It’s time to take a breath and catch up on your TV-watching.
After a crush of prestigious and buzzy new series over the past two months, streaming subscribers will finally get a bit of a breather in May, as the Emmy contenders wind down their seasons and significantly fewer new shows are launched.
And while there are still plenty of big-name premieres (like Hulu’s “The Great” and Disney’s “American Born Chinese”), the schedule should clear enough to let viewers catch up on worthy shows that may have gotten lost in the shuffle (like Netflix’s “The Diplomat,” HBO’s “100 Foot Wave” and Peacock’s “Mrs. Davis”).
Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget, rating the major services as a “play,” “pause” or “stop” — similar to investment analysts’ traditional ratings of buy, hold or sell. We also pick the best content to help you make your monthly decisions.
Consumers can take full advantage of cord-cutting with a churn-and-return strategy — adding and dropping streaming services each month. All it takes is good planning. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month, and keep an eye out for lower-priced tiers, limited-time discounts, free trials and cost-saving bundles. There are a lot of offers out there, but the deals don’t last forever.
Here’s a look at what’s coming to the various streaming services in May 2023, and what’s really worth the monthly subscription fee.
HBO Max ($9.99 a month with ads, or $15.99 with no ads)
Big change is coming to HBO Max, which will drop the “HBO” part from its name by the end of the month.
As part of the mega-mashup that is Warner Bros. Discovery
WBD,
on May 23 the service will become simply Max, and will add most of the programming that is currently on Discovery+ (so shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Discovery, etc.) in addition to its current HBO/Warner content. Discovery+ will remain a standalone service for those who want it, and HBO Max subscribers won’t need to do anything or pay more (at least for the time being). Bottom line: Current subscribers will soon get more for their money, in the form of a ton of unscripted shows (some good, others better for folding laundry to) and almost certainly more live sports in the near future.
Before that happens, HBO Max will kick off the month with “White House Plumbers” (May 1), a five-episode limited series telling the seemingly too-weird-to-be-true story of Nixon’s political saboteurs whose botched burglary kicked off the Watergate scandal, starring Justin Theroux as G. Gordon Liddy and Woody Harrelson as E. Howard Hunt. Unfortunately, it can’t decide whether it’s a comedy or a drama, and largely wastes its impressive cast.
More: Here’s what’s coming to HBO Max in May 2023
There’s also Season 3 of the very funny showbiz comedy “The Other Two” (May 4), with Brooke and Cary (Heléne Yorke and Drew Tarver) now each successful in their own right, yet still in the shadow of their pop-star younger brother (Case Walker) and now-massively popular talk-show host mother (Molly Shannon). It’s a sharp and consistently hilarious series, and deserves a bigger audience.
It’s also finale time for the single most impressive block of programming in recent years: “Succession,” (series finale May 28), “Barry” (series finale May 28), “Somebody Somewhere” (season finale May 28), “100 Foot Wave” (season finale May 21) and “Love & Death” (series finale May 25).
Who’s HBO Max for? HBO fans and movie lovers.
Play, pause or stop? Play. Whether it’s called HBO Max or just plain Max, it’s got the best TV on the planet at the moment. And soon, all the “House Hunters” and “Chopped” episodes that anyone could ever want.
Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, or $14.99 with no ads)
Hulu has a crowded month of releases, topped by Season 3 of the satirical historical fiction series “The Great” (May 12). Elle Fanning stars as the future Catherine the Great, with Nicholas Hoult as her loutish husband, Czar Peter. The new season offers more palace scheming and backstabbing (and in some cases, straight-up stabbing). It’s, well, great — clever, zany, filthy and dark.
“Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi” (May 5), perhaps the best of the post-Bourdain food-and-cultural-discovery shows, returns for its second season; while Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara star in FX’s “Class of ‘09” (May 10), a miniseries thriller following three FBI agents at different points in time; and Hilary Duff is back in the second half of Season 2 of the derivative sitcom “How I Met Your Father” (May 23).
Hulu’s also got a surprisingly decent-looking reboot of the classic 1992 basketball comedy “White Men Can’t Jump” (May 19), from screenwriters Kenya Barris and Doug Hall, and starring Jack Harlow and Sinqua Walls; the Manhattan-socialite docuseries “Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl” (May 17); and new seasons of “The Kardashians” and FX’s “Mayans M.C.” (both May 25).
See: Here’s everything new coming to Hulu in May 2023 — and what’s leaving
There are also new episodes every week of the mystery “Saint X,” FXX’s hip-hop comedy “Dave” and Freeform’s recovery comedy “Single Drunk Female.”
UPDATE: There’ll also be a special episode of “Letterkenny” on May 19.
Who’s Hulu for? TV lovers. There’s a deep library for those who want older TV series and next-day streaming of many current network and cable shows.
