Once upon a time — but not so long ago — the end of May saw television more or less shut down for the summer months. The traditional broadcast season was over, people were more interested in being outside or going to the movies, and the TV biz mostly just focused on preparing for the Emmys and the new season in September.
But so much has changed in the TV business in the last few years, and with the proliferation of new outlets, networks and streaming services, and the ability to watch a show at basically any time you want, television has become a year-round phenomenon. Powerhouse shows like “Mad Men” and “The Wire” are among those that broke the mold, and debuted outside the traditional TV season. So while the warmer months were once a desert of re-runs and filler, they’re now just as stuffed with potentially great stuff as any other time of year.
That’s particularly true in 2016, with everyone from HBO and Netflix to Cinemax and Lifetime debuting or returning series that demand to be watched. So, to help you sort out what you should be watching, below we’ve gathered the 20 small-screen prospects that have most piqued our curiosity this summer. Take a look below, and let us know what you’re most looking forward to.
“Preacher” (Season 1)
Startdate/Slot: May 22nd/Sundays 9pm, AMC
Synopsis: An adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, it stars Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer, a preacher of shady past and tenuous faith serving a dead-end rural town in Texas who gets possessed by a powerful supernatural entity that has killed more Godly men. Flanked by Irish vampire Cassidy (Joseph Gilgun) and his belligerent ex Tulip (Ruth Negga), Custer will be thrust into the ongoing battle between Heaven and Hell, and possibly elsewhere too.
What You Need To Know: The wilfully immature cult comic found probably its ideal champions in the form of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and, along with Sam Catlin (a writer and producer on “Breaking Bad,” among other things), on the strength of the pilot episode which Rogen and Goldberg also wrote and directed they seem to have hit their stride with confidence early on. Featuring a transfixingly hideous embodiment of the character Arseface, a rather terrific fight on an airplane, a very promising introduction of Negga’s Tulip and a man literally ripping his own beating heart from his chest, the show could well corner the post-“Deadpool” market in splattery, jokey juvenilia.
“Roots” (Miniseries)
Startdate/Slot: Mon May 30th-Thu June 2nd/ 9pm A&E, Lifetime & History Channel
Synopsis: A remake of the groundbreaking 1977 slavery miniseries, “Roots” tells the multi-generational story of Kunta Kinte (Malachi Kirby) from his capture in Africa, through his years as a slave in Virginia where he has a daughter, Kizzy (Anika Noni Rose) who in turn bears a son, George (Regé-Jean Page). Also starring Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Anna Paquin, TI, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Matthew Goode and Mekhi Phifer, the story spans over a century in the history of America’s most shameful insitution.
What You Need To Know: Simulcast across three networks over four nights (the second 2-hour episode airs tonight) “Roots” is a massive undertaking, not least because of the very long shadow cast by its 1977 predecessor. That show was broadcast on consecutive nights reportedly because original network ABC wanted to get the inevitable flop out of the way as quickly as possible, but in fact it was a massive hit, unintentionally defining “event TV” for decades to come. This time out, in a new era of permissiveness for what can be shown on TV, “Roots” is bloodier and more brutal, but no less absorbing and enraging a watch. And in the wake of BlackLivesMatter, with overtly racist rhetoric making its way into everyday political discourse, it also feels excruciatingly timely.
“Peaky Blinders” (Season 3)
Startdate/Slot: May 31st/Netflix
Synopsis: The third season of the BBC-produced period gangster show following the notorious titular gang in Birmingham, England (so named because of their habit of sewing razor blades into the peaks of their caps, the better to slash out the eyes of their foes) picks up in 1924 with the wedding of the gang’s leader, the ruthlessly ambitious Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy).
What You Need To Know: Inevitably likened to a “British ‘Boardwalk Empire'” when it first aired in 2013, the show, long a passion project for “Eastern Promises” writer and “Locke” writer-director Steven Knight, has matured into entirely its own beast, taking an absorbing and thoroughly researched look at an unfamiliar slice of UK history. Featuring a strong cast (Murphy is joined again by season 2 regular Tom Hardy, with Paddy Considine a new addition in season 3), sumptuous production design, uncompromising violence and a soundtrack to die for (contributors include Nick Cave — who does the show’s theme — Radiohead, David Bowie and Leonard Cohen) the show is dark, moody and mean peppered with gore and thick regional accents: a prime corrective to anyone who hears “BBC period production” and thinks “Downton Abbey.”
“Outcast” (Season 1)
Startdate/Slot: May 31st/Sundays 10pm, Cinemax
Synopsis: Based on the comic by Robert Kirkman and Paul Azaceta, this supernatural horror series follows the story of Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit) who seeks to understand why he and his loved ones have been plagued by demonic possession all his life, though the answers could threaten all mankind.
What You Need To Know: The second of two high-profile comic-book adaptations to feature supernatural storylines (the other being AMC’s “Preacher“), “Outcast” looks to be the more somber and serious alternative. Already renewed for a second season, it’s clear Cinemax have some faith in the property, which does look very impressively shot (per the trailer) and, being shepherded by the comic’s own author Robert Kirkman, who is also the writer of the original “The Walking Dead” comic that spawned the massive AMC TV hit, will presumably hew close to the gritty and mean tone of the source material. A welcome new showcase for Patrick Fugit (one of those actors we’re inexplicably fond of, given how little he’s been in) that also features a lead role for the great Kate Lyn Sheil (“The Girlfriend Experience“) and for Brent “Data” Spiner, and with “The Guest” director Adam Wingard helming the pilot, our hopes are high for something special.
“Feed The Beast” (Season 1)
Startdate/Slot: June 5th/Sundays 10pm, AMC
Synopsis: Best friends Tommy (David Schwimmer) and Dion (Jim Sturgess) are on the ropes — Tommy’s alcoholism has worsened and since the death of his wife his young son hasn’t spoken a word, while Dion’s coke habit has got him into deep debt with a local gangster. Together they decide on one last big gamble: to open the gourmet restaurant in The Bronx that has always been their dream.
What You Need To Know: Deep, deep wariness is a kind of anticipation, right? AMC’s new show, sliding right into their “Halt and Catch Fire” slot, was always a dicey prospect. The story of two idealistic fuckups fighting their demons through the medium of meal preparation, it seems on paper a retread of Bradley Cooper‘s already fairly smug “Burnt” only starring the less appealing, more smug duo of Schwimmer and Sturgess. A show that looks to follow all the beats you’d expect when a modern-day white-guy antihero drama meets a bougie restaurateur redemption story (we’re only surprised that they refrained from substituting “steaks” in the “Stakes are High” tagline), still we hold out hope that the prime slot (and prior form) means AMC have something better in store for us than these early indicators suggest.