From a special celebrating the 50th anniversary of SNL to the return of The White Lotus, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Now You Know BC – Saturday, February 15, CHEK

Known to his 80,000-plus Instagram followers as BC Bob, Bob Kronbauer is making the leap from social media to television screens with this new local series that “uncovers hidden gems, fascinating historical tales, and extraordinary people across British Columbia,” per the CHEK press release. “We’re going to explore stories you didn’t know you needed to hear, places you may have never visited, and people who’ve shaped our province in surprising ways,” Kronbauer said of this new homegrown series celebrating our province. “CHEK, with its own rich history in B.C. media, is the perfect home for this show.”

2. SNL50: The Anniversary Special – Sunday, February 16, Global & NBC

Viewers will experience a star-studded evening of laughter and nostalgia as NBC presents a primetime extravaganza celebrating the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live.

Preceded by a one-hour red carpet special (4 p.m. on NBC, 7 p.m. on Global), this three-hour television event is being broadcast live across multiple time zones, looking back at the history of the late-night comedy series that premiered way back in 1975. While special guests are being kept under wraps, expectations are high.

“No word yet on whether any one person will host the big night, or if members of SNL’s Five-Timers Club will be there,” notes a press release from NBC. “That said, you can bet that many friends of the show will take the stage, including current and former cast and other familiar faces.”

The spectacular special that aired in 2015 in celebration of the show’s 40th anniversary was a blockbuster, featuring dozens of cast members, a celebrity-filled audience and musical performances from the likes of Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Miley Cyrus, so it’s a safe assumption that this half-century gala will be even more star-studded.

Of course, the real highlight will be the opportunity to revisit some of the show’s most iconic sketches, a lengthy list that includes such classics as Dan Aykroyd’s gory, blood-spewing impersonation of Julia Child, Christopher Walken pleading with Will Ferrell for “more cowbell,” and the late Chris Farley’s outrageous audition to be a Chippendales dancer, among many others.

Meanwhile, 80-year-old series creator Lorne Michaels has quashed rumours that he’ll retire after season 50. “I’m going to do it as long as I feel I can do it,” he recently told The New York Times.

3. American Murder: Gabby Petito – Monday, February 17, Netflix | Series Premiere

In August 2021, 22-year-old Gabby Petito was strangled to death by her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in the midst of a four-month road trip across America, documenting their “van life” journey on social media. Days after she was reported missing, Laundrie was dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, while his parents were suspected of assisting him in trying to cover up Petito’s murder. As the details unfolded, this horrific crime captivated the world. 

“American Murder: Gabby Petito, a new three-part documentary series, goes beyond the media frenzy to let Petito’s family and friends share her story,” notes a Netflix press release. “Illustrated with real text messages, video footage, and excerpts from Petito’s personal journals, the series captures the reality of a young woman enmeshed in an abusive relationship behind closed doors — even as she put on a happy, ‘Insta-perfect’ face for social media.” Click here to watch trailer.

4. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story – Monday, February 17, BritBox | Series Premiere  

A new limited series from the U.K. tells the tragic real-life tale of Ruth Ellis (played here by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Lucy Boynton) — a model and escort who was the toast of London’s nightlife, eventually becoming the city’s youngest club manager at age 28.

Yet as glamorous as she seemed on the outside, privately Ruth was trapped in an abusive relationship with race car driver David Blakely (Laurie Davidson) . . . until finally, on Easter Sunday 1955, she shot her abuser dead in the street.

After turning herself in to police, despite clear evidence of abuse, Ruth was charged with murder instead of manslaughter, swiftly convicted and summarily condemned to death via “a system that judged her for far more than her crime.”

Luckily, she would be the last woman ever executed in England, as her case became a rallying cry to abolish the death penalty.

Based on Carol Ann Lee’s nonfiction tome A Fine Day for a Hanging, this four-part drama boasts a supporting cast that includes Black Sails’ Toby Stephens, Game of Thrones’ Mark Stanley, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s Toby Jones as Ruth’s solicitor, John Bickford.

5. The White Lotus – Sunday, February 16, HBO Canada

As our fair province is mired in the doldrums of winter and the anarchy of politics, it’s high time to book an exotic televisual vacation. On that note, HBO’s Emmy-magnet dramedy returns for more ennui in the sun.

After trips to Hawaii and Italy, in season three creator Mike White whisks us away to Thailand, where yet another White Lotus resort awaits. Once again, we’ll follow an eclectic array of tourists and staff as they grapple with personal, romantic and existential crises. Continuing the show’s knack for attracting A-list talent, this year’s ensemble includes Walton Goggins (Justified) as a “rugged man with a chip on his shoulder” who’s travelling with his free-spirited, much younger girlfriend (Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood); Michelle Monaghan (True Detective), Carrie Coon (The Leftovers) and Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale) as three old friends charting a long-overdue girls trip; Jason Isaacs (Archie) as a rich businessman on holiday with his wife (Lost in Space’s Parker Posey) and three kids (Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sam Nivola and Sarah Catherine Hook); and Thai legend Lek Patravadi as one of the White Lotus’ owners, who happens to be a pioneer in the field of wellness.Meanwhile, returning to the cast is Natasha Rothwell as Belinda, the White Lotus Hawaii staffer/aspiring spa owner from season one.

