What to watch, and more! May 1 – May 7
Body-swapping critters, ’60s beefcake brawlers and a month of Mayberry!
FRIDAY, May 1
Swapped
Animated film about a small creature (voiced by Michael B. Jordan) that switches bodies with another animal—and learns a valuable lesson. Additional voices by Juno Temple, Tracy Morgan and Cedric the Entertainer (Netflix).
Lucky Chow
Experience the food of Europe through Berlin, Paris, London, Copenhagen, and Northern Italy, with host Danielle Chang (PBS.org).
SATURDAY, May 2
Kidnapped in Her Own Home: The Martha Carelli Story
A woman finds herself locked in an intense psychological battle when she discovers an escaped convict hiding in her basement (8 p.m., Lifetime).
SUNDAY, May 3
Hercules, Samson & Ulysses
Worlds collide! Set your DVR! This 1963 beefcake brawl (above) brings a pair of Greek heroes together with the Biblical strongman! Starring Kirk Morris, Richard Lloyd and Liana Orfei (5:30 a.m., Turner Classic Movies).
MONDAY, May 4
Month of Mayberry
Tune in tonight for the beginning of four weeks of Andy Griffith Show episodes, above, with special “themed” programming featuring Aunt Bee, Barney Fife and Opie (8:30 p.m., MeTV).
American Idol: 20 Year Reunion
Tonight fan favorites from 2006 return, plus special guests and some smooth-move ballroom flair from the pros of Dancing with the Stars (8 p.m., ABC).
TUESDAY, May 5
The Pusher Trilogy
Gritty acclaimed Danish film series spanning 1996-2005 set in the gritty criminal world of Copenhagen, starring Mads Mikkelsen—who made his acting debut in the first film (Magnet).
Funny AF with Kevin Hart
Vote tonight on who gets the top prize tonight in the comedy star’s cross-country quest to find the next ha-ha susperstar (Netflix).
WEDNESDAY, May 6
The Other Bennett Sister
The often-overlooked sibling in Jane Austen’s iconic Pride and Prejudice gets her own period-piece series, starring Ella Bruccoleri (from Bridgerton and Call the Midwife) (Britbox).
Life on Earth: David Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure
A chronicle of the famed explorer and his three-year global odyssey, spanning 40 countries to document more than 600 species, which began in 1976 (8 p.m., PBS).
THURSDAY, May 7
M.I.A.
New series about drug-running in the dangerous underbelly of Miami. Starring Shannon Gisela (Peacock).
The Terror: Devil in Silver
Horror abounds in this tale of a man (Dan Stevens) wrongfully committed to a psychiatric hospital where other patients work against him, doctors hold grim secrets and maybe even the Devil himself is afoot. With Judith Light and CCH Pounder (Shudder).
BRING IT HOME
The sequel to the 2018 faith-based film based on the MercyMe song, I Can Only Imagine 2 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment) stars John Michael Finley, Milo Ventimiglia and Sophie Skelton, with appearances by Trace Adkins and Dennis Quaid.
The killer clown known as Pennywise is back in IT: Welcome to Derry: The Complete First Season (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment) of the hit HBO series based on author Stephen King’s 1986 novel It. Follow the terrifying adventures of a couple in the 1960s who move to Maine, just before very bad things begin to happen in their little town of Derry.
Mark Ruffalo leads an FBI task force in rural Pennsylvania looking for the connections between a kidnapped child, a string of burglaries and a brutal biker gang. And what does a garbage man (Tom Pelphrey) have to do with it? It’s all in the pulse-pounding season one of the HBO series Task (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment), now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
You’re heard about the famed designer Yves Saint Laurent, right? But did you ever hear how he designed the first tuxedo for women, femininizing a garment that had previously been the exclusive domain of men? You can read (and see) all about it in The Yves Saint Laurent Revolution (Thames & Hudson), a stylish graphic novel that tells all about the tux and the rebellious women who first wore it.
Here, kitty kitty! In Ulysses S. Cat and Other Animals I Have Known (W.W. Norton), NPR radio host Scott Simon waxes on creatures (including cats) great and small and their marvelous tales (and tails!) Pet lovers of all kinds will purr with the wisdom, whimsy, joys, worries, love, humor and hijinks found between the covers.
Learn all about history’s prime plunderers and most fearsome explorers in Vikings (Osprey), a colorful exploration of the wide-ranging voyagers and their weaponry, boats, at-home lifestyle and legacy.
In Do You Believe in Magic? (Abrams Books) author Laura Krantz shows young readers how “magic” and “science” are often two sides to the same coin, bridging the gaps between sorcery, sleight-of-hand, myth and reality.
The Media Tourist 