The Ultimate Guide to What to Watch on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Max, and More in May 2024

Forget about fall: Monsters, vampires, and demons belong on TV all four seasons of the year, and they're all coming out of the woodwork this May. This spring's most anticipated show is Interview with the Vampire, which returns for its showstopping second season May 12 on AMC, and TV Guide got the scoop straight from the cast and creative team. Read our digital cover story on Interview with the Vampire Season 2 here. Later in the month, another TV Guide favorite, Evil, returns to Paramount+ for its fourth and final season, which brings a potentially demonic baby into the mix. Meanwhile, Benedict Cumberbatch creates a puppet monster to deal with the monstrosity of humanity on Netflix's Eric, and Josh Brolin explores unexplained phenomena via a hole in the ground on Prime Video's Outer Range. If you're looking for something a little more romantic this spring, there's also Bridgerton Season 3.

Our guide to the best TV in May is divided into three sections: the best shows and movies to watch this month, the best shows to watch by streaming service, and a calendar of TV highlights. Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it below. 

More: 

• Everything to know about what to watch on TV this spring
• The ultimate guide to what to watch in June
• The ultimate guide to what to watch in April
• All the renewed and canceled shows in May

The best shows and movies to watch in May

Acapulco Season 3 (May 1, Apple TV+)

Short on cash for a tropical vacation but still want an excuse to drink something with a tiny umbrella in it? Acapulco is television's ultimate getaway TV show, a comedy that not only transports you to the sunny warmth and sandy beaches of Mexico, but also to the pastel-plastered era of the 1980s, when young local Maximo (Enrique Arrizón) works his way up the corporate ladder at a posh tourist resort while juggling relationships with his coworkers. In Season 3, the dual-timeline bilingual comedy follows a grown-up Maximo (Eugenio Derbez) as he returns to the resort in current day, and young Maximo as he shoots his shot with Julia (Camila Perez), again. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Hacks Season 3 (May 2, Max)

Sequins for spring? Groundbreaking. Jean Smart's Deborah Vance is back — and as fabulously dressed as ever — in a new season of Hacks, which picks up a year after comedy diva Deborah and writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) parted ways. Deborah is riding high after the success of her standup special, while Ava is chasing new opportunities in L.A., but they just can't seem to stay out of each other's orbits. Show biz is a small world after all. New guest stars this season include Helen Hunt, Christina Hendricks, Christopher Lloyd, Dan Bucatinsky, George Wallace, and Tony Goldwyn. -Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

The Idea of You (May 2, Prime Video)

Ever go to a massive musical festival only to have the lead singer of the most popular band hit on you? Yeah, all the time, right? Well it also happens to Anne Hathaway in this adaptation of the 2017 Robinne Lee novel about a 40-year-old single mom (Hathaway) who begins a whirlwind romance with the 24-year-old frontman (boy of the moment Nicholas Galitzine) of a popular boy band. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Interview with the Vampire Season 2 (May 12, AMC) — Read our full digital cover story on this spring's most anticipated show

In the words of Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), "What happened next?" We're so close to finding out — or at least finding out what Louis (Jacob Anderson) and, most crucially, Armand (Assad Zaman) say happened next. After recounting how he "killed" Lestat (Sam Reid) at the end of Season 1, Season 2 begins with Louis regaling Daniel with stories from the tumultuous period he and Claudia (now played by Delainey Hayles, replacing Bailey Bass) spent in Paris with the Théâtre des Vampires troupe, which also happens to be where he first met Armand. Here's our digital cover story previewing what's to come, with scoop from the cast and creative team, and here's everything we know about Season 2. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 (May 16, Netflix)

Since the start of Bridgerton, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) has harbored feelings for Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). Season 3 will finally explore this friends-to-lovers relationship, and make Penelope — who is secretly Lady Whistledown — the subject of her own gossip column. Bridgerton is based on Julia Quinn's historical romance novels, and the first two seasons chronologically followed the love stories in the original titles. Season 3 skips the third book, An Offer From a Gentleman, which is focused on Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), and adapts the fourth, Romancing Mister Bridgerton. It's #Polin time. And we'll be spending two months at the ton, because Bridgerton Season 3 launches in two parts: on May 16 and June 13. Here's everything we know about Season 3. -Kat Moon [Trailer]

