This April is a month of high-stakes action with a side of music and comedy. Here are the new series Jenna Guillaume says you should be looking forward to this month…
Beef (April 6)
Anyone who has ever had a bad day can relate to a bit of road rage (even if it’s just muttering under your breath in the privacy of your own car)—but what happens when two cases of road rage collide and spiral out of control?
That’s what kicks off this hilarious dramedy from indie darling production company A24, as Steven Yeun and Ali Wong play two very different people who set out to take revenge—and their frustrations—out on each other. It’s a wild ride, also starring Maria Bello, Ashley Park, Justin H. Min, and Patti Yasutake.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (April 7)
This Grease prequel is set four years before the events of the movie/stage show, in 1954, before the T-Birds and Pink Ladies were a Rydell High establishment. The musical romantic comedy explores how four misfits—Jane (Marisa Davila), Nancy (Tricia Fukuhara), Olivia (Cheyenne Wells), and Cynthia (Aria Notartomaso)—come together to form the girl gang the Pink Ladies in an attempt to navigate high school on their own terms, and have a lot of fun along the way.
While honouring its roots, the show is a fresh take on the Grease universe, complete with 31 new original songs by songwriter Justin Tranter.
The Last Thing He Told Me (April 14)
A man on a determined-but-dangerous search for his wife and/or daughter is a well-worn action trope, but this limited series flips the premise and has a woman and her step-daughter on the hunt for their respective husband and father, who vanishes one day, leaving behind mysterious notes, a bunch of money, and some shocking secrets. Jennifer Garner, Angourie Rice, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau star in what looks to be a tense and addictive thriller.
The Diplomat (April 20)
Political drama powerhouse Debora Cahn, who wrote and produced on The West Wing and Homeland, has created this series that centres on Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), a diplomat given a high-stakes assignment she has no interest in, as the US ambassador to the UK in the midst of an international crisis. The role has huge implications for her relationship with her husband (Rufus Sewell), who is also a diplomat, and also for, you know, the world. It’s juicy stuff.
Mrs Davis (April 21)
A nun as an action hero isn’t something you see often, and it makes for absurdly amusing visuals, which provide the immediate hook of Mrs Davis, in which a nun sets off to take down an artificial intelligence she believes is a threat to humanity. But the show is more than just a visual gag, thoughtfully and entertainingly exploring the tension between faith and technology through drama, humour, and a good dose of action.
Damon Lindelof, master of quirky existential series like Lost, The Leftovers, and Watchmen, is co-creator alongside Tara Hernandez, a writer on Young Sheldon. Betty Gilpin stars alongside Jake McDorman, Margo Martindale, Andy McQueen, and David Arquette.
Love & Death (April 27)
Love & Death: Miniseries
The magnificent Elizabeth Olson stars in this based-on-a-true-story miniseries as Candy Montgomery, a Texan housewife who was accused of murdering her friend—and the wife of her lover—Betty (played by Lily Rabe) with an axe in 1980. Jesse Plemons plays the man at the centre of the murderous love triangle.
The show is written by powerhouse David E. Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, who previously worked on Mad Men and Homeland. This is the second series in as many years to explore this particular crime (2022’s Candy, starring Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey, is available on Disney+), but for crime drama and prestige TV fans it will be well worth the watch.
Citadel (April 28)
Sometimes all you want to do is switch off and binge a nonsense show with lots of explosions and quippy lines. Citadel fulfils that brief, focusing on two agents from a global spy organisation who have their memories wiped and whose (fake) lives are upended when they are sent on a mission to recover their lost pasts and save the world (just low-key things). Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas are the forgetful spies in question, with Stanley Tucci and Leslie Manville also starring, and the Russo brothers producing. It’s a fun way to spend a rainy weekend.
