<\/p>\n
Hey TV watchers! My name is Michel Ghanem, and I\u2019m a freelance television critic and writer based in Vancouver, Canada. Some of you may know me by my Instagram moniker, TV Scholar<\/a>, where I\u2019ve been sharing the shows I\u2019m watching on social media and in my Substack newsletter<\/a> with a television-loving online community.<\/p>\n I watch approximately 160 seasons of TV a year, and am grateful every day that I get to live and breathe a medium I love so much. I\u2019m thrilled you\u2019re here to embark on this journey with me on Trust Me, I Watch Everything<\/strong><\/a>. <\/strong>Every two weeks, I\u2019ll be sharing the shows that I believe are worth your TV time and how to tune in.<\/p>\n We are entering the busiest television season of the year, so don\u2019t let these options slip through the cracks! As always, there\u2019s something for everyone: Consider The Comeback, <\/em>Lisa Kudrow\u2019s satirical comedy on HBO, which returns after more than 10 years off the air. If you\u2019re a reality TV fanatic, you might want to tune into the juicy new Real Housewives of Rhode Island<\/em> on Bravo. You might also be curious about The Testaments<\/em>, the new spin-off from the creator of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>.<\/p>\n Lastly, the 15-year anniversary of AMC\u2019s atmospheric crime show The Killing <\/em>is upon us. And there\u2019s much more where that came from, so let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n Why you should watch it: <\/strong>If you think waiting two years for a new season of your favorite Netflix show is painful, try a dozen! The Comeback<\/em> only comes back every decade, each time with something incisive to say about the television industry. The mockumentary, found-footage-style comedy sees Friends <\/em>star Lisa Kudrow playing a satirical version of herself: actor Valerie Cherish, who once starred in I’m It!<\/em>, a popular early ’90s sitcom.<\/p>\n The 2005 series begins with Valerie\u2019s return to the industry with a small role in a new sitcom, Room and Bored<\/em>, as a documentary crew follows her on her journey. Throughout, she navigates misogynistic writers, trying to fit in with a younger cast and inevitably, being betrayed by the very medium she loves \u2014 the \u201cdocumentary\u201d ends up being a compilation of her most embarrassing moments, exposing the exploitative potential of reality television years before Jersey Shore<\/em>.<\/p>\n A second series followed in 2014, and now, more than 20 years have passed since Valerie\u2019s big comeback. This time she\u2019s back for one \u201cfinal\u201d bow, with a twist: Valerie is set to star in the first-ever AI-written sitcom. Although she\u2019s cautious about staying on good terms with her union, it\u2019s the perfect opportunity to fire up the cameras again and document this strange, possible future for the industry. Obviously, it doesn\u2019t go smoothly, but there are a ton<\/em> of guest stars and some great laughs along the way. Sometimes these guests play themselves (like Jane Fonda), sometimes they\u2019re in character (like Abbi Jacobson and John Early). Either way, there\u2019s nowhere better to turn right now for biting satire of Hollywood.<\/p>\n The Comeback<\/em> has been preemptively canceled again, but I would bet that in 10 years, we’ll see its return. I certainly hope so.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>New episodes of The Comeback<\/em> air Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO and stream on HBO Max<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on HBO Max<\/a><\/p>\n Why you should watch it: <\/strong>The Real Housewives<\/em> franchise isn\u2019t everyone\u2019s cup of tea. That said, you can\u2019t deny it’s a fascinating cultural phenomenon \u2014 and if the critically acclaimed Salt Lake City <\/em>version of the franchise has taught us anything, it\u2019s that there is a lot more than meets the eye to these housewives who flaunt their wealth and yell at each other.<\/p>\n Bravo is ringing in the 20th anniversary of the franchise by introducing their first new American city in six years. As the first few minutes of the pilot explain, the Rhode Island<\/em> cast is a tight-knit but powerful (and very Italian) community that\u2019s extremely proud of their seaside state.<\/p>\n Having watched much of the Housewives <\/em>franchise, it\u2019s quite clear to me how the series is being influenced by Hulu\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives<\/em>:<\/a> The cast is skewing younger, and the tone is poppier than the overly opulent Beverly Hills<\/em> series. A chunk of the first episode\u2019s drama even centers on one housewife feeling unsatisfied in her self-identified polygamist marriage, in which her husband has multiple partners.<\/p>\n There is also a certain virality that is coming with Rhode Island<\/em>. When the cast of Salt Lake City<\/em> signed on, they were virtually unknowns outside of their local community. In a Housewives <\/em>first and a strange convergence of reality worlds, a former Bachelor<\/em> contestant is joining the franchise. Ashley Iaconetti met her husband, Jared Haibon, on Bachelor in Paradise<\/em>. They own a coffee shop together in Rhode Island, which is featured on RHORI<\/em>.<\/p>\n Housewives<\/em> can be easy to write off as frivolous or a product of reality television spectacle. But over time, as the group gets more intertwined and social dynamics unspool, unexpected depth and complexities emerge. Between friendships that dissolve and tense rivalries, there is catharsis in watching frank, confrontational conversations in a culture that is increasingly avoidant. That is a skill these Rhode Island housewives have in spades. Add in some entertaining editing and story structure, and you\u2019ve got a hit on your hands.<\/p>\n How to watch: <\/strong>New episodes of The Real Housewives of Rhode Island<\/em> air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo and stream the next day on Peacock<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Peacock<\/a><\/p>\n Why you should watch it:<\/strong> Praise be, The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em> universe continues to expand. The original series ran for a whopping six seasons on Hulu before bringing June\u2019s story to a conclusion, but there\u2019s so much more left to explore. Specifically, the events that take place in Margaret Atwood\u2019s sequel novel, The Testaments<\/em>, which serve as the source material for this spin-off.