Tracy Morgan makes his long awaited return to series television in The Last O.G., a comedy about an ex-con who finds a changed world after his 15-year incarceration. Morgan’s is just one of many April 2018 TV premieres calendar includes other homecomings and high-profile new seasons.
The Jersey Shore gang reunites for “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” as does the original cast of “Trading Spaces.” New seasons of “Westworld,” “Legion,” “Into the Badlands,” “The Expanse,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Bosch” and “Fear the Walking Dead” also premiere in April.
“New Girl” begins its final season while “Genius” examines the life of Pablo Picasso in its second season.
The networks promise new shows, too. “Lost in Space,” “Rellik,” “Killing Eve,” “In Contempt,” “Unforgotten” and a new adaptation of “Howard’s End” all premiere in April. Read more about these new shows and check their premiere dates in my April 2018 TV premieres calendar.
April 2018 TV premieres calendar
Sunday, April 1
Streaming
- “Wakfu,” Netflix (season 3)
5 p.m.
- “Beverly Hills Dog Show,” USA (special)
6 p.m.
- “In Ice Cold Blood,” Oxygen (series premiere; host Ice-T hosts look at true stories involving sex, money, murder)
7 p.m.
- “Jesus Christ Superstar Live!” NBC (special; live production of musical)
- “Finding Life in Space,” Smithsonian (special; science may be pointing to one fantastic conclusion, that we are not alone)
- “Top Gear,” BBC America (season finale)
8 p.m.
- “The Child in Time,” PBS (“Masterpiece” premiere; adapted from Ian McEwan’s haunting tale of a lost child and redeemed love)
- “Leaving Earth: Or How to Colonize a Planet,” Smithsonian (special; scientists discuss whether humans really do have what it takes to colonize another planet)
- “Your Husband is Cheating on Us,” Bravo (docuseries premiere; behind-the-scene look at creating JD Lawrence play of same name)
9 p.m.
- “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” Bravo (season 3)
Monday, April 2
Streaming
- “The Good Karma Hospital,” Acorn TV (season 2; more Acorn TV)
- “La Piloto,” Netflix (season 1; Mexican stewardess pilots small planes and helicopters for criminal purposes finds love with DEA agent)
7 p.m.
- “King of the Wilderness,” HBO (doc; final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life)
8 p.m.
- “Flipping Virgins,” HGTV (season premiere)
9 p.m.
- “The Crossing,” ABC (series premiere; things get strange when refugees fro a war yet to happen show up on beach)
- “When God Sleeps,” PBS (“Independent Lens” premiere; star-crossed love between Iranian musician Shahin Najafi and a woman whose grandfather was handpicked by Ayatollah Khomeini to be the first Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran)
- “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” EPIX (world TV premiere; sequel to 2006 documentary)
Tuesday, April 3
Streaming
- “Fary Is the New Black,” Netflix (standup special; French comedy phenom Fary veers from pickup lines to racism)
7 p.m.
- “Little People, Big World,” TLC (season premiere)
9 p.m.
- “Legion,” FX (season 2)
- “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” Bravo (“Summer House” reunion special)
- “My Little Life,” TLC (series premiere; 5 young little people work to overcome struggles of world made for average-sized people)
9:30 p.m.
- “The Last O.G.” TBS (series premiere; Tracy Morgan plays ex-con who finds a changed world, including that he has twins, after 15-year stint in jail)
Wednesday, April 4
Streaming
- “National Treasure: Kiri,” Hulu (U.S. premiere, 4 parts; someone kidnaps young black girl named Kiri who is about to be adopted by white foster family)
7 p.m.
- “Famous in Love,” Freeform (season 2, 2-hour premiere)
- “Sex, Lies and Butterflies,” PBS (“Nature” premiere; abilities of caterpillars and butterflies seen through macrofilming)
8 p.m.
- “I Am MLK Jr.,” Paramount Network (doc; life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)
- “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo (season 10)
- “Iron Chef Gauntlet,” Food (season 2)
- “The Magicians,” Syfy (season finale)
9 p.m.
- “Murder Chose Me,” Discovery (season 2)
Thursday, April 5
Streaming
- “Prisoners,” Sundance Now (season 1; Linda sent to serve time in Iceland’s only women’s prison harbors a dark secret that could tear her family apart)
7 p.m.
- “Jersey Shore Family Vacation,” MTV (series premiere; the “Jersey Shore” gang is back for this revival)
8 p.m.
- “World’s Most Epic,” Science (series premiere; history & technology behind remarkable machines)
- “Southern Charm,” Bravo (season 5)
9 p.m.
- “Imposters,” Bravo (season 2)
- “Engineering Catastrophes,” Science (series premiere; structural mistakes & remarkable solutions used to solve them)
Friday, April 6
Streaming
- “Troy: Fall of a City,” Netflix (season 1; herdsman Paris ignites Trojan War)
- “Fastest Car,” Netflix (season 1; 3 in each episode, souped-up, home-built car goes head-to-head with supercar)
- “Money Heist,” Netflix (season 1, part 2)
- “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Jay-Z,” Netflix (new episode)
- “All or Nothing: The Michigan Wolverines,” Amazon Prime (docuseries; chronicling Michigan’s 2017 season)
- “6 Balloons,” Netflix (movie; over one night, woman drives across LA with her heroin addict brother and his daughter in search of detox center)
- “Amateur,” Netflix (movie; 14-year-old basketball phenom struggles to fit in with new team after a video of him goes viral)
- “Orbiter 9,” Netflix (movie; woman who’s been alone on spaceship her whole life becomes enamored with an engineer)
- “Ram Dass, Going Home,” Netflix (doc; spiritual teacher and ’60s icon Ram Dass meditates on life and death 20 years after suffering life-altering stroke)
- “The 4th Company,” Netflix (movie; young inmate in 1970s Mexican prison lands spot on football team that doubles as enforcer squad for corrupt administration)
- “The Boss Baby: Back in Business,” Netflix (season 1, animated; Boss Baby tries to balance family life with his job at Baby Corp headquarters)
- “Todo lo que sería de Lucas Lauriente,” Netflix (standup special; Argentine comic Lucas Lauriente reflects)
10 p.m.
- “Vice,” HBO (season 6)
Saturday, April 7
7 p.m.
- “Paterno,” HBO (movie; Al Pacino as Penn State’s Joe Paterno in aftermath of Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal)
- “Ransom,” CBS (season 2)
8 p.m.
- “Once Upon a Prince,” Hallmark (movie; woman and secret prince fall in love, even though he is obligated to marry a royal)
- “Buckeye Bottoms,” Nat Geo (season premiere)
- “Trading Spaces,” TLC (season 9; revival with original home redo helpers)
9 p.m.
- “Nate & Jeremiah by Design,” Discovery (season 2)
- “Secret Lives of the Super Rich,” CNBC (season 7)
Sunday, April 8
7 p.m.
- “Killing Eve,” BBC America (series premiere; MI5 security officer hunts serial killer)
- “Aerial Cities,” Smithsonian (6-parter; bird’s-eye view nation’s great urban areas)
- “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Bravo (reunion show, 3 parts)
- “Long Island Medium,” TLC (season premiere)
8 p.m.
- “Howards End,” Starz (limited series; adaptation of E.M. Forster novel about romance and class relations in turn-of-the-century Britain)
- “Unforgotten,” PBS (series premiere; 2 cold murder cases test wits of DCI Cassie Stuart and DS Sunny Khan; seasons 1-2 will air)
- “Aerial Africa,” Smithsonian (series premiere; bird’s-eye view Africa)
- “Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar,” AXS (season 3)
- “Long Lost Family,” TLC (season 3)
8:30 p.m.
- “Real Money,” AXS (series premiere; daily lives of Eddie Money and his family)
9 p.m.
- “Deadly Intelligence,” Science (series premiere; suspicious deaths of scientific geniuses)
- “An American Murder Mystery: The Staircase,” ID (3-part doc; death of Kathleen Peterson and trial of her husband, Michael, for her murder)
11 p.m.
- “Ballmastrz: 9009,” Adult Swim (series premiere; washed up superstar has one chance back to the big leagues: teach horrible team how to play)
Monday, April 9
Streaming
- “AMO,” Netflix (season 1; as Philippine government wages war on drugs, high schooler Joseph expands his met market)
7 p.m.
- “Waco: The Longest Siege,” Smithsonian (doc special; “inside story” of David Koresh’s Branch Davidian sect and raid by federal agents on compound 25 years ago)
9 p.m.
- “The Art of the Shine,” PBS (“Independent Lens” premiere; for these shoe shiners, shining shoes is a calling and a passion)
Tuesday, April 10
Streaming
- “Greg Davies: You Magnificent Beast,” Netflix (standup special; British comedian Greg Davies revisits terrifying dates, manscaping disasters, his father’s pranks)
7 p.m.
- “Secrets of the Dead: Hannibal in the Alps,” PBS (doc; experts recreate route to prove where and how Hannibal’s army made it across Alps to attack Rome)
- “Fixer Upper: Behind the Design,” HGTV (special; Chip and Joanna Gaines give fans never-before-seen look at design secrets featured in “Fixer Upper”)
8 p.m.
- “Elton John: I’m Still Standing—A Grammy Salute,” CBS (special; musicians pay tribute to Elton John)
- “Deadliest Catch,” Discovery (season 14)
8:30 p.m.
- “New Girl,” Fox (season 7; 1st or 8 final season episodes)
9 p.m.
- “In Contempt,” BET (series premiere; non-profit lawyers fight for justice in world of New York City’s legal aid office)
- “Trump’s Takeover,” PBS (“Frontline” premiere; inside story of Trump’s first year)
Wednesday, April 11
8 p.m.
- “The Expanse,” Syfy (season 3)
9 p.m.
- “America Inside Out with Katie Couric,” Nat Geo (doc series; exploring divisive themes confronting our country today)
- “Conan Without Borders: Italy,” TBS (special; Conan hosts show and does the tourist thing)
- “Staten Island Hustle,” CNBC (series premiere; friends/businessmen invest in products/ideas)
- “Sell It Like Serhant,” Bravo (series premiere; Ryan Serhant answers call of struggling salespeople across multiple industries)
Thursday, April 12
Streaming
- “SuperMansion,” Sony Crackle (season 3)
- “Pickpockets,” Netflix (movie; 3 aspiring thieves learn what it takes to be successful pickpockets from a master)
Friday, April 13
Streaming
- “Lost in Space,” Netflix (season 1; the Robinson family crash lands on a distant planet in the remake of 1960s original)
- “Bosch,” Amazon Prime (season 4)
- “Chef’s Table: Pastry,” Netflix (season 4, reality)
- “Come Sunday,” Netflix (movie; pastor Carlton Pearson risks everything when he questions church doctrine and is branded a modern-day heretic)
- “I Am Not an Easy Man,” Netflix (movie; shameless chauvinist gets taste of his own medicine when he wakes up in world dominated by women)
- “The Magic School Bus Rides Again,” Netflix (season 2)
8:30 a.m.
- “Mickey and the Roadster Racers,” Disney (season 2)
9 p.m.
- “Rellik,” Cinemax (season 1; story begins with capture of serial killer and moves back in time to the crimes themselves, focusing on two detectives involved)
- “The Graham Norton Show,” BBC America (season 23)
- “Back in the Game,” CNBC (series premiere; Alex Rodriguez hosts as ex-athletes in serious financial distress are paired with money-savvy mentors)
10:30 p.m.
- “Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas,” HBO (docuseries premiere; “The Daily Show” correspondent comedically examines social and cultural problems facing Americans)
Saturday, April 14
7 p.m.
- “Elvis Presley: The Searcher,” HBO (doc; 3-hour, 2-film presentation focuses on the musical artist from his childhood through final 1976 Jungle Room recording sessions)
Sunday, April 15
7 p.m.
- “53rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards,” CBS (special)
- “The Circus,” Showtime (season 2)
8 p.m.
- “Southern Charm New Orleans,” Bravo (series premiere; group of friends from prominent families navigate New Orleans’ exclusive party scene)
9 p.m.
- “Fear the Walking Dead,” AMC (season 4)
- “Snoop Dogg Presents the Joker’s Wild,” TBS (season 2)
- “Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition,” Food Network (season 13)
9:30 p.m.
- “Drop the Mic,” TBS (season 2)
Monday, April 16
Streaming
- “No Offence,” Acorn TV (season 1, U.S. premiere; more Acorn TV)
7 p.m.
- “I Am Evidence,” HBO (doc; reveals shocking number of untested rape kits in America and how testing them can lead to solving crimes)
- “Supergirl,” CBS (season 3c)
9 p.m.
- “What Lies Upstream,” PBS (“Independent Lens” premiere; investigation of massive West Virginia chemical spill finds collusion between chemical corporations and government)
- “Scorpion,” CBS (season 4 finale)
Tuesday, April 17
Streaming
- “The Chalet,” Netflix (season 1; friends gathered at remote chalet in French Alps are caught in deadly trap)
- “The Honeymoon Stand Up Special: Collection,” Netflix (3 comedy specials; impending parenthood does funny things to Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher)
7 p.m.
- “Civilizations,” PBS (9-part docuseries; story of art from the dawn of human history to the present day)
9 p.m.
- “Last Outpost,” Discovery (series premiere; two friends create one-of-a-kind, usable machines out of recycled parts in Alaska)
- “McCain,” PBS (“Frontline” special; Sen. John McCain’s motivations & political history)
- “Forged in Fire: Knife or Death,” History (competition series)
- “The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars,” MTV (10-week tourney)
Wednesday, April 18
7 p.m.
- “Hollywood Darlings,” Pop (season 2)
- “The Wine Show,” Ovation (season 1, broadcast premiere; Matthew Goode and Matthew Rhys travel to uncover some of best wines in world)
- “Ice Bridge: The Impossible Journey,” Smithsonian (special: discovery could rewrite how and when first humans came to North America)
8 p.m.
- “Criminal Minds,” CBS (season 13 finale)
- “Stone House Revival,” DIY (season premiere)
9 p.m.
- “Bill Nye: Science Guy,” PBS (“POV” premiere; TV personality wants to stop spread of anti-scientific thought and action)
Thursday, April 19
Streaming
- “Charité,” Netflix (season 1; at end of 19th Century, Berlin woman works off her debts at world-famous Charité hospital)
9 p.m.
- “Scandal,” ABC (series finale)
- “Jay Leno’s Garage,” CNBC (season premiere)
Friday, April 20
Streaming
- “Aggretsuko,” Netflix (season 1, animated; Retsuko the Red Panda copes with her work rage by singing death metal karaoke after hours)
- “Dope,” Netflix (season 2, doc series)
- “Dude,” Netflix (movie; 4 girlfriends negotiate major life changes during last weeks of high school)
- “Kodachrome,” Netflix (movie; dying photographer and his son reunite for road trip to last photo lab still developing Kodachrome film)
- “Mercury 13,” Netflix (doc; women who were tested in 1961 for spaceflight, but had their dreams dashed when only men became astronauts)
- “Spy Kids: Mission Critical,” Netflix (season 1, animated; junior spies work to defeat S.W.A.M.P.)
- “Pass Over,” Amazon Prime (movie; two young black men pass the time and dream of promised land)
8 p.m.
- “Live at the BBC: Harry Styles,” BBC America (special episode; Styles sings and is interviewed)
- “The Originals,” CW (final season premiere)
Saturday, April 21
Streaming
- “The Letdown,” Netflix (season 1; mother of 2-month-old, makes quirky friends at new-parents support group)
Sunday, April 22
6 p.m.
- “Symphony for Our World,” Nat Geo Wild (special; natural history footage paired with new music composed by Bleeding Fingers Music and X Ambassadors)
8 p.m.
- “Westworld,” HBO (season 2)
- “Symphony for Our World,” Nat Geo (special; natural history footage combined with original symphony)
- “Fear the Walking Dead,” AMC (time-period premiere)
9 p.m.
- “Into the Badlands,” AMC (season 3)
Monday, April 23
9 p.m.
- “The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special,” CBS (special; all new “Carpool Karaoke,” “Crosswalk the Musical” and James Corden’s favorite moments from “The Late Late Show”)
- “Look & See: Wendell Berry’s Kentucky,” PBS (“Independent Lens” premiere; cinematic portrait of changing landscapes and shifting values of rural America in era of industrial agriculture)
Tuesday, April 24
Streaming
- “Kevin James: Never Don’t Give Up,” Netflix (standup special)
7 p.m.
- “The Flash,” CW (spring premiere)
8 p.m.
- “Genius: Picasso,” Nat Geo (season 2; life of Pablo Picasso)
- “The 100,” CW (season 5)
- “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Bravo (reunion show)
Wednesday, April 25
Streaming
- “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Hulu (season 2)
- “Psychokinesis,” Netflix (movie; father with new supernatural powers sets out to help his estranged daughter)
7 p.m.
- “Natural Born Rebels: A Nature Miniseries,” PBS (“Nature” premiere; animals who will steal, cheat and fight to get ahead in the animal kingdom)
- “Fishing for Giants,” Smithsonian (3-parter premiere; journey to catch world’s biggest fish)
9 p.m.
- “My House,” Vice (docuseries premiere; look at New York City’s hyper-competitive underground queer ballroom scene)
- “Archer: Danger Island,” FXX (season 9)
- “Code Black,” CBS (season 3)
- “Brockmire,” IFC (season 2)
Thursday, April 26
9 p.m.
- “Quantico,” ABC (season 3)
Friday, April 27
Streaming
- “3%,” Netflix (season 2)
- “Bobby Kennedy for President,” Netflix (docuseries; “Bobby Phenomenon” of 1960s and his continuing influence)
- “Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie,” Hulu (doc; 60 years of women in popular culture through lens of plastic icon)
- “Candy Jar,” Netflix (movie; working-class high school girl falls in love with her wealthy debate team nemesis)
- “The Week Of,” Netflix (movie; Adam Sandler and Chris Rock get ready for wedding of their characters’ kids)
- “All or Nothing: Dallas Cowboys,” Amazon Prime (season 3, reality)
- “Little Big Awesome,” Amazon Prime (season 1a, animated; 2 inseparable buddies must get a lost little bubble back home to Bubble Land)
- “The New Legends of Monkey,” Netflix (season 1; valiant girl liberates the Monkey King to save world from evil)
8 p.m.
- “Ancient Aliens,” History (season 13)
9 p.m.
- “Golden State Killer Caught: People Magazine Investigates,” ID (special; previously aired special updated now that suspect has been caught)
10 p.m.
- “David Bowie: Five Years,” BBC America (doc; 5 important years in artist’s history)
Saturday, April 28
5 p.m.
- “The Turpin 13: Family Secrets Exposed,” Oxygen (special; David and Louise Turpin are charged with keeping their children shackled and starved in Perris, Calif., home)
7 p.m.
- “The Glass Castle,” EPIX (film’s world TV premiere; girl comes of age in dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads)
8 p.m.
- “The Beach House,” Hallmark (movie; based on Mary Alice Monroe’s novel about family, sea turtles and real truths)
Sunday, April 29
8 p.m.
- “The Good Witch,” Hallmark (season 4)
Monday, April 30
7 p.m.
- “Dancing with the Stars All-Athletes Edition,” ABC (season 26)
9 p.m.
- “AMC Visionaries: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction,” AMC (series premiere; insiders’ look at origins of sci-fi genre)
- “True Conviction,” PBS (“Independent Lens” premiere; doc about 3 recently exonerated men on mission to help others who have been wrongly convicted)
- “Elementary,” CBS (season 6)