What to Watch This Week: June 6 to 11

From reality swan songs to country cooking, we round up the top 10 shows to watch this week

From reality swan songs to country cooking, we round up the top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Borat Supplemental Reportings Retrieved from Floor of Stable Containing Editing Machine – Amazon Prime Video

Just when you thought the world was safe from the transgressive antics of Sacha Baron Cohen, the British comedian has pulled a fast one and delivered something that should thrill fans of his Oscar-nominated Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, tiding them over until he decides to put together another full-blown sequel.

First up are deleted scenes from Subsequent Moviefilm… or as the creators put it: Borat: VHS Cassette of Material Deemed “Sub-acceptable” by Kazakhstan Ministry of Censorship and Circumcision.

Then we’ve got Borat’s American Lockdown, a 40-minute “reality show” which offers a fuller look into Borat’s five-day stay with two unwitting conspiracy theorists. There are also six documentary shorts in which the aforementioned conspiracy theorists have some of their favourite theories—vaccine microchips, George Soros, mail-in ballot scams, etc.—debunked by a few of the world’s top experts in these matters.

Finally, there’s a rare look behind the Borat persona to show just how difficult it was for Cohen and his team to pull off some of his stunts.

2. Trisha’s Southern Kitchen – Sunday, June 6, 8 a.m., Food | Season Premiere

Country music star Trisha Yearwood returns for a new season of delectable Southern-style goodness. As always, Yearwood whips up time-tested family recipes and welcomes special guests while delving into the uniqueness of Southern cuisine, touching on cooking tips and techniques and the history behind these delicious dishes, all infused with her sunny disposition and good-natured Southern charm.

3. Pose – Sunday, June 6, 5:40 p.m. & 7 p.m. (repeating at 10 p.m. & Midnight), FX Canada | Series Finale

Get ready to strike one last Pose. After three seasons and a groundbreaking Emmy win, the ball culture series that helped propel LGBTQ+ actors like Billy Porter and Mj Rodriguez into the mainstream is turning out its spotlights.

To recap, this final season jumped ahead to 1994, where the ballroom life felt further away than ever as Blanca adjusted to motherhood and Pray Tell grappled with unexpected health issues. Throw in the arrival of a hungry young House looking to dethrone the old guard, and it’s been a bumpy catwalk this year.

In these final two episodes, Blanca discovers that one HIV clinical trial is rejecting people of colour, which leads her to join the activist movement Act Up in an effort to secure Pray Tell the treatment he needs.

4. Bless the Harts – Sunday, June 6, 7:30 p.m., City & Fox

Travis and Wayne try to master the game of cornhole to help out Wayne’s Mee-Maw (guest voice Swoosie Kurtz), while Jenny, Betty and Violet spin a web of lies to impress some fancy new neighbours who’ve just arrived from New York City. SNL-ers Kenan Thompson and Fred Armisen also guest star.

5. The Bachelorette – Monday, June 7, 8 p.m., City & ABC | Season Premiere

Another Cinderella is ready to find her prince. Now that one of the most controversial seasons of the Bachelor franchise ever has mercifully wrapped, Bachelor Nation is ready to move on to… well, more controversy no doubt, but the fun kind!

In case you missed it, last year’s Bachelor winner was Rachael Kirkconnell, a young woman with some unfortunate, racially insensitive (to put it mildly) photos in her background—photos which prompted an interview between former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay (now a correspondent with Extra) and longtime Bachelor host Chris Harrison, during which Harrison made some comments that have forced him to step back from his duties.

And so it is that ex-Bachelorettes Tayshia Adams and Alberta’s own Kaitlyn Bristowe are playing emcee in this new season—though the producers refuse to name them as official interim “hosts” (they’re more like advice-giving girlfriends). Either way, they’ll be the ones welcoming new leading lady Katie Thurston into the fold. As you may recall, Katie made quite the buzzy impression when she arrived at the Nemacolin Resort on the last Bachelor, walking in as she did with a vibrator in hand. And while Katie and Bachelor Matt James weren’t meant to be, viewers certainly fell in love with the contestant’s bold approach to reality TV dating.

“Right now, I’m trying on so many dresses and outfits,” the bank marketing manager said on Good Morning America after her casting was announced. “This is a modern-day Cinderella [story] for me… I know nothing about the men yet. I don’t know what they look like. I don’t even know how many men there are here.”

For the record, the tally is 34, Katie. And as of this week, it’s up to you to start breaking their hearts.

