July looks to be a scorcher outside as usual, so you will want to hang on the couch as long as possible. Fortunately, there are several returning TV shows to keep you occupied after you finish rewatching The Bear‘s second season. The most prominent series of this coming month happens to be a revival of FX’s beloved Justified, and fortunately, Timothy Olyphant obliged at donning the cowboy hat and boots for his most infamous role.
Additionally, some wacky vampires, a smooth lawyer, and a bumbling set of reunion attendees are back with new installments, and a former HBO Max show resurfaces on Starz. If that’s not quite enough for you, then a bickering demon-and-angel pairing shall soon make their way into your living room again, Navajo cops are back to fight very different forces of evil, and Henry Cavill will go on his final monster-hunting, grunty adventures. Oh, and John Wilson turns his lenses upon New York City one more time.
Here are the must see shows for July 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI0C81p7vKI
The Lincoln Lawyer: Season 2 Part 1 (Netflix series streaming 7/6)
The series picked up the same subject matter as the movie, and whaddya know, the show turned into a streaming hit that kept the adventures of Los Angeles’ most talked-about defense attorney. Naturally, Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) is still running business out of his Lincoln’s backseat, where he’ll handle just about every case, and if you’ve been missing Neve Campbell from the continuing Scream franchise, you can find her here. Expect Part 2 of this season about a month after this installment.
The Afterparty: Season 2 (Apple TV+ series streaming on 7/12)
A whole lot of murder-mystery comedy can be found out there these days, and murder linked to a high school reunion is also a recent thing (Yellowjackets), but this is neither that dark Showtime show nor Glass Onion. Instead, this unique beast — created by Christopher Miller and produced by Miller and his frequent partner, Phil Lord — stars a voluminously funny cast (including Tiffany Haddish, Ben Schwartz, Ilana Glazer, and Sam Richardson) who pulls out all the stops here, and you won’t be sorry if you skip your own reunions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCvO1QmAMXY
What We Do in the Shadows: (FX series streaming on Hulu 7/13)
Those oddball vamps are back after Nandor’s eternal-life crisis. This remains one of the funniest shows on TV these days, and this season, Guillermo might be giving up Nandor for Laszlo, which will surely cause plenty of drama. Meanwhile, Nadya is attempting to connect with a form of family, and Colin is unwise enough to run for political office. Then there’s the newcomer, The Guide, who’s attempting to feel things out while dancing around centuries-old dynamics and all those warring accents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6KEgWSFfaE
Justified: City Primeval (FX series streaming on Hulu 7/18)
Everyone’s favorite extralegal lawman is about to swagger back into our hearts, long after he made it out of Harlan alive. Can he make it out of Detroit alive, too? We’ll see, and Raylan Givens’ daughter, Willa, is also onboard to give the hat a hard time because someone needs to do it. We’ve already pinpointed the one Justified episode, “Long In The Tooth,” that makes an ideal essential rewatch before this spinoff, and Raylan should have a swell time hunting bad guys in Motor City. At the top of his list: The so-called “Oklahoma Wildman,” portrayed by Boyd Holbrook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzKylM8l5f8
Minx: Season 2 (Starz series streaming on 7/21)
This show took quite a journey from being cancelled by HBO Max — after the filming of the second season was nearly finished– to being rescued by Starz for airtime. The audience outcry surely helped that happen, so we’ll be able to see the continuation of Jack Johnson’s low-rent, erotic-magazine publisher doing it (for the first time) for women in the 1970s. Starz has carved out quite a few crowd successes of late (including P-Valley and Heels), so I have a feeling that they know exactly how to make this show fly.
Special Ops: Lioness: (Paramount+ series streaming on 7/23)
Because bucketfuls of Taylor Sheridan TV shows still aren’t enough, the former Sons Of Anarchy cop is here with an inspired-by-real-life story about the CIA’s Lioness Program. Zoe Saldaña stars as an operative who helps mentor and mold recruits, who will one day become fearsome assassins. Saldaña is surely relieved to be back in ass-kicking mode, over a decade after Colombiana proved how riveting she can be as an action star. Nicole Kidman also headlines as the chief of the Lioness Program, which is part of the “CIA’s efforts to thwart the next 9/11,” according to the show’s synopsis.
The Witcher: Season 3 Volume 2 (Netflix series streaming on 7/27)
It’s hard to imagine that Henry Cavill is really on his way out the door as Geralt of Rivia, and Liam Hemsworth will soon pick up the grunting, swashbuckling, potion-wielding monster hunter for a fourth season. Where this franchise goes from there, one can only guess, but thankfully, we should still have Jaskier. In this Season 3 wrap-up, Ciri continues to train as a Witcher while Yennifer is attempting to maneuver around territorial sorcerers who are pressing the buttons to f*ck with everyone. Hate it when that happens.
Twisted Metal (Peacock series streaming on 7/27)
It’s been an unusually successful year so far for video game adaptations, including The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Last Of Us. This hopes to keep the party going with Anthony Mackie as a “motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.” Co-stars include Neve Campbell, Richard Cabral, Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, and Neve Campbell, along with Sweet Tooth, the killer, ice-cream dealing clown jointly played by Samoa Joe and Will Arnett.
Good Omens: Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video series streaming on 7/38)
The complimentary writing styles of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collide here and are embodied by David Tennant and Michael Sheen with a second season that took far too long to percolate. Yes, Jon Hamm is on hand to steal focus as Archangel Gabriel, but ultimately, this is the story of a hate-love relationship between a demon, Crowley (David Tennant), and an angel, Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), who would sure love to quit each other but must work together if they want to keep enjoying life on Earth. Yes, Armageddon is coming, among other things.
How To with John Wilson: Season 3 (HBO series streaming on Max on 7/28)
One final season of this “anxious New Yorker” is coming your way, years after the leading man (and writer, director, cameraman, producer) admitted to us that he had captured a “psychotic amount” of footage. One can only imagine how he pares it all down and still manages to offer advice on the most relatable subjects. He kept on filming during the pandemic, and now, we’ll watch him obsessively film life getting back to “normal” in the Big Apple.
Dark Winds: Season 2 (AMC series streaming on AMC+ 7/30)
George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford put on their producing hats here, and this still qualifies as a sleeper series that I’d highly recommend binging at some point. (Mostly) Native American writers are doing the thing here as based upon Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee book series and the two 1970s Navajo cops (at a remote area near Monument Valley) who embark upon apparently unrelated crimes including a double murder case. In the process, they see things that make them think twice about their spiritual beliefs. The forces of evil swirl while the cops’ personal demons could actually be the key to emerging back into salvation territory. Are you intrigued? Good.
