Rueben's Ramblings

Here is the list of the programming options to expect on TV this coming week:

On May 11, This Is Us will be back with the start of its final 3 episodes on NBC at 9 PM while on that same night, the season finale of Mayans M.C. will air on FX at 10 PM.

The limited series Halston will debut online on Netflix on May 14. Ewan McGregor will star in the Ryan Murphy series about the legendary fashion designer Halston (born Roy Halston Frowick). The series will follows Halston as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide fashion empire that’s synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era he lives in, 1970’s and ‘80’s New York – until a hostile takeover forces him to battle for control of his most precious asset – the name Halston itself. The cast will include Krysta Rodriguez as Liza Minnelli, Vera Farmiga as Adele, Bill Pullman as David Mahoney and Rory Culkin as Joel Schumacher [among others].

Also on May 14, the Amazon limited series The Underground Railroad will debut online. The series chronicles Cora Randall’s (newcomer Thuso Mbedu) desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Over the course of her journey, Cora is pursued by Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), a bounty hunter who is fixated on bringing her back to the plantation she escaped; especially since her mother Mabel is the only one he has never caught. As she travels from state to state, Cora contends with the legacy of the mother that left her behind and her own struggles to realize a life she never thought was possible. The cast includes Joel Edgerton, Lily Rabe, William Jackson Harper, Damon Herriman and Will Poulter.

The feature film Those Who Wish Me Dead will debut on HBO Max on May 14. The film centers around a young teenage boy who witnesses the murder of his father near a large national forest. Pursued by assassins intent on silencing him, the boy soon meets a veteran fire warden and wilderness survival expert who offers him shelter in her lookout tower. When the assassins set fire to the forest in order to cover their tracks, the pair must both survive a deadly blaze that threatens to consume them and outwit the killers on their trail. The cast includes Angelina Jolie, Jon Bernthal, Tory Kittles, Nicholas Hoult, Aidan Gillen, Tyler Perry, Jake Weber and Finn Little.

Also on May 14, the second season of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series will debut on Disney+ online.

The box office movie The Woman in the Window will debut online on Netflix on May 14. An agoraphobic psychologist (Amy Adams) befriends a neighbor (Julianne Moore) across the street from her New York City brownstone condo, only to see her own life turned upside down when the woman disappears and she suspects foul play. The cast includes Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell, Brian Tyree Henry and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Also on May 14, the two-hour season finale of Blue Bloods will air on CBS at the special time of 9 PM.

The Hallmark Channel movie Sweet Carolina will debut on May 15 at 8 PM. Marketing executive, Josie (Lacey Chabert), returns home when she becomes the unexpected guardian of her niece and nephew. While there, she reconnects with Cooper (Tyler Hynes), her high school boyfriend.

On May 16, the UPtv original film Cooking Up Love will debut at 7 PM. On a lark, Zoey (relative newcomer Rachel Bles) rents a food truck and enters a reality TV competition. Heat rises between her and the handsome founder of a fast food chain (Stephen Huszar from the Ruby Herring Mysteries movie franchise), but when Zoey finds out he’s a judge in the contest, things quickly fizzle. Zoey’s determined to win fair and square and she suspects ‘Mr-Too-Good-To-Be-True’ is really after her sauce recipe, not her heart.

The movie Poisoned in Paradise: A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery will debut on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on May 16 at 8 PM. Jesse Metcalfe and Sarah Lind return in the franchise movie, which this time focuses on what happens when a local waitress is found dead on the beach and a mysterious deposit appears in Zee’s bank account, Martha’s Vineyard proves to be all but the simple, scenic life Jeff Jackson was after.

Also on May 16, the 3-part 2018 limited series Death and Nightingales, based on the 1992 Eugene McCabe novel, will debut on Starz at 9 PM. The series illustrates the 24-hour period of young Beth Winters’ 23rd birthday (Ann Skelly from The Nevers) in Fermanagh, 1885, as she decides to elope with the handsome Liam (Jamie Dornan from the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise) to escape her claustrophobic life and violent stepfather (Matthew Rhys from Perry Mason and The Americans). Decades of family anger and tragedy come to a head, as Beth struggles both to gain personal independence and to make sense of her complex identity. This struggle is illustrated on the most intimate level between a girl and her father, while also writ large in the political yet deeply emotional tensions tearing her community and nation apart around her.

Lastly, on May 16, the season premiere of Good Witch will air on the Hallmark Channel at 9 PM; The Nevers will air its mid-season finale on HBO at 9 PM; City on a Hill will air its season finale on 9 PM on Showtime; the finale of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist will air on NBC at 9 PM and The Rookie will air its finale on ABC at 10 PM.

Mark your calendars!