As the weather (hopefully) turns nicer and the days get longer, it’s hard to think about being inside watching TV. Which is why it’s good that this week’s offerings are so easy to pop on at your leisure: Whether it’s the charms of Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives — based on a comic written by Neil Gaiman — or the hard-won pleasures of Shōgun’s final episode, or even the fighting spirit of We’re Here season 4 or Knuckles, there’s a lot to love this week.
Here’s the best new TV premieres and finales this week.
New shows on Netflix
Dead Boy Detectives
Genre: Horror comedy
Release date: April 25, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: Steve Yockey
Cast: George Rexstrew, Jayden Revri, Kassius Nelson, and more
The title says it all — well, almost. They are dead boys who are also detectives, investigating cases for the spirits caught between worlds. But Dead Boy Detectives — based on the comics series by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner — picks up with a case getting more complicated than they expect, with a young human girl who can not only see them, but is running from a few demons (literal and metaphorical) of her own.
New shows on Hulu
Shōgun finale
Photo: Katie Yu/FX
Genre: Just great fuckin’ TV
Release date: April 23
Showrunner/creator: Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Anna Sawai, Cosmo Jarvis
Shōgun is coming to a close — and if you thought last week was big… well! It was! But you shouldn’t worry about whether the finale could keep up. Remember what genre we’re working with here.
New shows on Max
We’re Here season 4
Genre: Reality series
Release date: April 26, with one episode
Showrunner/creator: Stephen Warren and Johnnie Ingram
Cast: Sasha Velour, Priyanka, Jaida Essence Hall, and Latrice Royale
Four drag queens (three at a time) are on a mission to spread love, connection, drag, and glory across the nation. The new cast — full of RuPaul alums — will be stopping in places like Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, in order to take a closer look at the wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation in these communities.
New shows on Prime Video
Them: The Scare
Genre: Horror anthology
Release date: April 25, with all eight episodes
Showrunner/creator: Little Marvin
Cast: Deborah Ayorinde, Pam Grier, Joshua J. Williams, and more
Them season 1 wasn’t well met when it debuted in 2021. But nonetheless, it’s back for season 2, and being an anthology show, it’s got a whole new deal (sort of): Homicide detective Dawn Reeve (Deborah Ayorinde, in a new role from season 1) is investigating the death of a foster home mother against the backdrop of 1990s Los Angeles. Unfortunately, this is a horror show, so she might be working against something even more ominous and gruesome than a serial killer.
New shows on Paramount Plus
Knuckles
Genre: Sonic Cinematic Universe
Release date: April 26, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: John Whittington and Toby Ascher
Cast: Idris Elba, Adam Pally, Cary Elwes, and more
Knuckles the Echidna is punching his way onto the small screen — and whipping deputy sheriff Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) into shape. Exactly what shape remains to be determined, but since this movie will bridge Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, it might lead to something bigger.
New shows on Apple TV Plus
The Big Door Prize season 2
Genre: Dramedy
Release date: April 24, with two episodes
Showrunner/creator: David West Read
Cast: Chris O’Dowd, Gabrielle Dennis, Damon Gupton
What happens after a mysterious machine “reveals” (tells you on a slip of paper) what your “potential” is? That’s where The Big Door Prize season 1 left us. Now season 2 is left to pick up the pieces and reckon with what they really think their potential could be — while also figuring out what mysterious “next stage” the Morpho machine is readying them for.
