The week ahead, April 6-12: Emmy season is upon us

Some actual breaking news in the TV/streaming world happened over the weekend, and it was good: The Writers Guild of America reached a tentative deal with studios and streamers on a new, four-year contract. After the bitter strike of 2023 — and with the number of available jobs for writers shrinking as media companies pull back on production — it was a surprise that this deal came so early (the current contract is up May 1), but possibly a welcome one.

Neither the union nor the studio side are saying much about the details yet, but the WGA went into negotiations looking for higher contributions to its health plan (which were badly needed), greater protections against AI training on writers’ work and increased residuals for reuse in streaming, along with the usual pay raises and other things that build on the current deal.

The four-year term is also unusual — the big Hollywood unions typically have done three-year contracts in the past.

Directors and actors are still negotiating their next deals. SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, said in March early talks failed to reach a deal but that negotiations would continue later in the spring before its contract ends June 30. The Directors Guild usually keeps things quiet but is known for reaching agreements before the deadline.

There’s also, of course, a trickle-down effect: If those unions reach agreements, it means productions will keep rolling and that thousands of crew members will also keep working (IATSE, the main union for below-the-line crew, is on a contract that runs through July 2027). Here’s hoping everyone can make a fair deal that keeps things going (and that the WGA gets right with its own staff union, which is on strike).

(Incidentally, all the links above go to stories by my Hollywood Reporter colleague Katie Kilkenny, who in my opinion is the best there is covering labor issues in the entertainment business.)

Onto what’s coming this week: There are eight weeks until the cutoff for shows to be considered for this year’s Emmy Awards, which means that you’ll see a bunch of shows premiering in April and early May in order to make the deadline. It starts this week with shows like Hacks, Euphoria and The Boys (which you might not think of as a serious awards contender but has won Emmys for stunts and original music in the past).

It’s less of an issue for binge releases, obviously, but outside of Netflix most streaming services still do weekly episodes for much of the time. So expect the calendar to get crowded in the next few weeks.

Here are some things to watch in the next week. Times listed are ET/PT unless noted otherwise.

Monday
Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord (Disney+) - An animated series set after The Clone Wars and centered on, as the title implies, Darth Maul.

Tuesday
A Taste for Murder (BritBox)
9 p.m.: Lucy Worsley Investigates: The American Revolution (PBS) - The British historian looks at the Revolution from her side of the Atlantic.

Wednesday
The Boys (Prime Video) - The final season of the anti-superhero drama kicks off with two episodes.
The Testaments (Hulu) - A sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, starring One Battle After Another breakout Chase Infiniti as a young woman coming of age in the still extant Gilead. Handmaid’s regular Ann Dowd reprises her role.
Trust Me: The False Prophet (Netflix) - True crime doc series about a polygamist sect.
8 p.m.: The Floor (Fox)

Thursday
Hacks (HBO Max) - It’s the final season for the Emmy-winning comedy, picking up with Deborah (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) after Deborah walked away from her late-night show.
Big Mistakes (Netflix) - Schitt’s Creek star and co-creator Dan Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who fall into organized crime for … reasons. Levy and Rachel Sennott (HBO’s I Love LA) created the show.
The Miniature Wife (Peacock) - Or Honey, I Shrunk You. Elizabeth Banks is the wife in question, made tiny by her husband (Matthew Macfadyen).

Friday
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair (Hulu) - A four-episode, mini-revival of the great early ‘00s comedy that brings the family back together for Hal and Lois’ (Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek) 40th anniversary. Malcolm (Frankie Muniz), now the father of a teenage girl, really doesn’t want to go.
Temptation Island (Netflix)

Sunday
9 p.m.: Euphoria (HBO) - The third season of the buzzy drama is premiering four years after the last one aired, and will also jump ahead several years within the story. Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney and the late Eric Dane are all back.
9 p.m.: The Audacity (AMC) - Billy Magnussen stars as a tech CEO grasping to keep his company afloat. Sarah Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis and Simon Helberg are also in the cast.

Monday
8 p.m.: Extracted (Fox) - Fox will air the World Cup in June and July, so the rest of its regular season TV calendar is moving up some. Several shows are ending in April (instead of May) and summer shows will start later this month.
9 p.m.: Memory of a Killer (Fox)

Tuesday
8 p.m.: Best Medicine (Fox)

Sunday
8:30 p.m.: Universal Basic Guys (Fox) - See what I mean?

(If a movie listed below doesn’t have a network or streamer listed next to it, that means it’s available for rental or purchase on demand.)

Monday
8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT: Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN (ESPN) - A look at the origins of the founding of ESPN in the late ‘70s.
8:50 p.m. ET/5:50 p.m. PT: NCAA Men’s Championship (TBS/TNT) - I came in second in my group’s bracket pool this year after picking Arizona to take the title. They got housed Saturday by Michigan, so my nephew (a UM alum) won the pot. Michigan faces UConn in the final from Indianapolis.

Tuesday
The Bride! - Maggie Gyllenhaal’s take on Frankenstein stars recent Oscar winner Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale.
EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert - Baz Lurhmann, who directed the Elvis biopic a few years ago, restored footage from 1970s concert films Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour to a level of clarity (visual and aural) that, based on reviews, is pretty stunning. The movie also includes several segments of Presley discussing his career and life.
The Addiction of Hope - Anne-Marie Johnson, Harley Jane Kozak, Clancy Brown and Erika Alexander star in this indie about an actress (Johnson) facing some big decisions when her sister (Kozak) gets sick.

Friday
Outcome (Apple TV) - Keanu Reeves plays an actor who’s being blackmailed and has to make amends with everyone he’s done wrong. Cameron Diaz, Matt Bomer and Jonah Hill (who directed and co-wrote the film with Ezra Woods) also star.

• The first weekend of Coachella starts Friday. Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G are the nightly headliners (and are for the second weekend too). The festival will live stream on YouTube, if you’re into that sort of thing.

• The NBA regular season ends Sunday, with all 30 teams playing at either 6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. ET. As of now, though, the games are only set to run on NBA League Pass, not any of the national broadcasters (NBC is airing an MLB game Sunday night).

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