3 new Netflix shows to watch this weekend (May 22
Welcome to the last weeks of May, and while you might expect all the streaming services to start scraping the bottom of the barrel for new releases before month’s end, Netflix just keeps on keeping on with new and exciting TV shows on tap for U.S. subscribers to watch this weekend.
If you’re a fan of stand-up comedy, you’re getting a dose of funny from one of the best comics in the world in a new Netflix special. But that will not be outdone by one of the most anticipated series to hit the streamer in recent months—a new sci-fi thriller backed by Stranger Things‘ Duffer Brothers. Last up is a raunchy new adult animated show from the folks who delivered Netflix’s massive hit, Big Mouth. Let’s roll.
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Wanda Sykes: Legacy
A comedy icon returns to her roots
Wanda Sykes is one of the funniest women alive, and she’s got an Emmy (and 16 more noms), a White House Correspondence Dinner gig, TV shows, and movie roles under her belt to prove it. She’s also a veteran of standup comedy, now on her third Netflix special, titled Wanda Sykes: Legacy, which just premiered on the Big Red N on May 19.
What makes Legacy stand out among the others is that it’s somewhat of a homecoming for Sykes, who performs her show in front of a live audience at Hampton University’s Ogden Hall—the historically Black college in Virginia where Sykes graduated from in 1986. The hour-long stand-up special is a lively affair, with the famous alumnus being greeted by HBCU’s marching band and choir before launching into her set.
Never known for pulling her punches, Sykes takes aim at Trump, and politics in general, joking that the current climate feels “like I’ve been stuck in the sh***iest escape room ever.” Sykes also takes shots at ICE, before pivoting into Big Tech, middle-aged nostalgia, and her openly gay marriage to her French wife and the rebellious stage that her twin white children, now 16, are entering. It’s a solid 64-minutes with great laughs all the way through.
Wanda Sykes: Legacy
- Release Date
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May 19, 2026
Cast
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The Boroughs
Stranger Things creators trade Hawkins for retirement
Since Stranger Things ended, I’ve been waiting for this Duffer Brothers-produced new sci-fi mystery series to premiere, and it’s finally here. With a stacked ensemble cast that includes Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2‘s Doctor Octopus), Bill Pullman (Spaceballs, Independence Day), and Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise), The Boroughs is an eight-episode supernatural drama that landed on Netflix May 21st.
The excellent Molina leads the cast as Sam Cooper, a retired engineer still mourning the death of his wife (played in flashbacks by Malcom in the Middle‘s Jane Kaczmarek) when he moves into The Boroughs, a seemingly idyllic retirement community in New Mexico where his wife wanted to grow old. Even with its lavish, all-inclusive resort-like atmosphere, grumpy Sam isn’t convinced it’s everything it’s cracked up to be, especially after he witnesses a freaky creature killing his neighbor in the middle of the night.
Quiz
Which Netflix hit is this quote from?
Trivia challenge
These lines could belong to almost any show — but only one is right.
Sci-FiDramaHorrorActionMystery
Which show contains the line: “The darkness doesn’t scare me. It never did. It’s the light that lies.”
Correct! This brooding line belongs to Wednesday Addams in Wednesday, perfectly capturing her gothic worldview and distrust of cheerfulness. The show leans heavily into Wednesday’s sardonic philosophy, making lines like this feel entirely at home in her deadpan delivery.
Not quite — this line is from Wednesday. While Dark and Stranger Things both deal heavily with darkness and fear, this particular sentiment belongs to Wednesday Addams, whose entire worldview is built on embracing shadow and suspecting the sunny side of life.
Which show contains the line: “We didn’t travel through time to save the world. We traveled through time because someone had to remember it.”
Correct! This reflective line is from Dark, the German sci-fi thriller that made time travel feel less like adventure and more like a haunting responsibility. Dark is known for its philosophical weight, and its characters often speak about time with grief rather than wonder.
Not quite — this one belongs to Dark, Netflix’s mind-bending German series. Stranger Things uses time and alternate dimensions too, but Dark treats time travel as a tragic burden rather than an exciting power, and that distinction shows in lines like this one.
Which show contains the line: “I didn’t come this far to be someone else’s story. I came to write my own.”
Correct! This defiant declaration is pure Monkey D. Luffy energy from One Piece. Netflix’s live-action adaptation kept the spirit of Eiichiro Oda’s original manga alive, and Luffy’s dream of becoming King of the Pirates fuels lines exactly like this one throughout the series.
Not quite — this line is from One Piece. Squid Game is also about survival and self-determination, but its tone is far bleaker. One Piece thrives on bold, adventurous declarations of freedom, which makes this quote a natural fit for Luffy and his crew chasing the Grand Line.
Which show contains the line: “They don’t come from another world. They come from the part of this one we buried.”
