Welcome to This Week in TV. In a bid to help you prioritize among all the events, premieres, big episodes and finales, The Hollywood Reporter‘s eagle-eyed TV team every Monday will take a closer look at what to expect from the week ahead — and provide helpful links and context for each. Here’s a handy primer for the events that will likely take over the headlines in the week ahead.
Kathy Bates Lights Up Netflix, Friday, 12:01 a.m.
The Oscar and Emmy winner heads to the streaming giant for the multicam pot comedy Disjointed. In addition to Bates, the half-hour also marks the first streaming series for prolific producer Chuck Lorre, who is now doubling down at the company with a Michael Douglas comedy that recently earned a straight-to-series order.
The Tick Swings Into Action, Friday, 12:01 a.m.
More than 30 years after his comic debut, TV takes a second swing at bringing the beloved comic book character to life in a live-action series. But this time, instead of Seinfeld fan-favorite Patrick Warburton stepping into the title role for Fox, it’s Guardians of the Galaxy grad Peter Serafinowicz and also features Oscar-nominated actor Jackie Earle Haley as The Terror. Like both the 1994 animated cartoon series and the Fox live-action take, The Tick creator Ben Edlund serves as creator, writer and exec producer on the series, having written at least several episodes of the show’s first season.
Wynonna Earp Rides Into the Sunset (for Now), Friday, 10 p.m.
After quietly launching in 2016, the Syfy drama has slowly grown a fiercely loyal audience with its feminist and LGBTQ-friendly interpretation of the beloved western hero Wyatt Earp. “I loved the idea of taking a western, which is traditionally so male and just replacing all the archetypal characters wherever we could and force it to be female,” creator and showrunner Emily Andras recently told THR. Season two wraps Friday with season three already a go.
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MTV’s Video Music Awards Gets a Major Makeover, Sunday, 8 p.m.
Goodbye moon man, hello Katy Perry! The “I Kissed a Girl” singer emcees the 33rd annual ceremony, at which the cabler will unveil the new gender-neutral moon person statue. Following a similar move at the MTV Movie Awards in May, this year’s VMAs will be the first where artists will compete in gender-neutral categories like artist of the year and best collaboration. Confirmed performers include Miley Cyrus, Kendrick Lamar and Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award honoree P!nk. Check out the full list of nominees here.
The End Is Nigh for Game of Thrones, Sunday, 9 p.m.
As Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) said in the season-seven finale preview, “There is only one war that mattered, and it is here.” So expect HBO’s big-budget fantasy series to wrap its penultimate season with some fireworks even after arguably the biggest battle scene of the season. Among the major burning questions for the supersized, 80-minute-long finale: Will Jon be able to convince Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) to reach a truce with Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke)? Will Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) really come face-to-face with his sweet sister for the first time since season four? Check back for extensive coverage from THR‘s Game of Thrones expert, Josh Wigler.
