TV
Big events: The Girlfriend Experience (April 10, Super Channel); Dice (April 10, The Movie Network).
Big picture: It’s Pretty Woman meets HBO’s Billions. Riley Keough (Magic Mike) plays Christine Reade, an ambitious law student who falls down the rabbit hole into the luxurious, seedy world of highend escorts. She provides “the girlfriend experience” to wealthy clients, drawn to the control, intimacy, cash — and seemingly endless private yacht trips and $1,000 bottles of champagne. Loosely based on Steven Soderbergh’s 2009 film, this show probably won’t be screened in many law schools. (On a side note, I’ve always suspected Matlock paid his way through law school this exact same way). Meanwhile, Dice will be familiar to pretty much anyone born before 1980. This semiautobiographical series follows the private and professional life of controversial comedian Andrew Dice Clay. (He peaked in 1990 as the first comic to sell out New York’s Madison Square Garden two nights in a row.) This comedy follows the downon-his-luck laugh man to Vegas where he attempts to reboot. Guest stars include Adrien Brody and Criss Angel.
Forecast: I fully expect Richard Gere’s businessman to make a cameo on The Girlfriend Experience — looking for a new girlfriend, of course; Dice is worth a roll ... for those who remember him.
Honourable Mention: Outlander (April 10, Showcase). Can’t wait for Game of Thrones to return either? Try out Outlander’s Season 2, which also unabashedly combines sex and violence — but adds intense, brooding romance, kilts, time travel and revisionist history. Imagine George R.R. Martin and E.L. James co-writing a Harlequin romance novel.