TV Watchlist: Taylor Sheridan Has Another New Show, 'Futurama' Gets Revived and Shark Week Begins 🦈

Plus: A movie based on the Beanie Baby craze hits Apple TV+ and Marvel's "Secret Invasion" ends on Disney+ Week of July 15 – 21 It is hot out. Like walk-the-dog-after-9-p.m. hot. And you are probably looking for any excuse to stay inside, turn off all the lights, blast the air conditioning and veg out. Thankfully, there are a number of excellent options this week, from the latest Taylor Sheridan adventure (“Special Ops: Lioness”) to the long-overdue return of “Futurama” and “Good Omens” to, of course, that very special time of year – Shark Week (and all the programming that goes along with it). Plus, a new Jackie Chan/John Cena movie (“Hidden Strike”), a dramatization of the Beanie Baby era (“The Beanie Bubble”) and a live-action adaptation of video game “Twisted Metal.” See? Plenty of reasons to cool off inside. On with the television! Special Ops: Lioness Sunday, July 23, Paramount+ Source: Paramount+ With the future of “Yellowstone” very much up in the air, it’s easy to take solace in the fact that creator Taylor Sheridan is also at work on roughly 500 other shows. His latest, the somewhat awkwardly titled “Special Ops: Lioness,” is a spy thriller about a high-level CIA operative (Zoe Saldaña) who recruits a young female Marine (Laysla De Oliveira) to befriend the daughter of a terrorist in order to gain intelligence. Pretty cool, right? The first episode (which airs alongside the second tonight) is some exceptionally thrilling large-scale entertainment, with fine performances from Saldaña and De Oliveira (Nicole Kidman also shows up in the premiere; Morgan Freeman is a part of the cast elsewhere). Like all of Sheridan’s work, it’s the simplicity of the premise, mixed with the richness of the emotion and the breathlessness of the action, that makes it such a compelling watch. And if you are knew to all things Sheridan, this isn’t connected in any way with “Yellowstone” or any of his other series (“Mayor of Kingstown,” “Tulsa King”). Just sit back. And get blown away. [[TRAILER](] Secret Invasion Wednesday, July 26, Disney+ Source: Marvel Studios Marvel Studios’ “Secret Invasion” has been a mixed bag so far, full of huge twists and even bigger lulls. The final episode has to cover a lot of ground, including (but not limited to) the revelation that James Rhodes aka War Machine (Don Cheadle) is a Skrull sleeper agent. (Skrulls are the shape-shifting alien race introduced in 2019’s “Captain Marvel.”) More and more the show felt like it should maybe be the next big Marvel Cinematic Universe event instead of a somewhat snoozy show that aired on Disney+ for a few episodes, was filmed entirely in England and only featured one honest-to-goodness superhero. But maybe it’ll all come together in this final episode – the evil Skull plot to pit Russia against America, what Rhodey has to do with the conspiracy and how this will impact future Marvel adventures like the already-announced “Armor Wars” (once a series, now a movie). We shall see! [[TRAILER](] The Beanie Bubble Friday, July 28, Apple TV+ Source: Apple TV+ You probably already watched the very nutty Beanie Baby documentary on Max, but that was mostly focused on the collectors of the adorable plush animals. “The Beanie Bubble,” a dramatic retelling of the craze (based on the nonfiction book “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute” by Zac Bissonnette) stars Zach Galifianakis as Ty Warner, the CEO and founder of Ty Inc., creator of the Beanie Baby. Elizabeth Banks, Geraldine Viswanathan and Sarah Snook co-star, with husband-and-wife duo of OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash and Kristin Gore serving as directors (Gore wrote the script). The trailer suggests a heightened based-on-a-true-story romp. It looks fun, especially if you’ve ever collected the cutesy, bean-bag-style toy (if you had the Princess Diana variant, you get extra points). [[TRAILER](] Shark Week Starts July 23, Discovery Source: Discovery It’s that time of year again! Shark Week is upon us! And this year, in a bit of corporate synergy, Jason Momoa, star of the upcoming “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” will be the master of ceremonies. Among the offerings are “Serial Killer: Red Sea Feeding Frenzy” (Sunday, July 23), “Great White Fight Club” (Monday, July 24), “Mako Mania: Battle for California” (Tuesday, July 25), “Monster Hammerheads: Killer Instinct” (Tuesday, July 25), “Air Jaws: Final Frontier” (Wednesday, July 26) and “Shark vs. Snake: Battle of the Bites” (Thursday, July 27). There’s also stuff like the entirely unscientific “Jaws vs. The Meg” (Sunday, July 23) because, you know, Warner Bros. has “The Meg 2” coming out in August. And, of course, “Cocaine Sharks” (Wednesday, July 26), which is both ridiculous and based in reality, which is the Shark Week sweetspot. Everything will also be streaming on MAX. Chomp! [[TRAILER](] Fin Prime Video Source: Discovery While Shark Week has, generally speaking, trended away from rampant fearmongering and more towards conservation, there are still a bunch of documentaries meant to scare you away from the water (and away from our slippery, toothy ocean pals). Thankfully, a few years ago, Discovery commissioned Eli Roth, known for horror movies like “Cabin Fever” and “Hostel,” to direct a documentary about how sharks are cruelly hunted nearly to extinction. It’s an incredibly gripping and very sad documentary, with Roth putting himself front and center as somebody who doesn’t know a whole lot about the seas’ most incredible creature but finds himself galvanized upon exploring that world. If for some reason you are more afraid of sharks than, say, air conditioners precipitously placed out of apartment windows, you would do well to watch this documentary. We all have love of sharks in our hearts, watching “Fin” might be the first step to unlocking that love. [[WATCH](] Source: Peacock “Futurama” Monday, July 24, Hulu Good news everyone! “Futurama,” the animated series created by Matt Groening (his first since “The Simpsons”), is returning. Again. The show originally aired on Fox for four seasons, before it was revived in a variety of configurations by Comedy Central (remember the direct-to-video movies that were then divvied up into episodes? Bizarre!) Last year Hulu picked up the show for another 20 episodes. Those are here now and we cannot wait to see our old friends again (Fry, Leela, Bender and the gang!) Glad to have it back. [[TRAILER](] “Harley Quinn” Thursday, July 27, MAX It’s unclear where, exactly, “Harley Quinn,” the R-rated animated series based around our favorite chaos-loving clown princess of crime (voiced here by a very game Kaley Cuoco), will fit into the new DC Studios ecosystem. But here’s hoping James Gunn and Peter Safran keep the show around. It’s so entertaining and irreverent, while being genuinely progressive (Harley has a romantic relationship with Poison Ivy, voiced by Lake Bell) and featuring terrific animation and design. It’s just a delight. This is the fourth season so if you’ve never watched, catch up now. [[TRAILER](] “Twisted Metal” Thursday, July 27, Peacock If you owned an original PlayStation, you are probably very familiar with “Twisted Metal,” a demolition derby video game series that first debuted back in 1995. And if you’ve played any of the games, you’re probably wondering how a TV series could be built around such a simple concept. But the new show does look like a ton of fun; with Anthony Mackie shrugging to survive in a post-apocalyptic world and deliver a mysterious package. (The series was partially developed by “Deadpool” writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.) Neve Campbell, Stephanie Beatriz, Will Arnett and Thomas Hayden Church co-star. Start your engines. [[TRAILER](] “Good Omens” Friday, July 28, Prime Video Incredibly, “Good Omens” returns. The series, based on the book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, aired its first season more than four years ago (!) But now it’s back, with six new episodes written by Gaiman and British humorist John Finnemore and directed by Scottish filmmaker Douglas Mackinnon. Michael Sheen and David Tennant return as angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley, respectfully, this time joined by Gabriel (played by Jon Hamm). Will the forces of heaven and hell make earth their battleground? Tune in to find out! [[TRAILER](] “Hidden Strike” Friday, July 28, Netflix Originally intended for a theatrical release, this action comedy (starring the dynamic buddy duo of John Cena and Jackie Chan) is instead going straight-to-Netflix. And you know what? That’s okay. Because the quicker we can get this into our eyeballs, the better. Directed by underrated action filmmaker Scott Waugh (“Need for Speed,” the upcoming “Expendables 4”), “Hidden Strike” could be a ton of fun, especially if you’re old enough to remember that these types of movies regularly aired on Cinemax every week. We are so ready. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](