Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody proved the rom-com isn’t dead with last year’s debut of this surprisingly heartfelt and poignant series from creator Erin Foster. The first season followed an agnostic podcaster and a hot rabbi figuring out if their chemistry had legs, racking up Emmy nods and critical acclaim along the way. In Season 2, new showrunners Jenni Konner (Girls) and Bruce Eric Kaplan (Six Feet Under) merge the characters’ lives to give them a dose of reality. That means more time with the supporting cast and interesting new interactions, as well as some notable guest stars such as Seth Rogen and Brody’s real-life wife, Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl). Brody and Bell continue to ooze chemistry throughout, but with important themes of toxic romance, communication and career mixed into myriad laughs.
Lazarus (Prime Video)
Harlan Coben’s page-turning mysteries and twisty Netflix dramas are widely known as addictive material. This week, the author is shaking things up with a visual project made exclusively for Prime Video. Coben teams with frequent collaborator Danny Brocklehurst (Brassic) for this six-part psychological thriller. Peaky Blinders’ Sam Claflin stars as forensic psychiatrist Joel Lazarus, whose father (Bill Nighy) dies by suicide. As a result, Lazarus begins seeing ghosts and experiencing disturbing incidents tied to cold case murders. It stands apart from Coben’s other offerings and is filled with feverish turns that fans of his genre will certainly appreciate.
Singhs in the Ring (Crave)
This Canadian documentary made its debut at the Calgary International Film Festival earlier this year, a fitting debut considering the subject matter. The project dives into the legend of Canadian Stampede Wrestling legend Gama Singh and his son, Rah (Champagne) Singh, as he carries on his father’s legacy. It’s a heartfelt look at the boundary-breaking impact of the Singh name in the sport and an homage to a lost era of wrestling. There are themes of identity and culture interwoven with interviews with an array of insiders, including WWE superstars Bret Hart, Chelsea Green and Jinder Mahal.
It: Welcome to Derry (Crave)
Pennywise returns in this prequel series from film director Andy Muschietti, although there’s a bit of a slow burn before audiences see Bill Skarsgard reprise the clownish character. This series is still full of horror and begins with a new terrifying cold opening, but producers wanted to pace out the scares to allow the “It” creature to take on some of its other monstrous forms. The story picks up almost 30 years before the beginning of It and It Chapter Two and is based on the interludes from creator Stephen King’s original novel. Writers also pulled from other King works such as The Shining, to enrichen the world. The scribe himself has praised Derry and its ambitious premise ahead of its weekly release schedule, which begins this Sunday.
Boston Blue (Paramount+)
Sunday night dinners with the Reagans live on, although Tom Selleck won’t be at the head of this table. The Blue Bloods spinoff starring Donnie Wahlberg as Danny kicks off on streaming this weekend for those who missed the broadcast premiere on CTV late last week. The action begins when Danny is forced to Boston following an incident with his son. There, he teams up with Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green) to catch bad guys, solve crimes and fold himself into a new family dynamic. There’s nothing groundbreaking about the format, but that’s exactly why the show will be comforting to the procedural seekers out there who just want to know what kind of a cop drama they’re getting into.