the Emmys schedule. For the annual Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awards show, which will take place in September, the eligibility window closes on May 31, which means lots of buzzy new series and seasons arrive in the spring, and there are a lot of new TV shows to choose from and catch up with if you haven’t had the time.

“Beef” Season 1 swept the awards shows, and the second season of Lee Sung Jin’s anthology series might do the same with the high-profile cast on board for this dark comedy of manners. Season 2, streaming now on Netflix, follows a group of employees at a high-end country club in Montecito, California, in a power struggle as their establishment is bought by a Korean billionaire. Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan star as the club’s manager and his wife, who find themselves in an escalating feud with a young couple played by Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny, who blackmail them with incriminating video. Youn Yuh-jung plays the new owner, while Song Kang-ho is her hapless plastic surgeon husband. Stream “Beef” Season 2 now on Netflix.

And if you love “Hacks,” the HBO Max comedy series is back and better than ever for it’s fifth and final season, following the ongoing travails of stand-up comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her friend/confidant/writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). “Hacks” always cleans up at the Emmys, including for Smart, so we’ll see how it does this year. Fingers crossed that standout supporting players like Meg Stalter and show creator and co-star Paul W. Downs get some hardware this year. Stream “Hacks” on HBO Max.

There’s also a new season of the Apple TV show “Your Friends & Neighbors” starring Jon Hamm as a finance guy who turns to petty theft among his wealthy neighbors. It’s a fun, soapy adult drama filled with affairs, lying, backstabbing, etc., and a dead body or two, but Hamm is always so good playing a disaffected suburbanite, as he did in his award-winning run on “Mad Men.” Watching “Your Friends & Neighbors” is a bit like watching Don Draper navigate our current moment, and it’s addicting. Stream Season 2 on Apple TV now.

Fresh on Apple TV is the quirky new show “Widow’s Bay,” a dark comedy starring Matthew Rhys as the mayor of a New England island, where things are not what they seem — in fact, things seem haunted as hell. Combing classic spooky stories with small-town charm, “Widow’s Bay,” from director Hiro Murai (of “Atlanta”) and screenwriter Katie Dippold, is funny, scary, odd and unlike anything else on TV right now. Rhys is excellent, but so is the supporting cast, including Stephen Root, Kate O’Flynn and Kevin Carroll. Stream “Widow’s Bay” on Apple TV.

 

New to Netflix this week are two imports from Britain. “Legends” a crime series set in the 1990s about customs agents infiltrating drug gangs, is created by Neil Forsyth and stars Steve Coogan, Tom Burke, Douglas Hodge and Tom Hughes. “Legends” streams on Netflix May 7.

Or check out the new four-part “Lord of the Flies” adaptation, now streaming on Netflix, created by “Adolescence” writer Jack Thorne. The series was well-received in the U.K. and received two Gotham TV Awards nominations. Stream it this week on Netflix.

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