"Mrs. Maisel," "The Mandalorian" and More! Five Shows You Should Be Watching

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Prime Video)

Equal parts comedy and drama, this 1960s-set awards darling is stronger than ever in its final season with Miriam “Midge” Maisel, played by the ever-so-charming Emmy-winning Rachel Brosnahan, inching closer and closer to her dream of being a renowned headlining comedian. Each episode this season has featured prominent flash-forwards to the 1980s, showing where Midge, her career and her family are twenty years after the main storyline, with things apparently having taken turns for the worse along the way. (A falling out with manager Suzie (Alex Borstein), several divorces and estranged relationships with her two children among them.)

While there were some rushed loose ends tied up, like Luke Kirby and Stephanie Hsu’s departures from the show, they were necessary to keep the story moving in this final season, though they were both delightful in their roles and will be missed.

Only four episodes in, it’s hard to even guess how all of this will wrap up. But if past seasons are any measure, it will be an incredibly heartfelt, hilarious and entertaining journey right to the end..

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel streams new episodes Fridays on Prime Video

Succession (HBO)

Also in its final season, this Emmy-winning drama began with a bit of a slow burn as the Roy siblings went back to the drawing board to plot out their hostile takeover of Waystar Royco. Then the inciting incident in the series’ pilot -- Logan Roy having a life-threatening stroke -- came back full circle as he unexpectedly died en route to a meeting. Now Kendall, Roman, Siobhan and their associates are scheming and scrambling more than ever to grab all the power they can as the company begins its freefall.

Succession remains one of the most consistently ironclad series on television, from the sharp writing and direction to the knockout performances by the entire cast. It’s hard to cheer on these cutthroat, albeit damaged and vulnerable protagonists, but we’ll all be left guessing who will actually succeed until the finale. And even then, the story won't really end, will it? Media conglomerates are like that.

New episodes of Succession are telecast Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and stream the same-day on HBO Max.

Ghosts (CBS)

This underrated gem has somehow slipped under the Emmys' and Golden Globes’ radar, though the show itself and supporting cast member Brandon Scott Jones are two-time nominees at the Critics Choice Awards. Season two sees the grand opening of the Woodstone Bed & Breakfast, run by charming New York couple Sam and Jay, played by the equally delightful Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar, and the ongoing hijinks they encounter with their gallery of colorful live-in ghosts, which only Sam can see.

Ghosts continues to find new ways of introducing new characters without shoe-horning them in and developing characters that could very well come off as one-note because they’ve been stuck in their ways for decades, or in some cases, centuries. Nearly every performance is award-worthy, with standouts including Asher Grodman as the pantsless Wall Street bro Trevor, Danielle Pinnock as prohibition-era jazz singer Alberta Hayes, Rebecca Wisocky as the uptight, shade-throwing Lady of the House Hetty, and Román Zaragoza as the deadpan hopeless romantic and pizza-loving Sasappis.

New episodes of Ghosts debut Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS and stream the next day on Paramount+.

The Mandalorian (Disney+)

I don’t think anyone would disagree that 2023, so far, is the year of Pedro Pascal. After an incredible run in the first season of HBO’s The Last Of Us and a consistently funny turn as guest host on Saturday Night Live, Hollywood's hottest Latino leading man is back for the third season of The Mandalorian, helming that gleaming beskar armor with Grogu in his swaddle and a blaster and darksaber at his side.

The series picks up some time after we last saw Mandalorian Din Djarin, aka Mando in The Book of Boba Fett, as he seeks to reinstate his status as a true Mandalorian and find his and Grogu’s place in the galaxy while helping Bo Katan (Katie Sackhoff) retake Mandalore and lead the Mandalorians to rebuild their home planet. This series has slowly left behind its intimate storytelling and space-Western aesthetic for a more action-packed, planet-hopping epic, and it is now the cornerstone of Star Wars media (in addition to spy thriller Andor which you should also be watching). This season may have had one or two episodes that felt like side missions in a Mandalorian video game meant to do more world-building than plot development, but they were enjoyable nonetheless with surprising cameos from Christopher Lloyd, Jack Black, Ahmed Best (Jar-Jar Binks!) and Grammy and Emmy-winner Lizzo.

While its storyline is not as tight as the first season, or most of the second season, the third season of Mandalorian has remained entertaining as it continuously builds off the lore and legends of the Mandalorians and brings more of the animated properties to the live-action world of Star Wars.

The entire third season of The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+.

Barry (HBO)

The final season of this once-quirky, satirical comedy has become a full-fledged drama -- and we're loving every minute of it. Co-created by and starring Bill Hader, Barry is wrapping up the story of its titular character, a hitman-turned-actor who wants to leave his old life behind, but finds that dream constantly yanked from his hands. It's tough to see Barry suffer so much, because despite being morally gray, he somehow has his friends’ best interests at heart.

As if Hader didn’t have enough on his plate, he’s gone on to direct more and more of the series with some of the best action set pieces we’ve seen on the show, including that epic one-shot of Barry vs. a martial arts champion in season two. Hader and the rest of the core cast, including TV icon Henry Winkler, Sarah Goldberg and Anthony Carrigan deliver top-notch performances every episode. Carrigan’s NoHo Hank is following a similar journey as Barry, wanting to quit the game and live his happily ever after, but he keeps getting sucked back in and things keep taking turns for the worse. Carrigan is due an Emmy win.

New episodes of Barry premiere Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and are available to stream the same day on HBO Max.

Ed Martin contributed to this column.

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