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Eleven TV series we cant wait to watch in spring 2018

March 25, HBO Canada

When you think Bill Hader, you probably think comedy or more specifically his impersonations and characters from his eight-year stint on Saturday Night Live. Hes long been a staple in funny feature films, but usually in supporting roles. That changed when he landed the romantic lead role in Judd Apatows Trainwreck (opposite Amy Schumer). Now hes winning raves again as the titular character in the oddball HBO series Barry, about a hit man who falls into the community theatre scene in Los Angeles. Hader co-created the show with Silicon Valleys Alec Berg and it seems like one of the more inspired new TV concepts hitting the air this spring. KR

March 27, CTV

The reboot of Roseanne Barrs blue-collar sitcom picks off where the Conner family left off 20 years ago. Well, kind of. Dan (John Goodman) was dead. Now, hes back. Long live, Dan! As for the rest of the clan, Roseanne voted for Trump, causing a rift with the pussy-hat-wearing liberalism of sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf). Darlene (Sara Gilbert) has moved home with her two kids. Original Becky (Lecy Goranson) is a surrogate for replacement Becky (Sarah Chalke in a new character), and DJ (Michael Fishman) is a solider returning from Syria. Expect lots of nostalgia as the pilot sticks close to the classic sitcom format. CR

March 28, FX

As the final season of The Americans begins this month, the Cold War-era drama about two KGB spies living undercover in DC feels almost too timely to end. But alas after five seasons, its time to say goodbye to our favourite Russian spies, Elizabeth and Philip Jennings (played by real-life, non-spy couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys), and their devious schemes to send FBI secrets back to the motherland. In just 10 episodes, showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields have a lot of loose ends to tie up, including the big question of what will happen to the Jennings family. Will they defect to America? Finally get caught by the FBI? Or return to the Soviet Union? Whatever the outcome, its going to be thrilling. SE

April 1, NBC

The live revival of Andrew Lloyd Webbers 1970 rock opera about the last days of Christ gets the Hamilton treatment with a multi-ethnic cast. R&B singer John Legend plays a Black Jesus, while Hamiltons own Brandon Victor Dixon plays a Black Judas Iscariot. Rock legend Alice Cooper is a Caucasian King Herod. The casting hasnt attracted too much negative attention, which is refreshing, considering the uproar when Star Wars cast a Black Storm Trooper. The reason could amount to the very success of Hamilton or the broad appeal of the non-threatening Legend or the acceptance that the long-standing depiction of Jesus as a white man is completely arbitrary. CR

April 3, TBS in the U.S.

After the game-changing success of Get Out, itll be exciting to see what showrunner Jordan Peele does with his next project: an ex-con comedy starring Tracy Morgan and Tiffany Haddish. After a 15-year prison stint, Morgans character, Tray, returns to find his Brooklyn neighborhood completely gentrified. The set-up is within Morgans wheelhouse his turn on 30 Rock was basically his oddball humour vs. the plain vanilla comedy of his castmates but a plot featuring his attempts to be a father to the kids he has with his ex (Haddish) promises a lot of heart. CR

April 8, BBC America in the U.S.

Sandra Oh is back! And shes… in London? The Greys Anatomy star currently on the big screen in Mina Shums Meditation Park stars as Eve Polastri, an MI5 desk agent who lands the high-stakes job of tracking down a posh assassin known only as Villanelle (Jodie Comer, of the BBC series Thirteen and Doctor Foster) in an eight-part miniseries. Sounds like every other UK spy thriller, until you learn it was written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator and star of the scabrous Amazon comedy Fleabag. I have no idea how her snappy, sarcastic rhythms will play within the world of international espionage and I cant wait to find out. NW

April 11, Space

Having shaken off the creaky conspiracy plot of its first season, The Expanse developed into a gripping, politically engaged sci-fi thriller in its second, with various factions on Earth, Mars and the asteroid belt fighting for the future of the human race, both metaphorically and literally. The third season promises to go even deeper into the themes of James S.A. Coreys books and explore the results of the Protomolecule project. Yeah, its dense you really should catch up on the first two seasons before jumping in but its worth the effort. Also, its shot in Toronto, so local talent like Cara Gee, Hugh Dillon, Peter Outerbridge and Sarah Allen keep popping up amongst the international cast. (This year, look for Arrows Anna Hopkins in a key arc.) NW

April 13, HBO Canada

Former Daily Show correspondent Cenac who spent the last two years knocking around town making People Of Earth returns to investigative comedy in his new HBO series, offering questionable solutions to unquestionable problems. The show which boasts John Oliver as one of the executive producers will send Cenac around the U.S. to explore issues like debt, nutrition, racism, health care, security and crowded subways. It sounds like we can expect the on-location equivalent of Olivers deep dive segments on Last Week Tonight, but with Cenacs unflappable calm setting a very different tone. NW

April 22, HBO Canada

Series creator Jonathan Nolan revealed season two of his hi-tech, sci-fi western is unofficially titled The Door. What does it refer to? Lets hope it takes all season to find out unlocking this shows mysteries is part of what makes it so addictive. Having massacred their corporate overlords, the android hosts are taking over the theme park, which opens the door (solved it!) for a deeper exploration of what lies in and beyond the park. Maybe well get to see the Samurai-themed Shogun World hinted at in season one? Knowing this show, the beyond will probably be something metaphysical, similar to last seasons reveal that the maze was the hosts dawning consciousness. CR

April 25, FX

Adam Reeds brilliant, anarchic animated series a mash-up of spy action and workplace comedy, populated by a cast of dysfunctional idiots has found a fascinating way to keep itself fresh in its later years. It put super-agent Sterling Archer (voiced by Bobs Burgers H. Jon Benjamin) into a coma, and let its most recent seasons play out in his head. Last year, he was trapped in a 50s film noir this year, its Danger Island, a pastiche of Golden Age adventure movies that finds our hero and his various enablers (voiced, as always, by Aisha Tyler, Chris Parnell, Jessica Walter, Amber Nash, Lucky Yates and the invaluable Judy Greer) smacking each other around French Polynesia in the spring of 1939. Yeah, its gonna be great. NW

April 29, Bravo

The biggest challenge for the second season of the Golden Globe-winning prestige series? Moving beyond the narrative of Margaret Atwoods 1985 novel. While showrunner Bruce Miller has said hell be reaching back to the book for certain sequences including flashbacks to the formation of Gilead most of season two explores territory beyond the ambiguous ending of Atwoods book, which means this year will be genuinely unpredictable. Elisabeth Moss has been telling everyone that this season is even darker than the last. And you thought that wasnt possible. NW

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