Ms Marvel to Hacks: the seven best shows to stream this week – The Guardian

Pick of the weekMs MarvelPower of dreams Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

In this charming new series, Kamala Khan (the excellent Iman Vellani) is a Marvel stan in love with Captain Marvel and the Avengers. What would be her dream? Acquiring superpowers of her own. But be careful what you wish for ... Kamala finds her grandmothers old bangles, which enable her to manipulate cosmic energy. Her problems are just beginning: she has to negotiate high school as a Muslim American and, of course, use her powers wisely. Its as much a show about the pleasures and pitfalls of fantasy and fandom as it is about superheroes and, as such, anyone who has ever sought refuge from reality in anything from a football team to a favourite pop star will relate. Phil HarrisonDisney+, from Wednesday 8 June

We are four uncompromised vessels for genius, says Wickie (Rene Elise Goldsberry). As Meredith Scardinos comedy returns, the titular comeback-queen girl band are in album mode. Their second lease of life continues to bear fruit but middle age threatens to spoil the party. When Gloria (Paula Pell) injures herself attempting a knee drop, she launches an extensive raid on the medicine cabinet. Cue an unusually fiery podcast appearance in which she turns into Liam Gallagher (Were the best band in the world and whoever says otherwise is jealous and senile). It overflows with zippy one-liners and comic chemistry. Peacock/Now, from Monday 6 June

Equal parts standup showcase and insight into the fevered egos of the people behind it, Katherine Ryans new show lurches between the glamour of the full house and the claustrophobia of the cramped dressing room. Or at least, this dressing room is cramped, containing at various points Sara Pascoe, Judi Love, Jimmy Carr, Jo Brand, Nish Kumar and basically everyone in modern British comedy who isnt Stewart Lee. Ryan proceeds to gently interrogates them all in her customarily friendly but snarky style. Amazon Prime Video, from Thursday 9 June

Nature is shorn of any semblance of grit and presented as a twee Instagram tableau in this new kids series. From the makers of Topsy and Tim and Teletubbies, Lovely Little Farm is precisely that a sepia-tinged homestead in which a family lives, surrounded by anthropomorphic CGI animals. Jill and Jacky are the children at the heart of the action, looking after lambs and chickens as Mum and Dad prepare for a new human arrival. Its so cutesy it becomes almost sinister. Let the nightmares about talking goats commence Apple TV+, from Friday 10 June

At any given time theres always a window for at least one steamy, vampire-themed TV melodrama. This one trades in multiple archetypes: a forbidden relationship that is biracial and same-sex, but also between a teenage vampire Juliette (Sarah Catherine Hook) and the daughter of a vampire hunter Calliope (Imani Lewis). Juliette whose parents are steering her towards her first kill, much as we might coax children towards GCSEs has fallen for the girl theyd earmarked as a likely victim. Basically, Romeo and Juliet with added fangs. Netflix, from Friday 10 June

Season one of this brash, warm comedy in which jaded Vegas comic Deborah Vance is forced to work with young writer Ava Daniels was a sleeper hit thanks to the witty writing and obvious chemistry between leads Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder. This time, god help them, they have to go on the road. Hilarious culture clashes ensue, over everything from the meaning of comedy to the correct storage of kombucha. And, at the heart of it all, one of the funniest and most convincing odd-couple friendships in recent TV history. Amazon Prime Video, from Friday 10 June

Some say private citizens have no business in space exploration. I emphatically disagree. Two decades on from the moon landings, this counterfactual space-race drama has reached the era of entrepreneurialism. As series three begins, Edi Gathegi joins the cast as Dev Ayesa a sort of prototype Elon Musk with his sights set very high indeed. And so, a three-way race to Mars begins. Ronald D Moores (Battlestar Galactica, Helix) show was among Apples first slate of dramas even if its been slightly eclipsed by their output since then, its still solid enough fare. Apple TV+, from Friday 10 June

Read more here:

Ms Marvel to Hacks: the seven best shows to stream this week - The Guardian