From the Property Brothers’ latest HGTV show to a Cyndi Lauper documentary, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week
1. Fixer Upper: The Lakehouse – Sunday, June 2, Magnolia Network | Series Premiere
Chip and Joanna Gaines celebrate the 10th anniversary of Fixer Upper with this new spinoff series that finds them renovating a mid-century modern lakehouse near Lake Waco. Viewers will follow the full transformation of the property, from demo to design, as they go above and beyond with surprising interior designs and unique outdoor installations never before seen on their previous shows.
2. Mayor of Kingstown – Sunday, June 2, Paramount+ | Season Premiere
For all the pulse-pounding intrigue over the first two seasons of this series, none of it has quite held a candle to the real-life drama that befell star Jeremy Renner on New Year’s Day 2023, when the Oscar nominee was nearly killed after getting run over by his own seven-tonne snow plow. After a year-long recovery, he was able to suit up for season three as Mike McLusky — defacto “mayor” of a Michigan city where everything revolves around the prison biz, forcing Mike to serve as referee between the prisons, the politicians, the crooks and the cops. Yet that comeback was far from a sure thing. “To try to create some truth and then get the audience to believe it, while I’m just trying to learn to walk again, to put one foot in front of the other and not get up in agony . . . I’m doing all these things to find my footing on the planet again,” Renner told The Hollywood Reporter. “The idea of going into a fictional world . . . I had to really consider, ‘Is this something I really want to do?’ ” Luckily, the answer was yes! Now, as we open on season three, Kingstown is rocked by a slew of explosions, while the Russian mob moves in, and a drug war ignites on both sides of the prison walls.
3. Let the Canary Sing – Tuesday, June 4, Paramount+
Director Alison Ellwood profiles pop icon Cyndi Lauper in this boisterous documentary chronicling her meteoric ascent to stardom and the enduring impact of her music, ever-evolving punk style, unwavering feminism and tireless advocacy. Viewers can expect to be taken on an engaging exploration of a renowned and pioneering artist who has left a remarkable legacy with her art. “Over the years I’ve been asked to do a documentary about my life and work, but it never felt like the right time. Until now,” said Lauper in a statement. “When I first met Alison Ellwood, I knew right away I could trust her to tell my story honestly, which was incredibly important to me, and she succeeded in that.”
4. Jo Kay: Live from Brooklyn – Tuesday, June 4, Netflix
Fresh off hosting the Golden Globes, Jo Koy returns to Netflix for his fifth hour-long special. Filmed at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, this particular set finds the Tacoma-born funnyman riffing on emoji flirting, energy vampires, mumble rap and his surprise at being dubbed a “zaddy.”
5. Under Paris – Wednesday, June 5, Netflix
Having spent the past few years lending his visually arresting talents to hit TV crime dramas like Gangs of London and Lupin, French director Xavier Gens returns to his roots in horror. Here, the filmmaker behind notorious indie shocker Frontier(s) takes a page out of Spielberg’s playbook, unleashing a rogue shark on the City of Light.
As Paris gets ready to host the World Triathlon Championship, a troubled, grieving scientist (played by The Artist Oscar-nominee Bérénice Bejo) is tipped off by a young environmentalist (Anaïs Parello) that the athletes will have a fourth hurdle to contend with in this race — as a razor-toothed killing machine has invaded the Seine river.
Teaming up with a local “river cop” (Nassim Lyes), they try to keep the waters from running red.
6. Backed By the Bros – Wednesday, June 5, HGTV | Series Premiere
In their latest HGTV series, Property Brothers stars Drew and Jonathan Scott relinquish total control of renovations to advise bewildered entrepreneurs, short-term rental owners and residential developers on high-stakes investment properties. To get each project across the finish line in an unforgiving housing market, the twins will provide investors with their professional expertise, experience, invaluable insights and top-notch resources — if they’re willing to accept it.
7. Marlon Wayans: Good Grief – Thursday, June 6, Prime Video
The scion of a bona fide comedy dynasty, Marlon Wayans has been making us chuckle for several decades now — from sketch show In Living Color to Scary Movie to Fifty Shades of Black. He’s also shown a penchant for tackling more emotional material with Requiem for a Dream and, most recently, Ben Affleck’s Air.
Here, the youngest Wayans Brother returns to his roots as a standup with a fourth comedy special — but still gets more than a little dramatic.
Filmed at Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theater, Good Grief finds Marlon grappling with the recent loss of both his parents, finding joy in tragedy as he reflects on “how his father taught him to be a man, the requirements to join the ‘Dead Mama Club,’ the surprises you encounter when changing your aging parents’ diapers and who is the funniest Wayans.”
8. The 51st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards – Friday, June 7, Global & CBS
The Primetime Emmys naturally get all the buzz, yet despite the boundary-pushing creative achievements of prestige series like Mad Men, Succession, etc., it’s arguably “daytime” fare that forges a stronger bond with its viewers. Indeed, soap operas, cooking, home reno and chat shows become a part of our daily routine. And now, this Friday, we acknowledge the unsung role that daytime plays in our lives.
Amidst dozens of nominees, the only sure winners are the three lifetime achievement recipients. That would be celeb chef Lidia Bastianich (Lidia’s Kitchen), along with soap opera power couple Melody Thomas Scott (who plays Nikki on The Young and the Restless) and her husband, soap super-producer Edward J. Scott (both pictured above).
Said National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences president Adam Sharp: “We’ve long wanted to honour the legendary daytime duo of Melody Thomas Scott and her husband Edward J. Scott. With a combined 93 years of contributions to our community, they are true institutions in the world of daytime television. In addition, Lidia Bastianich’s astounding success combines her love of cooking while simultaneously entertaining millions each day . . .”
9. Becoming Karl Lagerfeld – Friday, June 7, Disney+ | Series Premiere
Based on Raphaëlle Bacqué’s biography, Kaiser Karl: The Life of Karl Lagerfeld, this limited series delves into the origin story of famed German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 at the age of 85.
As the series begins, Lagerfeld (played by Daniel Brühl) is a 38-year-old ready-to-wear designer, unknown to the general public but ready to make his mark in the world of high fashion. When he meets and falls in love with the sultry Jacques de Bascher (Théodore Pellerin), an ambitious and troubling young dandy, he dares to take on his friend (and rival) Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois), a genius of haute couture backed by businessman Pierre Bergé (Alex Lutz), head of the most prestigious fashion brand in the world. “Full of clan rivalries and ego battles, partying and decadence, tragic love affairs and magnificent friendships, this is the story of Kaiser Karl, and his frantic quest for recognition,” reads the series’ synopsis.
10. Criminal Minds: Evolution – Friday, June 7, Disney+ | Season Premiere
After Criminal Minds’ cancellation in 2020 after 15 seasons, the long-running network procedural returned a in pared-down version for Paramount+ (although it streams in Canada on Disney+), with cast members Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Adam Rodriguez and Paget Brewster reprising their roles.
The second arrives this week with two new episodes, followed by episodes dropping on subsequent Fridays. In addition to recurring guest star Felicity Huffman, Zach Gilford is back as the BAU’s nemesis, notorious UnSub Elias Volt, a.k.a. Sicarius.
The action picks up from the previous finale’s cliffhanger. “As the conspiracy unfolds, the BAU is met with an unexpected complication when serial killer Elias Voit negotiates a deal that transfers him to federal custody in the BAU’s own backyard,” reads the synopsis. “The team faces its biggest threat yet and cannot emerge unscathed from the mind-bending consequences.”