





When the mafia comes calling in the comic thriller series Average Joe, the life of an ordinary plumber takes a suddenly macabre and murderous left turn. And as Joe’s (Deon Cole) true-crime obsessed associate Cathy (Cynthia Kay McWilliams) can attest, the most compelling stories in that genre are often the ones in which good guys go bad. Ready to submerge yourself in more suspenseful and offbeat shows about ordinary people getting swept up into bizarre worlds of crime? Read on.

Building on the posh gangster universe Guy Ritchie brought to life in his 2020 film of the same name, his series The Gentlemen transfers the same swagger to a new cast of characters. And there’s plenty of tongue-in-cheek bite — the show is led by The White Lotus actor Theo James as Eddie Horniman, aka the Duke of Halstead, who’s estranged from his father but nonetheless inherits his sizable estate, only to discover it’s actually a massive weed empire. Against his aristocratic inclinations, the duke finds himself developing a taste for the British criminal underworld and contending with its power players, including Ray Winstone (The Departed) and Kaya Scodelario (Spinning Out). Once the high of Season 1 wears off, get ready to fire up a second season soon.

In True Story, the first on-screen matchup between Kevin Hart (Lift, Zero F**ks Given) and Wesley Snipes (Dolemite Is My Name, Blade), the two are cast as brothers reunited in the City of Brotherly Love. Superstar comedian and recovering alcoholic Kid (Hart) makes a hometown tour stop in Philadelphia, where on one fateful night, he gets caught up with nefarious characters and embroiled in a dangerous situation that could disastrously rewrite his own life’s punch line. The limited drama series is executive produced by Hart and Eric Newman (Narcos).

In this provocative take on a courtroom drama, based on the novel by Imran Mahmood, the odds are stacked against Hero (Queenie’s Samuel Adewunmi), who’s standing trial in London for the murder of a drug dealer. And, in a stunning twist, he uses his closing argument as a confessional outlet of another sort, detailing the trajectory of his love affair with a mysterious woman — and its possible implications on the case at hand. You Don’t Know Me also stars Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) and Bukky Bakray (Rocks).










































































