May is a diverse month on TV. You would be hard-pressed to find a theme among this month’s new releases, which include a fresh season of a sultry Regency-era historical romance, a stark look at the Holocaust and a docuseries about a popular Twitter collective.
‘Tattooist of Auschwitz’ (May 2)
This Peacock miniseries is not an easy or pleasant binge, but it does delve deep into an essential facet of history. “Tattooist of Auschwitz” was inspired by a bestselling 2018 book by Heather Morris, who wrote it based on the life of a real Holocaust survivor. Both the book and show follow Lali Sokolov (played by Jonah Hauer-King and Harvey Keitel) as he arrives at and later attempts to escape from a concentration camp, striking up a romance with a fellow Jewish prisoner along the way. Melanie Lynskey co-stars as a stand-in for the book author herself. “This devastating six-part adaptation doesn’t shy away from the horrors,” said The Guardian.
‘Hacks’ (May 2)
Beloved HBO comedy series “Hacks” is back on Max for a third season following a two-year hiatus. The show centers on the complicated relationship between veteran stand-up Deborah Vance (Jean Smart, who won back-to-back Emmys for the role) and young comedy hopeful Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). Ava has been helping the older comic get her groove back, but in last season’s cliffhanger finale, Ava was fired from the gig. Following a long time off the air because of Hollywood strikes and Smart’s heart surgery, the new season is “infectiously confident, deceptively smooth and, most importantly, consistently hilarious,” said Variety.
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‘Hollywood Con Queen’ (May 8)
This three-episode docuseries from Apple TV+ and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Chris Smith (“Tiger King,” “Fyre”) uncovers one of Hollywood’s biggest scams. The series is based on reporting done in 2018 by Scott Johnson of The Hollywood Reporter, who teamed with private investigator Nicole Kotsianas to unmask an enigma known as the Hollywood Con Queen. This scam artist impersonated some of the industry’s most powerful women, “luring unsuspecting victims to Indonesia with the promise of a life-changing career opportunity” and then stealing their money, said the official synopsis.
‘Black Twitter: A People’s History’ (May 9)
This three-part Hulu docuseries was adapted from Jason Parham’s 2021 Wired article of the same name and chronicles the hilarious and influential history of the social media collective known as “Black Twitter.” (Whether or not it will discuss the ridiculous rebrand of Twitter to X remains to be seen.) In only three hours, Hulu “captures Black Twitter’s ability to not only create and influence everything from hashtags (#BlackGirlMagic, #DemThrones), memes (Crying Jordan, Tiffany Pollard, Annalise Keating), social movements (Black Lives Matter and Oscars So White) and entertainment (Scandal, Zola), but turn online life into offline reality,” said The Hollywood Reporter.
‘Bridgerton’ (May 16)
Netflix’s famed bodice-ripper is back for a third season. The hit series drops four episodes on May 16, then titillates viewers by making them wait a full month until the next four episodes land on June 13. But if the Regency era has taught us anything, it’s that the anticipation of pleasure can be better than pleasure itself. This season promises to hone in on the friends-to-lovers dynamic between fan favorites Penelope and Colin. “In the first two seasons, Pen was a supporting character, the oddball in the corner, but this time she’s very much center-stage,” said actress Nicola Coughlan in an essay for Harper’s Bazaar UK.
