What’s on TV this week—The Staircase, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Girls5eva season 2

Welcome to What’s On, our weekly picks of must-watch shows. Here’s what you need to watch from Sunday, May 1 to Thursday, May 5. All times are Eastern. Happy viewing. [Note: The weekend edition drops on Fridays.]

The biggies

The Staircase (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., series premiere)

Created by Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn, this true-crime drama is based Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s 2004 docuseries of the same name (which is available to stream on Netflix). It follows the investigation and trial of crime novelist Michael Peterson (Colin Firth) after his wife, Kathleen (Toni Collette), is found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home. The show’s impressive cast includes Juliette Binoche, Sophie Turner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Parker Posey, Olivia DeJonge, and Michael Stuhlbarg. The Staircase will premiere with three episodes, with the remaining five airing every week.

Here’s hoping no one has reached Star Trek fatigue because Paramount+ is ready to dole out Strange New Worlds just as Picard wraps up. Anson Mount will reprise his role as Captain Christopher Pike as he steers the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise to explore, you guessed it, strange new worlds throughout the galaxy. The show is set a decade before Star Trek: The Original. Season one consists of 10 episodes, and the show has already been renewed.

Peacock’s hilarious Girls5eva is back for a second season, premiering with three new episodes. Created by Meredith Scardino, the show counts Tina Fey and Robert Carlock as producers. It follows four band members who reunite decades later for one more shot at fame, this time while balancing kids, marriages, debt, and shoulder pain. Keep an eye out for The A.V. Club’s review on the site next week.

Hidden gems

Spring Awakening (HBO, Tuesday, 9 p.m.)

15 years after Spring Awakening’s Tony-winning Broadway run, the original cast—including Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele—and the creative team reunite for a concert special. The documentary chronicles their whirlwind journey, featuring newly filmed interviews as well as candid archival videos.

Bill Skarsgård leads this Swedish true-crime drama as infamous gangster Clark Oloffson, the man credited for the rise of the phrase “Stockholm Syndrome.” He was convicted of drug trafficking, bank robberies, assault, and attempted murder. Oloffson spent a number of years behind bars, but he often used his charm to leave behind a trail of heartbreak and trauma, transforming into a celebrity criminal because of intense media coverage. Jonas Åkerlund directs the six-episode first season.

Brace yourself: Mike Meyers is set to play eight characters in this comedy. The ensemble includes Ken Jeong, Keegan-Michael Key, Debi Mazar, Richard McCabe, Jennifer Saunders, and Lydia West. It will be the SNL alum’s first starring small-screen role since the 2017 revival of The Gong Show.

More good stuff

I Love That For You (Showtime, Sunday, 8:30 p.m.)

Vanessa Bayer is returning to TV in her first full-time role post-SNL. The actor co-creates and stars in I Love That For You, partially based on her own upbringing. She plays Joanna Gold, an aspiring host for a QVC-like shopping channel who uses her former leukemia diagnosis to keep her job. Molly Shannon and Jenifer Lewis also star. The episodes will drop early on Fridays on the Showtime app. Here’s an excerpt from Manuel Betancourt’s review:

On SNL, [Bayer’s] teenage girls were unspeakably awkward, her wives one indignity away from burning it all down. Her most recognizable characters made you cringe in all the right ways. Which is all to say that her Joanna, the lead character in Showtime’s I Love That For You, feels like an SNL bit tailor-made for Bayer—and that’s both the show’s strength and, potentially, its biggest shortcoming.

Ziwe Fumudoh’s breakout late-night talk show is back for what is sure to be yet another thrilling and provocative season. This time around, the guests sitting in her hot seat include Emily Ratajkowski, Ilana Glazer, Chet Hanks, Nicole Byer, Adam Pally, Mia Khalifa, and—believe it or not—the anonymous Instagram account, Deuxmoi.

What’s more soothing than Stanley Tucci zipping around Italy, teaching viewers about the delicious pasta he’s chowing down? In season two of his travel talk show, the actor continues his journey to explore his Italian heritage while sampling trademark delicacies around various regions of the country.

Can’t miss recaps

Barry (HBO, Sunday, 10 p.m.)

Better Call Saul (AMC, Monday, 9 p.m.)

This Is Us (NBC, Tuesday, 9 p.m.)

Moon Knight (Disney+, Wednesday, 3:01 a.m., season one finale)

Atlanta (FX, Thursday, 10 p.m.)

Ending soon

Outlander (Starz, Sunday, 10 p.m., season six finale)

The Endgame (NBC, Monday, 10 p.m., season one finale)

The Girl From Plainville (Hulu, Tuesday, 12:01 a.m., series finale)

Good Sam (CBS, Wednesday, 10 p.m., season one finale)

Good Trouble (Freeform, Wednesday, 10 p.m., season four spring finale)

Julia (HBO Max, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season one finale)

Star Trek: Picard (Paramount+, Thursday, 3:01 a.m., season two finale)

Call Me Kat (Fox, Thursday, 9 p.m., season two finale)