There are scores of TV shows out there, with dozens of new episodes each week, not to mention everything you can find on Hulu Plus, Netflix streaming, and HBO Go. How’s a viewer to keep up? To help you sort through all that television has to offer, Flavorwire is compiling the five best bets for the coming week. This week, TV’s favorite telenovela homage/spoof Jane the Virgin returns for a third season of hijinks; Amazon releases a new drama series from David E. Kelley; and the nation grits its teeth for one last presidential debate. Deep breaths, everyone.
Now: Please Like Me Season 3
In the first season of Please Like Me, a loosely autobiographical and eminently likeable Australian comedy, Josh (creator Josh Thomas) comes out as gay to the surprise of pretty much no one, and moves back home to take care of his mother, who suffers from depression and has just attempted suicide. It sounds heavy, I know, but the show maintains a light touch, mostly thanks to Thomas’s awkward-sweet charm. I also love how the show fully explores the lives of all its characters, including Josh’s separated parents and his father’s new wife. In the third season, Josh gets a new and very pretty boyfriend. As of this week, all ten episodes of Please Like Me‘s third season (along with the first two seasons) are available to stream on Hulu.
Today: Goliath
This excellent legal thriller starring Billy Bob Thornton is the first streaming series from creator David E. Kelley, who’s had a long track record of creating successful legal dramas (The Practice, Ally McBeal) for network TV. Thornton plays Billy McBride, a down-and-out lawyer who once upon a time co-founded a law firm that has become a global behemoth. He agrees to represent a woman whose brother died under mysterious circumstances while working for a giant aerospace company, setting up the show’s David-and-Goliath dynamic. The eight-episode first season is available to stream on Amazon Prime as of today.
Sunday: Graves
This new political comedy comes from Epix, a newbie in the premium cable game. Nick Nolte plays former Republican president Richard Graves, who’s widely regarded to be the worst president in the history of America. Decades after leaving office, he’s trotted out here and there to give a rousing speech and rally the Republican base. The series is a kind of liberal fantasy, imagining what might happen if a disgraced former Republican president actually expressed remorse over his administration’s actions. Sela Ward co-stars as his wife, Margaret, who’s toying with a Senate run. Graves premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. on Epix.
Monday: Jane the Virgin Season 3
It’s finally happening! After five long, sad, Jane-less months, Jane the Virgin returns Monday at 9 p.m. on the CW for a third season, and at last we’ll get some answers: Is Michael, who was shot just moments after marrying Jane in the second season finale, dead? What will become of Rogelio and Xo now that she’s pregnant with his enemy’s baby? How will Jane move forward with her writing career? Why isn’t it Monday already?!
Wednesday: Round Three
Here it is, folks. The final debate, held at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. This one will follow the same format as the first debate, with 15 minutes each devoted to six topics chosen by moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News; the topics this time around include immigration (eeeek!), the Supreme Court, foreign policy, and the national debt. The event kicks off at 9 p.m. EST, and you can stream it on YouTube, or a host of news sites, if you don’t have a TV.