San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
10 new shows to watch this spring
Women take the lead in many of the season’s most promising TV series
As temperatures rise and spring approaches, it’s becoming abundantly clear that women are finding more fertile ground to blossom on television and streaming services.
Female leads are blooming in new series in March, April and May, with more women taking major roles behind the camera, too.
For example: National Geographic
Channel’s “Genius” series, which has drawn acclaim for its “Einstein” and “Picasso” dramas, introduces its first female subject, Aretha Franklin, in March.
Two-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo stars as the Queen of Soul, while Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks serves as the series’ showrunner.
“Aretha brought people together. She fought to have a voice for civil rights and she fought to change the world for better,” Erivo said.
Other women to watch for this spring include Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”), who plays the lead therapist in HBO’s revival of “In Treatment,” and Oscar winner Kate Winslet on another HBO drama, “Mare of Easttown.”
Lena Dunham, best known for the HBO series “Girls,” is the executive producer of an edgy dramedy about a diverse group of high school students.
They are all among 10 of the most promising new TV series of the spring. Here’s a closer look:
“Debris”: This visually startling and highly emotional science fiction series comes from Joel
Wyman of “Fringe” fame. It centers on two agents — cocky Bryan ( Jonathan Tucker) of the CIA and the more thoughtful Finola (Riann Steele) of Britain’s MI-6 — who come together to investigate a baffling phenomenon: Debris from a destroyed alien spacecraft has mysterious effects on mankind. Premieres 9 p.m. Monday, NBC.
“Genera+ion”: Dunham may be behind this startlingly frank half-hour about high school kids, but the hands-on creators are a father-daughter team: 19-year-old