HBO and HBO Max today revealed the first looks at Barry Season 3, Julia, We Own This City, The Staircase, and The Time Traveler’s Wife – all series debuting this spring.
JULIA
The Max Original comedy series Julia debuts with three episodes on Thursday, March 31, on HBO Max, followed by one episode weekly through May 5.
Julia is inspired by Julia Child’s extraordinary life and her long-running television series, The French Chef, which pioneered the modern cooking show. The series is a portrait of a loving marriage with a shifting power dynamic.
Through Julia’s life and her singular joie de vivre, the series explores a pivotal time in American history – the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity, and America’s cultural evolution.
The eight-episode series stars Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley), David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), Bebe Neuwirth (Madam Secretary), Brittany Bradford (Broadway’s Bernhardt/Hamlet), Fran Kranz (Homecoming) and Fiona Glascott (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald).
Julia is produced by Lionsgate and 3 Arts Entertainment. Chris Keyser serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside creator Daniel Goldfarb. Erwin Stoff of 3 Arts Entertainment, Kimberly Carver, and Charles McDougall are also executive producers. Todd Schulkin is a Consulting Producer on behalf of The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Art.
BARRY SEASON 3
Starring Bill Hader, Barry Season 3 is set to premiere on Sunday, April 24 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT). The Emmy-winning dark comedy series will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max.
Alec Berg (HBO’s Silicon Valley) and Hader (Saturday Night Live) are co-creators, executive producers, directors and writers.
Desperate to leave his violent past behind in favor of his newfound passion, Barry (Hader) is attempting to untangle himself from the world of contract killing and fully immerse himself in acting. But getting out is messy.
While Barry has eliminated many of the external factors that pushed him towards violence, he soon discovers they weren’t the only forces at play. What is it about his own psyche that led him to become a killer in the first place?
Barry Season 3 finds Barry and the other characters trying to make the right choice.
The Emmy-nominated and winning cast regulars include Stephen Root (HBO’s Perry Mason) as Monroe Fuches, Barry’s former handler currently in hiding; Sarah Goldberg (Hindsight) as Sally, Barry’s girlfriend in the midst of launching her first TV series; Anthony Carrigan (Gotham) as Noho Hank, head of the Chechen mob in LA; and Emmy winner Henry Winkler (Arrested Development) as Gene Cousineau, Barry’s former acting teacher who is in mourning over the loss of his girlfriend, Detective Janice Moss.
Returning for season three as a cast regular is Sarah Burns (HBO’s Enlightened) as Detective Mae Dunn. The returning recurring cast includes D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place) as Natalie Greer and Michael Irby (HBO’s True Detective; Mayans M.C.) as Cristobal.
The first two seasons of Barry received a total of thirty Emmy nominations and six Emmys, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Bill Hader); Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Henry Winkler); Outstanding Sound Editing For a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation; and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation.
WE OWN THIS CITY
The six-episode limited series We Own This City debuts Monday, April 25, on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
Based on the book by Baltimore Sun reporter Justin Fenton, We Own This City chronicles the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department’s Gun Trace Task Force and the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.
The cast includes Jon Bernthal, Wunmi Mosaku, Jamie Hector, McKinley Belcher III, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Josh Charles, Dagmara Domińczyk, Rob Brown, Don Harvey, David Corenswet, Larry Mitchell, Ian Duff, Delaney Williams, and Lucas Van Engen.
The guest stars include Treat Williams, Gabrielle Carteris, Tray Chaney, Domenick Lombardozzi, Thaddeus Street, Jermaine Crawford, Nathan E. Corbett, Chris Clanton, Anwan Glover, Bobby Brown, Michael Salconi, Susan Rome, Kim Tuvin, and Maria Broom.
THE STAIRCASE
HBO Max has also released first-look images from the upcoming eight-episode Max Original limited series The Staircase, starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette, debuting this spring.
The limited series is written and executive-produced by showrunners Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn. Campos also directs six of the eight episodes.
Based on a true story, The Staircase explores the life of Michael Peterson, his sprawling North Carolina family, and the suspicious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson.
Starring alongside Colin Firth and Toni Collette are Michael Stuhlbarg, Juliette Binoche, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, Rosemarie DeWitt, Tim Guinee, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sophie Turner, Vincent Vermignon, Odessa Young and Parker Posey.
THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE
And last but not least, HBO’s six-episode first season of The Time Traveler’s Wife debuts this spring. The drama series will air on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max.
HBO has released new images, including Rose Leslie as Clare Abshire, Theo James as Henry DeTamble, Desmin Borges as Gomez, and Natasha Lopez as Charisse.
An intricate and magical love story, adapted by Steven Moffat from the much-loved novel by Audrey Niffenegger and directed by David Nutter, The Time Traveler’s Wife tells the story of Clare and Henry and a marriage with a problem… time travel.
The series is executive produced by Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock), Sue Vertue, and Brian Minchin through Hartswood Films, Joseph E. Iberti, and David Nutter.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.