Outer Range Season 2 (May 16, Prime Video)

Season 1 of Josh Brolin's oddball time-traveling neo-Western was a hoot but still had plenty of room for improvement, so we're high on Season 2 after a change of showrunners — creator and TV newbie Brian Watkins was replaced by industry vet Charles Murray between seasons — and a promise of delivering answers to this deliciously crackpot drama that meandered through the ether in its debut outing. The show's main engine remains: Brolin's cowboy Royal Abbott has found a hole in the ground that spits those who go into it into another time period. But with plenty of secrets revealed and other unexplained phenomena introduced (Black ooze! Stampeding bison! Long-lost relatives appearing out of thin air!) toward the end of Season 1, the story feels like it's just getting started. Here's everything we know about Season 2. -Tim Surette [Trailer]

Evil Season 4 (May 23, Paramount+)

This news is a little bit evil: Everyone's favorite show about demonic possession (and one of our favorite shows, period) is ending with its fourth season. As co-creators Robert and Michelle King put it in a statement, "We will miss this show and cast. In many ways it was a dream project, but sadly evil will outlast Evil." But trust Evil to make the best of it: The Paramount+ procedural is getting four "bonus" episodes (on top of the full 10-episode season already filmed) to end the series in style. It's tempting to say fans will get closure, but on a show as gleefully chaotic as this one, closure might not be the point. What we do know is that Kristen (Katja Herbers), David (Mike Colter), and Ben (Aasif Mandvi) have plenty more bizarre cases to assess, involving the likes of possessed pigs, an evil relic, and a dance muse. Meanwhile, Leland (Michael Emerson) is trying to bring a baby antichrist into the world — using Kristen's missing egg. So that should be easy to wrap up. -Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

Eric (May 30, Netflix)

In my book, the weirder, the better. And Eric looks like one of the better things Netflix is putting out this month. In this dark mystery series set in the the scummy '80s of New York City, Benedict Cumberbatch stars as a puppeteer on a popular children's show whose life and mental stability are derailed when his 9-year-old son is kidnapped. As he slips on the pool of his own melting sanity, he finds an unusual ally in his search for his son: Eric, the blue monster puppet that his son created, brought to life by his own deteriorating imagination. Yes! -Tim Surette [Trailer]

We Are Lady Parts Season 2 (May 30, Peacock)

One of TV's best comedies is finally back for an encore performance. Nida Manzoor's We Are Lady Parts debuted in 2021 to plenty of critical acclaim, if not quite the level of widespread fame it deserves. But it's not too late to catch up on the six-episode first season and tell your friends all about it. This British sitcom about an all-female Muslim punk band is both buoyant and biting, with a charming cast and seriously catchy songs. In Season 2, the band returns from its first U.K. tour with a renewed artistic mission, but as they prepare to record their first album, the realities of chasing success start to set in — all while a rival band enters the picture. Let's rock. -Kelly Connolly [Trailer]

Dune: Part Two (May 31, Max)

Respectfully, Dune: Part One was basically a really long, really beautiful trailer for Dune: Part Two, which makes Part Two all the more thrilling. The Denis Villeneuve-directed film comes to Max at the end of the month. The movie finds Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) joining forces with the Fremen people (which includes his love interest, Zendaya's Chani, and his hype man, Javier Bardem's Stilgar), who live on the desert planet Arrakis, to wage war against the ruthless House Harkonnen (which includes Stellan Skarsgård's Baron and Austin Butler's Feyd-Rautha). -Allison Picurro [Trailer]

What's on Netflix, Max, Hulu, Amazon, and more in May

Netflix's best new shows and movies in May

As the seasons transition from the end of spring to the beginning of summer, the new shows and movies on Netflix are getting appropriately steamy with the premiere of the first half of Season 3 of Bridgerton, which finds our dear Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) taking center stage. Also premiering this month are Will Forte's new murder podcast comedy Bodkin, Benedict Cumberbatch's Eric, Jerry Seinfeld's Unfrosted, and the Jennifer Lopez-starring action movie Atlas. But the most important news of the month is that all six seasons of Reba will be available to watch on Netflix, for all the surviiiiiivoooors out there. Here's our list of the best shows and movies on Netflix in May, plus everything coming to and leaving Netflix in May.

