What To Watch This Week: Palm Royale, Three Body Problem and other shows to watch this week.

Cartoons, British crime dramas, science fiction, and presidential assassinations headline last week's TV premiers. Let's find out which ones are worth watching and which ones you can pass on.

Manhunt (Apple TV+)

Anthony Boyle (Masters of Air) stars as John Wilkes Booth in the biopic of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Apple TV has released three episodes so far.

Everyone knows what happened to Abraham Lincoln, but this show tries to uncover the conspiracy and subsequent search for his killer. Just like in modern times, Wilkes just wants to be famous, and killing a president seemed like a good way to do it. The fact that he was pro-slavery just helped matters along.

Lincoln's assassination takes place just days after the Confederate Army's surrender, so the backdrop, violence, and cruelty of slavery are front and center. The real star of the show is the investigation, search, intensity, and suspense of the manhunt ala The Fugitive.

Manhunt is extremely well done, fast-paced, and keeps you on the edge the entire show. Let's see if they can keep up the intensity for a few more episodes.

Verdict: Wait and See.

3 Body Problem (Netflix)

Based on the wildly successful trilogy and universe of books, Netflix released all eight episodes of the first season. The show features a variety of character actors without major star power like Liam Cunningham (Domina), Jovan Adepo (The Stand), and Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange).

To describe 3 Body Problem in a paragraph is a ridiculous undertaking. However, the story spans decades and, in the end, centuries, about first contact with aliens. In the 1960's, scientists send signals to the stars. In the current day, scientists are committing suicide and abandoning projects, experiments are revealing unrealistic results, and a worldwide video game with ridiculous virtual reality is becoming an obsession.

Wong is investigating these incidents and trying to put these pieces together. Are aliens already here? Are they on their way? Or is it really just a hoax?

3 Body Problem is about as complicated as it gets. While the viewer and the characters try to solve several mysteries at once, the show is engaging, suspenseful, and absolutely riveting. It is very difficult not to binge in one sitting.

Verdict: Watch

Palm Royale (Apple TV+)

Starring Kristen Wiig (MacGruber), Ricky Martin (Vida Loco), Lesley Bibb (Jupiter's Legacy), Laura Dern (Big Little Lies), and Allison Janney (Mom), Apple released three episodes for the premiere.

Wiig plays a wannabe socialite trying to break into the high roller West Palm social scenes which surrounds a specific club called the Palm Royale. Wiig is married to the nephew of a very rich lady, Norma Dellacorte (played by Carol Burnett), who is currently in a coma. Pretending to be the inheritor of the estate, Wiig leverages what money she has and cons/steals what money she doesn't have to break into the social game.

Wiig is part con woman, part desperate housewife, and part ex-pageant royalty from Chattanooga. Each episode has funny parts, ridiculous scenarios, and some just very sad scenes. It is one of those shows that isn't quite funny enough and not quite interesting enough, but entertaining enough to keep watching.

Palm Royale: Wait and See.

Ark: The Animated Series (Paramount+)

Paramount+ released all the episodes for the show that has voices from Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), Michelle Yeoh (The Brothers Sun), Gerard Butler (Kandahar), Russell Crowe (The Greatest Beer Run Ever), David Tennant (Good Omens), Vin Diesel (Guardians of the Galaxy), Malcolm McDowell (Entourage), and Madeleine Madden (Wheel of Time).

Ark is based on the video game where people from across time somehow have fallen into a prehistoric world ala Land of the Lost or La Brea. Since they come from all over -- the 1800's, the mid-1900s, the 1600's-- their familiarity with technology, environmental concerns, and political correctness have a large range.

Madden is a 21st century paleontologist who is thrilled to see dinosaurs up close. While fighting said dinosaurs, there is also a war raging across the land to gather three artifacts. On further inspection, the artifacts (and maybe the entire world) are actually computer technology with unknown functionality, but the thought is that they will help get everyone back to their correct time.

Ark is a pretty interesting science fiction/fantasy with a pretty good mystery at its heart. There is plenty of action and you find out bits and pieces of the mystery in every episode.

Verdict: Watch.

The Long Shadow (AMC+)

Starring Toby Jones, AMC+ released two episodes of The Long Shadow in its debut last week.

The Long Shadow is the true crime story of the investigation and search for the Yorkshire Ripper in 1970s England. The show typically shows the murder of a woman at the beginning of the episodes and then switches timelines between the investigation and the events leading up to the murder.

Though the show is pretty good, and the investigation is fairly intense, the series is a fairly typical British crime drama that doesn't break much new ground.

Verdict: Pass

Recent and Current Releases to Keep Watching

Apples Never Fall did not finish nearly as well as it began converting this show from a guilty pleasure to a massive travesty. Pass on Apples Never Fall.

• Sexy Beast (Paramount+). All episodes streaming.
• True Detective (MAX). All episodes streaming.
• Expats (Amazon Prime Video). All episodes streaming.
• The Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (Hulu). All episodes streaming. Apparently, Capote wasn't an easy guy to get along with.
• Halo (Paramount+). All Episodes streaming.
• Life and Beth (Hulu). All episodes streaming.
• Avatar (Netflix). All episodes streaming.
• Formula 1: Drive To Survive (Netflix). You don't have to like the sport to like the show.
• Poacher (Amazon Prime Video). All episodes streaming.
• Furies (Netflix). All episodes streaming.
• The Tourist (Netflix). All episodes streaming.
• The Gentlemen (Netflix). All Guy Ritchie all the time.
• The Regime (MAX). Sometimes the show hits a little close to home.
• Shogun (Hulu). A massive story on a massive scale.
• Invincible (Amazon Prime Video).
• Girls on the Bus (MAX).