<\/p>\n In this adaptation, also created by Bruce Miller, we follow June\u2019s daughter, Agnes (Chase Infiniti), previously known as Hannah before she was stolen away by the state as a child. She is part of a Gilead-raised generation of teens coming of age in a totalitarian society, which is all they\u2019ve ever known. Color theory has always been an important aspect of the series (think the blood-red capes of the Handmaids): Here, Agnes and her colleagues wear plum, a color that signifies they haven\u2019t yet begun menstruating. When that happens, they will be immediately married off to a Gilead commander. Disturbing indeed.<\/p>\n By the end of The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>, I had what you could describe as “Gilead fatigue.” The violence, the cyclical storytelling of June\u2019s attempts to free herself from Gilead\u2019s control \u2014 it all became quite repetitive and tiring to watch. There are remnants of that here. For one, Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) returns as the head of Agnes\u2019s school. Dowd is always a delight, but her character is a reminder that the show isn\u2019t straying too far from its predecessor.<\/p>\n That said, Infiniti, a breakout in the Oscar-winning film One Battle After Another<\/em><\/a>, delivers a fresh performance that is an altogether different experience from watching Elisabeth Moss stare angrily into the camera again and again. Agnes narrates as well, letting us into the mind of someone coming into her own and beginning to question the structures she has always seen as normal \u2014 like watching a man get his arm chopped off between classes. Just another day in Gilead! Agnes begins to question the violence committed against her and others around her, and is especially critical of the way she\u2019s treated by her harsh stepmother, Paula (Amy Seimetz).<\/p>\n Through it all, it\u2019s a return to form for the Handmaid\u2019s<\/em> team. The cinematography, costuming and performances continue to be some of the best on television. It remains to be seen where the series will go from here \u2014 will June return to save her daughter, or is it up to Agnes to save herself? Will the oppressive Gilead government ever collapse? We\u2019ll have to watch and find out.<\/p>\n How to watch:<\/strong> The first three episodes of The Testaments<\/em> land on Hulu <\/a>on April 8, with new episodes dropping weekly every subsequent Wednesday.<\/p>\n Watch on Hulu<\/a><\/p>\n Why you should watch it:<\/strong> Are you still wondering who the next James Bond might be? Bait<\/em>, a six-episode British limited series starring and created by Riz Ahmed, proposes an idea: What if 007 were a person of color? It\u2019s an idea that could, well, bait someone into watching.<\/p>\n He plays Shah, a struggling British-Pakistani actor seeking personal and professional validation through his career. He manages to get into a Bond audition in London and makes an impression when paparazzi catch him outside \u2014 leading to a media frenzy that sends his name higher up the list than it otherwise might be (he flails at the audition). Fortunately he gets a call-back for a second audition, upon which his existential spiral begins.<\/p>\n What would it mean for him to take on a role that has historically been offered to white actors? Then there\u2019s the racist vitriol he has to face along the way \u2014 and the ways in which he has internalized that hate. The six 30-minute episodes fly by, each a somewhat self-contained misadventure as Shah tries to make sense of how this opportunity would change his self-conception and his relationship to his community. Through it all, Ahmed is outstanding and highly entertaining to watch, and there are some unexpected appearances to keep an eye out for (including Patrick Stewart in one of the more unusual cameos I\u2019ve ever seen). Am I the only one who wouldn\u2019t mind Ahmed as Bond?<\/p>\n How to watch:<\/strong> All six episodes of Bait<\/em> are streaming on Prime Video<\/a>.<\/p>\n Watch on Prime Video<\/a><\/p>\n But that\u2019s not all\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat. Jury Duty<\/em> returns! Everyone in the cast is an actor except for one person, the protagonist, who thinks he\u2019s just signed on to a documentary. The first season of this docu-reality series was way too popular to repeat the jury duty format, so this time it takes place at a company retreat for the \u201cemployees\u201d of Rockin\u2019 Grandma\u2019s Hot Sauce \u2014 and their new temp, Anthony Norman, who is just trying to do his best in a wacky crew of fake coworkers. \u2014 All eight episodes are <\/em>streaming on Prime Video<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n For All Mankind: <\/em>In this alternative-history sci-fi drama, Russia reached the moon first, kickstarting decades of a never-ending space race. This fantastic series returns for its fifth season, which is set in 2012, some 40 years after the events of the first \u2014 including the colonization of the moon and Mars. Ed (Joel Kinnaman) is looking as old as ever while Margo (Wrenn Schmidt) is serving time in prison, but a new crop of characters kicks things off with a murder mystery on Mars. This is one of Apple TV\u2019s best. \u2014 New episodes <\/em>stream on Apple TV on Fridays<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u23f0 Tune in<\/strong><\/h2>\n
My recommendation:\u00a0<\/em>The Comeback<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
Bonus recommendation:<\/strong> The Real Housewives of Rhode Island<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\ud83d\udcfa Stream it<\/strong><\/h2>\n
My recommendation:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Testaments<\/em><\/span><\/h3>\n
Bonus recommendation: <\/strong>Bait<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
\ud83d\udc8e Hidden gems<\/strong><\/h2>\n