Television doesn’t sleep. Backstage is breaking down, month by month, the buzzy shows and performances that merit attention from awards voters and couch potatoes in the ever-growing landscape of the small screen.
May is one of the busiest TV months of the year—partly because it marks the eligibility cutoff for the upcoming Emmy Awards. And, in spite of everything happening in our world, 2021 is no exception. This coming month brings a tidal wave of highly anticipated new shows and miniseries, as well as the final seasons of a few beloved properties.
Read on for the many, many shows to look forward to in May, from Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of “The Underground Railroad” on Amazon to the final season of Aidy Bryant’s Hulu favorite “Shrill” to Tina Fey’s latest production for Peacock, “Girls5eva.”
“The Underground Railroad”
A new project from “Moonlight” director Jenkins is always welcome news—and it’s even better news when it’s an adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize–winning Colson Whitehead novel. This 10-part miniseries, which premieres May 14 on Amazon Prime Video, follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu), a young Black woman in the antebellum South, who makes a bid for freedom from her enslavers. In Whitehead’s historical reimagining, the Underground Railroad is a literal secret railroad running beneath the earth. The cast boasts names including William Jackson Harper (“The Good Place”), Amber Gray (“Hadestown”), and Joel Edgerton (“Loving”).
“Girls5eva”
When you see Fey and Robert Carlock’s names as a show’s executive producers, you know it’s going to be more than a little bit fun. And “Girls5eva,” a new Peacock series kicking off May 6, has fun in spades. Created by “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” alum Meredith Scardino, the show centers on a former 2000s girl group that reunites two decades later in an attempt to make an unlikely comeback. And if that isn’t incentive enough, consider who’s playing the foursome: Broadway faves Sara Bareilles and Renée Elise Goldsberry, plus Paula Pell and Busy Philipps. Whew. (Honestly, we’re just excited for the reunion of Goldsberry and Pell for the first time since “Original Cast Album: Co-Op” from “Documentary Now.”)
“Halston”
Ewan McGregor has been generating internet heat lately for his upcoming star turn in “Halston,” the latest Netflix venture from uber-producer Ryan Murphy. Decide for yourself whether it was worth it to cast the straight McGregor as noted gay designer Halston, whose work defined 1970s fashion and who died of complications from AIDS in 1990. Created by Sharr White (“The Affair”), “Halston” will follow the titular icon from his rise through the industry to his infamous nights at Studio 54 to his decline in the 1980s. The miniseries will also feature a bevy of celebrities playing celebrities, including Rory Culkin as Joel Schumacher and Krysta Rodriguez as Liza Minnelli.
“Shrill”
After three seasons, Bryant, Alexandra Rushfield, and Lindy West’s much-loved Hulu comedy series is coming to a close starting May 7. Season 2 saw Annie (Bryant) coming into her own as a journalist and a woman grappling with her body image in a world that worships thinness. The final season sees Annie embracing her newly single status and dealing with the aftermath of social media cancellation, while her best friend Fran (Lolly Adefope) digs deeper into her new relationship. Based on West’s memoir of the same name, “Shrill” has been a groundbreaking series for fat women who have seldom seen themselves represented on television.
“Hacks”
For those who want to see Jean Smart work more (read: all of us), “Hacks” will very likely be your new spring addiction. Co-created by Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky, who have worked on the likes of “Broad City,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “The Good Place,” this new HBO Max series centers on the Emmy-winning Smart as Deborah, an aging Las Vegas comedian who takes a young comedy writer (Hannah Einbinder) under her wing. The ensemble includes insider comedy faves like Kaitlin Olson (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Meg Stalter (“Tooning Out the News”), Poppy Liu (“Sunnyside”), and Christopher McDonald (“Ballers”), to name a few. If the trailer is any indication, “Hacks” is going to be a very fun ride.
See the full list of May 2021 returning and debut TV premiere dates below.
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May 6 – “The Drowning” premiere
May 10 – “Blinded – Those Who Kill” Season 2
May 24 – “Whitstable Pearl” premiere
Amazon Prime Video
May 14 – “The Underground Railroad” premiere
May 21 – “Solos” premiere
May 28 – “Panic” premiere
May 28 – “Parot” premiere
AMC+
May 20 – “Too Close” premiere
Apple TV+
May 7 – “Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet” Season 2
May 14 – “Trying” Season 2
Comedy Central
May 5 – “Crank Yankers” Season 6
The CW
May 2 – “Legends of Tomorrow” Season 6
May 7 – “Dynasty” Season 4
Disney+
May 4 – “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” premiere
May 13 – “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” Season 2
Fox
May 31 – “Housebroken” premiere
Freeform
May 26 – “The Bold Type” Season 5
FX
May 2 – “Pose” Season 3
May 25 – “Mr. Inbetween” Season 3
HBO/HBO Max
May 2 – “Uri and Ella” premiere
May 6 – “That Damn Michael Che” premiere
May 13 – “Hacks” premiere
May 20 – “Adventure Time: Distant Lands” premiere
May 23 – “In Treatment” Season 4
Hulu
May 7 – “Shrill” Season 3
May 21 – “Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.” premiere
Netflix
May 4 – “Selena: The Series” Season 2
May 7 – “Girl From Nowhere” Season 2
May 7 – “Jupiter’s Legacy” premiere
May 8 – “Mine” premiere
May 12 – “The Upshaws” premiere
May 14 – “Halston” premiere
May 14 – “Love Death + Robots” Season 2
May 14 – “Move to Heaven” premiere
May 19 – “Who Killed Sara?” premiere
May 20 – “Special” Season 2
May 21 – “The Neighbor” Season 2
May 23 – “Master of None” Season 4
May 27 – “Blackspace” premiere
May 27 – “Ragnarok” Season 2
May 28 – “The Kominsky Method” Season 3
Peacock
May 6 – “Girls5eva” premiere
May 13 – “Intergalactic” premiere
Showtime
May 23 – “Black Monday” Season 3
May 23 – “The Chi” Season 4
May 23 – “Flatbush Misdemeanors” premiere
Spectrum
May 21 – “The Bite” premiere
Starz
May 2 – “The Girlfriend Experience” Season 3
May 16 – “Death and Nightingales” premiere