April 2017 TV premieres
Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull star in the finale season of "12 Monkeys" on Syfy. (Dusan Martincek/Syfy)
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May 2017 TV premieres, finales, movies, specials

May is transition time on TV. Season finales fill the calendar early in the month, but later the summer season begins. The May 2017 TV premieres list includes Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, 12 Monkeys and the revival of Twin Peaks.

The networks also woo advertisers in May during their upfront presentations. At these events, the networks announce new and returning series for the fall season.

Things may change if the writers strike, but let’s hope for the best. In the meantime, here’s your May 2017 TV premieres, finales, movies and specials. As always, I will add to the list when new things come up.

May 2017 TV calendar

All times Central, because Chicago is the best.

 

Monday, May 1

Streaming

  • “Losing Sight of Shore,” Netflix (doc; four women known as the Coxless Crew row Pacific Ocean from America to Australia unsupported)

7 p.m.

  • “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta: Joseline’s Special Delivery,” VH1 (special; Joseline Hernandez’s journey to motherhood)

8 p.m.

  • “Lucifer,” Fox (spring premiere)
  • “Docked Out,” DIY (series premiere; custom deck spaces)
  • “Superheroes Decoded,” History (Part 2 of doc; true beginnings of America’s legendary superhero characters)

9 p.m.

  • “Warning: This Drug May Kill You,” HBO (doc; four families devastated by opioid addiction)
Tuesday, May 2

6:30 p.m.

  • “Jackson,” Showtime (doc; at one time Mississippi had 14 abortion clinics—now only one remains)

8 p.m.

  • “Below Deck Mediterranean,” Bravo (season 2)
  • “Little People, Big World,” TLC (spring season premiere)

9 p.m.

  • “Drop the Mic,” TBS (series premiere; 4 celebs perform in rap battles)
  • “Andy Cohen’s Then and Now,” Bravo (series premiere; host and guest look back on big pop culture moments)
  • “Truth and Iliza,” Freeform (series premiere; comedian Iliza Shlesinger offers her take of topical issues)
  • “Big Bad BBQ Brawl,” Cooking (season 2)
  • “Breakthrough,” Nat Geo (season 2)
Thursday, May 4

Streaming

  • “This Week On,” Crackle (series premiere; YouTube sensation and SMOSH co-founder Ian Hecox discusses hot movies and shows on Crackle)

8 p.m.

  • “Second Wives Club,” E! (series premiere; real housewives with a twist)

9 p.m.

  • “7 Little Johnstons,” TLC (season 2)

 

Friday, May 5

Streaming

  • “Sense8,” Netflix (season 2)
  • “The Mars Generation,” Netflix (doc; teen trainees at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center prepare for a Mars trip in the future)
  • “Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie,” Netflix (doc; accomplished L.A. detective can’t make sense of own life)

7 p.m.

  • “Blue Bloods,” CBS (season 7 finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Al Madrigal: Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy,” Showtime (stand-up special)
Saturday, May 6

Streaming

  • “Batman & Bill,” Hulu (doc; Bill Finger, not Bob Kane, really created Batman)

7 p.m.

  • “Renovation Realities: Ben & Ginger,” DIY (series premiere; Ginger Zee and Ben Aaron renovate)

9 p.m.

  • “Chris Gethard: Career Suicide,” HBO (comedy special;  one-man off-Broadway show about depression, alcoholism, suicide and other funny parts of life)

 

Sunday. May 7

5 p.m.

  • “Snapped,” Oxygen (season 20)

7 p.m.

  • “Disney Fairy Tale Weddings,” Freeform (special; “Bachelor” alumni Ben Higgins and Lauren Bushnell host look at weddings and engagements at Disney Destinations)

10:30 p.m.

  • “American Race,” TNT (sneak peek after NBC Playoffs; see May 11 for details)

 

Monday, May 8

5 a.m.

  • “Fuse First: Starley,” Fuse/FM (special; look at Aussie singer/songwriter Starley, whose “Call on Me” became big hit)

7 p.m.

  • “Kevin Can Wait,” CBS (season 1 finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Superior Donuts,” CBS (season 1 finale)
  • “Dear Mama,” VH1 (special; tribute to moms)

9 p.m.

  • “World of Dance,” NBC (series premiere; Jennifer Lopez  judges dance competition)
  • “Southern Charm Savannah,” Bravo (series premiere; six friends living in posh society of Savannah, Ga.)

9:30 p.m.

