TAKE NOTE: All release dates remain subject to last-minute change as long as the writers’ strike continues. And how’s your job going?
Premieres Wednesday:
The Full Monty — Look in on Robert Carlyle’s Gaz and the rest of his crew 25 years after their weenie-wagging antics set Sheffield on fire. This sequel series will show what happened to them and their community in the ensuing quarter-century. Gosh, I hope they’ve all been able to keep up the punishing diet-and-exercise regimen their act demanded. (Hulu)
Our Planet II — David Attenborough returns to narrate another docuseries about the wonders of nature, this one following the complex migrations of animals all around the globe. Featured critters-on-the-move include pronghorn antelope, red crabs and decent human beings trying to get the hell out of Florida. (Netflix)
Premieres Thursday:
Black Mirror — Wondering what to expect from the latter-day Twilight Zone as it returns for more reality-twisting hijinks? For one thing, an installment about an ordinary woman whose life becomes the subject of a streaming series in which she’s played by Salma Hayek. Ooh, meta! Otherwise, show creator Charlie Booker says Season 6 will include a bunch of things he swore he would never do. I just love the image of a grown man trying to flirt with a streaming service by tonguing a wine cooler and giggling “I never act like this.” (Netflix)
Jagged Mind — Queer romance turns terrifying when a young woman realizes she’s become unstuck in time, with her new girlfriend the probable cause. Remember the good old days, when the worst you had to worry about was that they might steal your Home Depot card? (Hulu)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — The beloved Carol Kane joins the show in Season 2, in the role of the Enterprise’s new chief engineer. “Sounds a little wacky,” say people who don’t know what Whoopi Goldberg’s life was like before 1988. (Paramount+)
Swiping America — Documentary cameras follow a bunch of New Yorkers as they travel the country, looking for mates on dating apps everywhere they go. Thank God they haven’t limited themselves to the narrow options afforded by the greatest city in the world, because I hear Muncie is practically Love Island. (Max)
Premieres Friday:
Black Clover: Sword of the Wizard King — As a stopgap between seasons 4 and 5 of the anime series Black Clover, fans are getting this standalone film, which tells a story about the same characters that isn’t represented in the source manga. Is it canon? Hell if I know. This is Netflix, so I haven’t ruled out that it might be cake. (Netflix)
Extraction 2 — Chris Hemsworth’s popular mercenary character is back for a second go-’round, rescuing the loved ones of yet another slimy criminal from captivity. That’s a very specific cottage industry he’s got going on there. Wonder if he could deliver Ted Cruz’s daughter to the Zebra Coalition. (Netflix)
The Grand Tour: Eurocrash — James, Jeremy and Richard are back to drive across 1,400 miles of Central Europe in a series of outlandish rides. That’s nothing: Did you ever try to get from Conway to Lake Howell in a Tesla? I mean, without accidentally running over the student body of a day academy? (Prime Video)
Lovely Little Farm — In Season 2 of the live action/animated hybrid for preschoolers, farm-owning sisters Jill and Jacky find new ways to look after Quackety Duck Duck, Al Alpaca and Pickle Pony. Along with maybe a few other characters whose names don’t sound like FBI agents going undercover on the dark web to bust a pedo ring. (Apple TV+)
Stan Lee — Fresh from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival comes a documentary profile of the late comics guru, who would have been 100 last December. (As with most other things, Jack Kirby would have gotten there first. Bazinga!) (Disney+)
An Unforgettable Year: Winter — In the third of four seasonally themed specials, young Mabel finds her travel plans thrown into question by inclement weather. Which actually makes a nice change of pace from the usual culprit, The Collapse of Global Capitalism. (Prime Video)
Premieres Monday:
Not Quite Narwhal — The kids’ picture book by Jessie Sima becomes an animated series starring a narwhal-by-birth who realizes he’s actually been a unicorn the whole time. The best part is knowing the story has so far escaped the pitchforks and torches because homo- and transphobes aren’t great at spotting a metaphor. Maybe the show will make it easier for them by putting the unicorn’s horn someplace good and sensitive. (Netflix)
Take Care of Maya — Another recent Tribeca premiere, this documentary shows how the parents of 9-year-old Maya Kowalski brought her to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for treatment of a mysterious illness, only to have the state take her away from them. Wait a minute, you can actually return your kids to the hospital now? That sounds like a program that could be even more helpful to society than gun buybacks. (Netflix)
Premieres Tuesday:
85 South: Ghetto Legends — The popular podcasters take to the stage for a fearless evening of freestyle comedy. You know what “freestyle” means, right? “Freestyle” means that at this rate we’re going to be seeing one of these a month if the writers’ strike keeps up. (Netflix)
FBI True — In Season 3, learn about more of the bureau’s most amazing cases, straight out of the mouths of the agents who investigated them. And over on Twitter Spaces, you can find out who’s investigating them for investigating them. (Paramount+)
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This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2023.