Play, pause or stop? Play. May features a lot of solid, slightly-below-the-radar series that are well worth checking out.
Apple TV+ ($6.99 a month)
It looks to be a boom or bust month for Apple
AAPL,
with four big-name series that have serious potential — or could easily flop.
The post-apocalyptic drama “Silo” (May 5) centers around the last 10,000 humans on Earth, who’ve survived for generations by living in an underground bunker; but what mysteries lie outside the silo, and what are the authorities not telling the people? It looks like a mix-and-match of popular dystopian tales, which doesn’t bode well, especially as many viewers may already have post-apocalyptic fatigue. But it’s got an impressive roster of big names, including showrunner Graham Yost (“Band of Brothers,” “Justified”), and a cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Common, David Oyelowo, Rashida Jones and Tim Robbins.
The comedy series “Platonic” (May 24) reunites “Neighbors” co-stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as former best friends who reconnect later in life only to see their friendship spin out of control. Like all things Rogen, there’s potential if it can successfully toe the line between funny and insufferable.
There’s also “High Desert” (May 17), a dark-comedy series starring Patricia Arquette as an addict-turned-private eye; and “City on Fire” (May 12) a murder mystery set in 2003 New York City, involving a wealthy family’s struggles to keep their secrets hidden, from Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage (the team behind “Gossip Girl”). Both are intriguing, but hitting the right tone will be crucial for their watchability.
One thing we do know: Season 2 of “Prehistoric Planet” (May 22) will be spectacular. It’s essentially “Planet Earth” with CGI dinosaurs, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, and it’s extremely well done. Apple’s also got “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” (May 12), a documentary about the beloved actor and his journey with Parkinson’s disease.
On top of that are new eps of the third (and final?) season of “Ted Lasso” (finale May 31), the musical spoof “Schmigadoon” (season finale May 3) and the existential comedy “The Big Door Prize” (season finale May 10).
Who’s Apple TV+ for? It offers a little something for everyone, but not necessarily enough for anyone — although it’s getting there.
Play, pause or stop? Play. OK, “Ted Lasso” has stumbled a bit this season, but there’s still plenty else worth a watch — and at just $7, it’s still a streaming bargain.
Netflix ($6.99 a month for basic with ads, $9.99 basic with no ads, $15.49 standard with no ads, $19.99 premium with no ads)
Netflix
NFLX,
has a star-studded lineup in May, headlined by “FUBAR” (May 25), an action/comedy about a father and daughter (Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his first starring role in a TV series, and Monica Barbaro of “Top Gun: Maverick”) who discover that they each secretly work for the CIA, and must team up on an undercover mission. It doesn’t look great, and is way too over-reliant on cheesy quips, but there’s potential for a fun-enough binge if it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Meanwhile, Jennifer Lopez stars in the generic action movie “The Mother” (May 5), as an assassin who emerges from hiding to protect her daughter from criminals bent on revenge.
Netflix also has “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” (May 4), a sumptuous miniseries spinoff of the hit historical drama about the young queen’s epic love story, starring India Amarteifio; the docuseries “Queen Cleopatra” (May 10), about the iconic and misunderstood Egyptian queen, executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith; Season 7 of “Queer Eye” (May 12), as the Fab Five bring their inspirational makeovers to New Orleans; “Working: What We Do All Day” (May 17), a docuseries about people in the workforce, narrated by former President Barack Obama; and Season 3 of the incredibly stupid and laugh-out-loud comedy series “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” (May 30), as well as standup comedy specials from Hannah Gadsby (May 9) and Wanda Sykes (May 23).
More: Here’s everything new coming to Netflix in May 2023 — and what’s leaving
And if you’re still playing catch-up, “Beef,” “The Diplomat” and “The Night Agent” are all well worth a binge.
Who’s Netflix for? Fans of buzz-worthy original shows and movies.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. It’s a decent lineup, but there’s tough competition. And keep in mind, Netflix’s crackdown on password-sharing will hit in the next couple of month, so some cheapskates may want to binge for free while they still can.
Peacock (Premium for $4.99 a month with ads, or $9.99 a month with no ads)
Peacock has perhaps the most intriguing comedy series of the month in “Bupkis” (May 4), a semi-autobiographical, filthy and absurd spin on the life of “Saturday Night Live” veteran Pete Davidson, co-starring Edie Falco as his mom and Joe Pesci as his grandfather. Guest stars include a who’s who of comedy greats: Brad Garrett, Ray Romano, John Mulaney, Kenan Thompson and Charlie Day.