  • “The Therapist,” Viceland (series premiere; Dr. Siri Sat Nam Singh looks into psyches of influential musicians and artists)
Tuesday, May 9

Streaming

  • “The Moorside,“ Britbox (U.S. premiere; Moorside estate residents rally around family of kidnapped child, based on 2008 kidnapping of Shannon Matthews)

 

Wednesday, May 10

Streaming

  • “Ruler: Master of the Mask,” DramaFever (series premiere; Crown Prince Lee Sun fights to defeat Pyunsoo Hwe, an evil organization that controls the water supply)

7 p.m.

  • “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta: Dirty Little Secrets 2,” VH1 (special; intimate look into the world of “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta”)

8 p.m.

  • “Criminal Minds,” CBS (season 12 finale)

8:30 p.m.

  • “black-ish,” ABC (season finale)

9 p.m.

  • “The Filthy Rich Guide,” CNBC (season 3)
Thursday, May 11

7 p.m.

  • “My Stepdaughter’s Secret,” LMN (movie; mom suspects stepdaughter is more than witness to murder)
  • “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS (season 10 finale)

7:30 p.m.

  • “The Great Indoors,” CBS (season 1 finale)

8 p.m.

  • “American Race,” TNT (2-night special, parts 1 & 2; Charles Barkley explores race with diverse cross section of Americans)
  • “Riverdale,” CW (season finale)
  • “Mom,” CBS (season 4 finale)

8:30 p.m.

  • “Life in Pieces,” CBS (season 2 finale)

9 p.m.

  • “The Catch,” ABC (season finale)

 

Friday, May 12

Streaming

  • “I Love Dick,” Amazon (series premiere; married and frustrates filmmaker meets renowned scholar who awakens more than her creative side)
  • “Master of None,” Netflix (season 2)
  • “Anne,” Netflix (series premiere; new adaptation of “Anne of Green Gables”)
  • “Get Me Roger Stone,” Netflix (doc; rise and fall of Trump adviser Roger Stone)

7 p.m.

  • “Celebrity Undercover Boss,” CBS (special; Grammy winner Darius Rucker goes undercover to find great musicians)
  • “Give Me My Baby,” LMN (movie; would-be parents suspect wrongdoing by fertility specialist)

8 p.m.

  • “American Race,” TNT (2-night special, parts 3 & 4; Charles Barkley explores race with diverse cross section of Americans)
  • “Hawaii Five-0,” CBS (season 7 finale)
  • “Shark Tank,” ABC (season finale)
Saturday, May 13

8 p.m.

  • “All for Love,” Hallmark (movie; romance novelist meets embodiment of her fictional hero)
Sunday, May 14

7 p.m.

  • “Miss USA 2017,” Fox (special)
  • “NCIS: Los Angeles,” CBS (season 8 finale)
  • “Once Upon a Time,” ABC (2-hour season finale)

8 p.m.

  • “King Charles III,” PBS (“Masterpiece” premiere; Tim Pigott-Smith plays Prince Charles after he becomes king in future)
  • “Invite Only Cabo,” Bravo (series premiere; celebrity hair stylist Larry Sims invites friends on a trip and things get crazy)
  • “A Bundle of Trouble: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery,” Hallmark M&M (movie; newborn baby, diaper bag with $10,000 and a dead man dropped on Aurora’s front porch)

9 p.m.

  • “What Happens at The Abbey,” E! (series premiere; look at lives of the employees of L.A. hot spot)
  • “Food Porn,” FYI (season 2)

11:15 p.m.

  • “Mike Tyson Mysteries,” Adult Swim (season 3)

 

Monday, May 15

Streaming

  • “Decline and Fall,” Acorn TV (U.S. premiere; comedy based on the Evelyn Waugh novel about a teacher who falls for mother of one of his students)

7:30 p.m.

  • “Man with a Plan,” CBS (season 1 finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Year Million,” Nat Geo (6-part doc series premiere; what will it be like to be human approximately one million years into the future?)

9 p.m.

  • “Scorpion,” CBS (season 3 finale)
  • “Quantico,” ABC (season 2 finale)

 

Tuesday, May 16

7 p.m.

  • “NCIS,” CBS (season 14 finale)
  • “The Middle,” ABC (season finale)

7:30 p.m.

  • “American Housewife,” ABC (season finale)

8 p.m.

  • “American Epic,” PBS (3-part doc; explores pivotal recording journeys at height of the Roaring Twenties; also May 23 and 30, check local listings) More about “American Epic”
  • “Born This Way,” A&E (season 2)
  • “Fresh Off the Boat,” ABC (season finale)

8:30 p.m.

