There is no show of the week this week, readers. I was so busy editing and writing stories for the Toronto Star, including my review of “Stranger Things: The Experience” and my assessment of the charms of “Succession,” I didn’t have time to do my usual amount of screening. But herewith I give you some . . .

Short Takes

Steven Yeun as Danny and Ali Wong as Amy in “Beef.” PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Netflix © 2022

Beef (April 6, Netflix)

I watched only three episodes of this comedy drama, not enough to give it a full review but enough to know that Steven Yeun and Ali Wong are brilliant in it. They’re two strangers who get into a road rage confrontation on what is already a bad day for both of them. He’s Danny, a contractor struggling to make a living and fulfil his dream of bringing his parents back to the United States from Korea; she’s Amy, an entrepreneur with a husband and daughter and a big house in Calabasas but no work-life balance. They are clearly not bad people, but neither can let go of their loathing for the other over the road rage incident so they keep upping the ante of their outrage. But what becomes apparent is that they probably have more in common than they’d be willing to admit as unhappy people trying to tamp down their sadness while putting on a front for the rest of the world. The series was created by Lee Sung Jin and features a largely Asian cast, including Young Mazino as Danny’s younger brother Paul and Joseph Lee as Amy’s husband George. It’s worth noting this is Yeun’s first recurring, live-action TV role since “The Walking Dead” (RIP Glenn).

Tricia Fukuhara as Nancy, Marisa Davila as Jane, Cheyenne Isabel Wells as Olivia and Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia in “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.” PHOTO CREDIT: Eduardo Araquel/Paramount+

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (April 6, Paramount+)

I previewed this show back in January at the Television Critics Association press tour and was so captivated I had planned to write a feature about it, but other stuff got in the way. It’s a prequel to the beloved 1978 movie that starred John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, set four years before the film, and putting a feminist and LGBTQ-friendly lens on the 1950s. But please don’t think that means it isn’t any fun. From what I saw, and admittedly it wasn’t a lot, the song and dance numbers are wonderful and so is the main cast. Tricia Fukuhara, Marisa Davila, Cheyenne Isabel Wells and Ari Notartomaso play students who all, for one reason or another, run afoul of the rigid cliques and hierarchies of their high school and decide to deal with their ostracization by forming a girl gang.

Paramount also has the movie “80 for Brady” (April 4), which people seemed to go gaga for at the box office.

Schmigadoon! (April 7, Apple TV+)

One of the reasons I enjoyed “Rise of the Pink Ladies” so much is because I love musicals, which is also a reason I loved Season 1 of “Schmigadoon!” The good news is that after sampling a couple of episodes of Season 2 I’m still loving it. Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong are back as Josh and Melissa, only they’re now married. But worn down by the grind of work and infertility, they set out to find Schmigadoon, the magical place where they tested and affirmed their love in Season 1 with the help of musical theatre tropes of the 1950s and ’60s. Instead, however, they find themselves trapped in Schmicago, where the musicals aren’t so sunny (think “Chicago,” “Cabaret” and “Sweeney Todd”) and nobody’s offering them any corn puddin’. The same musical theatre vets who made Season 1 really sing (pun intended) are back in new roles. Alan Cumming might break your heart as a cleaver-wielding butcher a la “Sweeney Todd.” Aaron Tveit is a “Hair”-like hippie who takes Josh under his wing. Kristin Chenoweth is wrangling ill-behaved orphans “Annie” style. Dove Cameron is a Sally Bowles-like cabaret singer and Ariana DeBose the joint’s Emcee. Jane Krakowski steals every scene she’s in as a Billy Flynn-like lawyer. And Tituss Burgess is an inspired addition to the cast as a “Pippin”-ish narrator. And that’s not all. But don’t take my word for it, go ahead and watch. You’d pay a heck of a lot more to see all these very talented people on Broadway.

Apple also has “Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker” (April 7), a two-part documentary by Alex Gibney about the former tennis great.

Quentin Plair and Kathryn Hahn in “Tiny Beautiful Things.” PHOTO CREDIT: Jessica Brooks/Hulu

Tiny Beautiful Things (April 7, Disney+)

As with “Grease,” I sampled this show in January and haven’t had a chance to screen more episodes since. But Kathryn Hahn who, let’s face it, is good in everything, brings prodigious heart to the role of Clare Pierce, a woman who seems to be screwing up everything in her life — including her job, and her relationships with her husband Danny (Quentin Plair) and daughter Rae (Tanzyn Crawford) — when she takes on the Dear Sugar advice column from a friend. The show is inspired by the book by Cheryl Strayed, who was the real-life Dear Sugar. Other notable performances come from Sarah Pidgeon as the young Clare and Merritt Wever as Clare’s mother.

Disney also has “The Crossover” (April 5), a family-friendly drama about father and son basketball players; and “The Pope: Answers” (April 5), a Spanish special filmed in Rome in which Pope Francis spoke with 10 young adults about subjects like racism, LGBTQ rights and the role of women in the Church.

Odds and Ends

Eric McCormack as Basil Garvey in “Slasher: Ripper.” PHOTO CREDIT: Cole Burston/Shudder

There is some fine Canadian talent in the fifth season of the horror drama “Slasher,” entitled “Slasher: Ripper” (April 6, 9 p.m., Hollywood Suite), including Eric McCormack, Lisa Berry and Thom Allison among others. It’s set in the 19th century but, instead of a killer named Jack, the “Widow” is taking revenge on the rich and powerful with Detective Kenneth Rijkers (Gabriel Darku) trying to stop her.

Super Channel also has “Tehranto” (April 8), a romance movie set in Toronto’s Persian community.

This week’s Prime Video releases include the film “Gangs of Lagos” (April 7), its first African original movie, and the Guy Ritchie flick “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” (April 7), which despite the diminishing returns for Guy Ritchie movies attracted Jason Statham, Hugh Grant, Aubrey Plaza and more to the cast.

Finally, TVO has the documentary “Tripping Train 185” (April 7, 7 p.m.), which takes viewers on a journey from Sudbury through the wilderness of the Canadian Shield on one of North America’s last Budd rail cars. And my apologies to the publicist for not getting to this one.

NOTE: The listings here are in Eastern Standard Time and I’ve verified the times where possible, but it’s always best to check listings for your own area. The selection of programs reviewed reflects what I’m given access to by networks and streamers, whether reviews are embargoed, how many shows I have time to watch and my own personal taste. The Odds and Ends section includes shows that I have not watched.