The month of May is traditionally a transitional period for television, and that certainly applied in 2022. There were a few prestige-branded, celeb-loaded docudramas that made it in just before the Emmy cutoff time this month-for instance, The Staircase really deserves a few nominations-but this month also saw the start of the lighter summer offerings. These are May’s best new TV shows, ranging from escapist romance to a comedy bill that includes The Kids in the Hall.
Before we get started with the movie list, here is a question for you all. Do you like watching movies the old way or like to stream them online? Well, if you are an oldie and love the element of surprise, stay with it. If money is an issue, there are many providers out there that offer affordable cable TV prices. For one, check Optimum cable. The channel list is to die for. You will definitely find all your favorites.
However, if you are a Netflix lover, below are a few recommendations that you might find online. Most of them are Netflix releases. Let us get started then!
Conversations With Friends
It’s hard to believe the young Irish author Sally Rooney published her debut novel five years ago, Conversations With Friends. Obviously, Rooney’s Normal People will be adapted for streaming service Hulu in 2020, by the same team that adapted Rooney’s End of the Road for the platform. Conversations follow a couple in their thirties who fall in love with a couple of 30-something married women in Dublin during 12 lavishly paced half-hour episodes. The show’s simplicity and psychological insight brought me to a time in which Rooney was not just a wedge issue but an intriguing voice for the young, educated, and dreamy, a time when she wasn’t so far in the past, but eons in discourse-years ago.
I Love That for You (Showtime)
Although many comedians draw inspiration from their teen years, Vanessa Bayer had a distinctly different adolescence than most. SNL alum Liz Lemon rode QVC’s fantasy train of moderately priced consumer products during her convalescence as a childhood leukemia survivor. She portrays Joanna Gold, an alter ego that she co-created with Jeremy Beiler in the dark comedy I Love That for You-a woman who just achieved her dream of becoming a host on a home shopping network. She saves herself by lying about her cancer recurrence to her employer and viewers when her new career is threatened.
Even though Bayer’s performance feels a bit shallow, the premise is intriguing and original, even if Joanna comes across as naive, unctuous, selfish, and dementedly peppy, like so many of her SNL characters. There is a pretty quick transition to the show becoming a set sitcom set in SVN’s fictional studios, a nontraditional workplace. Jennifer Lewis makes a strong impression as the network’s glamorous, cutting-edge chief executive. SVN’s longtime star host and Joanna’s childhood idol, Molly Shannon, is also perfectly cast as SVN’s longtime star. There should be plenty of material to produce a number of seasons of character-driven comedy in the competitive, sales-meets-showbiz work environment.
George Carlin’s American Dream
The first half of Stephen Colbert’s two-part documentary makes the case that George Carlin is the Beatles of stand-up comedy: “At a certain point in his career, there is this huge shift. For most of the first part of his career, he performs the comedic version of ‘Love Me Do’… But then, suddenly, he releases the comedic White Album… He undergoes a spiritual transformation.” The catalyst was the same as well: the rise of the psychedelic movement in the 1960s.
Carlin’s American Dream interweaves archival interviews, excerpts from diverse performances, and new interviews with A-list admirers such as Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, and Chris Rock to detail his transition from a talented variety-show jokester to an innovative anti-Establishment entertainer. Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio (who managed to tell Jerry Before Seinfeld’s story in a non-breakthrough manner) take a similar approach to their earlier HBO project The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling. A compelling look at the man who found himself at the center of decades of controversies around language and obscenity, to the inconsistencies he demonstrated as a husband and father, this is a humorous and clear-eyed portrait that the reader will find hard to put down.
The Kids in the Hall
With the Carlin documentary and the return of this beloved Canadian import, it’s been a busy month for comedy nerds. Since its eponymous show-a cult hit on HBO and CBS in the U.S.-went off the air in 1995, the comic quintet that includes Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, and Mark McKinney has reformed several times. However, the eight episodes that arrived in May are the first episodes of The Kids in the Hall since 1995. There’s no clear reason to include the revival on this list since Amazon classifies it as such.
Almost 25 years after they were born, the Kids are no longer children. Their high-concept absurdity has influenced two generations of comedians and moved them from the fringes of alt-comedy to the mainstream. The new material they have produced, from a snide reference to fan-favorite recurring characters to a filthy reference to Zoom nudity, makes it clear they are the best at what they do. Unlike some sketch shows (including NBC’s beloved Lorne Michaels series), the Kids tend to spiral into funnier and weirder territory rather than constantly repeating jokes. It is only a setup to a series of hilarious, expertly timed punchlines when, for instance, the spirit of Shakespeare rises from a mass-produced bust of the bard. A bonus is that the new episodes feature celebrity fans like Tracee Ellis Ross, Pete Davidson, and Catherine O’Hara.
Conclusion
That is all for this post. We hope you enjoyed it. Finding the right movie or show can be hard but with these suggestions, you won’t have to do a lot of work. If you have suggestions to add to the list, please drop your comments below.