  • “Imaginary Mary,” ABC (season finale)

9 p.m.

  • “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS (season 3 finale)
  • “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” ABC (season finale)
Wednesday, May 17

7 p.m.

  • “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry,” E! (season 2)
  • “Black Ink Crew: Behind The Ink,” VH1 (special; interviews & reactions to OMG moments with New York & Chicago casts)
  • “The Goldbergs,” ABC (season finale)

7:30 p.m.

  • “Speechless,” ABC (season finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” CBS (season 2 finale)
  • “Modern Family,” ABC (season finale)

8:30 p.m.

  • “Downward Dog,” ABC (series premiere; pet dog tells the story of his owner, an overworked single woman)

9 p.m.

  • “Designated Survivor,” ABC (season finale)
Thursday, May 18

7 p.m.

  • “Supernatural,” CW (season finale)
  • “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC (season finale)

8 p.m.

  • “First In Human: The Trials of Building 10,” Discovery (series premiere; behind-the-scenes at world’s largest research hospital)
  • “Scandal,” ABC (season finale)

 

Friday, May 19

Streaming

  • “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” Netflix (season 3)

6:30 p.m.

  • “The Juanes Effect: De Canciones Y Transformaciones,” HBO Latino (special; story of Colombian superstar Juanes through eyes of fans)

7 p.m.

  • “12 Monkeys,” Syfy (season 3; 1st 4 eps air Friday, followed by 3 each on Saturday and Sunday)
  • “Celebrity Undercover Boss,” CBS (special; chef Marcus Samuelsson goes undercover to find gifted aspiring chefs)
  • “The Toy Box,” ABC (2-hour season finale)

7:30 p.m.

  • “David Holt’s State of Music,” WYCC (check local PBS stations) (season 2)

8 p.m.

  • “The New I Love Lucy Superstar Special,” CBS (special; newly colorized versions of “The Dancing Star” with Van Johnson and “Harpo Marx” with comedian Harpo Marx)

9 p.m.

  • “Summer of 69: No Apostrophe,” EPIX (comedy special; Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally talk about their marriage in stage production)
Saturday, May 20

Streaming

  • “Becoming Bond,” Hulu (doc; how George Lazenby became James Bond without ever acting before, and why he turned down a 6-movie deal to continue)

8 p.m.

  • “The Wizard of Lies,” HBO (movie; Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer star as Bernie and Ruth Madoff)
  • “The Art of Us,” Hallmark (movie; modern retelling of “My Fair Lady”)
  • “Training Day,” CBS (season 1 finale)

10:30 p.m.

  • “Saturday Night Live,” NBC (season finale; Dwayne Johnson, Katy Perry)

 

Sunday, May 21

6 p.m.

  • “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC (season finale)

7 p.m.

  • “2017 Billboard Music Awards,” ABC (special)

8 p.m.

  • “Twin Peaks,” Showtime (season premiere; wack-a-doo David Lynch series returns)
  • “Dark Angel on Masterpiece,” PBS (movie; Victorian era poisoner Mary Ann Cotton becomes Britain’s first female serial killer)
  • “Madam Secretary,” CBS (season 3 finale)

9 p.m.

  • “Elementary,” CBS (season 5 finale)

9:30 p.m.

  • “Scraps,” DIY (series premiere; national Sur La Table Chef Joel Gamoran creates feasts using food waste and scraps)

 

Monday, May 22

Streaming

  • “Circle,” DramaFever (series premiere; college discovers an alien has just arrived on Earth)

7 p.m.

  • “Princess Diana: Her Life, Her Death, The Truth,” CBS (special; life and legacy of the global icon)
  • “The Bachelorette,” ABC (season 13)
  • “Supergirl,” CW (season finale)
  • “Young & Hunger,” Freeform (spring finale)

7:30 p.m.

  • “Baby Daddy,” Freeform (spring finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Jane the Virgin,” CW (season finale)

9 p.m.

  • “Suite Francaise,” Lifetime (movie; in German-occupied France, French woman falls for German soldier)
  • “The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special,” CBS (special; James Corden sings in a car with celebs)

11 p.m.

  • “Neon Joe, Werewolf Hunter,” Adult Swim (season 2; 5 nights in a row)
Tuesday, May 23

Streaming

  • “Casual,“ Hulu (season 3)

7 p.m.

