The idea that summer was a television dead zone, a desert of reruns and TV movies, is now a laughably quaint idea. In the Age of Peak TV, June to August has simply become yet another space of prime real estate for cable and streaming services to drop new television series on unsuspecting audiences who are trying to catch up on “This Is Us.”
Overall, July is a pretty busy month for television with some juicy premieres dropping, including the 1,000-pound gorilla that is “Game of Thrones.” It’s seriously getting hard to keep up; this month alone we have two pairs of shows premiering on the same day. Whoever said life is a marathon, not a sprint, hasn’t been keeping up with the entertainment industry these last five years.
Below is a list of the top ten shows to check out in July, ranging from costume drama to mockumentary. Hopefully sunshine won’t become a foreign concept to us this summer.
“Snowfall”
Synopsis: A look at the early days of the first crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles during the beginning of the 1980s, and its impact on the culture of the city.
What You Need To Know: FX’s narcotic drama, created by John Singleton (“Boyz n the Hood”), Eric Amadio and Dave Adron, presents a more personal, ground level perspective of the crack epidemic that took hold of the City of Angels. The series follows the lives of a young drug dealer (Damon Idris), Mexican wrestler (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), CIA operative (Carter Hudson) and daughter of a Mexican crime boss (Emily Rios) whose lives are doomed to collide. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow….
Release Date: July 5th
“Tour De Pharmacy”
Synopsis: A mockumentary set in 1982, during a dark and fictitious time in cycling history, when the sport’s most venerable, time-honored race was marred by the doping of virtually all of its competitors.
What You Need To Know: Andy Samberg, writer Murray Miller, and director Jake Szymanski — the team behind the tennis spoof “7 Days In Hell“ — are this time focusing on the hilariously, blatantly, transparent open secret of the widespread use of doping in the sport of cycling. A murderer’s row of talent in involved, including Orlando Bloom, Kevin Bacon, Freddie Highmore, James Marsden, John Cena and Dolph Lundgren, who partake in the fictional 1982 cycling event that goes spectacularly off the rails. Cena looks to be the breakout, having followed the Dwayne Johnson playbook and smartly pursuing roles that make strong use of his physicality and charisma. He is turning out to have a talent for comedy; Johnson had better watch his back….
Release Date: July 8th
“Will”
Synopsis: A drama about the lost years of young William Shakespeare after his arrival to London in 1589, when theatre was like rock and roll, and a young man with a dream changed the world with his words.
What You Need To Know: Hoo boy, this looks like a teen Shakespeare stan’s fanfic come to life — I kid, I kid. The TNT series, written by Craig Pearce (“Strictly Ballroom, “Moulin Rouge!”) and directed by Shekhar Kapur (“Elizabeth,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”), looks to be an enjoyable ahistorical romp through Elizabethan England. Stocked to the gills with a young, hot cast, led by Laurie Davidson who plays the infamous bard himself, I consider it a major victory for English teachers everywhere if it entices teens to sit down and actually read some of Shakespeare’s masterpieces.
Release Date: July 10th
“Friends from College”
Synopsis: A group of friends from Harvard are facing their forties while juggling old friendships, former romantic entanglements and balancing adult life with nostalgia for the past.
What You Need To Know: Nicholas Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Neighbors”) and Francesca Delblanco’s new comedy expertly captures how grown adults can regress to the halcyon days of immaturity when hanging out with one’s college buddies. Cobie Smulders, Keegan-Michael Key, Fred Savage, Annie Parisse, Nat Faxon and Jae Suh Park make up the cast of Harvard grads trying to come to terms with entrenched adulthood and all of their nostalgic baggage. With a cast like that and guest stars including, Kate McKinnon, Ike Barinholtz and Seth Rogen, “Friends From College” is shaping up to be the must see comedy of the summer.
Release Date: July 14th
“Game of Thrones S7”
Synopsis: In the mythical continent of Westeros, several powerful families fight for control of the Seven Kingdoms.
What You Need To Know: What more could be possibly said at this point? Everything the last six seasons has been building towards is finally coming to a boil. With Daenerys’s army and her dragons fast approaching, Cersei firmly planting her behind on the Iron Throne, and an imminent White Walkers invasion that everyone with the exception of poor Jon Snow is disturbingly blasé about, we are all going to be gnawing over the seven episodes of the penultimate season of “Game of Thrones.” Say it with me: WINTER IS (finally) COMING!!!!!!
Release Date: July 16th
“Ozark”
Synopsis: A Chicago-based financial advisor secretly relocates his family to the Missouri Ozarks when his dealings with a drug cartel go awry.
What You Need To Know: Call me crazy, but the second of Netflix’s July releases could be an intriguing reverse of “Breaking Bad.” Created by Bill Dubuque (“The Judge,” “The Accountant”) and starring Jason Bateman and always amazing Laura Linney, “Ozark” has the potential to be the series that could scratch the traditional crime drama itch for the summer. Bateman is never more interesting as an actor when he twists and rots the “everyman” persona he is known for.
Release Date: July 21st
“Insecure S2”
Synopsis: The trials and tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman living in Los Angeles.
What You Need To Know: Issa Rae’s first season of “Insecure,” adapted from her web series “Awkward Black Girl,” earned critical raves last year and boosted and her already burgeoning career. It will be interesting to see where Issa’s life is after the consequences of her decisions boiled over the in first season’s final episodes, and where she and Molly (Yvonne Orji) are at when the second season kicks off. But come what may, Issa Rae has brought a different and refreshing perspective to the tried and true trope of protagonists who screw up their lives, learn from their mistakes and try to figure out what the hell they want in life.
Release Date: July 23rd
“Ballers” S3
Synopsis: A series centered on a group of football players and their families, friends and handlers.
What You Need To Know: It’s a testament to Dwayne Johnson’s work ethic (“Fast and Furious” franchise) that his HBO’s series, an “Entourage” 2.0 for the sports set, is but a single feather in his cap. After his successful back surgery Spencer Strasmore is back and ready to work hard, play hard, and expand beyond Miami. However, global expansion is a whole other ball game and Spencer and co. will have to work hard to stay in the game. Pride cometh before the fall after all…
Release Date: July 23rd
“The Last Tycoon”
Synopsis: It’s open war in 1930s Hollywood between wunderkind studio executive, Monroe Stahr, and his mentor and current head of the studio, Pat Brady.
What You Need To Know: Amazon Prime’s showbiz drama, developed by Billy Ray (“Secret In Their Eyes”) and adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s posthumously published novel, could be a potential standout this summer as it is one of the lone period piece series currently airing. If it succeeds in balancing the classic Hollywood business antics with the melodrama, the series could really be something special. And who wouldn’t want to see Matt Bomer, Lily Collins, Kelsey Grammer and Rosemarie DeWitt decked out in 1930s fashion?
Release Date: July 28rd
“Room 104”
Synopsis: Set in a single room of an average American hotel, “Room 104” tells a different story of the assorted characters who pass through it in each episode.
What You Need To Know: The Duplass Brothers (“Togetherness”) return to HBO with an innovative anthology series. Further information about the show other than its synopsis has been kept under wraps, but the advance buzz has been suggesting that it is unlike any Duplass production before it. “Room 104” is also an example of “paying it forward;” the Duplasses hired young, new directors to direct each half-our episode, one example being Sarah Adina Smith (“Buster’s Mal Heart”) who directed the series’ pilot and third episode.
Release Date: July 28th
