SHOW OF THE WEEK: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (April 14, Prime Video)

Alex Borstein as Susie and Rachel Brosnahan as Midge in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Prime Video and Philippe Antonello

I’m breaking my own rule and making a show I couldn’t review (embargoed till Wednesday) a show of the week, but you like what you like. And I have liked “Mrs. Maisel” very much since I belatedly began watching it after the second season came out.

You have no doubt heard that this fifth season is the final one, which means Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) is focused on getting her career to the next level, after getting told off by Lenny Bruce (the also marvellous Luke Kirby) at the end of Season 4 for wasting opportunities after the Shy Baldwin tour disaster.

Despite having seen the first five new episodes, I can’t tell you how Midge goes about putting things right without breaking the embargo. But if you have seen the trailer, you already know that talk show host Gordon Ford (Reid Scott, “Veep”) is part of the season. And that the character played by Milo Ventimiglia (“This Is Us”) is back.

And it goes without saying that the regulars who have contributed so much to “Mrs. Maisel” have returned, including Tony Shalhoub (Abe), Marin Hinkle (Rose), Michael Zegen (Joel), Kevin Pollak (Moishe), Caroline Aaron (Shirley) and especially the brilliant Alex Borstein, who plays Midge’s manager, Susie.

The season debuts with three episodes on Friday and then rolls out weekly until the series finale on May 26.

Short Takes

Video footage of Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev as seen in “American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing.” PHOTO CREDIT: Netflix

American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing (April 12, Netflix)

Sometimes a true-crime series is gripping even though you already know the outcome (or can easily google it). Such is the case for this one, which documents the hunt for the two men who set off pressure cooker bombs near the finish line of the annual Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring 281 others. But first this series from Floyd Russ (“Zion”) and Tiller Russell (“Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer”) establishes what the marathon means to the city of Boston and sets the scene of the picture perfect day when all hell quite literally broke loose five hours into the race. And then, hour by hour, the series paints a detailed picture of the investigation into the terrorist attack, from the chaotic minutes after the two bombs went off to the chaotic minutes and hours after the suspects were tracked to a quiet Watertown neighbourhood four days later. The record includes archival video footage, photos, police radio calls, news coverage and fresh interviews with police and FBI agents, bombing survivors, the man they carjacked, people who knew the bombers and more.

For reality TV fans, Netflix has “Love Is Blind: The Live Reunion” on April 16.

Ava Louise Murchison and Mason Blomberg in “Jane.” PHOTO CREDIT: Apple TV+

Jane (April 14, Apple TV+)

Apple TV+ has been quite gung ho about promoting this kids’ series and since it’s from a Canadian company, Sinking Ship Entertainment, was shot in Alberta and stars a bunch of Canadians, the least I could do is give it a look. Toronto native Ava Louise Murchison stars as the Jane of the title, an extremely imaginative young girl who wants to follow in the footsteps of her hero Jane Goodall — the scientist and conservationist known for her pioneering work with chimpanzees — and help save animals and the planet. Fittingly, Jane’s companions on her mission are a stuffed chimp named Greybeard, her friend from the next apartment over, David (Mason Blomberg), and that imagination I mentioned. Thus Greybeard comes to life and Jane and David appear to interact with animals like polar bears. Naturally, there are adults who don’t always understand what Jane and David are up to, including her single mother Maria (Tamara Almeida) and her grumpy neighbour (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee of “Kim’s Convenience”). The child stars are sweet without being too cloying and you’ve got to love any show that has Paul Sun-Hyung Lee in it, right? The point, of course, is that children watching the series will learn something about animals and the very serious crisis our planet is in. And real-life experts weigh in, like Canadian underwater explorer Jill Heinerth in the first episode. Surely we can all learn something from the words of Goodall, which the young Jane lives by: “Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, can they be saved.”

Apple also has “The Last Thing He Told Me” (April 14), which stars Jennifer Garner of “Alias” renown as a woman who has to solve her husband’s disappearance with the help of her somewhat hostile stepdaughter.

Waco Aftermath (April 14, Paramount+)

I didn’t watch the original “Waco” miniseries in 2018, so I can’t say how this sequel compares, but it features some of the same actors, most notably Michael Shannon as FBI negotiator Gary Noesner. I watched only one episode of this new one, not enough to give it a full review. My first impression was that it jumps around quite a lot, starting with the 1994 federal deposition into the 1993 siege in Waco, Texas, also known as the Waco massacre, in which four ATF agents and 82 members of the Branch Davidian religious group were killed. It also covers the trial of five surviving Branch Davidians, including Clive Doyle (John Hoggenakker); flashes back to 1981 when Vernon Howell (Keean Johnson), who later changed his name to David Koresh, first joined the group at Mount Carmel; and looks at the armed militias that grew in the wake of Waco, including one Timothy McVeigh (Alex Breaux), a.k.a. the Oklahoma City bomber. The series debuts just five days short of the 30th anniversary of the end of the siege.

Paramount also has the South Korean series “Yonder” (April 11), about a man who reunites with his late wife; and the documentary “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” (April 14), which looks at David Johansen, singer with the legendary New York Dolls.

Odds and Ends

Bill Hader in Season 4 of “Barry.” PHOTO CREDIT: Merrick Morton/HBO

I know how beloved the Emmy-winning comedy “Barry” is, so I know the debut of its fourth and final season on April 16 (10 p.m., HBO/Crave) is an event. Alas, I never got caught up on “Barry,” which is sometimes the case when there is just so damn much to watch, so it wouldn’t have been fair for me to review this new season.

Crave also has the much acclaimed Jordan Peele horror film “Nope” (April 14); Season 2 of “Blindspotting” (April 14, 9 p.m., Starz via Crave) and Season 2 of docuseries “100 Foot Wave” (April 16, 8 p.m., HBO via Crave).

Look, I know how hard it can be to get Canadians to give a crap about Canadian TV and movies — although one would hope that’s going out of style a bit now that Canadian productions are getting global acclaim. But if you’d like to cheer on the home team you can watch “The Canadian Screen Awards With Samantha Bee” (April 16, 8 p.m., CBC/CBC Gem) which, as I understand it, will be a sort of hybrid interview/awards show celebrating CSA winners.

The Disney+ offerings this week include Jeremy Renner’s reality show “Rennervations” (April 12), in which he and other celebs rebuild vehicles to benefit communities around the world, for instance, by turning a delivery truck into a mobile water treatment facility. This was no doubt filmed before Renner’s New Year’s snowplow accident. If you are into the Kardashians, which I most decidedly am not, “Til Death Do Us Part Kourtney and Travis” (April 13) features the luxury wedding of one of the kids.

YTV and STACKTV have preteen show “Popularity Papers” (April 10, 6 p.m.) based on the Amy Ignatow books.

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.