Left to right: Alexa Loo, Nasim Pedrad, and Jake Ryan in Chad (Photo: Liane Hentscher/TBS); Christopher Meloni in Law & Order: Organized Crime (Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC); Melody Hurd and Deborah Ayorinde in THEM (Photo: Amazon Studios); Kit Young, Amita Suman, and Freddy Carter in Shadow And Bone (Photo: David Appleby/Netflix); Birdgirl (Image: Adult Swim) Graphic: The A.V. Club
If this past February marked TV’s first steps toward its previous densely packed state, then April represents a leap. There are nearly as many promising returns as there are intriguing premieres (in the case of Dick Wolf’s latest spin-off, a combination of the two). Along with new episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and Younger, April also sees the debut of HBO Max’s dystopian dramedy Made For Love, the Kate Winslet-led Mare Of Easttown, the latest adaptation of The Mosquito Coast, and an earnest exploration of the legend of Bigfoot. Meanwhile, on Comedy Central, Phoebe Robinson will be doing the most for her new interview series. We’ll also get our first proper looks at The Nevers, Rutherford Falls, and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Law & Order: Organized Crime (NBC): Premieres April 1
For the seventh series in his Law & Order franchise, Dick Wolf’s enlisted a familiar face: Christopher Meloni, who played Detective Elliott Stabler for the first 12 seasons of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But given that Stabler is one of the loosest cannons in Law & Order canon, his reintroduction is still a bit of a gamble, especially as real-life calls for police reform (if not abolition) reached a new peak in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd. But it sounds like the series, which has a new showrunner in Ilene Chaiken, is taking these changes into account—when Stabler comes out of retirement to lead the NYPD’s organized crime task force, he’ll find himself working in a criminal justice system unlike the one he once upheld. Some things will be the same, though: Organized Crime will launch during a crossover event with SVU. [Danette Chavez]
I am pretty nervous about this one since it doesn’t seem to have the “lawyer for cartoon characters” shtick that made the original so full of Venture Bros -esque parody. I’ll certainly give it a watch but I’m hoping it’s not simply using an old IP for the sake of it.
Judy Sebben was my favorite character on that show. Her try-hard attempt at making a superhero world where there was none was a hilarious contrast to the conceit of the show, which of course is ordinary people who happen to also be superheros in another incarnation.
Season 3 of Handmaid – started of well, then get annoying and wheel spinning in the middle, but finished with a hell of a bang. Actually looking forward to the fallout of that in Season 4.
I’m really not. June’s got more plot armor than any character I’ve ever seen at this point and it’s almost beyond parody, especially in a show driven by the premise of brutal and immediate consequences. I’m half expecting her to develop super powers at this point.
Agreed. Season three pissed me off so much that I wasn’t sure if I would return to watch season four. On top of reading The Testaments and watching the trailer, I guess I’ll stick around.
…(no word if Stephen Colbert will return as Judy’s dad, but he’s even busier now than he was when the old show ended).No mention of the talents of Gary Cole, John Michael Higgins, or Peter MacNicol? For shame, Barsanti, for shame.
> Peter MacNicolI LOVE the actor, and most everything I’ve ever seen him in (he was even good as a bitchy, bitter, done-with-it Asgardian on AOS) but I was REALLY disappointed to hear him slagging off ‘Dragonslayer’. It was one of his first big roles and he says he hates it and thinks it’s a bad movie. I LOVE that movie, I love him in it, I love just about everything about it and it makes me sad that he has bad feelings about it.
I think he’s medium overrated, but I do really and truly believe we’ve heard enough about Hemingway. This type of project reads very “last gasp of the Boomer documentarians.”
I don’t really have much of a problem with his work, though I do find it dull.My problem with Hemingway is the way he fucked over all the writers that came after him. Before Papa, all that was needed to be a writer was an imagination and a way with words.After him, every single swinging dick who fancied himself a renaissance man had a go. Prose and plot start to be less important than the ‘authenticity’ of living a varied, exciting and international life.And sure, sometimes you get lucky and you get both, like Hunter Thompson. Although, speaking of overrated…
Ernest Hemingway—the burly, hard-drinking he-man who loved hunting, fishing, and bullfightsAnd he loved kitty-cats so much he has an entire population of them named after him
First off, YESSSSS! A Black Lady Sketch Show is finally back! I love all of them, and I have a pretty big crush on Quinta. Second, I’d just like to say: Sassssssssquatch! We know your legend’s reeeeeeeeaaal!