More on Netflix:

• The best shows on Netflix right now
• The best movies on Netflix right now
• The new TV shows and movies on Netflix in April

HBO and Max's best new shows and movies in May

Max is ending spring the right way. The third season of Max's delightful Jean Smart-Hannah Einbinder comedy Hacks premieres early enough in the month to keep you laughing all through May, while the devastating wrestling drama The Iron Claw arrives later to rip your heart apart. That's range! May also brings a film adaptation of John Green's novel Turtles All the Way Down. Here's our list of the best shows and movies on HBO and Max in May, plus everything coming to HBO and Max in May.

More on HBO and Max:

• The best movies on Max right now
• The best shows on Max right now
• The new TV shows and movies on HBO and Max in April
• HBO Max review: Everything to know about the streaming service

Hulu's best new shows and movies in May

Though Hulu is known as the place to stream your broadcast favorites like Abbott Elementary the day after they air on linear television or watch FX gems like Shōgun, it's also a great destination for cool under-the-radar movies from some of the most daring independent studios. Though May doesn't offer much in the way of new TV series, it is packed with cool films. Coming early in the month is the highly entertaining documentary The Contestant, about a Japanese reality show star who didn't know he was famous after accepting a challenge from the extreme game show Denpa Shonen to be locked in a room, with the only way to get supplies being through winning mail-in magazine sweepstakes. For the animal lovers out there, National Geographic's heartwarming Billy and Molly: An Otter Love Story shows that the bond between man and beast can be stronger than a BFF necklace. And Birth/Rebirth is a movie that's a throwback to classic horror films in a modern package, complete with undead children. Here's our list of the best shows and movies on Hulu in May, plus everything coming to Hulu in May.

More on Hulu: 

• The best TV shows on Hulu right now
• The best movies on Hulu right now
• The new TV shows and movies on Hulu in April
• How much does Hulu cost? Plans, pricing, channels, and more

Amazon Prime Video's best new shows and movies in May

Even if you're a Prime Video member right now just to watch Fallout for the seventh time, you should know that there's a series coming to Amazon's streaming service that's even more absurd, and instead of being about people who crawl out of the earth from holes in the ground, it's about people who go INTO holes in the ground. Outer Range returns for Season 2 on May 16. The series stars Josh Brolin as Royal Abbott, the owner of a ranch in Montana who discovers a strange hole in a pasture that just might be a portal to another time. There are also stampeding bison, disappearing mountains, rodeo competitions, singing cowboys, and good old-fashioned murder. Honestly, it's so bizarre that we're still trying to figure it out. Plus, on May 2, Anne Hathaway stars in The Idea of You, an adaptation of Robinne Lee's book about the romantic relationship between a 40-year-old single mom and the lead singer of a pop group. Here's our list of the best shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video in May, plus everything coming to Prime Video in May.

More on Amazon:

• The best movies on Amazon Prime Video right now
• The best shows on Amazon Prime Video right now
• The new TV shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video in April
• Amazon Prime Video pricing, channels, and deals
  

The best new shows and movies everywhere else in May

We love Evil here at TV Guide, and since the Paramount+ series is coming to an end with its upcoming extended fourth season, this is one of our last opportunities to spread the good news. If you haven't watched this sharp, sublimely cool procedural yet, now's the time. Season 4 premieres May 23. Other streaming highlights this month include the May 10 return of Doctor Who, with Sex Education standout Ncuti Gatwa in the lead role. The British sci-fi institution has found a new home in the U.S. on Disney+, which is counting this as Season 1, even though it's technically the 14th season of the revival of a show that just celebrated its 60th anniversary. Sure! Apple TV+ has Acapulco Season 3 (May 1), new sci-fi series Dark Matter (May 8), and limited series The Big Cigar (May 17). And save some room on your schedule for Peacock's great sitcom We Are Lady Parts, back for a long-awaited second season on May 30.

