Welcome to What to Watch, a series where we tell you the best shows, movies and series out right now, both on networks and streaming services.
Just Another Immigrant (Showtime)
Romesh Ranganathan is a world-famous stand-up, but many Americans still don’t know who he is. Despite 326k Twitter followers, the British Ranganathan’s new docuseries on Showtime is about him moving his entire family–including his very weird uncle and Sri Lankan mother–stateside in the hopes of reaching an American audience. To do so, he commits himself to booking 6,000 seats at the Greek…and only three months to sell out the show.
Just Another Immigrant plays like a mockumentary at times, but it’s legitimate…and legitimately hilarious.
The Staircase Miniseries (Netflix)
True crime nuts, get very excited: Netflix is re-releasing the famed documentary The Staircase, made by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Jean-Xavier de Lestrade in 2004. It was one of the first documentaries to show the inside of a courtroom and first-hand interviews for the trial of Michael Peterson, accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson.
Eight years after The Staircase, the filmmakers revisit the Peterson case after new developments emerged, and Netflix will be releasing the original docuseries alongside the new special.
Impulse (YouTube Red)
When Doug Liman goes to YouTube, all bets are off. This is certainly the first time a major director has taken a stab at creating content specific to the streaming site’s premium service, which, as of yet, failed to create an original series that has caught on with an adult crowd.
The concept looks totally badass: 16-year-old Henry Coles has something horrible happen to her in her hometown of the fictional Reston, New York, and as a result, she finds out she has some very unusual powers.
Sure, it sounds a little Marvel-y, but remember it was created by the same guy who made Day After Tomorrow work.
Erik Griffin: Amerikan Warrior (Netflix)
Best known for his hilarious roles in shows like Workaholics, I’m Dying Up Here and Blunt Talk, the comedian now gets to play center stage in a new stand-up special on Netflix. And as he himself tells us, he’s not afraid of tackling the tough topics…like the mediocrity of Black Panther.
Condor (AT&T/DirecTV)
Inspired by Paramount’s Sydney Pollack 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor, this new series is about CIA agent Joe Turner (Max Irons, son of Jeremy) whose entire office is murdered after he uncovers a mass conspiracy. A mix of The Fugitive and, well, Three Days of Condor, Iron’s Turner is Jack Ryan and Jack Reacher in one, both a patriot and conspiracy theorist who now knows they weren’t just “theories” after all.
Special: Sense8 Finale (Netflix)
If you were a fan of the Wachowskis’ sprawling, international sci-fi series Sense8 on Netflix, you’ll know that the show was canceled after two seasons, despite enormous outcry from its many supporters. After all, the series was co-created by J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babolyn 5, and was both GLAAD and Emmy-nominated. Critics reviewed Sense8 positively, and pretty much the only reason it was canceled, according to Netflix’s CCO Ted Sarandos, was that it was just too expensive to produce.
But before we say goodbye forever to the gang of multinational superpower-buddies, Netflix will leave us with a two-hour special, but don’t expect every plot to be tied up neatly with a bow: Lana Wachowski hinted at a third season, already written, that’s now up for grabs.
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