There’s also the explosive new true-crime docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” (May 2), detailing the links between the ’80s boy band and the notorious brothers who murdered their parents, including allegations that the Menendezes’ father molested one of the band’s members, and “Intelligence: A Special Agent Special” (May 11), a one-hour special of the British spy comedy, starring David Schwimmer (“Friends”) and Nick Mohammed (“Ted Lasso”).
On the sports side, there’s the Kentucky Derby (May 6) and the Preakness (May 20), the final month of English Premier League matches, Major League Baseball every Sunday morning and the Indianapolis 500 (May 28), as well as track & field, golf and USFL football.
Peacock will also stream the Eurovision Song Contest (May 8-13) and has new episodes of the bonkers, nun-vs.-AI sci-fi drama “Mrs. Davis” every week until its finale May 18.
UPDATE: Peacock’s also getting Season 5 of “Yellowstone” on May 25, or at least the first half of the final season, with Part 2 expected to air later this year. Don’t forget, because of old licensing deals, Paramount+ doesn’t have the rights to “Yelloswtone,” but does stream its prequels, “1883” and “1923.”
Who’s Peacock for? If you have a Comcast
CMCSA,
cable subscription, you likely have free access to the Premium tier (with ads) — though that’ll end June 26. Live sports are the main draw, but there’s a good library of shows and movies.
Play, pause or stop? Pause. “Mrs. Davis” is bonkers in the best possible way, “Bupkis” looks promising and the live-sports slate is strong. Beyond that…meh.
Disney+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $10.99 with no ads)
Disney
DIS,
has a fantastic-looking YA series on the way: “American Born Chinese” (May 24), a coming-of-age story adapted from Gene Luen Yang’s acclaimed graphic novel about an Asian-American teen (Ben Wang) whose life takes a turn when he befriends the son of a mythological god (Jim Liu) and has to help save the world. It’s nabbed raves in early reviews, and as a bonus, the eight-episode comedy/drama/action series reunites Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once” co-stars Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong and Ke Huy Quan in its cast. It looks super fun and should be a must-see.
Disney also has “The Muppets Mayhem” (May 10), following the misadventures of the rock band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem (including drummer Animal) as they finally record their first album, and featuring a million celebrity cameos. At the very least, it should be more fun than another recent faux musical biopic, Amazon’s disappointing “Daisy Jones and the Six.”
May the Fourth will, of course, bring new “Star Wars” content: “Star Wars: Visions, Vol. 2,” a collection of nine animated short films, and the animated kids show “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures.”
Who’s Disney+ for? Families with kids, hardcore “Star Wars” and Marvel fans. For people not in those groups, Disney’s library can be lacking.
Play, pause or stop? Pause. “American Born Chinese” and “The Muppets Mayhem” both look fun, but is that enough to justify the cost?
Paramount+ ($4.99 a month with ads, $9.99 with no ads, $11.99 a month with Showtime)
It’s a slow month at Paramount+, with the most noteworthy originals being Season 8 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” (May 12), the Latin music docuseries “Thalia’s Mixtape: El Soundtrack de mu Vida” (May 2), and the Sylvester Stallone-and-family reality series “The Family Stallone” (May 17).
On the live sports front, there’s UEFA Champions League semifinal matches (starting May 9), PGA golf, NWSL soccer and WNBA basketball.
On the Showtime side, there’s the miniseries drama “Ghosts of Beirut” (May 19), about the terrorist who masterminded the concept of suicide bombers; new seasons of the docuseries “Vice” (May 7) and “Couples Therapy” (May 26); as well as weekly episodes leading up to the finales of “Waco: The Aftermath” (finale May 12), “Yellowjackets” (season finale May 19) and “Fatal Attraction” (finale May 28).
Who’s Paramount+ for? Gen X cord-cutters who miss live sports and familiar Paramount Global
PARA,
broadcast and cable shows.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. “Yellowjackets” is great and “Drag Race All Stars” is fun, but the Champions League semis will also available for free on CBS, and beyond that, there’s not much.
Amazon’s Prime Video ($14.99 a month)
This one’s short and sweet: There’s pretty much nothing new worth paying for on Amazon’s
AMZN,
Prime Video in May, with the highlights being a pair of standup comedy specials (Jimmy O. Yang on May 2 and Zarna Garg on May 16) and some nostalgic older series like “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Freaks and Geeks” (both May 4).
See: Here’s everything coming to Amazon’s Prime Video and Freevee in May 2023
If you already subscribe, the better bet is to catch up with a few April releases: the psychological thriller “Dead Ringers,” starring Rachel Weisz; the blockbuster (but frustratingly generic) spy series “Citadel,” (season finale May 26); and the last season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (series finale May 26).
Who’s Prime Video for? Movie lovers, TV-series fans who value quality over quantity.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. Prime Video has a lot in the vault, but the new-releases cupboard is bare this month.
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