6. We Are Lady Parts – Wednesday, June 9, 6 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. (repeating at Midnight & 12:30 a.m., Showcase | Series Premiere

It’s not often a TV series is summed up as a “Muslim punk musical sitcom,” yet that’s actually an apt description for this new British comedy that takes tired old stereotypes and stands them on their head. The six-part series follows a group of young Muslim women in London who have formed an all-female punk band dubbed Lady Parts. Yet there’s one piece of the puzzle missing: a lead guitarist. The band’s ferocious and enigmatic frontwoman Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey) sets her sights on recruiting Amira (Anjana Vasan), a nerdy microbiology PhD student, to be their new member. While her other bandmates are unconvinced that she’ll be a good fit, Saira sticks to her guns and Amira eventually becomes swept up in the group’s joyful, anarchic energy and punk-rock spirit.

However, she soon finds herself torn between two worlds, at the centre of a tug-of-war between her best friend Noor and their straitlaced university friends and the rambunctious lifestyle of Lady Parts.

7. Fresh, Fried and Crispy – Wednesday, June 9, Netflix | Series Premiere

Youtube food critic Daym Drops hosts his first Netflix series, guiding viewers on an exploration of the artery-clogging deliciousness of deep-fried foods. An unabashed aficionado of pretty much anything pulled from a deep fryer, the host (real name: Daymon Patterson) brings us along while he visits some of his favourite fried-food eateries, sampling their crispy wares and venturing into their kitchens for a behind-the-scenes peek at how they’re made.

8. Keeping Up With the Kardashians – Thursday, June 10, 5 p.m. & Midnight, E! | Series Finale

After 14 years, 20 seasons and… well, we’ve lost count of the spinoffs… the original trashy reality-TV family are hanging up their krowns in this week’s series finale. It isn’t the end of the line for Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, Kendall, Kylie and Kris (who have already inked deals to continue appearing in various other reality shows via Hulu), but it does mark the end of an era.

Considering all the headlines and cash the series has brought to everyone involved since the 2007 debut, it’s hard to imagine it all started after daytime host Kathie Lee Gifford turned down the chance for her own reality show and recommended her good friend Kris instead (Gifford is godmother to Kylie and Kendall).

Fast-forward to this week and it’s bound to be an emotional farewell. It’s also impossible to know what to expect given all the shocking revelations this season has offered thus far.

“We’ll forever cherish the wonderful memories and countless people we’ve met along the way,” Kim posted on social media. “This show made us who we are and I will be forever in debt to everyone who played a role in shaping our careers and changing our lives forever.”

9. Hacks – Thursday, June 10, 8 p.m. & 8:30 p.m., Crave1 | Season Finale

Three-time Emmy-winner Jean Smart’s new show about a washed-up standup in Vegas begrudgingly teaming up with a younger comic (Hannah Einbinder), who’s also in a creative funk, wraps season one. If you haven’t watched yet, we’ll offer a couple good reasons: a) it’s tremendous, and b) it features a rare lead turn from Smart, one of TV’s most in-demand supporting players, who’s dazzled us on everything from 24 to Fargo to Legion to Watchmen to, most recently, HBO’s Mare of Easttown.

“I always had faith in myself,” Smart said in an interview with Today. “I knew that I would always work. I didn’t know if it would be the kind of work I always wanted, but I’ve been extremely fortunate to be connected with some really superior projects and work with such extraordinary people. I just don’t take any of it for granted.”

10. Lupin – Friday, June 11, Netflix

The most wanted man in France is back in action. As part two of this sleeper hit premieres, master thief Assane Diop’s (Omar Sy) quest for revenge against Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), the man who destroyed his father, has put the rest of his family in peril.

When it premiered this past January, the French heist thriller quickly raked in upwards of 70 million viewers, making it one of Netflix’s true breakout—make that “break-in”—series.

“We wanted to show what the French were capable of in terms of making a series,” Sy told The Guardian following the limited series’ initial premiere, “but frankly we didn’t expect it to do what it has.”

For those who need a refresher on part one, Lupin opened with a daring robbery of the Louvre, perpetrated by Assane, who models himself after author Maurice Leblanc’s “gentleman burglar” Arsène Lupin (a French character who rivals Sherlock Holmes in national popularity). But there’s more to this than just the jewels; spurred by his father’s suicide in prison and how he was only locked up in the first place because of a very elaborate conspiracy, our hero has resolved to dish out retribution to the guilty parties. Except, there have been some hiccups.

In the midseason finale, his son Raoul (Etan Simon) was kidnapped by an agent of his nemesis during a family trip, leaving Assane to figure out some way to rescue his boy while also avoiding the cops, led by the dogged Det. Youssef Guedira, who has now identified him as the gentleman burglar.