“Bridgerton” and more
The series highlights for the month of May
Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan – also known by her pseudonym Lady Whistledown – is at the center of the action in the new “Bridgerton” episodes.
© Laurence Cendrowicz/Netflix
May has exciting new starts in store for subscribers of major streaming services. The series tips at a glance.
After an agonizingly long break of over two years for fans, the hugely popular romantic historical series “Bridgerton” is finally returning to screens in May. This time none other than Lady Whistledown is looking for true love. Meanwhile, ARD is showing possibly the most exciting German series production of the year.
The most high-profile series restarts and new series seasons in May at a glance.
“A Whole Guy”: From May 2nd on Netflix
About a year after the end of the great business series “Succession” starts Netflix with “A Whole Guy” is a potential successor. In the show by “Big Little Lies” and “The Undoing” maker David E. Kelley (68), veteran star Jeff Daniels (69) plays a real estate mogul named Charlie Croker. His business empire in the US city of Atlanta begins to falter when he suddenly finds himself facing bankruptcy. As a result, the weakened business tycoon has to defend himself against attacks from all sides.
The new, six-part miniseries “A Whole Guy” features a veritable star ensemble. In addition to the double Emmy award winner Daniels, there are also “Kill Bill” and “Charlie’s Angels” star Lucy Liu (55), Tom Pelphrey (41), known from “Ozark”, and the famous character actor Bill Camp (“Das Queen’s Gambit”, 62) and cinema legend Diane Lane (59) in front of the camera. The latter embodies the extremely dangerous ex-wife of the main character. Oscar winner Regina King (“Beale Street”, “Watchmen”, 53) directed three of the six episodes of “A Whole Guy”.
“The Doubts”: From May 3rd in the ARD media library
The remarkable German series “Die Zweiflers” starts on May 3rd in the ARD media library. The production by series creator David Hadda just received the festival’s main prize as “Best Series” at the Canneseries Festival.
It tells the story of the Jewish-German Zweifler family, who have been running a successful delicatessen in Frankfurt’s Bahnhofsviertel for decades. But family patriarch Symcha Zweifler (Mike Burstyn, 78), who himself experienced the Holocaust as a child, is planning to sell the traditional company, much to the dismay of subsequent generations. Meanwhile, his grandson and chosen successor Samuel (Aaron Altaras, 28) gets to know and love the cook Saba (Saffron Coomber, 29). When the young couple has a baby on the way, Samuel seems to have to choose between his Jewish origins and a potential new life away from his family.
For “The Doubts,” series maker Hadda was able to hire a highly heterogeneous acting ensemble. For example, viewers might know lead actor Aaron Altaras from the Netflix miniseries “Unorthodox.” The Israeli actor Mark Ivanir (55), who plays his father Jackie Horovitz, took part in the historical series “Babylon Berlin”, and Mike Burstyn, the actor who plays the head of the family, Symcha Zweifler, is a big star of the Yiddish theater in the USA. All of them and a few other well-known faces such as the Swiss actress Sunnyi Melles (“Triangle of Sadness”, 65) come together in front of the camera for the captivating portrait of a family.
From May 10th, “Die Zweiflers” will also be broadcast on ARD’s linear program.
“Bridgerton”: on Netflix from May 16th
The romantic historical series “Bridgerton” is one of the most popular Netflix productions ever. Both seasons one and two that have been released so far have been able to do so place in the all-time top ten list of the most popular English-language Netflix series. The eagerly awaited third season of the show, behind the production company of “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes (54), starts on May 16th.
The third “Bridgerton” season deviates from the order of the original novels for the first time. Instead of focusing on Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson, 35) search for true love, the novel “Penelope’s Spicy Secret” is adapted. At the center of the plot are Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan, 37) and her long-time crush Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton, 31).
While Colin Bridgerton returns from his big trip through Europe in the new episodes a changed man, Penelope Featherington wants to get married in order to escape her unloved sisters and especially her domineering mother Portia (Polly Walker, 57). But their efforts initially seem rather clumsy. Her childhood friend Colin Bridgerton wants to help and instructs her in the art of sophisticated flirting. Will the two lovable characters grow closer as Colin’s lessons progress?
The third season of “Bridgerton” offers a reunion with numerous popular characters such as Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel, 53), Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh, 61) or the lovers from the previous season consisting of Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey, 35) and his wife Kate (Simone Ashley, 29). New to the cast is Hannah Dodd (28), who takes over the role of Francesca Bridgerton from Ruby Stokes (23). Unfortunately, Phoebe Dynevor (29) will not return as Daphne Bridgerton in season three.
The new “Bridgerton” season will be released in two parts on Netflix. Four episodes start on May 16th, the remaining four episodes will appear on June 13th, concluding the new season.
“A Gentleman in Moscow”: From May 17, 2024 on Paramount+
On May 17th, “A Gentleman in Moscow”, a historical series that is well worth seeing, starts on May 17th and stars Ewan McGregor (53). In the show on the streaming service Paramount+, the “Star Wars” and “Moulin Rouge!” star embodies the Russian aristocrat Count Alexander Rostov, who is placed under house arrest in the Moscow Hotel Metropol for the rest of his life after the October Revolution of 1917. In the luxury hotel, Rostov meets a number of colorful characters and endures his terrible fate with dignity.
The eight-part miniseries “A Gentleman in Moscow” is carried by the formidable lead actor Ewan McGregor. He plays the main character, imprisoned in a luxury prison, with a lot of idiosyncratic charm and a deep melancholy. The main actor is supported by his wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead (39). She embodies film star Anna Urbanova, with whom Count Alexander begins a relationship.