The Week ’s guide to what’s worth watching
The Contestant
And you thought reality in America was depraved. This new documentary revisits the troubling saga of Nasubi, a young aspiring comedian who in 1998 was left naked in a small room as more than 15 million Japanese home viewers regularly tuned in to watch live as he attempted to clothe and feed himself solely by entering his name in magazine sweepstakes contests. His ordeal lasted 15 months, turning his declining mental health into a marathon spectacle. Thursday, May 2, Hulu
Hacks
Welcome back, Deborah Vance. Following a twoyear break, the acclaimed series about an aging celebrity comic returns with Jean Smart’s diva riding high after releasing a hit stand-up special. But the Millennial writer who helped Deborah pull off the career comeback isn’t part of the celebration—until Deborah and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava happen to step into the same elevator. The pair’s love-hate chemistry kicks right back in. Thursday, May 2, Max
The Idea of You
It’s feels like ages since the last good movie about a “May-December” romance. Anne Hathaway, 41, and Nicholas Galitzine, playing a 24-year-old, look to break the drought with this screen adaptation of a novel by Robinne Lee. Hathaway plays an art dealer who’s attending Coachella when she happens upon a boy-band heartthrob just before he and his group take the festival stage. He later tracks her down in New York City, sparking a romance that thrills the paparazzi. Thursday, May 2, Prime
A Man in Full
Tom Wolfe’s Atlanta-set 1998 novel, his second after The Bonfire of the Vanities, has been given the David E. Kelley TV treatment. Jeff Daniels stars in this broad new series as Charlie Croker, an Atlanta real estate mogul who’s spinning toward bankruptcy and humiliation but not ready to go without a fight. Diane Lane, Lucy Liu, and Aml Ameen co-star; Regina King directs three of the six episodes. Thursday, May 2, Netflix
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
When The Tattooist of Auschwitz was a novel, readers turned the 2018 book into a runaway hit. Now comes a series adaptation, which dramatizes the fact-based story of Lali and Gita Sokolov, two Slovakian Jews who met in a Nazi death camp in 1942, survived, and eventually married. Harvey Keitel stars as a graying Lali who is looking back on Auschwitz, where he had been compelled to tattoo other Jewish prisoners. Thursday, May 2, Peacock
Other highlights
Welcome to Wrexham
The evolution of the Wrexham Red Dragons from punch line to English Football League contenders continues under the stewardship of actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Thursday, May 2, at 10 p.m., FX
Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story
Jerry Seinfeld serves as both star and director in this comedy feature about the race between Kellogg’s and Post to create a shelf-stable toaster pastry. With Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, and many other big names. Friday, May 3, Netflix
Masterpiece: MaryLand
Suranne Jones and Eve Best co-star in an imported British drama about estranged sisters who learn that their deceased mother had maintained a secret life on the Isle of Man. Sunday, May 5, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings