“My father took me to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and from that day forward, the movies have been the church of my choice.” So begins The Last Movie Stars, a documentary following the lives of Hollywood legends and inseparable sweethearts Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward—written, narrated, and directed by Ethan Hawke.

The six-part docuseries is as much a story of Hawke and his love for cinema as it is of Newman and Woodward. It may sound indulgent to some viewers, but the series is all the richer for it. Hearing Hawke talk about his love for this couple is like hearing your good friend fanboy over his ultimate idols—the sheer giddiness is simply irresistible.

Hawke brings together a star-studded cast to read long-forgotten interviews (George Clooney plays Newman and Laura Linney plays Woodward), and the result is a delightful, nostalgic ode to Hollywood’s most unforgettable couple.

From the very start, Poker Face lays out all its cards—it shows us who dies and in the hands of whom. That is how an episode always opens, but in each case, we’re in a different corner of rural America, bumping elbows with different folks. That’s because our unwitting detective, the human lie detector Charlie (Natasha Lyonne) is on the run from a crime syndicate. So with nothing but her trusty car and the clothes on her back, she races through the US while making friends and enemies along the way. 

There is a pattern to the story, but the thrill lies not in seeing when Charlie inevitably solves the case but in how she does it, which is full of heart and wry humor. Lyonne is absolutely magnetic, and her performance is only one of the show’s many hit-making elements. With a star-studded cast, beautiful Americana backdrop, and masterful editing (whose camerawork and coloring recall the show it references, Columbo), Poker Face sure is a trip to watch.

Former SNL cast member and comedy legend Bill Hader is the writer and main protagonist of the HBO-produced and three-time Emmy-winning series Barry. Part psychological thriller, part dark comedy – one of many new series in the “dramedy” genre – deals with the unlikely premise of a PTSD-ridden low-rent assassin, who, after travelling to LA to execute an actor, decides to dedicate his life to the amateur theatre scene. (Watch out for the always amazing Henry Winkler as the acting class teacher! He was rightly nominated for an Emmy for this performance.)

In typical Bill Hader fashion, this genre-mix is still a lot more comedy than thriller and one cannot help but root for hapless Barry, while he dodges one bullet after the other, as it were, navigating Chechnyan mobsters, the FBI, and his intense acting peers. A lovely, funny, and smart show about a seemingly emotionless guy trying to escape his past.

What would you do if 2% of the world’s population disappeared without any apparent reason? This haunting human catastrophe is the premise of the HBO series The Leftovers. Starting three years after the event (dubbed the “Sudden Departure”), it homes in on small town coming to grips with the ramifications of this question, particularly police chief Kevin Garvey, played by Justin Theroux, who inadvertently finds himself at the center of it all.

For some inexplicable reason, it is relatively unknown compared to other HBO shows but this has to change. It is innovative, has an amazing Max Richter soundtrack, as well as a stellar cast, including Liv Tyler and an outstanding Carrie Coon. Created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, whose 2011 novel the show is based on, The Leftovers is a must-watch mixture of grim and gripping, but also beautiful, engrossing television!

Succession centers in on a global mega-corporation called Waystar RoyCo (based loosely on Disney) and the Roy family that runs it, who might also evoke parallels to other well-known real-world dynasties. Following the declining health of Logan Roy, the pater familias played by Brian Cox, the company’s heir apparent Kendall Roy (Jeremy Strong) sees himself challenged for succession by his siblings Roman (Kieran Culkin, yes, he’s Macaulay’s younger brother), Connor (Alan Ruck), and sister Shivy (Sarah Snook).

The writing of this HBO-produced series is sharp, the humor biting, and anarchy abundant, but watching Succession feels like a vice: it’s a guilty sneak-peek into the privileged but scary world of the mega-rich, making you a spectator of family dysfunction. Guilty also because you constantly find yourself rooting for people and causes, that are actually pretty awful. In addition to writing and wit, the cast and characters are all amazing, but watch out for Cousin Greg!