I just got a notification that TV Club is following me. Does that… does… does that mean I’m out of the greys? ON THE DAY OF MY FIRST VACCINATION DOSE, DO I ALSO GET OUT OF THE GREYS?!
Rutherford Falls looks like a lot of fun, The Nevers could be either great or a train wreck (as a former Whedonite who like many has become, let’s say, disillusioned, this looks extremely Whedon-y), and as someone who has a lot of latent fondness for the Mosquito Coast because of my adolescent love of River Phoenix, I’ll give that a shot as well, although that preview doesn’t remind me of the story line, like, in any way. Theroux is fun to look at, though.
There’s nothing wrong with being a Whedonite. That a handful of the hundreds of actors he’s worked with have made claims doesn’t a) make those claims true or b) suddenly negate his entire body of work.Certainly a great many actors and actresses have come forward to say there wasn’t even a hint of unprofessional behavior in their interactions with Whedon, nor on the sets where they worked with him.
I like Nasim Pedrad, but everything about that show, at least as shown in the marketing for it, seems grating and unwatchable. Your protagonist can be unlikeable, but the character just seems so deluded and spoiled that I really can’t imagine spending an entire half hour watching a show with him at the center of it.
Agree. Yeah, “he’s” “different” from the other kids. I understand this from the promos. What ELSE is there? I’m getting nothing from it. I mean, I COULD put it on the TiVo, see if it’s worth my time, but I’m not even getting a “maybe” vibe from it. Is it going to be better than “Freak and Geeks”? No? Then fuck it.Also [woke] “why couldn’t they get a male to play the male lead??? APPROPPRIATING!!![/woke]
I can get the thought process about creating a show about a Persian kid going through high school. I cannot at all understand the reasoning for Nasim casting herself as the kid unless it was to play it off as a joke. Which based on the trailers is not the case.
So, Rutherford Falls will be good because it’s Mike Schur.Kung Fu? Well. Looks silly but I will watch a few and it will be a lot better than either season of Iron Fist.
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Fuck yeah the return of Detective Catholic Rage.
BIIIIIRRRRRDDDDGIIIIIRRRRRLLLLLLL!!!!!
BIIIIIRRRRRDDDDBOOOOOX WAS ALSO ADAPTED BY ERIC HEISSERER.
I am pretty nervous about this one since it doesn’t seem to have the “lawyer for cartoon characters” shtick that made the original so full of Venture Bros -esque parody. I’ll certainly give it a watch but I’m hoping it’s not simply using an old IP for the sake of it.
Judy Sebben was my favorite character on that show. Her try-hard attempt at making a superhero world where there was none was a hilarious contrast to the conceit of the show, which of course is ordinary people who happen to also be superheros in another incarnation.
First, as always, Slideshows suck.Second, just like last season, I’m walking into the Handmaid’s Tale hoping this season is the last.
I just tried the ‘make the window skinny method’ and it worked quite well.Still though, slideshows do suck.
I’ll give that a shot in the future, thanks.
It works great and feels great to subvert the plan for more page views. It was more fun before AV Club started recommending it themselves.
Season 3 of Handmaid – started of well, then get annoying and wheel spinning in the middle, but finished with a hell of a bang. Actually looking forward to the fallout of that in Season 4.
I’m really not. June’s got more plot armor than any character I’ve ever seen at this point and it’s almost beyond parody, especially in a show driven by the premise of brutal and immediate consequences. I’m half expecting her to develop super powers at this point.
Agreed. Season three pissed me off so much that I wasn’t sure if I would return to watch season four. On top of reading The Testaments and watching the trailer, I guess I’ll stick around.
…(no word if Stephen Colbert will return as Judy’s dad, but he’s even busier now than he was when the old show ended).No mention of the talents of Gary Cole, John Michael Higgins, or Peter MacNicol? For shame, Barsanti, for shame.
Maybe he didn’t get that thing you sent him?
