TV Guide Magazine May 13, 2024

There are literally thousands of series, movies and specials on Netflix to choose from. On average, Americans subscribe to three streaming services, so considering you’re also watching (and paying for!) streamers like Prime Video, Hulu, Max, Paramount+, Disney+ and/or Peacock, that’s thousands more choices to search through. What’s your solution to feeling overwhelmed? Our new, expanded streaming section, “TV Insider”! Each issue will begin with a Top 5, the biggest—or funniest, or most thrilling, surprising or dramatic—new titles you can’t miss out on and that you’ll want to binge with your friends and family. We’ll continue with the best of the best for the most popular services, including the free ones too! And every “TV Insider” will end with a one-page at-a-glance movie calendar. I go straight to this handy guide…

Source: Nielsen Media Research, week of April 15–21, 2024, in millions. Tracking a Success The missing persons procedural starring Justin Hartley may be new, but it’s the broadcast season’s most popular series, averaging more than 20 million viewers per episode with 35 days of delayed multiplatform viewing. Survival of the Fittest The 46th season of the reality competition, shot in Fiji, is averaging 4 percent fewer viewers than last season—but still finished the week as the most watched non-sports series among viewers 18–49. Game On! Nikola Jokic (below) and defending champs the Denver Nuggets powered past the Los Angeles Lakers 114–103 in Game 1 of this first-round series. But viewership of the NBA Playoffs’ opening weekend was down 9 percent from last year. Cool Hand Sleuth Starring Carrie Preston as…

Viewers preparing to say goodbye to Sgt. Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore, left) can rejoice. CBS announced a surprise eighth season renewal for S.W.A.T. ahead of what was supposed to be its series finale, marking the second time the crime drama received a new lease on life. (It was saved last May in a similar turn of events.) Though a network reversing its own decision to cancel a series is rare, it’s not unheard of. In 2017, NBC revived the historical drama Timeless, while ABC’s Roseanne was resurrected as The Conners to live many more days. And the 2011–16 CBS procedural Unforgettable starring Poppy Montgomery lived up to its name: It skirted TV death not just once, but twice!…

On the set of Starz’s The Serpent Queen, transforming Minnie Driver (above, right) into England’s Queen Elizabeth I was no easy feat—the actress spent upward of three and a half hours a day in hair and makeup. That attention to detail will be worth it when the historical drama returns for its second season this summer, starring the Academy Award nowminee alongside Samantha Morton as Catherine de’ Medici (above, left). Calling her character “exquisitely complicated,” Driver is excited for fans to see “fierce” Elizabeth match wits with the snaky ruler of the series title. “How [Catherine and Elizabeth] carved out their space in the 16th century in Europe is astonishing, amazing and fascinating,” she says. “And it’s why this is such a brilliant show.”…

PREMIERES After the Flood May 13, BritBox NEW Summer Baking Championship May 13, 8/7c, Food Network Doubling Down With the Derricos May 14, 8/7c, TLC Who’s Afraid of a Cheap Old House? May 14, 10/9c, HGTV NEW In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin May 15, 10/9c, IFC and AMC+ NEW Bridgerton May 16, Netflix I Can See Your Voice May 16, 8/7c, Fox Don’t Forget the Lyrics! May 16, 9/8c, Fox Race to Survive: New Zealand May 20, 11/10c, USA Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars May 22, 9/8c, Fox Evil May 23, Paramount+ The Kardashians May 23, Hulu Tires May 23, Netflix NEW Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter May 27, 9/8c, Investigation Discovery NEW Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted May 27, 9/8c and 10/9c, National Geographic America’s Got Talent May 28, 8/7c, NBC…

@TVGMMattRoush America’s top TV critic Matt Roush answers your burning questions I know fans are having difficulty letting go of Blue Bloods, but why have the powers that be not considered a spinoff show starring Will Hochman as Joe Hill, the Reagan grandson? He has been a standout from his first episode, and he operates in a separate (but nearby) sphere from the other Reagans. We might still see guest-star appearances from our favorites, and the audience would continue to enjoy the New York–based production quality of the series. —Rob R. MATT ROUSH: It may be a bit early to speculate, given that Blue Bloods has yet to produce the back half of its 14th and reportedly final season, airing this fall. But I’ve heard worse ideas, and should such a…