COOL TV SHOWS HELP BEAT THE AUGUST HEAT
August is here, and while the world may seem to slow down — the dog days, and all that — TV marches on. Which is good thing when the swampy Bayou City weather forces you on the couch to praise the person who invented air-conditioning. If you’re stuck on that couch, here are eight shows to look for this month. It’s almost enough to keep you inside regardless of the weather.
“Animals”
And just like that, this oddball animated series about the anthropomorphic misdeeds of New York City urban wildlife (from bed bugs to pigeons) is back for a third season. The co-creators are Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano. What to expect in the third? The series visits a “humanless, postapocalyptic Big Apple,” which, naturally, means talking cockroaches.
Watch it: 10:30 p.m. Friday on HBO
“Better Call Saul”
One of the treasures of the small screen returns with an episode called “Smoke” — quite possibly a reference to the fire that consumed the house of Jimmy’s (Bob Odenkirk) brother, Chuck (Michael McKean)? Yes, quite possibly. The logline is as follows: “Jimmy struggles to cope with Chuck’s tragic death. Mike (Jonathan Banks) ponders his role at Madrigal. Howard (Patrick Fabian) makes a startling confession.”
I can speak for “Saul” fans everywhere when I say: It’s about time, Howard.
Watch it: 8 p.m. Monday on AMC
“Lodge 49”
AMC wouldn’t be dropping this newcomer in the wake of “Saul’s” highly anticipated return if it didn’t think there was a little something to get excited about. “Lodge” is about Long Beach, Calif., ex-surfer Dud (Wyatt Russell), who ends up at a beaten-down fraternal lodge — the 49 of the title — where he befriends “Luminous Knight” Ernie (Brent Jennings, “Moneyball”). Expect some humor and “alchemical mysteries.” Jim Gavin, author of the 2014 story collection, “Middle Men,” created. Watch it: 9 p.m. Monday on AMC
“Freaky Friday”
A few movies put Lindsay Lohan on the map and 2003’s “Freaky” — based on the 1972 Mary Rodgers novel — was most assuredly one of those. She will, alas, not appear in this musical remake. Instead, Cozi Zuehlsdorff (“Dolphin Tale”) and Heidi Blickenstaff (“The Little Mermaid,” “Something Rotten!”) will star as daughter Anna and mom Tess, who switch bodies one freaky Friday. You might remember this musical version of the property, since it had a 2017 run at the Alley Theatre. Tony and Pulitzer Prize winners (for “Next to Normal,” the 2008 rock musical about bipolar disorder) Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey are composer and lyricist, respectively.
Watch it: 7 p.m. Aug. 10 on Disney Channel
“Insecure” and “Ballers”
Last we saw Issa (Issa Rae) a year ago in the second season finale, she was seen moving in with Daniel (Y’Lan Noel), telling him, “I’m sleeping on the couch.” (Him: “I know.”) She and Lawrence (Jay Ellis) remain bitterly apart — and it’s not entirely clear he’ll be back for this third season (but how could he not?) Meanwhile, of “Ballers,” HBO says: financial manager Spencer (Dwayne Johnson) and his sideman Joe (Rob Corddry) are moving to L.A. as they “expand their roster and horizons in the world of action sports.” OK.
Watch it: 9 p.m. (“Insecure”) and 9:30 p.m. (“Ballers”) Aug. 12 on HBO
“Disenchantment”
“Simpsons” creator Matt Groening is returning to TV in his new animated series about a hard-drinking princess, Bean (“Broad City’s” Abbi Jacobson), and her friends, the elf Elfo (Nat Faxon) and the demon Luci (Eric Andre). “You’ve seen the future in ‘Futurama,’ ” the trailer voice-over says. “You’ve seen the present in Springfield. So what’s the obvious third move? The past of course.” Watch it: Begins streaming Aug. 17 on Netflix
“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”
The Jack Ryan film series dates all the way back to 1990’s “The Hunt for Red October” — with Jack played by Alec Baldwin. Now “The Office’s” (and “A Quiet Place’s”) John Krasinski gets a crack at Jack, in this eight-parter. Here’s the tease: JR “uncovers a pattern in terrorist communication that launches him into the center of a dangerous gambit with a new breed of terrorism that threatens destruction on a global scale.” Of course it does and of course JR will save us.
Watch it: Begins streaming Aug. 31 on Amazon Prime