> Peter MacNicolI LOVE the actor, and most everything I’ve ever seen him in (he was even good as a bitchy, bitter, done-with-it Asgardian on AOS) but I was REALLY disappointed to hear him slagging off ‘Dragonslayer’. It was one of his first big roles and he says he hates it and thinks it’s a bad movie. I LOVE that movie, I love him in it, I love just about everything about it and it makes me sad that he has bad feelings about it.
Damn. I love that movie too. And am majorly bummed to hear that.
Sprechen Sie sexy?
Cannot wait until we figure out Hemingway is overrated as fuck.
I think he’s medium overrated, but I do really and truly believe we’ve heard enough about Hemingway. This type of project reads very “last gasp of the Boomer documentarians.”
I’ve read everything he’s ever written, a lot of it a several times, and I still haven’t figured that out. But maybe I’m just a moron…
I don’t really have much of a problem with his work, though I do find it dull.My problem with Hemingway is the way he fucked over all the writers that came after him. Before Papa, all that was needed to be a writer was an imagination and a way with words.After him, every single swinging dick who fancied himself a renaissance man had a go. Prose and plot start to be less important than the ‘authenticity’ of living a varied, exciting and international life.And sure, sometimes you get lucky and you get both, like Hunter Thompson. Although, speaking of overrated…
You know, I’ve never once read a Hemingway book. They just don’t that interesting.
Ernest Hemingway—the burly, hard-drinking he-man who loved hunting, fishing, and bullfightsAnd he loved kitty-cats so much he has an entire population of them named after him
First off, YESSSSS! A Black Lady Sketch Show is finally back! I love all of them, and I have a pretty big crush on Quinta. Second, I’d just like to say: Sassssssssquatch! We know your legend’s reeeeeeeeaaal!
I just got a notification that TV Club is following me. Does that… does… does that mean I’m out of the greys? ON THE DAY OF MY FIRST VACCINATION DOSE, DO I ALSO GET OUT OF THE GREYS?!
Rutherford Falls looks like a lot of fun, The Nevers could be either great or a train wreck (as a former Whedonite who like many has become, let’s say, disillusioned, this looks extremely Whedon-y), and as someone who has a lot of latent fondness for the Mosquito Coast because of my adolescent love of River Phoenix, I’ll give that a shot as well, although that preview doesn’t remind me of the story line, like, in any way. Theroux is fun to look at, though.
There’s nothing wrong with being a Whedonite. That a handful of the hundreds of actors he’s worked with have made claims doesn’t a) make those claims true or b) suddenly negate his entire body of work.Certainly a great many actors and actresses have come forward to say there wasn’t even a hint of unprofessional behavior in their interactions with Whedon, nor on the sets where they worked with him.
Been seeing the promos for “Chad” a lot. Seems downright awful. Trying WAY too hard. Basic-cable level stuff.
I like Nasim Pedrad, but everything about that show, at least as shown in the marketing for it, seems grating and unwatchable. Your protagonist can be unlikeable, but the character just seems so deluded and spoiled that I really can’t imagine spending an entire half hour watching a show with him at the center of it.
Agree. Yeah, “he’s” “different” from the other kids. I understand this from the promos. What ELSE is there? I’m getting nothing from it. I mean, I COULD put it on the TiVo, see if it’s worth my time, but I’m not even getting a “maybe” vibe from it. Is it going to be better than “Freak and Geeks”? No? Then fuck it.Also [woke] “why couldn’t they get a male to play the male lead??? APPROPPRIATING!!![/woke]
It is a TBS show.
Yup. Exactly what I’m saying. I’ve got premium channels being a helluva lot more edgy than this, and I’ve only got so much time in a day.
I can get the thought process about creating a show about a Persian kid going through high school. I cannot at all understand the reasoning for Nasim casting herself as the kid unless it was to play it off as a joke. Which based on the trailers is not the case.
It looks like PEN15 lite and safe for basic cable, but for a boy?
Of course “Kung Fu” wasn’t shot in San Francisco Chinatown.
Fuck these stupid fucking slideshows.
So, Rutherford Falls will be good because it’s Mike Schur.Kung Fu? Well. Looks silly but I will watch a few and it will be a lot better than either season of Iron Fist.
Please bring back Peter Potamus. I need to find out if they ever got that thing he sent them.