The 9 best TV shows to watch in July

Emma Myers, who played Wednesday Addams’ werewolf roommate Enid in the Netflix series Wednesday, helps solve the murders. But in the film adaptation of Holly Jackson’s hit YA novel, the actor stars as a more down-to-earth student detective. Myers plays Pip Fitzamobi, a character with a lovely name that means she’s nothing if not special. She is determined to find the truth behind a supposedly solved murder-suicide that rocked her school five years ago. For a school project, she’s ambitious. Zain Iqbal stars as Ravi, Pip’s friend whose brother is presumed to be the killer, and Anna Maxwell Martin plays Pip’s understanding mother. Dolly Wells, who co-starred and co-created Doll & M with Emily Mortimer, will direct the show. Unusually, Jackson wrote both British and American versions of the novel, each set in different locations (the fictional Little Kilton in England and Fairview, Connecticut in the United States), although the television adaptation is set in Little Kilton.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is currently streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK and will premiere internationally on Netflix on August 1st.

In this drama series, the topical theme of artificial intelligence meets a tried-and-true mystery story. Starring and executive produced by Rashida Jones, Jones plays Suzie Sakamoto, an American living in Japan. When her husband and young son are on a plane that crashes, the technology company her husband works for gives her a robot companion as a comfort: a chatty, know-it-all little robot named Sunny, who looks a bit like a metallic Teletubby. Strange things start happening, and Suzie and Sunny soon team up to investigate what really happened to her son and husband, whose bodies have never been found. Jones smoothly transitions into her role to express Suzie’s grief and determination, as well as her sense of the absurd, in a drama that is suspenseful and, thanks to the machinations of Sunny and the technology company, even comical moments. Nishijima Hidetoshi, star of the 2021 Oscar-winning Japanese film Drive My Car, appears in flashbacks as Suzie’s husband, and his relationship with Sunny comes as a big surprise to his wife.

Sunny premieres internationally on Apple TV+ on July 10

In the 2016 animated adult comedy Sausage Party, no pun, no double entendre was too obvious about supermarket food. And that’s why so many people loved it, and the movie became an unexpected box office hit. The TV spinoff features many of the same star voice cast, notably Seth Rogen as Frank the hot dog, who discovers that food is destined to go down someone’s throat and plots his escape from the store. Kristen Wiig reprises her role as Frank’s girlfriend, Brenda the hot dog bun, and Edward Norton reprises his role as Sammy Bagel Jr. New voice cast members include Will Forte as a human who needs help building a utopia, and Sam Richardson as Julius the orange. (Yes, a homage to the old fruit drink chain, the Orange Julius Stores.) Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who were one of the producers of the film, are also involved in the TV version. Here’s what they said: Empire Magazine: “It’s got more heart, twice the puns, and three times the food sex.”

Sausage Party: Foodtopia will have its global premiere on Prime Video on July 11th

Forest Whitaker brings dignity and cunning to the role of Judge Oliver Garland in this Chicago-set series based on Steven L. Carter’s 2002 bestselling novel, “The Emperor of Ocean Park.” Garland dies of a heart attack at the beginning of the show. Or was he murdered? The timeline constantly switches between the past and the present. In flashbacks updated from the novel to 2009 and beyond, Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court is thwarted due to some dangerous connections from his past. Now, his three children discover some dark secrets. His daughter Mariah (Tiffany Mack) is a conspiracy theorist by nature, but that doesn’t mean she’s wrong to suspect that her father was murdered. She struggles to convince her two siblings, Tal (Grantham Coleman), a law professor with marital problems, and Addison (Henry Simmons), a TV journalist, that they’re not guilty. Filled with plot twists and family drama, the show is the latest evidence that courtroom thrillers are perfect for television.

“Emperor of Ocean Park” will premiere in the U.S. on MGM+ on July 14th.

