Welcome to Now See This, THR chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg’s weekly viewer guide newsletter dedicated to cutting through the daunting clutter of the broadcast, cable and streaming TV landscape! Comments and suggestions welcome at daniel.fienberg@thr.com.

Smarter Than the Average 'Stair' 

Last week, of course, brought us a bad limited series (The Offer) about the making of a great movie (The Godfather). This week, HBO Max has a very good limited series (The Staircase) about the making of a great documentary (The Staircase ). The story of Michael Peterson's (Colin Firth) trial for murdering wife Kathleen (Toni Collette) would be juicy enough without the meta touches, but creator and director Antonio Campos is interested in the way the true crime genre constructs "truth," so he weaves in behind-the-scenes details from the documentary. I still think the documentary, available on Netflix, is better, but the star-studded scripted series has a lot going for it. 

Fact Is More Efficient Than Fiction

You might have noticed that every TV show this spring is either a direct adaptation of a documentary or a scripted version of something that was already a documentary. So you've decided, "I'm gonna watch only the documentary of The Staircase on Netflix and save myself time," but why stop there? WeCrashed on Apple TV+ is eight hours, but WeWork: or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn on Hulu is only 104 minutes. But why stop there? I like HBO's  Winning Time, but it's 10 hours and it's all covered in the first hour of Apple TV+'s They Call Me Magic, and then you can quit the doc because it doesn't get better from there. The Inventor on HBO Max isn't as good as Hulu's  The Dropout, but it's only two hours, and I'm here to save you time, so also check out  I Love You, Now Die on HBO Max as a shortcut for Hulu's The Girl From Plainville. But why stop there? Peacock's Joe vs. Carole is eight hours and the first season of Tiger King is seven hours, and you can skip both! You're welcome!

A Group of Peacocks Is an Ostentation

Sorry. The previous blurb was cruel to Peacock. Our Angie Han loved the second season of Girls5eva, or at least she liked it as much as the first season, which she loved, saying it "manages to hit all the same highs, while expanding its range ever so slightly." Then once you're on Peacock, you'll probably be angry that Peacock just canceled its legacy sequel to Saved by the Bell, so check out We Are Lady Parts  so that you can be happy again. And if you've already checked out We Are Lady Parts, because I recommend it every other week in this newsletter? Come on, I just gave you 30 hours of documentaries to watch. You'll be fine. Oh and a group of peacocks can also be called a "muster." The more you know.

Missin' You Like 'Candy' 

Oddly, the story depicted in Hulu's Candy hasn't been the subject of a six-to-eight part documentary in the past couple of years. I know. What's up with that? Well, the gory chronicle of Candy Montgomery who, in 1980, was accused of murdering her friend Betty Gore with an axe, is getting double miniseries treatment by way of compensation. Up first is Hulu's Candy, starring Jessica Biel and Melanie Lynskey, which premieres next week. Angie felt it was "an unsatisfying telling of a compelling story." So while you're waiting for HBO Max's Love and Death , featuring Elizabeth Olsen and Lily Rabe later this year, listen to this week's TV's Top 5 podcast for our conversation with Biel.

So I Buried a Netflix Murderer

Netflix opted not to make episodes of Mike Myers' new comedy The Pentaverate available to critics. I'm sure it's great.

This Week's THR Staff Pick

HBO Max picked up a second season of Julia this week and senior writer — and comedy club enthusiast — Seth Abramovitch is a fan. He raves, "You know when something comes along you didn’t know you needed, but it turns out you did? I’d stick Julia  in that category. A period dramedy about Julia Child, the unflappable 'French Chef' (actually from Pasadena) who transformed America’s relationship to home cooking and fine dining alike, it traces her unlikely rise to stardom while avoiding the blandness I so often associate with biopic material. (For example — a chance encounter with Fred Rogers in last week’s episode was particularly moving.) Sarah Lancashire, an English actress I was not familiar with, grounds her Julia in a rich inner life while David Hyde Pierce as her loving husband is magnificent. C’est merveilleux!"