Speaking about what sorts of conundrums and misadventures the characters will face in Thailand, as well as what sets chapter three apart, White teased after last year’s finale: “The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex. I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.” Click here to watch trailer.

6. Rosebud Baker: The Mother Lode – Tuesday, February 18, Netflix

Rising New York comic Rosebud Baker delivers a most intimate and unusual standup set, exploring the “chaotic beauty” of motherhood. The twist? Half the special was filmed while she was still pregnant, the other half after she’d given birth.

7. Win or Lose – Wednesday, February 19, Disney+ | Series Premiere

Launching the first-ever original TV show not tied to one of their big-screen films, Pixar again showcases its unique talent for blending sincerity and absurdity with the tale of the Pickles — a kids’ softball team scrambling to prepare for the big championship game.

Set in the week leading up to the match, each of this series’ eight episodes will adopt the POV of a different character — from the team’s coach to a lovesick umpire to the diverse roster of players to those players’ high-strung helicopter parents — resulting in a narrative pastiche that the folks at Disney+ describe as “incredibly funny, very emotional and uniquely animated.”

The voice cast includes Saturday Night Live great Will Forte as Coach Dan, along with comedians Flula Borg and Lil Rel Howery, Better Call Saul star Rhea Seehorn and more. Click here to watch trailer.

8. Reacher – Thursday, February 20, Prime Video | Season Premiere

As brainy as he is brawny, former military policeman turned do-gooding drifter Jack Reacher is back on the case for a third season. 

Based on author Lee Child’s 2003 novel Persuader, it finds Reacher (Alan Ritchson) going undercover in Boston, infiltrating a criminal organization to extract a DEA informant. There, per Amazon’s press release, “he finds a world of secrecy and violence — and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.”

According to multiple reports, that unfinished business takes the form of Quinn (played by Chicago Med alum Brian Tee), an ex-military operative Jack once investigated for selling secrets. Also joining the cast on the bad guy front is Anthony Michael Hall as shady businessman Zachary Beck.

Season two saw Reacher assemble the surviving members of his old Special Investigators unit after someone began picking them off one by one. Alas, don’t expect that fan-fave team to stay together for season three. As showrunner Nick Santora told The Hollywood Reporter after the last finale: “What I can say is the spirit of Reacher is that he is a loner and a ‘drifting hobo,’ to use Reacher’s terminology. So, Reacher is never going to have a band of merry folks that travel along with him and help him solve crimes, and have adventures. The DNA of Reacher is that he moves about on his own and teams up with good people when there’s bad lurking about, and then he says goodbye to those people and goes on his way. That’s what we’re always trying to stay true to.” Yet at least one familiar face will be by our hero’s side. Maria Sten is set to return as Reacher’s former Army comrade turned private eye Frances Neagley, before she’s spun off into a series all her own. As for new recruits, The Last Kingdom’s Sonya Cassidy has been cast as Sarah Duffy — a tough, witty and wicked-smart Boston DEA agent. Click here to watch trailer.

9. A Thousand Blows – Friday, February 21, Disney+ | Series Premiere

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight plunges us into another historical criminal underworld, this time in London’s East End circa the 1880s.

Here, a Jamaican immigrant named Hezekiah Moscow (Small Axe’s Malachi Kirby) arrives in town alongside his best pal Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), and must fight for survival on the mean streets. And to be clear, that’s not a figure of speech. Hezekiah, you see, is sucked into the lucrative yet deadly business of bare-knuckle boxing. It’s a career move that brings our scrappy young hero into the orbit of several tough customers, including Mary Carr (The Crown’s Erin Doherty), leader of all-female gang The Forty Elephants, and ruthless veteran pugilist Sugar Goodson (Boardwalk Empire’s Stephen Graham) — who quickly becomes a rival both in and out of the ring. Click here to watch trailer.

10. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy – Friday, February 21, Prime Video

Two-time Oscar-winner Renée Zellweger dusts off one of her career-defining roles.

Debuting directly on streamer Prime Video in Canada, this fourth film in the British rom-com franchise opens to find Bridget Jones single once more following the death of husband Mark Darcy (Colin Firth, who seemingly pops up via flashbacks here). Between raising her kids and the demands of her job, dating isn’t exactly easy. But soon enough, Bridget finds herself with not one, but two potential suitors after she catches the eye of a studly 29-year-old (The White Lotus alum Leo Woodall) and her son’s teacher (12 Years a Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor).

Once again, bittersweet romantic calamity ensues . . . but Bridget is certainly used to that sort of thing by now. 

At the movie’s London premiere, Zellweger was asked by Variety about crafting a screen romance with a much younger man, and replied: “I mean, I think it’s nothing new. But maybe the social taboos are melting away . . . it’s never a bad thing. There’s certain things that we probably don’t need to have opinions about, and where people find love . . . why would that ever be a problem?”

Also reprising their roles are Hugh Grant as our heroine’s philandering former lover/boss Daniel Cleaver; Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as her parents; and Emma Thompson as Dr. Rawlings. Click here to watch trailer.