From post-apocalyptic New York City to a resort in the Swiss Alps, and from the South Side of Chicago to the multiverse, a wide variety of settings can be visited or revisited via your television screen this May. Take a murder mystery-filled road trip with a human lie detector, enroll in a Westchester middle school, and travel back to the 1980s to attend a deadly high school prom. And don’t forget to reunite with your besties from the 1990s. These are the eight streaming series and film franchises you should catch up on before they continue this month.
(AMC)
What it is: One of the many spinoffs in the Walking Dead franchise, this sequel to the original series follows two of its main characters many years later. Maggie and Negan now search for her kidnapped son in the ruins of Manhattan while continuing to survive the zombie apocalypse. The first episode of The Walking Dead: Dead City: season 2 premieres on AMC on Sunday, May 4.
Why you should watch it: If you’re already invested in The Walking Dead, you can’t say no to more of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan and Lauren Cohan’s Maggie Greene, especially with a major change of scenery in the form of an isolated New York City wasteland. Like the other shows in the franchise, this one is filled with horror and drama as the duo face not just the living dead but also other survivors with different ideologies. If you’re new to the franchise, this Escape from New York-influenced show is something to look forward to in your overall binge.
Where to watch: Netflix, Shudder, and AMC+ (subscription, season 1); buy at Fandango at Home
Commitment: Approx. 4 hours (for season 1) or approx. 138 hours with the original Walking Dead series included
(Peacock)
What it is: Rian Johnson, the writer and director of the Knives Out movies, created this Columbo-inspired detective-style show about a woman on the run who keeps happening upon mysterious murders. Aided by her gift for lie detection, she solves each case of the week before continuing on her way. The first three episodes of Poker Face: season 2 premiere on Peacock on Thursday, May 8.
Why you should watch it: Natasha Lyonne was born to play the lead loner character with rough edges surrounding a big heart, and she’s an addictive protagonist for the ages. Add in a revolving cast of guest stars, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nick Nolte, Ellen Barkin, Judith Light, and Hong Chau, and you’ve got one of the most dynamic shows of the decade. The second season ups the ante on famous faces, too.
Where to watch: Peacock (subscription, season 1); buy at Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV
Commitment: Approx. 9 hours (for season 1)
(Paramount+)
What it is: Created by Lena Waithe, The Chi is a coming-of-age drama series that covers a wide perimeter in its focus on life in the South Side of Chicago. The long-running show involves various characters, including a young man played by Moonlight’s Alex R. Hibbert, as they become connected by a fateful coincidence. The first episode of the seventh season premieres on Paramount+ with Showtime on Sunday, May 18.
Why you should watch it: Few shows immerse us in a specific location as well as The Chi does over its six seasons. Critics have compared this series to The Wire, only set in Chicago instead of Baltimore, and concentrated more on its younger characters. Similarly, the longer it plays out, the further it expands into an enormously engrossing window into its world.
Where to watch: Paramount+ with Showtime (subscription, seasons 1-6); buy at Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV
Commitment: Approx. 57.5 hours (for seasons 1-6)
(Hulu)
What it is: Adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name, Nine Perfect Strangers follows a group of people attending a retreat at a fictional wellness resort in California. Nicole Kidman stars as their unconventional guide, Masha, who happens to be drugging them with small doses of the psychedelic pqawsilocybin. The first two episodes of the second season, which introduces a new location and new characters led by Kidman’s odd guru, premiere on Hulu on Wednesday, May 21.
Why you should watch it: Nine Perfect Strangers is another star-studded series from David E. Kelley, whose numerous hit shows include his previous collaborations with Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies and The Undoing. The first season’s ensemble also showcased the talents of Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Regina Hall, and Bobby Cannavale, among others, for an intriguing mix of personalities. Following in the footsteps of The White Lotus, the second season will star a new crop of heavy hitters, such as Christine Baranski and Henry Golding.
Where to watch: Hulu (subscription, season 1); buy at Prime Video and Apple TV
Commitment: Approx. 6.5 hours (for season 1)
(Netflix)
What it is: An adult animated series about young adult characters, Big Mouth is loosely based on the adolescent years of co-creators and childhood best friends Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg. The show’s premise centers on middle schoolers in the suburbs of New York who are partly guided in their puberty-consumed lives by “hormone monsters.” Big Mouth’s eighth and final season premieres in full on Netflix on Friday, May 23.
Why you should watch it: Only a fantastically exaggerated animated show could do such a great job of capturing the crude realities of pubescence. Boasting a bevy of contemporary comedy icons among its voice cast, including Kroll, John Mulaney, Ayo Edebiri, Jason Mantzoukas, and Maya Rudolph, Big Mouth is consistently hilarious and often gross, yet it also maintains a sweetness that keeps you caring about its nostalgically relatable characters.
Where to watch: Netflix (subscription, seasons 1-7)
Commitment: Approx. 36.5 hours (for seasons 1-7)
Fear Street (Netflix)
What it is: Based on the Fear Street book series by R.L. Stine (best known for writing the Goosebumps novels), this is a film franchise rather than a TV show, yet still ripe for binge-watching. The first three movies make up a connected trilogy of horror stories set in 1994, 1978, and 1666, respectively. The fourth installment, Fear Street: Prom Queen, is a slasher set in 1988. The film premieres on Netflix on Friday, May 23.
Why you should watch it: Despite its roots in young adult fiction, the Fear Street franchise leans into R-rated gore, making it anything but a soft take on the supernatural slasher genre. They are reminiscent of the horror movies of yesteryear, fitting the times in which they’re set, and some of the kills are as nasty and memorable as anything you’ve seen before. The young cast assembled, including some Stranger Things overlaps, is also a highlight of these films.
Where to watch: Netflix (subscription, movies 1-3)
Commitment: Approx. 5.5 hours (for movies 1-3)
(Adult Swim)
What it is: Rick and Morty is a pop culture phenomenon as much as it is a TV series. The animated sci-fi show follows a wild-eyed scientist and his grandson as they travel intergalactically and interdimensionally for all sorts of mad and madcap adventures. The first episode of Rick and Morty season 8 premieres on Adult Swim on Sunday, May 25.
Why you should watch it: There’s nothing like Rick and Morty, and with every season comes another much-talked-about surprise or entry into pop culture canon, whether it’s a pickle version of Rick or the interactive Wormageddon campaign stunt. For years, it’s been one of the funniest, weirdest, and most iconic series on television, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Where to watch: Hulu and Max (subscription, seasons 1-7); buy at Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV
Commitment: Approx. 27 hours (for seasons 1-7)
(Max)
What it is: A sequel to the hugely popular show Sex and the City and its movie spinoffs, And Just Like That… continues to follow the friendship of three of the four main characters, now in their fifties: Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis). In this revival series, Carrie is a podcaster instead of a columnist. The first episode of the third season premieres on Max on Thursday, May 29.
Why you should watch it: The world of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends keeps on growing, and fans of the original Sex and the City series, as well as the newspaper column and book it’s based on, the prequel show, and the two feature films, will obviously be drawn to this continuation, which just feels like home. For those who weren’t there from the beginning, it’s worth catching up with the classic HBO series and joining in on the obsession.
Where to watch: Max (subscription, seasons 1-2; plus Sex and the City seasons 1-6 and two movies); buy at Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Google Play, and Apple TV
Commitment: Approx. 14.5 hours (for seasons 1-2) or approx. 64.5 hours with the original series and two Sex and the City movies.
Thumbnail image by ©Lucasfilm Ltd
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