Spring is officially here, and while we’re all eager to get outside, let’s be real: It’s not quite warm enough to push TV to the side just yet.
If you’re diverting part of your budget from streaming subscriptions to new annuals to plant, let us tell you the ONE you should keep for April: Netflix.
A quick note on our criteria: Since you may pivot to different platforms each month, we prioritize series that you can watch in their entirety in the current month. That’s why we’re highlighting the finale of Love Is Blind, even though the latest season premiered in March.
If you have a little extra cash after winning your NCAA basketball pool, we also have a suggestion for a second streamer that’s worth the money in April; scroll down to see which and why.
Noteworthy Original Series
Beef (Apr. 6)** **After Danny (Steven Yeun) and Amy (Ali Wong) are involved in a road rage incident, they both become obsessed with exacting vengeance on each other, to the exclusion of most other concerns in their lives. The supporting cast of this dark comedy includes Maria Bello and Ashley Park; prolific comedy writer Lee Sung Jin (FXX’s Dave, Tuca & Bertie) makes his series creator début.
Florida Man (Apr. 13) Making the leap from meme to series, Florida Man stars Édgar Ramirez as Mike Valentine, a former cop who returns to his home state to track down Delly (Abbey Lee) and return her to her boyfriend Moss (Emory Cohen), a Philadelphia Mob boss. Jason Bateman’s era as a Netflix star might be over for now with the end of Ozark last year, but he and the platform are still friendly: this title comes to us from his production company.
__Obsession __(Apr. 13) Josephine Hart’s 1991 novel Damage was already adapted, in 1992, as a feature film from Louis Malle; now it’s getting the series treatment. This time, our protagonist is William (Richard Armitage of the Hobbit films), an esteemed surgeon who falls into an affair with Anna (Charlie Murphy), who’s engaged to marry William’s son.
Love Is Blind (Season 4 finale drops April 14) One of Netflix’s marquee dating reality shows, Love Is Blind challenges singles to fall in love based on the connections they make through conversations in “pods” connected by opaque screens; singles see each other for the first time only after one accepts the other’s wedding proposal. This time, post-pod episodes will follow participants back to their lives in the Seattle area, and see which of them actually say “I do” at the altar.
__The Diplomat __(Apr 20) It’s a great time to be a fan of the many talented stars of The Americans: Matthew Rhys is currently headlining the second season of HBO’s Perry Mason, and now Keri Russell is the titular lead of The Diplomat, the newest political drama from Homeland alumna Debora Cahn. The series finds Russell playing an ambassador suddenly assigned to the U.K. in the midst of an international crisis.
__The Nurse __(Apr 27) This Danish series—from the producers of the Scandi noir crime drama The Chestnut Man, also streaming on Netflix—introduces us to nurse Pernille (Fanny Louise Bernth), who starts a new job and is initially dazzled by her colleague Christina (Josephine Park). However, Pernille soon comes to doubt Christina is the person she seems to be, and is driven to expose her.
Noteworthy Comedy Specials
My Name Is Mo’Nique (Apr 4) When Netflix first offered Mo’Nique the chance to headline her own comedy special on the platform, she was insulted by its initial lowball offer of $500,000; eventually, she filed a lawsuit against Netflix over it, alleging (among other things) discrimination and a pattern of underpaying Black women. …But the parties settled last year, and now Mo’Nique is bringing her standup comedy to the platform. Given the ease with which she has always called out her antagonists, this one should be unmissable.
__John Mulaney: Baby J __(Apr 25) Mulaney’s previous Netflix specials—New In Town (2012), The Comeback Kid (2015), and Kid Gorgeous At Radio City (2018)—are some of the most beloved of the last decade. And since one of the topics of The Comeback Kid is about his ambivalence about the idea of having children, the Mulaney of the past may be in conversation with the Mulaney of the present day, now father to toddler Malcolm.
Noteworthy Library Content
Alfred Hitchcock (Apr 1) HBO Max has defined itself, in part, by its robust library of vintage films, curated by its brand cousin Turner Classic Movies. This month, Netflix reaches back to the mid-20th century with a trio of titles from suspense master Alfred Hitchcock. In The Birds (1963), a seaside town is beset by avian terrorism. Marnie (1964) reunites Hitchcock with his Birds star Tippi Hedren, playing the titular character, bristling in her marriage to Mark (Sean Connery). And if you don’t know what happens in Psycho (1960), I’m not going to be the one to tell you.
The Original Bourne Trilogy (Apr 1) The attempts to extend the Bourne franchise—first with Jeremy Renner replacing Matt Damon, then with a fifth, past-prime film featuring Damon’s return —are experiments best forgotten. But the three Bourne movies starring Matt Damon as the titular amnesiac super-spy still slap so hard, and somehow every character actor you’ve ever liked passes through for their turn to get absolutely wrecked by Bourne himself.
Friday Night Lights (Apr 1) Before it was a TV series beloved enough to have spawned multiple recap podcasts by its former stars, Friday Night Lights was a feature film, based on reporting H.G. Bissinger published in the book of the same name. Director Peter Berg (who went on to produce the show) hews more closely to the factual elements of the book, setting his story of the dedicated Permian Panthers football stars in Odessa, Texas, not the fictional Dillon; but both takes feature Connie Britton as the Coach’s long-suffering wife.
