Hulu is offering an embarrassment of riches this week: there’s Arctic Ascent, a brand new and genuinely gripping mountain climbing docu-series, new seasons of network comedies Abbott Elementary and Not Dead Yet, professional wrestling behind-the-scenes tell-all Dark Side of the Ring, and much more.
Arctic Ascent with Alex Honnold
Produced by National Geographic, Arctic Ascent follows climber Alex Honnold on his quest to scale huge, unclimbed cliffs and walls in Greenland. These rock and ice faces are among the most dangerous in the world, and Arctic Ascent’s you-are-there approach will have you gripping the arms of your sofa.
Abbott Elementary, Season 3
Abbott Elementary is sitting at 98% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, stink-eyeing the other network comedies and wondering why do they suck so much. Now entering its third season, AE has earned a seat at the head of the class by presenting the stories of the teachers at an elementary school in a style reminiscent of The Office. It’s hilarious in a way that only comes from solid characters and believable situations. Season 3 premiers this week, but there are two other seasons you can stream if you’re a new kid.
Not Dead Yet, Season 2
Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez returns for season 2 of a supernatural comedy with a premise that could support twenty seasons: She’s an obituary writer who is haunted by the ghosts of the people she writes about. It gives Rodriguez a chance to play off a different guest star in each episode and puts a new shine on Not Dead Yet‘s “young person who can’t quite get her life together” stories. It’s all held together by Rodriguez’s charming performance as Nell, a young person who…can’t quite get her life together.
Dark Side of the Ring (2019)
There’s a new season of Dark Side of the Ring premiering later this year, but while you mark the days, you can stream the first four seasons on Hulu. The series takes a long leer into the real lives of the most messed up, drugged-out screwballs to ever put on a Speedo and pretend to fight each other for an audience. The stories hit like a power bomb off the top rope—jaw-dropping in their excesses and insanity, and all told through archival footage and interviews with the people who were there. In other words, Dark Side of the Ring is the definition of bingeable trash TV.
Last week’s picks
Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
The second season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology series tells the true(ish) story of writer Truman Capote’s conflict with a gaggle of rich, powerful wives. To research his seminal 1966 book In Cold Blood, Capote spent countless hours among lowlifes and murderers in the Midwest, but it wasn’t until he spilled the literary tea of a hive of society mavens that Capote learned the meaning of “ruthless.” Directed by Gus Van Sant with a cast including Chloë Sevigny, Diane Lane, Calista Flockhart, Molly Ringwald, Demi Moore, and Naomi Watts, Capote vs. the Swans is a must-stream.
Genius: MLK/X
The fourth season of Genius, an anthology drama series about historically brilliant people, examines civil rights icons Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Genius delves deeply into their lives to bring out the personal, comparing and contrasting two men who shared a goal, but had very different ideas about how it should be achieved.
Farmer Wants a Wife, Season 2
There probably isn’t a TV show that is less aimed at me than Farmer Wants a Wife, but I like to confound expectations, so I’m going to watch every episode of season 2, starting tonight with episode 1. The reality show follows the romantic adventures of four hunky famers. Each farmer picks five city ladies to live with them on their farm and wear straw hats or swat flies or do whatever people do on farms. Through this rigorous process, love is achieved. Yee, and I cannot stress this enough, haw.
The Handmaid’s Tale
I put off watching The Handmaid’s Tale until last year—the idea of the series seemed too depressing. And it is depressing, but it’s also among the smartest, most perfectly crafted shows that has ever been made. It’s as close as episodic television comes to perfection; at least for the first season. Please pretend the other four seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale don’t exist.
Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence
This “wait, that actually happened?” docu-series details a sex cult that formed in an unlikely place: student housing at Sarah Lawrence College. It was weird when 50-something dad Larry Ray moved into his daughter’s dorm room, but he quickly became mentor to a small group of her pals and roommates, and then things got really weird. Through interviews with victims and witnesses, Stolen Youth breaks down how a group of the brightest young minds in the country, at a school that stresses individuality, could fall into unquestioning obedience to an unemployed guy named “Ray.”