What to Expect on TV in April and May

We are only a few days into April and there is plenty of new programming – both new shows and movies – coming up in both April and May

The following list highlights the new programming options for April and May:

On April 3, the DirecTV drama Rogue will debut at 9 PM. The series stars Thandie Newton as a morally and emotionally-conflicted undercover detective who is tormented by the possibility that her own actions contributed to her son’s mysterious death.

Also on that night, the BBC America 2-part mini-series Spies of Warsaw will debut at 9 PM. This mini-series is about French and German intelligence operatives who are locked in a life-and-death struggle in the espionage arena. At the French embassy, a decorated war hero of the 1914 war, Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier (David Tennant from Doctor Who), is sucked into a world of abduction, betrayal and international intrigue from the diplomatic salons to the back alleys of Warsaw. Mercier simultaneously finds himself in a passionate love affair with Anna (Janet Montgomery from Made in Jersey), a Parisian lawyer for the League of Nations. Their complicated love affair intensifies as German tanks drive through the Black Forest. The second part of this mini-series will air on April 10.

The new NBC thriller Hannibal will debut on April 4 at 10 PM. The series is a contemporary take on the characters from Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon novel that focuses on the fledgling relationship between FBI agent Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and his mentor Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).

On April 12, the new Starz drama Da Vinci’s Demons will debut at 10 PM. This historical fantasy tells the “untold” story of a young Leonardo da Vinci (Tom Riley from Lost in Austen), the world’s greatest genius, during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence. As a 25-year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist, he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time as he begins to not only see the future, but invent it.

The Lifetime made-for-TV movie Stalkers will air at 8 PM on April 13. Drea de Matteo (The Sopranos), Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (Prison Break) star in this movie about a tough hot-headed cop with a troubled past who teams up with a polished, politically savvy Assistant District Attorney to take down a dangerous stalker.

On April 15, the new Syfy series Defiance will debut at 9 PM. This series is set in the near future in an exotically transformed planet Earth, its landscapes permanently altered following the sudden — and tumultuous — arrival of seven unique alien races. A newly-formed civilization of humans and aliens must learn to co-exist peacefully.

The entire 13-episode new Netflix series called Hemlock Grove will debut online on April 19. This online series is a gripping tale of murder, mystery and monsters set in a ravaged Pennsylvania steel town that starts with the body of a young girl, mangled and murdered in the shadow of the former Godfrey steel mill. Some suspect an escapee from the White Tower, a biotech facility owned by the former steel magnates. Others believe the killer could be Peter, a 17-year-old Gypsy kid (Landon Liboiron from Terra Nova) from the wrong side of the tracks, who tells his classmates he’s a werewolf. Or it could be Roman (Bill Skarsgard, brother of Alexander Skarsgard from True Blood), the arrogant Godfrey scion, whose sister Shelley is disturbingly deformed and whose mother, Olivia (Famke Janssen from the X-Men franchise), the otherworldly beautiful and controlling grand dame of Hemlock Grove.

On April 20, the Hallmark Movie Channel film After All These Years will debut at 8 PM. Audrey Brandon (Wendie Malick from Hot in Cleveland) has just celebrated her 30th anniversary with her “perfect” husband, Michael (Barclay Hope from The Killing), when he leaves her for a younger woman. Soon after, Audrey is shocked to find Michael murdered on her kitchen floor. When Audrey is named as the primary suspect, she becomes a fugitive on the hunt for the real killer. With some help along the way from best friends Anita (Andrea Martin from My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and Phyllis (Martha Burns), former student J.J. (Matt Ward from Red Riding Hood) and former love David (Gregory Harrison), Audrey investigates the case to clear her name.

Also on that night, the Lifetime movie Call Me Crazy: A Five Film will debut at 8 PM. This film includes an all-star cast, focusing on the five interwoven stories of powerful relationships built on hope and triumph when dealing with a loved ones struggle with mental illness.

On April 21, the 3-part murder mystery The Bletchley Circle mini-series will debut on PBS at 10 PM. The mini follows Susan, Millie, Lucy and Jean, ordinary women with extraordinary ability to break codes, a skill honed during World War II when they worked undercover at Bletchley Park, site of the United Kingdom’s main decryption establishment. Now, in 1952, the four have returned to civilian life, keeping their intelligence work secret from all, including family and friends. But, a series of ghastly murders targeting women reunites the team as they set out to decode the pattern behind the crimes. This mini-series will air each Sunday through May 5.

That same night, the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Remember Sunday will air on ABC at 9 PM. Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) will star as down-on-her-luck waitress Molly, who meets jewelry store clerk Gus (Zachary Levi from Chuck), but complications ensue thanks to Gus’s memory problems: a brain aneurysm that gives him a blank slate the second his alarm clock wakes him up each day.

Also on April 21, Lovestruck: The Musical will debut on ABC Family at 8 PM. The film tells the story of Harper (Jane Seymour), one of the best dancers Broadway has ever seen; but an injury caused her to leave the spotlight, becoming a choreographer and raising her daughter Mirabella (Sara Paxton). When Mirabella, the star of Harper’s next big production, decides to quit the show to get married abroad, her mother is determined to put a stop to the wedding and show Mirabella that she cannot give up her career for love. After the long flight to the Italian wedding site, Harper takes a swig from a strange bottle that is supposed to dull the pain of an old dance injury. Instead, the elixir magically changes Harper to be 30 years younger. Harper’s younger appearance (Chelsea Kane) allows her to secretly infiltrate the wedding – only to confront a huge obstacle in Mirabella’s father, Ryan (Tom Wopat), who immediately recognizes his ex-wife. After he too experiences the reverse-aging effects of the elixir (Drew Seeley plays Young Ryan), Ryan teams with Harper to reverse the damage she’s done to Mirabella and Marco’s relationship, hopefully in time to save the wedding.

The Sundance Channel mini-series Rectify will debut on April 22 at 10 PM. Daniel Holden (Aden Young from The Starter Wife) must put his life back together after serving 19 years on Georgia’s Death Row before DNA evidence calls his conviction into question.

On May 4, the Hallmark Channel film Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story will debut at 9 PM. Based on the true story of legendary hockey player Gordie Howe, to be played by Michael Shanks (Stargate: SG-1), who, at age 45, returned to the ice after his retirement for the opportunity to play professional hockey and win a championship with his sons. His wife Colleen will be played by Kathleen Robertson (Beverly Hills 90210).

The Hallmark Channel original movie Beverly Lewis’ The Confession will debut on May 11 at 9 PM. Based on the novel by Beverly Lewis, the film will star Katie Leclerc (Switched at Birth) as Katie Lapp, an innocent young Amish woman who has ventured out of her small Lancaster community for the first time after a painful incident led to her “shunning” from the very township that raised her. She takes on the unfamiliar outside world in the attempt to track down her birth mother, Laura Mayfield-Bennett (Sherry Stringfield), a wealthy and generous woman who is dying of cancer.

On May 21, the new ABC series Motive will debut at 10:01 PM. When murder is committed, Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman from The Killing), a loving, single mother and a damned good detective, along with her partner, Detective Oscar Vega (Louis Ferreira from Stargate Universe), are on the case, looking for clues that will lead them to the killer.

The Lifetime movie Ring of Fire will debut on May 27 at 8 PM. Singer Jewel stars as June Carter Cash in this heartfelt telling of the famous singer’s life from her early beginnings in the rural mountains of Virginia to her turbulent, yet enduring marriage to Johnny Cash (Matt Ross from American Horror Story).

There will, of course, be plenty of season finales in May on the major networks and a lot of shows returning or debuting in June; but for now, be prepared for the above and mark your calendars!