Summer TV is in full swing in July with the welcome returns of comedies like What We Do In The Shadows and The Afterparty, not to mention Prime Video’s much-anticipated second season of Good Omens. Plus, there’s plenty of more to look forward to: Max drops a Steven Soderbergh limited series and brings back Project Greenlight, Paramount+ debuts another Taylor Sheridan show, and Peacock adapts a popular video game. Here is The A.V. Club’s breakdown of what to watch in July.
It’s fitting that when Adult Swim decides to use its talent for high-quality animation for good, we get a Superman show that looks nice and cute—though the series was originally developed for regular Cartoon Network. My Adventures With Superman stars Jack Quaid as Superman and Alice Lee as Lois Lane. The series is about a young-ish Clark Kent getting his start as a reporter at The Daily Planet alongside ace journalist Lois and new pal Jimmy Olsen, voiced by Ishmel Sahid. [Sam Barsanti]
One Day At A Time’s Justina Machado leads Prime Video’s The Horror Of Dolores Roach, based on the popular Sweeney Todd-esque scripted podcast. The seven-episode season is all about love, betrayal, weed, and cannibalism (all things that go hand-in-hand, right?). Machado’s Dolores returns to NYC’s gentrified Washington Heights after 16 years in prison, reuniting with her stoner friend and working as a masseuse. But when her newfound stability is threatened, Dolores is driven to shocking extremes to survive. Marc Maron, Judy Reyes, Alejandro Hernandez, and K. Todd Freeman co-star. [Saloni Gajjar]
The first season of The Afterparty was a genre-bending delight, but is the formula repeatable? Tiffany Haddish returns as Detective Danner, whose latest murder investigation occurs at a wedding. Aniq (Sam Richardson) and Zoe (Zoë Chaoo) are back alongside a new cast of suspects played by the likes of Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Anna Konkle, Jack Whitehall, Vivian Wu, John Cho, and Ken Jeong. Like in season one, each episode will feature a retelling of the events from a different character’s point of view and be inspired by a specific genre. This time around, those genres include a ’90s erotic thriller, a Jane Austin period piece, and a Wes Anderson-esque film. [Cindy White]
Everyone’s favorite TV vampires are thankfully back as What We Do In The Shadows returns for a welcome fifth season. Staten Island’s spookiest goofiest creatures of the night continue their mundane existence, exploring malls and running an election, among other things. The new episodes will follow up on whether Guillermo (Harvey Guillen) has upgraded from familiar to vampire and how Nandor (Kayvan Novak) is adjusting to life after a marriage that ended quickly. The ensemble includes Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Mark Proksch, and Kristen Schaal. (Fingers crossed for more Nick Kroll and Mark Hamill cameos.) [Saloni Gajjar]
The six-episode thriller Full Circle, from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon (who previously paired up for the AVC-beloved HBO miniseries Mosaic), follows a kidnapping gone awry in modern-day New York City. And the cast is … quite something, boasting the likes of Claire Danes, Zazie Beetz, Timothy Olyphant, Jharrel Jerome (who’s on one hell of a run with that fantastic turn in last month’s wonderfully weird I’m A Virgo), Dennis Quaid, CCH Pounder, and Jim Gaffigan, among others. [Tim Lowery]
Let’s all thank Issa Rae for bringing Project Greenlight back. The docuseries, which spotlights first-time filmmakers and chronicles their directing journeys, last aired in 2015. Rae executive produces a reinvention of the format, titled A New Generation, which chronicles director Meku Winbush’s making of the sci-fi film Gray Matter. Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood serve as mentors throughout the season. [Saloni Gajjar]
After years of playing the supportive best friend, Michelle Buteau is finally and rightfully stepping into the shoes of the lead star, adapting her memoir, Survival Of The Thickest, into a Netflix rom-com series. Here she plays struggling stylist Mavis, who attempts to rebuild her life after a devastating breakup. With the help of friends and relatives, she tries to survive challenges in her career and learns to embrace a body-positive attitude. Tone Bell, Tasha Smith, and Michelle Visage also star. [Saloni Gajjar]
