
Despite changes in location and tone (“Dirty John” is unapologetically soapy, while “Chernobyl” wears its prestige proudly) these programs share the task of excavating a notable story and examining details so seemingly outlandish that they could not have been invented.

By the time “Chernobyl” - an HBO miniseries depicting the flailing response to the 1986 Ukrainian nuclear meltdown - hits screens May 6, viewers will have gotten a varied diet of shows that all do a similar thing.
