Spring is sprung, and the binge-watch weather is in the eye of the beholder. Here are the buzziest new TV shows of the season to watch, try or avoid.
Watch
"The First Lady," Sunday, Showtime: It's hard to pass up this one: Viola Davis as Michelle Obama, Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford and Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt. The Showtime anthology series seems interested in exploring the first ladies outside of their husbands (O-T Fagbenle, Aaron Eckhart and Kiefer Sutherland, respectively), including Roosevelt's suspiciously close friendship with reporter Lorena Hickock (Lily Rabe).
"Gaslit," April 24, Starz: It's based on the first season of Slate's "Slow Burn" series and goes behind the scenes with whistleblower Martha Mitchell, wife of Attorney General John Mitchell, and shows how Richard Nixon's world came crumbling down around him. It stars Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.
"We Own This City," April 25, HBO: "The Wire" creator David Simon brings the true story of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force to the small screen. Simon also appears to have brought back a decent chunk of the lesser-known "Wire" cast.
"Under the Banner of Heaven," April 28, Hulu: Andrew Garfield plays a Mormon detective who finds his faith shaken as he investigates the 1984 murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and her baby daughter in a Salt Lake City suburb. Tick tick, we're waiting.
"I Love That for You," April 29, Showtime: Sure, "Search Party" already did the "faking cancer to get a job" angle, but there is just something so undeniably charming about Vanessa Bayer that you can't even be mad at her, playing a desperate woman who dreams of hosting a show on a shopping channel to the point of pretending her childhood cancer is back. Throw in Molly Shannon and Jennifer Lewis, and we'd hire her, too.
Try
"Roar," Friday, Apple TV Plus: The great thing about anthologies is that, theoretically, there's always going to be something that catches your attention. The bad thing is that sometimes they get rushed or lazy; you only have 45 minutes with these characters, you don't have to put that much work in. With "Roar," the creators of "GLOW" have promised us "darkly comedic feminist fables."
"Anatomy of a Scandal," Friday, Netflix: In a post- MeToo world, stories about powerful men vehemently denying rape allegations feels a little overdone. On the other hand, done well, a show about a British politician, his alleged victim, his wife and the prosecutor determined to take him down could be a fascinating study of the consequences of the elite.
"Shining Girls," April 29, Apple TV Plus: Time-travel shows are almost impossible to pull off, but when they work, they can be magnetic. Elisabeth Moss plays a newspaper archivist in early 1990s Chicago who finds herself linked to a serial killer.
Avoid
"The Man Who Fell to Earth," April 24, Showtime: This is no offense to Chiwetel Ejiofor, but when you've already had David Bowie playing your alien who crashes onto your planet, you should probably just let that be.
"The Offer," April 28, Paramount Plus: Sure, this drama miniseries has a great cast and promises the behind-the-scenes story of the making of "The Godfather," which is revered in cinematic history. But weren't all those Oscars enough?
