The week ahead brings the first few competitions of the Summer Olympics — before the opening ceremonies in Tokyo — along with several broadcast network finales, and a whole lot of streaming premieres. It’s the busiest seven-day stretch in months, in fact, for streaming debuts.
Below is The Hollywood Reporter‘s rundown of premieres, returns and specials over the next seven days. It would be next to impossible to watch everything, but let THR point the way to worthy options for the coming week. All times are ET/PT unless noted.
The Big Show
Netflix’s Never Have I Ever charmed critics and viewers in its first season and featured a breakout performance from lead actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi, an Indian American high schooler dealing with the push and pull between her closest friends (played by Lee Rodriguez and Ramona Young) and her desire for a boyfriend and popularity.
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Season two of the Mindy Kaling-created series, premiering Thursday, picks up soon after the events of the first season, with Devi still torn between two boys (Darren Barnet and Jaren Lewison) and feeling threatened when a “prettier, cooler” Indian girl moves into her school.
Also on streaming …
There’s a lot. Fixer Upper stars-turned-media moguls Joanna and Chip Gaines launch their Magnolia Network via Discovery+ on Thursday (a cable network will follow early next year), with some 15 shows about food, home renovation and family — including a few new episodes of the show that launched them to fame.
Thursday also brings episodic anthology American Horror Stories (FX on Hulu), star-studded limited series Dr. Death (Peacock) and The North Water (AMC+) and a new run of First Wives Club (BET+). On Friday, Apple TV+ debuts musical comedy Schmigadoon; Hulu launches docuseries McCartney 3, 2, 1; Amazon unveils season two of Making the Cut; and Netflix premieres Naomi Osaka, a three-part doc about the tennis star. Disney+ has two premieres on Wednesday, an update of Turner & Hooch and doc series Behind the Attraction. Finally, Netflix debuts dating show Sexy Beasts Wednesday.
On cable …
New: The third installment of the Power franchise is Raising Kanan (8 p.m. Sunday, Starz), a prequel set in Queens circa 1991. It stars Mekai Curtis as Kanan, the teenage version of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s character from the original series, and Patina Miller as his mother, a cocaine distributor looking to grow her enterprise. Omar Epps also stars in the series, which has already been renewed for a second season.
Also: Dark comedy The End (8 p.m. Sunday, Showtime) stars Harriet Walter and Frances O’Connor as a mother and daughter debating end-of-life care and the right to die. Docuseries 100 Foot Wave (10 p.m. Sunday, HBO) follows big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara as he seeks out the largest swells in the world. Tyler Perry’s The Oval kicks off the back half of its second season at 9 p.m. Tuesday on BET. USA, NBCSN and the Olympic Channel will also air some pre-opening ceremony contests in softball and soccer starting Tuesday.
On broadcast …
Finales: Five shows close out their seasons in the coming week: All American (8 p.m. Monday, The CW), The Flash (8 p.m. Tuesday, The CW), Mental Samurai (9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox), Kung Fu (8 p.m. Wednesday, The CW) and Crime Scene Kitchen (9 p.m. Wednesday, Fox).
Also: The Outpost (9 p.m. Thursday) and Dead Pixels (9:30 p.m. Sunday) start new seasons on The CW. NBC begins the run-up to the summer games with Olympic Dreams Featuring Jonas Brothers (8 p.m. Wednesday), in which Joe, Nick and Kevin test their athletic skills alongside some actual Olympians.
In case you missed it …
Mike White’s TV creations include HBO’s late and lamented Enlightened and the underrated early aughts Fox soap Pasadena — and now The White Lotus, which follows the entitled guests and underappreciated staff of a Hawaiian resort. There’s also a murder mystery and a healthy helping of class satire with a cast that includes Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Jennifer Coolidge, Murray Bartlett and Natasha Rothwell. It’s “vibrantly messy and deceptively emotional,” writes THR critic Daniel Fienberg, “a show that I wasn’t convinced was working after one episode and that I didn’t want to end after six.” Episodes air at 9 p.m. Sundays on HBO and stream on HBO Max.