__Inside Man __(Apr 1) Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) is our narrator and protagonist in this story of an elaborate—and, by his own description, “perfect”—heist on a Wall Street bank. The plot surprises with every twist of Russell Gewirtz’s script, which is directed by Spike Lee. The film reunites Lee with his frequent star Denzel Washington as Keith Frazier, the detective tasked to make sure a particular power broker’s safe deposit box doesn’t get robbed.
__Smokey And The Bandit __(Apr 1) Bo “The Bandit” Darville (Burt Reynolds) and Cledus “The Snowman” Snow (Jerry Reed) are enlisted to bootleg beers from Texarkana to Atlanta, for consumption following a car racing event. Evading detection by the cops was going to be hard enough before Carrie (Sally Field) hops into Bandit’s car in her flight from her own wedding: turns out her would-be groom is the son of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), Bandit’s foe. (Netflix will also be streaming Smokey And The Bandit II starting April 1, but…you can skip it.)
__Zombieland __(Apr 1) As of this writing, the miniseries The White House Plumbers has yet to announce a premiere date on HBO. But while we all wait, why not check out an earlier project from its creator Ruben Fleischer and star Woody Harrelson? In Zombieland, Harrelson plays “Tallahassee,” so named for his hometown; he’s one of few survivors of a zombie apocalypse that has ravaged the U.S. As the film goes on, he reluctantly joins with a few other survivors: “Columbus” (Jesse Eisenberg), and sisters “Wichita” (Emma Stone) and “Little Rock” (Abigail Breslin). Tallahassee’s rules for surviving—such as “Check the back seat,” “Don’t be a hero,” and “Double-knot your shoes”—continue to be relevant even in a non-zombie environment.
*__Better Call Saul __*Season 6 (Apr 18) The Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul is one of the most treasured pieces of library content on Netflix, and finally you will be able to stream the entire series when the final season is added April 18. How did (somewhat) reformed con artist Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) turn into the unscrupulous but endlessly resourceful lawyer we got to know when he represented the lead meth cooks of Breaking Bad? Better Call Saul tells the tale.
Titles Leaving In March
__New Girl __(Apr 9)Not so long ago, Netflix executives were citing New Girl as a touchstone for the platform’s own original programming. But now the charming story of single weirdo Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and her roommates Nick (Jake Johnson), Winston (Lamorne Morris), and Schmidt (Max Greenfield) is departing Netflix! Starting this month, if you want to revisit all the adorkable fun, you’re going to need a login for Hulu or Peacock.
__Ash vs. Evil Dead __(Apr 28) Planning a full-franchise Evil Dead rewatch before Evil Dead Rise hits theaters April 20? Maybe put this short-lived Starz series on the schedule first, because Netflix is about to lose it. Developed by original Evil Dead mastermind Sam Raimi (with Ivan Raimi and Tom Spezialy), this iteration is set around 30 years after the original film trilogy, and follows the titular Ash (Bruce Campbell) as he reluctantly returns to the fight against demons.
Den Of Thieves(Apr 30) Maybe you missed this one in its theatrical run since it was dumped in theaters in January 2018. But rectify that oversight while you still can. Ray Merrimen (Pablo Schreiber) leads a group of Marine combat veterans; after their military careers, they’ve pivoted to become an extraordinarily disciplined crew of thieves. Gerard Butler plays Nick O’Brien of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Major Crimes Unit, who’s just about as crooked as Ray or any of his guys. The climactic showdown is not to be missed.
__Road To Perdition __(Apr 30) Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Sam Mendes’s film stars Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan Sr., an enforcer for Chicago’s Irish Mob and surrogate son to John Rooney (Paul Newman), the local boss. When Rooney’s hothead son Connor (a pre-Bond Daniel Craig) screws up a meeting and gets people killed, Michael goes on the run with his son, Michael Jr. (a pre-CW Superman Tyler Hoechlin). Newman earned his last Oscar nomination for his performance.
__Scott Pilgrim vs. The World __(Apr 30) Scott (Michael Cera) falls in love at first sight with Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) after having seen her in a dream, but the path to their happy ending could not have more impediments. Scott, 22, fails to break up with his 17-year-old girlfriend Knives Chau (Ellen Wong) before pursuing Ramona. And Ramona informs Scott that he is also going to have to defeat her seven evil exes before they can get together. This 2010 film is a who’s who of who’s about to blow up and/or get absorbed into the MCU: Kieran Culkin, Mae Whitman, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, and Brie Larson are just a handful.
Your best bet for a second platform in April? Hulu
- 04/01: American Psycho
- 04/01: High Fidelity (2000)
- 04/01: Lincoln
- 04/07: The New York Times Presents: The Legacy Of J Dilla
- 04/07: Medieval (2022)
- 04/12: The 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards
- 04/13: Flux Gourmet
- 04/17: New Girl (complete series)
- 04/19: Algiers, America
- 04/20: Quasi
- 04/27: There There
Titles leaving the platform:
- 04/13: The Last Duel
- 04/14: Hobo With A Shotgun
- 04/30: The Cable Guy
- 04/30: The Expendables, The Expendables 2, and The Expendables 3
- 04/30: Jiro Dreams Of Sushi
- 04/30: The Town