There’s plenty of good TV — even plenty of great TV on right now (see, for example, the myriad series newly on Polygon’s own list of the best TV of 2024 so far). And lo, there’s even some new great TV coming to screens this week, as there always is.
Hacks is back, ready to carve up screens and punchlines with equal wicked glee. There’s also the end of Chucky season 3, which continues to be having more fun being a show than almost anything else alive right now. Or if The Tortured Poets Department got you in the mood to parse small moments for big character work, you get to choose from either The Veil or My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, both of which should give plenty of fodder to those inclined to plumb tiny affectations for deeper meanings.
Either way: Can’t say there’s nothing on anymore. Only that maybe there’s a lot of it. Here’s the best new TV premieres and finales coming to TV this week.
New shows on Netflix
Fiasco
Genre: Mockumentary
Release date: April 30, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: Igor Gotesman and Pierre Niney
Cast: Pierre Niney, Géraldine Nakache, Pascal Demolon, and more
A limited series where everything goes wrong — you gotta love it. Fiasco follows a first-time director on the set of a film as a behind-the-scenes crew captures all the various problems (including random accidents, blackmail, and even sabotage).
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman
Genre: Interview talk show
Release date: April 30
Showrunner/creator: David Letterman
David Letterman is back talking to celebrities! This season he’ll be chatting with a wide array of famous folks, but (relevant to this clip) most notably John Mulaney, who the internet has a totally normal relationship with. Watch if you want to see what the next cycle of “parasocial relationship” discussions is all about!
New shows on Syfy
Chucky season 3B finale
Image: Syfy
Genre: Horror (evil doll)
Release date: May 1
Showrunner/creator: Don Mancini
Cast: Brad Dourif, Zackary Arthur, Jennifer Tilly, and more
Death awaits in the finale of Chucky’s explosive third season. Sure, the North Pole has been nuked (“It was melting already,” one character quips), but what about Jennifer Tilly and Jake? Both ended the penultimate episode in the process of being injected with lethal chemicals — one on death row, one to find Chucky in the spirit realm. The finale promises resolution, sure, but also what we’ve all been waiting for this season: John Waters with a gun.
New shows on Hulu
The Veil
Genre: Spy thriller
Release date: April 30, with two episodes
Showrunner/creator: Steven Knight
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Yumna Marwan, Josh Charles, and more
A British spy is dispatched to escort a sensitive asset from an refugee camp to Paris. But spy stories are always more complicated than that, and The Veil is no exception; here, Imogen (Elisabeth Moss) is playing a part as she tries to suss out whether Adilah (Yumna Marwan) is telling the truth about who she is — and her part in an upcoming bombing.
Welcome to Wrexham season 3
Genre: Celebrity docuseries (sports owner version)
Release date: April 18, with two episodes
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, and the Wrexham team
It’s NFL draft season, but the real football season is happening abroad — and now on Hulu, thanks to the return of Welcome to Wrexham. The docuseries will be keeping up with celebrity team co-owners (“Deadpool” and “Mac from Always Sunny”) as well as the players as they attempt to earn more wins and try to hold on to their title (like “Rocky”).
New shows on Max
Hacks season 3
Genre: Showbiz comedy
Release date: May 2, with two episodes
Showrunner/creator: Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky
Cast: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, and more
We’re going back into the marvelously barbed world of entertainment, at least as far as the dynamic between aging comedian Deborah (Jean Smart) and her former writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) are concerned. As season 3 starts out, Deborah is trying to figure out life in the spotlight, and Ava is trying to figure out life outside of Deborah.
Who will figure it out first? Not quite as interesting as who will get the best barb in first.
New shows on Disney Plus
The Bad Batch series finale
Genre: Star Wars (slightly grimmer edition)
Release date: May 1
Showrunner/creator: Dave Filoni
Cast: Dee Bradley Baker, Michelle Ang, and more
The Bad Batch is finally coming to an end, closing out the story of the clone troopers who resisted Order 66. With Acolyte coming soon, it won’t be the last of Serious Star Wars, but it will be fondly missed.
New shows on AMC Plus
Parish season 1 finale
Genre: Crime thriller
Release date: May 5
Showrunners/creators: Danny Brocklehurst and Sunu Gonera
Cast: Giancarlo Esposito, Skeet Ulrich, and more
Parish is down to the wire, along with Parish (Giancarlo Esposito), who finds himself in more jeopardy than ever. There’s a chance this ends well for him, but… well, it is a crime show, so I don’t feel great about it.
New shows on Apple TV Plus
Acapulco season 3
Genre: Comedy
Release date: May 1, with two episodes
Showrunner/creator: Sam Laybourne
Cast: Eugenio Derbez, Enrique Arrizon, and more
Things are on shaky ground headed into season 3 of Acapulco — in the past, Maximo (Enrique Arrizon) is climbing the ladder and endangering the relationships he holds so dear. In the present, Maximo (Eugenio Derbez) is coming back to a Las Colinas that seems completely foreign to him.
