The 5 New and Under-the-Radar TV Shows You Can’t Miss in May

By Amy Amatangelo  |  May 2, 2025 | 12:49pm
Main photo by Elizabeth Morris, courtesy of Netflix. Other photo
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The 5 New and Under-the-Radar TV Shows You Can’t Miss in May
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As a wise man once said, it’s gonna (gonna! gonna!) be May.

Expect big plot twists as network television series wrap up their seasons (I don’t know about you but I’m still recovering from a certain death on 9-1-1). But when one TV door closes, another one opens, and May is brimming with new and returning TV series.

Peacock’s Poker Face is finally back for a second season on May 8 with Giancarlo Esposito, Patti Harrison, Jason Ritter and Margo Martindale among this season’s guest stars. Nine new strangers (including Christine Baranski and Henry Golding) meet up with Nicole Kidman in the second season of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers on May 21. And get ready for the show everyone loves to hate. That’s right, after a nearly two year absence, Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That . . . returns for a third season on Max on May 29. 

Amid all the returning favorites are some new under-the-radar shows we want to make sure you know about. Here are the five new shows you can’t miss this month. 

Miss Austen

Stars:  Keeley Hawes, Rose Leslie, Patsy Ferran, Jessica Hynes, Mirren Mack, Phyllis Logan, Kevin McNally, Max Irons, Alfred Enoch, Calam Lynch and Liv Hill 

Premiere Date:  May 4 at 9 p.m. on PBS

Why did Jane Austen’s sister Cassandra burn all of Jane’s personal letters after her death? That’s the question that has stymied literature lovers and historians for decades. And it’s one  this new four episode Masterpiece Theater production based on the novel by Gill Hornby tries to answer. When Jane’s sister Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) gets news that the father of their friend Isabella (Rose Leslie) is near death, she races to Isabella’s home. She tells her maid that there are “certain items of a personal nature” that are in that house that belong in her house.  Cassandra desperately wants to find the letters Jane wrote to Isabella’s mother. The series jumps between Cassandra as an adult and her childhood (where Cassandra is played by Synnøve Karlsen) to unravel the story behind Cassandra’s shocking decision. Phyllis Logan, known to many as Mrs. Hughes on Downton Abbey, co-stars as Cassandra and Jane’s mother. 

Forever

Stars: Lovie Simone, Michael Cooper Jr., Karen Pittman, Wood Harris,  Xosha Roquemore, Marvin Winans III, Niles Fitch, Barry Shabaka Henley, Ali Gallo, Adriyan Rae, Paigion Walker, Xavier Mills, E’myri Crutchfield and Yusef Thomas

Premiere Date: All eight episodes premiere May 8 on Netflix 

If you are of a certain age, you definitely remember reading Judy Blume’s novel Forever when you were young. The definitive novel about adolescent sexuality and the overwhelming emotions surrounding first love was passed furtively around at slumber parties and read by flashlight at night. Much has changed in the 50 (!!) years since the novel was first published, but the essence of being a teen has not. Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends) sets her version of this timeless tale in 2018. High school athletes Keisha (Lovie Simone) and Justin (Michael Cooper Jr.) fall in love and face how that affects their lives and their futures. Regina King directs the first episode and Blume herself is one of the show’s executive producers.  

Tucci in Italy

Stars:  Stanley Tucci

Premiere Date:  May 18 on National Geographic. All five episodes stream May 19 on Disney+ and Hulu.

“I believe the best way to understand what makes a country and its people unique is through their food . . . and this is true nowhere more than Italy.” actor Stanley Tucci tells viewers at the beginning of this new National Geographic series. Tucci, who previously visited the country in CNN’s Searching for Italy, now looks at how the country’s mouthwatering food is directly influenced by the region it is from. First up, the Academy Award nominee travels to Tuscany for a delectable breakfast dish. Future episodes take Tucci to Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Abruzzo and Lazio. After watching the series bring these meals to mouth-watering life, you may find yourself wanting to book an Italian vacation.

The Librarians: The Next Chapter

Stars:  Callum McGowan, Jessica Green, Olivia Morris, Bluey Robinson, Caroline Loncq  and Christian Kane

Premiere Date:  Sunday, May 25 following NBA Playoffs coverage. The second episode will premiere on Monday, May 26 following NHL Playoffs coverage

A spin-off of The Librarians TV series which ran from 2014-2018 (which was itself a spin-off of The Librarian TV movie franchise) stars Callum McGown as Vikram Chamberlain, a Librarian who has time traveled to the present from 1847. When he returns to his castle, Vikram finds that it is now a museum and he accidentally resurrects an evil Drekavac (don’t you hate it when that happens?). Future episodes in this 12 episode season take them to Camelot and an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. Keep an eye out for Christian Kane who reprises his role as Jacob Stone from the original series. The franchise’s original Librarian, Noah Wyle, who is currently having a moment as the star of The Pitt, is one of the producers of the series. 

The Better Sister

Stars:  Jessica Biel,  Elizabeth Banks, Corey Stoll, Kim Dickens, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Bobby Naderi, Gabriel Sloyer, Gloria Reuben, Matthew Modine and Lorraine Toussaint 

Premiere Date:  All eight episodes premiere May 29 on Prime Video.

Based on the book of the same name by Alafair Burke, this eight episode series follows Chloe (Jessica Biel) who lives an instagram perfect life with her husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and adolescent son (Ethan). Chloe’s life begins to unravel when Corey is murdered and her sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks), the black sheep of the family, arrives, ostensibly to help her sibling through this trying time. Biel and Banks both serve as executive producers on the series. But who killed Adam and what is the secret from Chloe and Nicky’s past that they need to face?

Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance writer and a member of the Television Critics Association. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on Twitter (@AmyTVGal).

For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV.

 
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