'Stranger Things,' 'Hacks' Among May Streaming Recommendations

by Julian Spivey

Photos: Netflix, Hulu & HBO

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The Pentaverate – Netflix – May 4
Comedies where Mike Myers plays multiple roles are hit or miss, but it’s been so long since we’ve seen the ‘SNL’ and ‘Austin Powers’ great do it that it feels like nostalgia to see him try it again. In Netflix’s “The Pentaverate,” premiering Wednesday, May 4, Myers stars as a Canadian journalist looking into a secret society created by five men in 1347 that has influenced important world events ever since. Myers also plays six other roles in the series that also co-stars Keegan-Michael Key and Ken Jeong. 

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Hacks: Season 2 – HBO Max – May 12
The best new comedy series of 2021 was HBO Max’s “Hacks,” featuring Emmy-winner Jean Smart as veteran stand-up comedian Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels, a down-on-her-luck comedy writers tasked with helping Deborah modernize her sets. Smart and Einbinder share perfect chemistry and “Hacks” is one of the most smartly written series on streaming. The only disappointment of the upcoming second season, premiering Thursday, May 12, is its only eight episodes long. 

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Conversations With Friends – Hulu – May 15
One of my favorite TV limited series of the last few years was Hulu’s adaptation of author Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” in 2020, so it’s my hope that Hulu’s newest adaptation of a Rooney novel, “Conversations With Friends,” is similar in quality. Premiering Sunday, May 15, this limited series stars Joe Alwyn, Jemima Kirke, Alison Oliver and Sasha Lane in a story where two university students befriend an older married couple and end up intertwined in secrets, affairs and unforeseeable revelations, according to insider.com. 

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Stranger Things: Season 4 – Netflix – May 27
It’s been nearly three years since the third season of “Stranger Things” debuted on Netflix, so fans are extremely hungry for the long-awaited fourth season, which drops its first part or a two-part season on Friday, May 27. I’m sure these Hawkins, Ind. teens are going to look like 30-year olds by now! Season four of “Stranger Things” is supposedly going to be the darkest season yet, though there’s not a whole lot of news on plot. The show will see a major influx of new characters, though, and episodes have reportedly cost about $30 million to make. 

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Pistol – Hulu – May 31
Director Danny Boyle is bringing the story of British punk royalty The Sex Pistols to Hulu in an adaptation of Pistols guitarist Steve Jones’ memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol. The six-part limited series will see the band’s rise to prominence and notoriety and feature Toby Wallace in the lead as Jones, with Anson Boon as Johnny Rotten, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious and Jacob Slater as Paul Cook.