Television doesn’t sleep. The sheer amount of content—almost 500 scripted programs aired in the year 2019!—can prove overwhelming for even the most dedicated TV buffs. Television Academy voters make Emmy selections in August, and SAG-AFTRA members vote on SAG Awards in January, but their job requires tuning in all year long. Backstage is breaking down, month by month, the buzzy shows and performances that merit awards attention in the ever-growing landscape of the small screen. Mark your calendar and become a couch potato along with us!
July brings the heat, but get ready to stay cool indoors with all the new TV coming your way.
Landing this month is NBC’s streaming channel, Peacock, named for its own iconic logo and carrying on its wings the adaptation of classic dystopian novel “Brave New World.” Peacock is making its presence known as it moves classic NBC shows to its catalogue; expect bingeable stalwarts like “30 Rock,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “The Office” to disappear from other streaming services. Don’t worry, though, because “30 Rock” is coming home to the classic network for a one-episode reboot on the 16th. And if you are in the mood for more familiar characters, the newest Muppets iteration, “Muppets Now,” is coming to Disney+ with a ton of guest stars. Check out the full list of July premieres below!
ABC
ABC starts off the summer with a new sitcom, “United We Fall,” starring Will Sasso and Christina Vidal. The family comedy was originally slated for the 2019-20 Emmys season, but will debut on the 15th with a special back-to-back airing.
Acorn TV
The streaming channel responsible for bringing in some of the best international imports adds three series to its repertoire this month. First off, the new drama series “The Nest” arrives July 13, followed by dramedy “Mount Pleasant” on the 20th, and closing with Season 2 of Swedish crime series “Rebecka Martinsson” on the 27th.
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon has two originals ready for your bingeing pleasure. Action spy thriller “Hanna” returns with a second season July 3, and crime thriller “Absentia” will be adding its third season on the 17th.
How the Entertainment Industry Is Dealing With Coronavirus—the Latest
Apple TV+
Apple offers up its newest J.J. Abrams-produced musical series, “Little Voice,” on the 10th. The series stars actor Brittany O’Grady trying to make it as a performer in New York City and features music by Sara Bareilles.
Britbox
Everyone’s favorite crime-solving priest “Father Brown” will join the streaming channel featuring British shows on July 1 with exclusive airing rights to Season 8. The channel will be adding many series to its catalogue this month, including “The Fall” and “Taggart,” though they have been available elsewhere, and will celebrate its large collection of Agatha Christie adaptations with “She-Dunnit: Agatha Christie & Her Legacy”; indulge your inner Christie craving with “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” and a remastered version of the “Miss Marple” series.
Disney+
On the 31st, six episodes of a new Muppets series entitled “Muppets Now” will be added to the new streaming channel. “Muppets Now” features all the classic Muppet characters along with guest stars Aubrey Plaza, RuPaul, Linda Cardellini, and Seth Rogen.
HBO
The fourth and final season of “Room 104” begins on the 24th. The anthology series from Jay and Mark Duplass takes place in one hotel room, with each episode exploring the characters who stay there; it also explores different genres, from horror to comedy to everything in between. Season 4 features Ron Funches, Erinn Hayes, Jillian Bell, Linda Lavin, Kevin Nealon, Dave Bautista, Melissa Fumero, and more. Over on new streaming service HBO Max, a co-production from Britain and Australia, “Frayed,” is their newest comedy, although set way back in 1989.
Hulu
On the 17th, Hulu welcomes the latest iteration of horror series “Into the Dark” with “Into the Dark: The Current Occupant.” On the 28th, “Maxxx,” a British comedy featuring O-T Fagbenle, who also wrote and co-directed the series, as a former boy band star hoping to revitalize his career with help from his manager, played by Christopher Meloni, will air after being delayed from last month. Also delayed from last month, “In My Skin” arrives on the 30th, a Welsh coming-of-age comedy starring Gabrielle Creevy.
NBC
NBC is again running with the single episode reboot format. Following in the footsteps of the recent “Parks and Recreation” special, Tina Fey’s beloved comedy “30 Rock” will return to the network for one night only and will feature promos for NBC’s 2020-21 lineup in between scenes. Don’t miss it on the 16th.
Peacock
On July 15, NBC will get into the streaming game with its new streaming channel, Peacock, adding old favorites like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” Along with old standbys, the channel will launch with three new series, including an adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s classic novel “Brave New World,” a co-production with the UK’s Sky channel starring Harry Lloyd, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alden Ehrenreich, Demi Moore, Kylie Bunbury, and Hannah John-Kamen. Two more UK series round out the first offering of Peacock’s original programming: British conspiracy thriller “The Capture” starring Callum Turner, Holliday Grainger, Ron Perlman, and Famke Janssen, and workplace comedy series “Intelligence,” starring “Friends” alumnus David Schwimmer.
Netflix
New series “Warrior Nun,” based on the comic book by Ben Dunn, will kick off Netflix’s July on the 2nd, followed on the 3rd by a new adaptation of classic book series “The Baby-Sitters Club” starring Sophie Grace, Malia Baker, Momona Tamada, Shay Rudolph, and Xochitl Gomez as the five best friends and babysitting entrepreneurs, plus Alicia Silverstone and Mark Feuerstein. (The series has been adapted twice before, back in 1990 for a TV series, and in a 1995 feature film.) Also on the 3rd, Spanish language period drama “Cable Girls” returns for its fifth and final season, and on the 8th, Cate Blanchett produces and stars in “Stateless” alongside Yvonne Strahovski, Dominic West, and Jai Courtney in the Australian miniseries about the country’s immigration system.
Why Yvonne Strahovski Rejects the Word ‘Rejection’ Another book adaptation for the streaming service, “Cursed” is a new take on the legends of King Arthur, initially an illustrated novel by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler, debuting on the 17th. Season 3 of “Norsemen” joins the streaming network on the 22nd; and closing out the month on the 31st, British teen thriller “Get Even” arrives with yet another comic book adaptation, while Season 2 of “The Umbrella Academy” returns with its ensemble cast featuring Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton, John Magaro, Adam Godley, Colm Feore, and Justin H. Min.
“To be an actor on that show is unlike being an actor on any other show in that there is such a sense of mutual respect and collaboration and sense of gratitude for being there.”
Starz
Starz will air new drama “P-Valley,” based on a play by Katori Hall about a strip club in Mississippi, on the 12th.
SYFY
On the 26th, the fourth season of supernatural series “Wynonna Earp” will land, with the second half still in limbo caused by delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans are hoping it will finish up its season in 2021, though the remaining episodes are still unfilmed.
TNT
On July 19, Season 2 of Victorian-era crime drama “The Alienist” returns with an adaptation of the second novel in Caleb Carr’s series of novels, “The Alienist: Angel of Darkness,” with returning stars Daniel Brühl, Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans, Douglas Smith, Matthew Shear, and Robert Ray Wisdom.
Check out Backstage’s TV audition listings!