What to Expect on TV Next Month

May is always a busy month for the major networks with all of the season (or in some cases series) finales. There are also still plenty of made-for-TV movies and mini-series to enjoy from the cable networks; and there will be a few shows returning for new seasons throughout the month as well as the debut of two highly-anticipated limited series.

The following is a look at what viewers can expect on TV throughout the month of May.

First here are the finale dates:

May 1 – Blue Bloods on CBS

May 3 – Madam Secretary on CBS and Secrets and Lies on ABC

May 4 – Gotham on FOX

May 5 – Person of Interest on CBS and Forever on ABC

May 6 – Criminal Minds on CBS

May 8 – Hawaii Five-0 on CBS (Two-Hours)

May 10 – The Good Wife on CBS and Once Upon a Time and Revenge on ABC

May 11 – Castle on ABC and The Originals and Jane the Virgin on The CW

May 12 – NCIS and NCIS: New Orleans on CBS; Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on ABC and Chicago Fire on NBC

May 13 – Arrow on The CW and Nashville on ABC

May 14 – The Blacklist on NBC; Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and American Crime on ABC; CSI Cyber (Two-Hours) and Elementary on CBS and The Vampire Diaries and Reign on The CW

May 18 – Stalker and NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS and The Following on FOX

May 19 – The Flash on The CW

May 20 – Chicago P.D. on NBC and Supernatural on The CW

May 24 – Battle Creek on CBS

May 30 – Outlander on Starz

The following are the made-for-TV movies that will air during the month:

The original Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie Murder She Baked: A Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder Mystery will debut on May 2 at 9 PM. Based on the book by Joanne Fluke, the film centers on free spirit Hannah Swensen (Alison Sweeney from Days of Our Lives), an expert baker who becomes a culinary detective when her shop, the Cookie Jar, becomes the scene of a crime, just as she is caught in a romantic mystery of her own.

The new UP Channel movie Love By Design will debut on May 3 at 7 PM. Danielle (Giulia Nahmany) is living her dream in New York City. She’s got a successful career at a high fashion magazine, a great apartment and a handsome boyfriend. But when a coworker steals her idea (and her boyfriend), Danielle loses her self-control to her ultra-diva boss — and then loses her job. With her life in ruins, she heads home to Romania to the comfort of her family and friends. Now with the help of her colorful family, Danielle will rediscover herself and the passion that made her fall in love with fashion in the first place.

The new Hallmark Channel film Just the Way You Are will debut on May 9 at 9 PM. When a professional matchmaker’s (Candace Cameron Bure) own marriage loses its spark, she seeks to recharge the relationship by asking her husband out on a blind date. As Mother’s Day approaches and their romance starts to rekindle, she wonders if her career-driven husband will finally learn to put his family’s needs before his job.

The original UP Channel movie Mothers of the Bride will debut on May 10 at 7 PM. When a young woman, adopted at birth, gets engaged, she decides this might be a good time to meet her birth mother. Her adopted mother, so excited to plan her daughter’s wedding is supportive until she meets the birth mother who is a hugely successful event planner.

The Hallmark Movies & Mysteries original move Gourmet Detective will debut on May 16 at 9 PM. Dylan Neal (Cedar Cove) stars as a culinary whiz who uses his mastery of food, drink and cooking to solve crimes of the culinary world. Whether it’s the theft of a valuable recipe or a suspicious murder in the middle of a five-star restaurant, his insight, skills and encyclopedic knowledge of all things edible always lead him to the culprit.

The HBO movie Bessie will air on May 16 at 8 PM. Queen Latifah (Chicago) stars as legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, focusing on her transformation from a struggling young singer into “The Empress of the Blues,” one of the most successful recording artists of the 1920s.

The box office movie Grace of Monaco has been relegated to airing on Lifetime on May 25 at 8 PM. Nicole Kidman stars as the beloved Grace Kelly in the biopic that takes place in 1962, six years after Kelly celebrated her “wedding of the century” and finds her yearning for a return to her acting career.

The HBO movie Nightingale will debut on May 29 at 9 PM. David Oyelowo (Selma) stars in this provocative drama that probes the darkest corners of a disturbed mind, as a war veteran begins to unravel thread by thread.

The Lifetime made-for-TV movie The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe will air at 8 PM on both May 30 and May 31. Based on the best-seller of the same name by J. Randy Taraborrelli, the film is a portrait of a young Norma Jeane Mortenson (Kelli Garner) as she battles a lonely and loveless existence with an absent mother. Despite the odds, Norma Jeane blossoms into a funny, smart and ambitious woman who soon reinvents herself to become the symbol of an era.

Next up are the shows that will be returning with new seasons, a couple new, highly-anticipated dramas and a new web series that will air during May:

Penny Dreadful will return for its second season on May 3 on Showtime at 10 PM.

The 10-episode psychological thriller Wayward Pines will debut on May 14 on FOX at 9 PM. Based on the best-selling novel by Blake Crouch, the series focuses on a Secret Service agent on a mission to find two missing federal agents in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, Idaho.

The Canadian thriller Between will air on May 21 on Netflix (six one-hour episodes, one episode every week). This survivalist thriller tells the story of a town under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody except those 21-years-old and under, chronicling the power vacuum that results when a government has quarantined a 10-mile diameter area and left the inhabitants to fend for themselves.

Beauty and the Beast will be back for its third season on May 21 on The CW (check your local listings for airtime).

The new NBC drama Aquarius will debut with a two-hour series premiere on May 28 at 9 PM. The series will explore the cat-and-mouse game between Charles Manson and the police in the years leading up to the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders in the late 1960s.

Halt and Catch Fire will return for its second season on May 31 on AMC at 10 PM.

Mark your calendars!