It’s time for the Summer Olympics, and you know what that means: it’s also time to become an armchair expert in every sport.
The Olympic Games bring people together from around the nation and the globe, united by the common interest of screaming from the couch for world-class athletes to swim faster or slowing down a tumbling routine to count the twists and turns. The Olympic trials are already streaming on Peacock, which will host the Games coverage in the U.S., but other streamers are ready to harness Olympics fever. Netflix’s docuseries about Simone Biles will premiere in July, as will “Sprint,” which takes a closer look at runners. Peacock’s “Those About to Die” takes viewers back to the days of Roman gladiators and a very different kind of athletic competition, as does a docuseries about Alaskan bears fighting the elements and each other to make it to winter.
Outside the world of sports, July is a quiet but compelling month for new TV premieres, including Apple’s “Lady in the Lake” and “Sunny” or Netflix’s “The Decameron.” Paramount debuts the Cold War-era docuseries “Mafia Spies,” which you can chase with the animated “Exploding Kittens” just to mix up the vibes.
For more on 2024’s TV offerings, check out our TV preview for the year, or our specific Netflix and HBO/Max lists (most of the shows are now available!). For summer titles, check out our summer TV preview, and keep checking back for monthly roundups (here’s January, February, March, April, May, and June) — new TV only, but as always we’ve got plenty of love for the rest.
Here are 12 new shows to watch in July 2024.
After her headline-making change of heart at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles’ journey as an athlete became even more engrossing, even after years of record-breaking gymnastics performance on the world stage. Biles set an example in her field and beyond by prioritizing her mental health, and then returning to gymnastics to cement herself even further as the greatest of all time, and this docuseries chronicles that intense internal journey.
Just in time for the Olympics, “Spring” dives into the mentality and training of the world’s top sprinters on the road to and during the 2023 World Championships. Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Shericka Jackson, and more will be highlighted in the high-stakes (and speed) docuseries.
After a plane crash ostensibly kills her husband and son, Suzie (Rashida Jones) is given a consolation “homebot” Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura) — a robot designed from her husband’s lab that’s intended to emulate his mannerisms. But all is not right with Sunny, and soon Suzie finds herself trying to learn more about the robot in order to get answers about her husband’s life, work — and perhaps even his whereabouts. Created by Katie Robbins and based on the novel “The Dark Manual” by Colin O’Sullivan.
Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer — From Dakota and Elle Fanning and director Abby Fuller comes unprecedented access to Dr. Ann Burgess, the mastermind behind the development of modern serial-killer profiling. Dr. Ann Burgess, shown. (Courtesy of Hulu)
The season’s most formidable athletes? The bears of Alaska’s Katmai National Park, training to bulk up for winter hibernation. As the bears set out to consume as much food as possible to keep them sustained throughout winter, they face off with the elements and each other throughout the process, in the docuseries narrated by Rhys Darby.
Humanity is a trash fire, and there’s only one being who can save it: God (Tom Ellis). Fired from his job as the all-seeing, all-knowing protector, God returns to Earth in the body of a kitten so he can actually help people — except that the cat next door (Sasheer Zamata) is the Antichrist.
The animated series comes from showrunners Shane Kosakowski and card game co-creator Matthew Inman, executive produced by Mike Judge, Greg Daniels and Dustin Davis of Bandera Entertainment; Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping for the Chernin Entertainment Group; and executive producers and creators of the Exploding Kittens franchise, Elan Lee and The Oatmeal’s Inman. Suzy Nakamura, Mark Proksch, Ally Maki, and Kenny Yates also star.
Based on Thomas Maier’s “Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro,” this immersive docuseries unfolds during the Cold War among the spies, gangsters, and other figures involved in a conspiracy to kill Fidel Castro. Many who were part of it share firsthand accounts, while other parts of the story come from declassified material or are filled in with dramatic recreation. Paramount’s press materials say that “the series charts a Cold War game of cat and mouse from Vegas to Miami to Havana that pitted Washington’s strongest players against the 20th century’s most notorious gangsters.” Co-written by Ron Marasco and Tom Donahue, who directs the series and serves as co-showrunner with Ilan Arboleda, and starring Nick Annunziata as Johnny Roselli.
From the world of “Harley Quinn” comes a new animated adult series, in which Kite Man and Golden Glider team up to a bar. The business attracts a parade of questionable figures (“the most dangerous rogues outside of Arkham Asylum”), but which bar doesn’t? Executive produced by Dean Lorey, Justin Halpern, Patrick Shumacker, Kaley Cuoco, and Sam Register.
On-theme with ancient sports is this Peacock series directed Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner, developed by Robert Rodat. Based on Daniel P. Mannix’s book of the same name, the series enters the world of Roman gladiators, starring Anthony Hopkins as Vespasian. Instead of a weekly rollout, all 10 episodes will premiere at once.
Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram star in this adaptation of the eponymous novel by Laura Lippman. Maddie (Portman) and Cleo (Ingram) are two women occupying very different parts of 1966 Baltimore, but they become forever intertwined after Cleo’s death, which challenges Maddie to play detective despite the dangers. Created and directed by Alma Har’el.
Showrunner Kathleen Jordan teams up with Jenji Kohan’s production company for this dark comedy romp set in medieval Europe. As the Black Plague makes its way to Italy, a group of disparate nobles and their servants seek refuge in the countryside, hoping to find more than safety during what’s meant to be a brief sojourn. But with not-so-noble intentions, their idyllic quarantine bubble quickly becomes a hotbed of lies, tension, and potential infection. Starring Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Tanya Reynolds, Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, and more. Jordan and Kohan executive produce along with director Michael Uppendahl, and Tilted’s Blake McCormick and Tara Herrmann.
The games of the thirty-third Olympiad unfold on Peacock, with 24/7 coverage of trials, individual events, and curated highlights throughout the two weeks of games. Some competitions begin on July 24, but the official opening ceremony will take place on July 26, with events taking place in Paris and across France (also, Tahiti).
