The Media Tourist

TV highlights, and more! Week of April 3 – April 9

Hacks is back! A teeny tiny wife! Dan Levy makes some ‘Big Mistakes,’ and more!

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder return to close out the final season of ‘Hacks.’

FRIDAY, April 3
My Undesirable Friends: Part I—Last Air in Moscow
Award-winning films about Russian journalists facing persecution as Putin’s regime launches its full-scale war against Ukraine (Mubi).

5 Nights at Freddy’s 2
The animatronic animals do even more terrible after-hours things in the sequel to the 2023 horror film starring Josh Hutcherson (Peacock).

SATURDAY, April 4
Pizza Movie
Comedy about college kids whose outing for pizza turns into a chaotic night that changes their lives forever. With Gaten Matarazzo and Lulu Wilson (Hulu)

Home For Good
Art Edmonds host this new weekend-mornings home-renovation series focusing on first responders, military veterans and other community standouts (check local listings, ABC).

SUNDAY, April 5
Nippon Sangoku
Anime series about revolution sparked by nuclear war, natural disaster and misrule leading to the collapse of Japanese society and splitting the country into three nations (Prime Video).

Baseball: Beyond Belief
And exploration of the many and surprising similarities between baseball and religion (4 p.m., Fox Sports 1).

MONDAY, April 6
Foul Play with Anthony Davis
Hidden-camera show, hosted by Davis of the Washington Wizards, features all-star athletes pranking their pals (TBS, following the NCAA Championship game).

Big Mistakes
Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) produces and stars in this new comedy thriller series (above) alongside Taylor Ortega, Laurie Metcalf and Elizabeth Perkins (Netflix).

TUESDAY, April 7
A Taste for Murder
Set amidst the steep cliffs and fast tides of Capri, this new series features classic Italian cuisine as the main ingredient to each episode’s central murder mystery, revealing the power of food to foster connection, community and healing after devastating loss (Britbox).

Lucy Worsham Investigates: The American Revolution
How did the mighty British Empire lose the Revolutionary War to a bunch of Yankee ragtags? Lucy Worsham investigates! (9 p.m., PBS).

WEDNESDAY, April 8
The Testaments
Sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, and also based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, follows young teens (above) as they navigate Aunt Lydia’s elite preparatory school for subservient future wives. With Ann Dowd, Chase Infiniti, Lucy Halliday and Mabel Li (Hulu).

The Boys
Tonight begins the fifth and final season of the hit satirical superhero series based on a best-selling comic book (Prime Video). 

THURSDAY, April 9
The Miniature Wife
Based on the short story written by Manuel Gonzales, this new dramedy (above) examines the power (im)balances between spouses (Elizabeth Banks and Les Macfadyen) after a technological accident induces the ultimate relationship crisis by reducing her to teeny-tiny (Peacock).

Hacks
The acclaimed comedy series about showbiz starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder returns for its fifth and final season (HBO Max).

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Jesse Malin, a New York musician who’s worked with Bruce Springsteen, Ryan Adams and many other artists, tells his wild, gritty and colorful story in Almost Grown (Akashic). It’s a tale a hyperactive kid from Queens who went on to play Madison Square Gardens and crash Saturday Night Live, and all the misfits, hustlers, lovers and friends he met along the way.

Take a trip to the other side of the world with Japan: A History in Objects (Thames & Hudson), which looks at centuries of Japanese history through items—from pots and pans to jewelry, art, sculpture, and other artifacts—in the British Museum. It’s a unique “look” at the deep history and cultural of a country that continues to evolve.

One of the most successful duos in all popular music are saluted in Pet Shop Boys Volume (Thames & Hudson), a lavish visual record spanning the pop-cultural output of the hitmaking twosome of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, whose hits include “West End Girls,” “It’s a Sin” and “Always on My Mind.”

How did the Middle Ages come to be the Middle Ages? In The Making of the Middle Ages (Thames & Hudson), author John Haywood unpacks the tumultuous, complicated, messy history of the time between 476 and 1000 CE, when a new Europe emerged from the clashes and contributions of the Saxons, the Slavs, Franks, Vikings, Bulgars and more. It’s a scholarly volume but full of pics, graphics and maps.

Wanna look like and dress a pop superstar? Taylor Swift: Style Codes (Abrams) by Hannah Rogers takes you through the musical icon’s many looks and style transformations, with practical advice on how you can incorporate Swift’s sartorial mojo into your own wardrobe and attitude.

BRING IT HOME

Walton Goggins and Ray McKinnon star in Randy & the Mob (Lightyear Entertainment), a Southern-tinged comedy about a good ol’ boy in deep financial trouble and a mob fixer with impeccable fashion sense. The DVD includes more than an hour of bonus features, including cast and crew interviews.

The writer of TV’s Beef and The Bear, Alex Russell, makes an impressive directorial debut with Lurker (Mubi), a sharp psychological thriller about the relationship between a pop star and a fan that turns ugly…and dangerous. 

Mr. Nobody Against Putin (Kino Lorber) is an acclaimed documentary about a Russian schoolteacher force-fed into Putin’s propaganda machine when his country invades the Ukraine. When he learns his life might be in danger after using his videocam to film Putin’s twisted militarization of children and other atrocities, he plans a dangerous escape.

Chris Pratt stars in the futuristic thriller Mercy (Alliance Entertainment) as a detective accused of murdering his wife, on trail before an AI judge in a surveillance state—and with only 90 minutes to prove his innocence and clear his name. With Rebecca Ferguson.