‘Eric’
Release Date: Thursday, May 30
Showrunner: Abi Morgan
Director: Lucy Forbes
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffman, McKinley Belcher III, Jeff Hephner, John Doman, Phoebe Nicholls
Format: 6 hourlong episodes
Best Reason to Watch: Cumberbitches, this is your month. Netflix is releasing not one but two limited series led by Benedict Cumberbatch, the first being Showtime’s 2018 adaptation of “Patrick Melrose” (more on that in a bit) and the second being the brand-new Netflix original series, “Eric.” Written by Abi Morgan (“Suffragette”), the six-episode series follows Vincent (Cumberbatch), a respected puppeteer, as he searches for his missing son. Frustrations mount and the scared father’s behavior deteriorates until he’s convinced that the only way to save his son… is to build a big blue monster and put it on TV. Technically, “Eric” is his son’s idea (Edgar sketched drawing after drawing of a blue monster before his disappearance), but it’s up to Vincent to turn the creature into a walking, talking TV star, if he hopes to find his boy again. “Eric,” to be clear, sure sounds like a weird show, but Cumberbatch getting weird isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and Netflix could sure use a little more artistic ambition in its original programming slate. Here’s hoping the stars align and even Cumber-casualists can appreciate his latest Emmys’ play.