More on Apple TV+, Peacock, Disney+, and Paramount+:

• The best shows and movies on Apple TV+ right now
• The best shows on Peacock right now
• The best movies on Peacock right now
• The best shows on Paramount+ right now
• The best shows on Disney+ right now
• The best movies on Disney+ right now
• How to get a Paramount+ free trial and deals

May TV calendar highlights

Wednesday, May 1
Acapulco (Season 3, Apple TV+)
Dance Moms: The Reunion (Special, Lifetime)
Shardlake (Limited Series, Hulu)

Thursday, May 2
The Contestant (Film, Hulu)
Hacks (Season 3, Max)
The Idea of You (Film, Prime Video)
A Man in Full (Limited Series, Netflix)
Selena + Restaurant (Season 1, Food Network/Max)
The Tattooist of Auschwitz (Limited Series, Peacock)
Turtles All the Way Down (Film, Max)
Welcome to Wrexham (Season 3, FX)

Friday, May 3
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in L.A. (Limited Series, Netflix)
Prom Dates (Film, Hulu)
Selling the OC (Season 3, Netflix)
Unfrosted (Film, Netflix)

Saturday, May 4
Star Wars: Tales of the Empire (Limited Series, Disney+)

Sunday, May 5
MaryLand (Limited Series, PBS)
The Real Housewives of New Jersey (Season 14, Bravo)
The Roast of Tom Brady (Live Special, Netflix)

Monday, May 6
Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (Documentary, Nat Geo)

Wednesday, May 8
Dark Matter (Season 1, Apple TV+)
The Final: Attack on Wembley (Documentary, Netflix)
Hollywood Con Queen (Docuseries, Apple TV+)
Let It Be (Film, Disney+)

Thursday, May 9
Black Twitter: A People's History (Docuseries, Hulu)
Bodkin (Season 1, Netflix)
The GOAT (Season 1, Freevee)
Love Undercover (Season 1, Peacock)
Mother of the Bride (Film, Netflix)
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School (Season 2, Max)

Friday, May 10
The Chi (Season 6 Part 2, Paramount+ With Showtime)
Doctor Who (Season 14, Disney+)
The Ultimatum: South Africa (Season 1, Netflix)

Sunday, May 12
Interview with the Vampire (Season 2, AMC)

Monday, May 13
After the Flood (Season 1, BritBox)

Tuesday, May 14
Hostage Rescue (Season 1, The CW)
Pillowcase Murders (Docuseries, Paramount+)

Wednesday, May 15
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal (Docuseries, Netflix)
In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin (Season 1, IFC)
Royal Rules of Ohio (Season 1, Freeform)

Thursday, May 16
59th Academy of Country Music Awards (Live Event, Prime Video)
Bridgerton (Season 3 Part 1, Netflix)
Bronx Zoo '90: Crime, Chaos and Baseball (Docuseries, Peacock)
Outer Range (Season 2, Prime Video)

Friday, May 17
99 (Docuseries, Prime Video)
The Big Cigar (Limited Series, Apple TV+)
Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever (Film, Shudder)
Power (Documentary, Netflix)
RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (Season 9, Paramount+)

Monday, May 20
The Fairly Oddparents: A New Wish (Season 1, Nickelodeon)
STAX: Soulsville, U.S.A. (Docuseries, HBO)

Tuesday, May 21
Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza (Docuseries, Paramount+)

Wednesday, May 22
Marvel Studios' Assembled: The Making of X-Men '97
Trying (Season 4, Apple TV+)

Thursday, May 23
The 1% Club (Season 1, Prime Video)
The Blue Angels (Documentary, Prime Video)
Evil (Season 4, Paramount+)
The Kardashians (Season 5, Hulu)
Thirst With Shay Mitchell (Season 1, Max)

Friday, May 24
Atlas (Film, Netflix)
The Beach Boys (Documentary, Disney+)
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (Season 1, Netflix)

Tuesday, May 28
America's Got Talent (Season 19, NBC)

Wednesday, May 29
Camden (Docuseries, Hulu)
Dancing for the Devil: The 7M TikTok Cult (Docuseries, Netflix)
Lainey Wilson: Bell Bottom Country (Documentary, Hulu)
MasterChef (Season 14, Fox)
Moviepass, Moviecrash (Documentary, HBO)

Thursday, May 30
Eric (Limited Series, Netflix)
We Are Lady Parts (Season 2, Peacock)

Friday, May 31
Couples Therapy (Season 4, Paramount+ With Showtime)
Dune: Part Two (Max)
Jim Henson: Idea Man (Documentary, Disney+)