The Memorial Day holiday weekend features a number of highly-profile premieres, including the highly-anticipated debut of Disney Plus’ Star Wars spinoff Obi-Wan Kenobi and the return of Netflix’s horror series Stranger Things.

Obi-Wan Kenobi debuts May 27 and takes place10 years after after the events of the 2005 film Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith film in which the Jedi master suffers his greatest defeat, the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader.) Ewan McGregor reprises his film role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the six-part series.

Also on May 27, Netflix debuts the fourth season of its Emmy-winning horror/drama series Stranger Things, in which the series’ stars must battle a new supernatural threat. Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, FinnWolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin and Noah Schnapp all reprise their roles in the first of two parts slated for season four.  The second half of the season premieres in July. 

History will mark Memorial Day with the May 30 premiere of documentary series Theodore Roosevelt, while A&E debuts Biography: Bobby Brown.

Below are video trailers and premiere dates for multiple shows debuting the week of May 23 to May 30 on cable networks and streaming services (for some videos, viewer discretion is advised):

May 23 – Prehistoric Planet (documentary) – Apple TV Plus

May 24 – Yo! MTV Raps (music programming) – Paramount Plus

May 26 – Look At Me: XXXTENTACION (music documentary) – Hulu

May 27 – Emergency (comedy movie) – Prime Video

May 27 – Shoresy (comedy) – Hulu

May 27 – We Feed People (documentary) – Disney Plus

May 30 – Origins Of Hip Hop (music documentary) – A&E

R&B singer Bobby Brown will be the subject of two A&E-based programming events debuting in May.

Brown, a member of the musical group New Edition and ex-husband of the late Whitney Houston, will be chronicled in a two-night, A&E documentary series Biography: Bobby Brown, debuting May 30. The documentary will offer an up-close and personal look at Brown’s journey to stardom and the fallout from his personal struggles with sobriety and the tragic deaths of Houston and two of his children, A&E said. 

Biography: Bobby Brown will feature interviews with such music personalities as Usher, Jermaine Dupri, Keith Sweat, Babyface and New Edition’s Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Ronnie DeVoe and Johnny Gill, as well as his family and  friends, according to the network.

On May 31, A&E will debut Bobby Brown: Every Little Step, a 12-part docuseries which will follow Brown as he focuses on new business ventures while performing with New Edition during the group’s 2022 reunion tour, said A&E representatives.

Brown was the subject of 2005 Bravo reality series Being Bobby Brown, as well as a 2018 BET scripted movie, The Bobby Brown Story. ■ 

TV One has set an Oct. 8 date for the premiere of its original movie Bobbi Kristina, the network announced Monday.

The biopic, which focuses on the life and tragic death of the troubled daughter of music stars Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, stars Demetria McKinney (House of Payne, Saints and Sinners), Nadji Jeter (Grown Ups, Last Man Standing), Hassan Johnson (The Wire, E.R.), and Vivica A. Fox (Empire, Kill Bill).

Bobbi Kristina is directed by Ty Hodges and executive produced by Tracey Baker Simmons and Wanda Shelley, according to TV One. 

“The tabloids painted a picture of two superstars who lived a tumultuous life, but we often forget that in the process a little girl had to grow up in a limelight that she did not choose,” D’Angela Proctor, TV One Head of Original Programming & Production said in a statement. “In its simplest form, Bobbi Kristina is a story about a beautiful mother-daughter relationship intertwined with both of their desires to be loved; one just happened to be a superstar and the other an innocent bystander to her parents’ fame.”

BET brings the lives and career of R&B and hip-hop group New Edition to life in this new limited (six-hour) series.

The New Edition Story chronicles the 1980s Boston-area singers as they grow from boys looking to land a record deal to men in control of their own careers. Two different sets of actors play the six members — Ronnie DeVoe, Bobby Brown, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, Johnny Gill and Ralph Tresvant — as kids and young adults.

The story begins with four members of the band securing a local talent manager Brook Payne (Wood Harris), successfully auditioning for him one night in a dark alley as he leaves a local club.

Payne eventually adds his nephew to the group — the original New Edition — and it quickly gains a following, playing in local clubs and arenas. Record label owner Maurice Starr (Faizon Love) steps in and their careers catapult.

As they gain national attention, rivalries within the group threaten to tear them apart. Their moms also press management to pay the kids more.

BET does a good job weaving in numerous plot developments and nicely transitions the New Edition kid actors to the teen versions during a scene where the group is onstage performing one of their many hit songs. New Edition fans will also appreciate the soundtrack.

Lifetime viewers couldn’t get enough of iconic performer Whitney Houston Saturday night. 

The female-targeted network’s original movie Whitney drew 4.5 million viewers, part of a prime-time block of Whitney Houston-themed programming that garnered a combined 11.8 million viewers.

The original movie, directed by Angela Bassett and starring Yaya DaCosta, was the network’s most-watched telecast across all key demographics since Flowers In The Attic last January, said the network. The movie, which chronicled the relationship betewen the late Houston and singer/writer Bobby Brown, also averaged 2.2 million Adults 25-54, 2.1 million Adults 18-49, 1.6 million Women 18-49 and 1.6 million Women 25-54.

Following the movie, the network’s Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney special delivered 4.1 million viewers, as well as 1.9 million Adults 25-54, 1.8 million Adults 18-49, 1.4 million Women 18-49 and 1.4 million Women 25-54, according to the network.

At 11:00pm, the special Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances brought in an additional 3.2 million total viewers, said Lifetime.

Tonight Lifetime will encore the entire Whitney Houston-themed block beginning at 8 p.m. with the movie Whitney.

Lifetime will air iconic performer Whitney Houston’s greatest performances as part of its Saturday night lineup dedicated the late singer/actress.

Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances will feature several of Houston’s famous television and concert performances, including her first national television appearance at 19 years old in 1983 on The Merv Griffin Show, and her rendition of I Will Always Love You from the 1994 Concert For A New South Africa, said network officials.

The special will follow Lifetime’s airings of previously announced special Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney and its original movie Whitney.

Lifetime this Saturday will air a special featuring singer/songwriter Bobby Brown immediately after the premiere of its original movie Whitney.

The special, Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney will feature an interview between Access Hollywood correspondent Shaun Robinson and Houston's ex-husband Brown about his marriage to the late entertainer, the network said.

The special will air at 10 p.m., immediately following Lifetime’s original movie Whitney, which chronicles Houston and Brown’s relationship. Yaya DaCosta, (Lee Daniels’ The Butler) and Arlen Escarpeta (Final Destination 5) star in the movie, directed by Angela Bassett. 

Revolt TV will air several short vignettes featuring artists reflecting on the life of R&B singer James Brown on the eve of the premiere of Brown’s theatrical biopic Get On Up, the network said Thursday.

The network, in partnership with Universal Studios, is currently running a series of on-air promo spots featuring such artists as Ludacris, Bobby Brown and Common discussing the life and influence that Brown had on the music industry, said network officials.

Get On Up, premieres Aug. 1 and stars Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis and Viola Davis.