Correct! This line is from K-Pop Demon Hunters, where the mythology ties demonic forces directly to suppressed cultural trauma rather than alien dimensions. The show cleverly roots its supernatural horror in the idea that what humanity represses eventually resurfaces in monstrous form.
Not quite — this is from K-Pop Demon Hunters. It’s easy to guess Stranger Things here since the Upside Down has similar vibes, but K-Pop Demon Hunters distinguishes itself by framing its monsters as manifestations of buried history and cultural wounds rather than extradimensional invaders.
Which show contains the line: “The rules were never meant to protect us. They were meant to protect the people who made them.”
Correct! This line cuts to the heart of Squid Game’s central critique of capitalism and systemic inequality. The show’s entire premise is built on the idea that the powerful design games — and societies — in ways that guarantee their own survival at everyone else’s expense.
Not quite — this one is from Squid Game. One Piece also challenges corrupt authority figures like the World Government, but Squid Game delivers this message with raw, contemporary urgency. The show uses its brutal game format as a direct metaphor for economic systems rigged against the vulnerable.
Which show contains the line: “I’ve seen things in that lab that would make you stop believing in coincidence forever.”
Correct! This line belongs to Stranger Things, where Hawkins National Laboratory serves as the epicenter of government experimentation and supernatural horror. The show repeatedly frames the lab as a place where the boundaries of science and ethics were catastrophically crossed, changing everything for the town of Hawkins.
Not quite — this is from Stranger Things. While Dark also features scientific experiments with devastating consequences, the specific reference to ‘that lab’ points directly to Hawkins Lab, the shadowy government facility that accidentally tore open a gate to the Upside Down in season one.
Which show contains the line: “Smiling is the costume everyone wears before they show you who they really are.”
Correct! Classic Wednesday Addams. This line is from Wednesday, and it captures her signature suspicion of warmth and social performance perfectly. The show is full of her sharp, cynical observations about human behavior, delivered with the same flat affect that made the original character iconic.
Not quite — this is from Wednesday. Squid Game might seem like a strong guess since it’s all about masks and hidden motives, but this particular brand of dry, gothic cynicism belongs squarely to Wednesday Addams. Her entire character arc in the show involves learning — reluctantly — that not every smile hides a monster.
Which show contains the line: “Every stage you survive just means they’ve found a better way to kill you next time.”
Correct! This line is from Squid Game, where the escalating lethality of each game is both the show’s dramatic engine and its darkest joke. Contestants quickly learn that surviving one round is never cause for relief — the next challenge is always designed to be more psychologically and physically devastating.
Not quite — this one is from Squid Game. The show’s genius is in how it turns children’s games into elimination rounds with mounting dread. Stranger Things has its own escalating monster threats, but Squid Game makes the manufactured, deliberate cruelty of each new stage a core part of its social commentary.
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Sam soon teams up with other neighbors to investigate the phenomenon, and the mystery and camaraderie might just be the new purpose he needs in his life to move forward. I’ve only watched the first episode of The Boroughs, but so far it feels more Spielberg than Duffer Brothers, and that’s not a bad thing. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.
The Boroughs
- Release Date
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May 21, 2026
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews
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Mating Season
It’s Big Mouth, but even wilder in this new adult animated comedy
Spring has definitely sprung in this raunchy and hilarious new adult animated Netflix comedy from co-creators Nick Kroll, Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, and Andrew Goldberg, the team behind smash-hit Emmy-winning show Big Mouth. If you were a fan of that show, about the horrors and wonders of teenagers going through puberty and exploring sexuality, then Mating Season will not shock you, as it heads into the forest to follow a group of amorous animals as they, er, look for love.
The TV-MA series centers on Josh (voiced by Silicon Valley‘s Zach Woods), a lonely bear who wakes up from hibernation single and looking to connect with someone, anyone. Luckily (or unluckily), his best friend Ray (Kroll) is a raccoon who’s had a lot of luck on the forest’s dating scene, and makes it his mission to help Josh find a mate, or at the very least get him some action.
Hilariously presented like a David Attenborough-narrated nature docuseries, Mating Season is an edgy adult cartoon that is definitely not for kids—if you’ve seen Big Mouth, then you know what you’re in for—but it’s also about love, sex, and the scariness of being alone. It also features an exceptional voice cast, including Grace and Frankie‘s June Diane Raphael as a deer named Fawn, and Call Me Kat’s Sabrina Jalees as a fox named Penelope. Guest voices include Sarah Silverman, Abbi Jacobson, Vanessa Bayer, and Aidy Bryant.
Spring still has some life left in it
Soon it’ll be June, and we’ll be in full summer swing, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing good on TV. Even if you don’t binge the heck out of these weekend picks and opt to actually go outside, you can add them to your watch list for later, or for the fall—we’re easy. If none of these picks are up your alley, check out our other streaming roundups for more ideas.
- Subscription with ads
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Yes, $8/month
- Simultaneous streams
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Two or four
- Live TV
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No
- Price
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Starting at $8/month