  • “Downward Dog,” ABC (day and time premiere; pet dog tells the story of his owner, an overworked single woman)
  • “The Flash,” CW (season finale)

7:30 p.m.

  • “Dancing with the Stars,” ABC (season finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Bull,” CBS (season 1 finale)
  • “iZombie,” CW (season finale)

9 p.m.

  • “Unearthed,” Science (season 2)
Wednesday, May 24

7 p.m.

  • “Dirty Dancing,” ABC (movie; 3-hour remake of 1987 film)
  • “Arrow,” CW (season finale)
  • “Survivor,” CBS (season 34 finale)

8 p.m.

  • “Black Ink Crew: Chicago,” VH1 (season 3)

9 p.m.

  • “Survivor Live Reunion Show,” CBS (special)
  • “Bakers vs. Fakers,” Food (season premiere)
  • “The 100,” CW (season finale)

 

Thursday, May 25

7 p.m.

  • “Love Connection,” Fox (series premiere; single men and/or women in search of romance)
  • “Celebrity Ninja Warrior for Red Nose Day,” NBC (special episode; celebrities participate)

8 p.m.

  • “Beat Shazam,” Fox (series premiere; teams of two attempt to identify biggest hit songs of all time)
  • “Running Wild with Bear Grylls for Red Nose Day,” NBC (special episode; Julia Roberts and Grylls show viewers impact of donations)
  • “Million Dollar Listing New York,” Bravo (season 6)

9 p.m.

  • “The Red Nose Day Special,” NBC (special; Chris Hardwick hosts third annual charity event)
  • “Cyrus vs. Cyrus: Design & Conquer,” Bravo (series premiere; Tish and Brandi Cyrus make over luxurious homes)

10 p.m.

  • “Vintage Flip,” HGTV (season 2)

 

Friday, May 26

Streaming

  • “Delicious,” Acorn TV (U.S. premiere; food, love and infidelity in Cornwall)
  • “Long Strange Trip,” Amazon (doc; Martin Scorsese’s look at Grateful Dead)
  • “Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower,” Netflix (doc; Hong Kong teenager organizes protest against Chines government)
  • “Dino Dana,” Amazon (series premiere; kid has dinosaur adventuresx)
Saturday, May 27

8 p.m.

  • “All For Love,” Hallmark (movie; failing romance novelist meets SEAL and magic happens)
Sunday, May 28

7 p.m.

  • “National Memorial Day Concert,” PBS (28th annual special)

8:30 p.m.

  • “PBS Previews: The Vietnam War,” PBS (special; behind-the-scenes look at making of upcoming doc series from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick)

 

Monday, May 29

Streaming

  • “800 Words,” Acorn TV (U.S. premiere, season 2, part 2)

7 p.m.

  • “America: Promised Land,” History (2-night special premiere; a look at immigrant populations as they settled in and helped transform the United States)
  • “Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland,” Lifetime (movie; told from the view of his bodyguards)

8 p.m.

  • “Pool Kings,” DIY (series premiere; high-end pools and spas)

9 p.m.

  • “Still Star-Crossed,” ABC (series premiere; period drama picks up where story of Romeo and Juliet leaves off)
Tuesday, May 30

Streaming

  • “House of Cards,” Netflix (season 5)

7 p.m.

  • “America’s Got Talent,” NBC (season premiere)
  • “Chopped Junior All-Stars,” Food (season premiere)
  • “America: Promised Land,” History (2-night special conclusion; a look at immigrant populations as they settled in and helped transform the United States)

8 p.m.

  • “Animal Kingdom,” TNT (season 2; more on “Animal Kingdom”)
  • “World of Dance,” NBC (time period premiere)
  • “Man Fire Food,” Cooking (season premiere)

9 p.m.

  • “Good Bones,” HGTV (season 2)

 

Wednesday, May 31

7 p.m.

  • “Masterchef,” Fox (season 8)

8 p.m.

  • “Kingdom,” Audience (season 3)
  • “The Carmichael Show,” NBC (season 3)
  • “The F Word with Gordon Ramsay,” Fox (series premiere; teams of foodie families and friends battle in cook-off)
  • “Nova: Poisoned Water,” PBS (doc; how water disaster in Flint, Mich., exposed vulnerabilities of water systems nationwide)
  • “Big Star, Little Star,” USA (series premiere; celebrity family game show with stars, their kids)
  • “Brother vs. Brother: Jonathan vs. Drew,” HGTV (season premiere)

 

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