Timothy Olyphant slips on his cowboy hat for more Justified action, which has us thinking that maybe this whole revival trend isn’t so bad. The actor steps into the boots of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens for the first time since Justified ended in 2015, and in this new series he’s now he’s living in Miami with his teen daughter. He’s drawn back into the criminal world when he gets the chance to capture Clement Mansell (Boyd Holdbrook), a notorious criminal who’s been eluding him for years. The ensemble includes Aunjanue Ellis, Adelaide Clemens, Norbert Leo Butz, Marin Ireland, and Ravi Patel. [Saloni Gajjar]
For some reason, one of our favorite shows of last year got the chop from Max (while mid-production on season two, no less), but—saints be praised—it now has a new home at Starz. The next dose of Ellen Rapoport’s entertaining, sunny, ’70s-set series finds Minx expanding from an erotic magazine to a global franchise, with the idealistic founder (Ophelia Lovibond) and boorish publisher (Jake Johnson) forging ahead in their “51/49” business partnership. (Here’s hoping the soundtrack this time around also rules.) [Tim Lowery]
Freeform’s animated comedy series Praise Petey, from former Saturday Night Live head writer Anna Drezen, follows New York City It girl Petey (Annie Murphy), who seemingly has everything. After her life suddenly heads south, she finds herself modernizing her father’s small-town cult. The voice cast includes Stephen Root, Christine Baranski, John Cho, and Kiersey Clemons. [Saloni Gajjar]
Say what you will about Taylor Sheridan, but the guy is able to attract a notable cast for almost every one of his TV shows. Just look at his upcoming Paramount+ drama, a star-studded action thriller led by Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman. Special Ops: Lioness centers on a Marine tasked with befriending the daughter of a terrorist to help the CIA. Laysla De Oliveira, Dave Annable, and Morgan Freeman also appear. [Saloni Gajjar]
It’s a big year for video game adaptations, and Peacock’s Twisted Metal show looks like it’s … going for a different kind of vibe than HBO’s The Last Of Us. Despite their gritty aesthetics, the car-combat video games were never especially serious, and this TV adaptation—starring Anthony Mackie, Stephanie Beatriz, Mike “Spoonman” Mitchell, and Will Arnett (as the voice of Sweet Tooth)—looks particularly irreverent. [Sam Barsanti]
Michael Sheen and David Tennant are back as angel and demon BFFs (or maybe, hopefully, more?) in their roles as Aziraphale and Crowley, respectively, in season two of Good Omens, which arrives four years after the show debuted. There’s no book to adapt this time, but Neil Gaiman began working on a script three months after season one. Jon Hamm, Nina Sosanya, Mark Gatiss, Derek Jacobi, and Quelin Sepulveda will join forces with Sheen and Tennant, whose alter-egos attempt to stop another cataclysmic event. [Saloni Gajjar]
After canceling almost every one of its shows and pivoting its gameplan, the CW is bringing Canadian comedy Run The Burbs to the U.S. Created by and starring Kim’s Convenience standout Andrew Phung, it follows the adventures of Andrew, a stay-at-home dad whose wife, Camille (Rakhee Mozaria), is a successful entrepreneur. The series has already aired two seasons in Canada, so expect the CW to run with it for a while to fill an incoming content void as the studios continue to hold off on paying writers. [Saloni Gajjar]
The Lincoln Lawyer season two (Netflix, July 6)
Miracle Workers season four (TBS, July 10)
Foundation season two (Apple TV+, July 14)
The Summer I Turned Pretty season two (Prime Video, July 14)
Sweet Magnolias season three (Netflix, July 20)
Futurama season eight (Hulu, July 24)
The Witcher season three, volume two (Netflix, July 27)
Heels season two (Starz, July 28)
How To With John Wilson season three (HBO, July 28)
This Fool season two (Hulu, July 28)
Dark Winds season two (AMC, July 30)