We know it’s tough to sort through the content churned out by the 700,000 streaming services, so we’re bringing you a curated little list of what to watch right now.
Pick of the week
You’re My Hero
“Hate to break it to you, kids, but being disabled actually does suck.” So deadpans Ian (Sean Towgood) during a motivational speech, telling both the youngsters and the viewers everything they need to know about him — and this show.
While TV shows are featuring more and more BIPOC and LGBTQ stories these days, disabled creators are still due more representation on the small screen. Sean Towgood fought back by creating, writing and starring in his own hilarious show, “You’re My Hero,” a wry comedy that finds the funny in the trials and tribulations of living as a 20-something wheelchair user with cerebral palsy.
Towgood deftly wrings laughs out of his situation, whether it’s having to navigate a bed lift controlled by his out-of-it roommate or his boss’s eye-rolling habit of referring to him as an “inspiration.”
This season, Ian is back home with his mom after some drama with his roommate and the roomie’s girlfriend, and navigating a tough job market (he gleefully weaponizes people’s ableist assumptions against them, posting up outside a job fair in his chair and soliciting help for a “young, broken man”).
Keep an eye out for jovial Canadian wrestling legend Chris Jericho, who joins the cast this season as Ian’s deadbeat dad. Stream it Friday on CBC Gem.
Also on this week
1. Long Bright River
Amanda Seyfried dons a beat-cop uniform to patrol the wild streets of Philadelphia where a serial killer has been using the opioid epidemic as a coverup for an ominous murder spree. Stream it on Crave.
2. Top Chef
“Top Chef” fans, rejoice! This season of the long-running franchise takes place in Canada, with a stop in our very own Toronto, judge Gail Simmons’ hometown. Guest judges this season include Daniel Boulud, Susur Lee and Antonio Park. Stream it on Hayu.
3. Adolescence
Each instalment of this real-time, four-episode series is done in one long take. British character actor MVP Stephen Graham (“Boiling Point,” “Snatch”) co-created and stars as a dad agonized by his 13-year-old son’s arrest for murder. Stream it on Netflix.
4. Dope Thief
Two of our favourite TV performers — Wagner Moura of “Narcos” and “Shining Girls,” and Brian Tyree Henry of “Atlanta” — team up to play degens who masquerade as DEA agents to rob small-time drug dealers. Their successful little scheme explodes, however, when they accidentally hit up the wrong house, putting a dangerous cartel hot on their heels. “The Town” and “Top Gun: Maverick” scribe Peter Craig is the showrunner, while Kate Mulgrew and Ving Rhames also appear. Stream it Friday on Apple TV Plus.
5. Bears’ Lair
Eighteen Indigenous entrepreneurs go head to head, competing for a $100,000 prize to take their social-impact business to the next level and make even more of a difference in their communities. Stream it Friday on CBC Gem.
6. A Body in the Show: The Trial of Karen Read
The trial of Karen Read — also known as “the happiest murder suspect in America” — was one of the more chaotic in recent memory. Relive the ups and downs of the court shenanigans, from accusations of a police coverup to a hung jury. Stream it Monday on Discovery Plus.
7. Good American Family
In 2023, everyone was obsessed with the true-crime series “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace,” which documented the strange saga of an adoptee being abandoned by parents claiming she was actually an adult. Now Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass portray them in a miniseries based on the same case. Stream it Wednesday on Disney Plus.