Time travel is a fascinating fantasy for all ages, and that’s the idea behind this colorful family-friendly series. The series is based on Terry Gilliam’s 1981 film. It tells the story of a boy who joins a band of thieves to travel through time, led by Lisa Kudrow as Penelope, who takes 11-year-old Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) and his group to different periods in history, including the beginning of Stonehenge, the Ice Age, and the Middle Ages. The show’s creators are Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, producers of the vampire mockumentary “What We Do in the Shadows,” which shares Gilliam’s quirky comedy style, and screenwriter Ian Morris, who collaborated with Waititi on his previous film, “Next Goal Wins.” The show is set in a different cultural moment than the film. While Kevin was accompanied by a band of dwarves in the film, there are no dwarves in the TV version.And the series has been shadowed by its own controversy. Actor Charlie Yi recently Alleged Paramount Television Studios said in a statement that he was subjected to “physical assault” and “emotional abuse” on set, and that it had “conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations that have been brought to our attention” and “taken additional steps to address his concerns.”

“Time Bandits” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on July 14th

Released ahead of November’s release of Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated Gladiator 2, this sword-and-sandal action series has a pedigree of its own. Anthony Hopkins plays the Roman Emperor Vespasian, complete with flowing robes and a gold laurel wreath on his head. Roland Emmerich, director of spectacles such as Independence Day, has directed five of the show’s 10 episodes about gladiators and those who would kill them, and Saving Private Ryan screenwriter Robert Rodat is the series creator. The cast includes Iwan Rheon, best known as Game of Thrones villain Ramsay Bolton. Peacock’s official description says his character, Tenax, is “a spy.”Crime Boss“He’s the man who runs a gambling operation that involves betting on vicious games played in the newly built Colosseum. Somehow, it makes me think of Tony Soprano in a toga, which shows just how committed Peacock is to the shenanigans of 79 A.D. and its modern connections.

Those About to Die will premiere on Peacock in the US on July 18th and on Prime Video in the UK on July 19th.

Natalie Portman, in her first TV series lead role, plays Maddie Schwartz, an upscale Baltimore housewife who becomes a journalist determined to solve the murder of a drowned woman, much like a 1960s Jackie Kennedy. Moses Ingram (Josie in The Queen’s Gambit) plays murder victim Cleo Johnson, whose story is told in flashbacks in parallel with Maddie’s flight from a suffocating marriage to find freedom. Based on the novel by Laura Lippman and written and directed by Alma Har’el (Honey Boy), the drama tackles themes of feminism, Jewish and black identity in the form of a complex murder mystery. Filming took place in Baltimore, where Portman’s grandmother once lived, giving the role a special resonance. “It was really wonderful to be there 60 years ago and imagine my family being there,” she said. Vanity Fair“Imagining what it might have been like to be a woman in a Jewish marriage at that time, it definitely felt personal to explore the constraints that that meant in that time and place.”

Lady in the Lake will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on July 19th.

People sheltering together during a pandemic sounds timely, but Boccaccio was the first to do it in the 14th century. In his Decameron, a group of noblemen and servants gather in a villa outside Florence to tell stories and ward off the bubonic plague that rages outside. Kathleen Jordan, the author of this irreverent black comedy loosely based on Boccaccio, said: Said She sees his classic book as a series of “short, naughty stories.” The show is also set in Florence in 1348 and stars a diverse cast that includes Tony Hale as the hapless butler of the villa where they’re all staying, Zosia Mamet as an entitled woman who wants to become the villa’s mistress, and Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls) as a beleaguered servant. Executive produced by Jenji Kohan (Orange Is the New Black), the show is about class warfare, but also drinking, dancing, sex, and Survivor-style intrigue.

The Decameron premieres internationally on Netflix on July 25th

Set in the early 1970s, this Spanish-language drama is inspired by the true story of the first women to join Mexico City’s police force. It wasn’t plain sailing. The story focuses on four women who soon learn that they are public relations figures, not expected to fight real crime, and given whistles instead of guns. Their uniforms, with short blue skirts and high leather boots, make them look like airline flight attendants of the time, but they are smarter than the indifferent men around them. Soon they are setting out on their own to find a serial killer who preys on women. The female officers are a diverse bunch, starting with the determined Maria (Bárbara Mori), followed by Gavina (Amorita Lasgado), the daughter of a respected police officer, Ángeles (Ximena Sariñana), a fingerprint expert, and the young and rebellious Valentina (Natalia Telles). While this tidy distribution may be typical, the series also offers a fresh perspective on female detective dramas.

“Women in Blue” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on July 31st.

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