Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
A sweet setup: Colin Farrell leads mystery drama ‘Sugar’
WHAT’S NEW ON APPLE TV+ “Sugar” - Season 1
Kicking off with back-to-back episodes Friday, April 5, with new installments airing weekly, Apple TV+’s “Sugar” is a contemporary take on the classic private detective story. Set in Los Angeles, the series follows the story of John Sugar (Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin,” 2022), a talented private investigator. As Sugar investigates the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler, “Don’t Worry Darling,” 2022), the beloved granddaughter of a legendary Hollywood producer, he begins to uncover a trove of Siegel family secrets — both old and new. Created by Mark Protosevich (“I Am Legend,” 2007), “Sugar” is directed by Fernando Meirelles (“The Two Popes,” 2019) and Adam Arkin (“The Offer”). The series also stars Kirby (“Killing Eve”), Amy Ryan (“The Wire”), James Cromwell (“Succession”), Anna Gunn (“Breaking Bad”), Dennis Boutsikaris (“Better Call Saul”), Nate Corddry (“For All Mankind”) and Alex Hernandez (“The Peripheral”).
WHAT’S NEW ON PARAMOUNT+ “Star Trek: Discovery” - Season 5
The final adventure begins when Season 5 of “Star Trek: Discovery” premieres its first two episodes Thursday, April 4, on Paramount+. Set before Kirk (William Shatner, “Boston Legal”) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” 1978) take up their place on the USS Enterprise in “Star Trek: The Original Series,” the USS Discovery is uncovering new worlds and boldly exploring the universe. Intent on learning about all things alien, Starfleet Capt. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green, “The Walking Dead”) — the first Black woman to sit in the captain’s chair during any live-action Star Trek series — and her crew contend with a massive anomaly in space that is five lightyears in size and threatening to destroy life throughout the galaxy. The series’ final season sees Burnham and the crew sent on an epic adventure across the galaxy to uncover a mystery surrounding an ancient power whose existence has remained a secret for centuries. But the crew of the Discovery find themselves with some tough and dangerous competition as others race to claim the prize for themselves. Also starring Doug Jones (“The Shape of Water,” 2017) as Saru, Anthony Rapp (“A Beautiful Mind,” 2001) as Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman (“Longmire”) as Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz (“My So-Called Life”) as Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala (“Falling Water”) as Cleveland “Book” Booker, Blu del Barrio (“The Listener,” 2022) as Adira and Callum Keith Rennie (“Californication”) as Rayner, Season 5 also sees guest stars Elias Toufexis (“The Expanse”) as L’ak and Eve Harlow (“The 100”) as Moll.
WHAT’S NEW ON PRIME VIDEO “How to Date Billy Walsh” (2023)
Experience all the growing pains that come with young love in the British young adult rom-com “How to Date Billy Walsh,” making its debut on Prime Video, Friday, April 5, after being delayed from its original September premiere date. Now teenagers, Amelia (Charithra Chandran, “Bridgerton”) and Archie (Sebastian Croft, “Hearstopper”) have been best friends since childhood, doing everything together while Archie keeps his lifelong love for Amelia a closely guarded secret. Just as Archie works up the courage to admit his feelings, Amelia falls head-over-heals for their school’s new American transfer student, Billy Walsh (Tanner Buchanan, “Cobra Kai”). Heartbroken and desperate to keep Amelia for himself, Archie goes to great lengths to keep the pair apart — inadvertently pushing them even closer together and risking losing his best friend altogether. From director Alex Pillai (“Bridgerton”) and writers Greer Ellison and Alexander J. Farrell (both of “Making a Killing,” 2023), “How to Date Billy Walsh” also stars Kunal Nayyar (“The Big Bang Theory”), Nick Frost (“Shaun of the Dead,” 2004), Guz Khan (“Man Like Mobeen”), Lucy Punch (“Motherland”), Daisy Jelley (“London Kills”), Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo (“Wednesday”) and Charles Camrose (“Breaking Point,” 2023).
WHAT’S NEW ON HULU “Vanderpump Villa” - Season 1
As advertised by Hulu, “decadence and debauchery collide” in the new unscripted drama “Vanderpump Villa,” premiering on the streamer Monday, April 1. Lisa Vanderpump, who rose to television fame as a cast member of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” takes on another new endeavor, and is bringing fans along for the ride. In the style of her hit reality series “Vanderpump Rules,” this new series follows Lisa’s hard-working, handpicked staff as they work, live and play at Chateau Rosabelle, an exclusive French estate. As the staff “try to provide luxurious, once-in-a-lifetime, Vanderpump-curated experiences for guests,” the cameras also follow along behind the less-thanglamorous scenes as they deal with the “rivalries, romances, and raucous misadventures that come from living and working together 24/7” (per Hulu). Executive produced by Lisa under her Villa Rosa production banner, the series stars villa staff members including events coordinators Stephen Alsvig and Gabriella Sanon; executive chef Anthony Bar; sous chef Caroline Byl; lead server Marciano Brunette; servers Priscila Ferrari and Hannah Fouch; the chateau manager Eric Funderwhite; mixologists Telly Hall and Andre Mitchell; and housekeepers Emily Kovacs and Grace Cottrell.
WHAT’S NEW ON NETFLIX “Scoop” (2024)
Get insight on how the BBC landed a bombshell interview that served as the catalyst for the public downfall of a British royal when “Scoop” premieres Friday, April 5, on Netflix. Based on “Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interview” by former “Newsnight” editor Sam McAlister, this dramatic retelling of events follows Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson, “The X-Files”), the lead anchor of BBC Two and “Newsnight,” as she does her best to secure an interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell, “A Knight’s Tale”) to discuss his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein and allegations of sexual assault levied against the royal. In addition to following how BBC secured of the infamous interview, the film covers its immediately fallout. Rounding out the cast are Billie Piper (“Doctor Who”) as Sam McAlister, Keeley Hawes (“Line of Duty”) as Amanda Thirsk, Connor Swindells (“Sex Education”) as Jae Donnelly, Romola Garai (“Atonement,” 2007) as Esme Wren, Charity Wakefield (“The Player”) as Princess Beatrice and Lia Williams (“The Foreigner,” 2017) as Fran Unsworth. Other cast members include Paul Popplewell (“Tyrannosaur,” 2011), Aoife Hinds (“Normal People”), Richard Goulding (“The Windsors”), Gavin Spokes (“House of the Dragon”), Tim Bentinck (“By the Sword Divided”), Alice Bailey Johnson (“Rare Beasts,” 2019) and Jordan Kouamé (“Malpractice”). With a screenplay by Peter Moffat (“Silk”) and Geoff Bussetil (“Mortal,” 2020), “Scoop” is directed by Philip Martin (“The Crown”).