The Week ’s guide to what’s worth watching
Untold
Sports gives us heroes. It also manufactures heels. In the new season of Netflix’s sports documentary series, four magnets for ridicule tell their stories, including doping guru Victor Conte, fallen partyboy quarterback Johnny Manziel, and former gridiron coach Urban Meyer, who transformed the Florida Gators into a national powerhouse while allowing criminal behavior to run rampant. Untold’s season begins, though, with a portrait of Jake Paul, who has navigated an unlikely transition from YouTube prankster to winning professional boxer. Tuesday, Aug. 1, Netflix
Physical
Pop a tape into the VCR; it’s time to aerobicize. Rose Byrne returns for a third and final season of this dramedy series about a 1980s San Diego housewife who builds a successful aerobics business that almost quiets her demons. The Body by Sheila brand is now primed to go big, but Sheila’s fragile ego makes her vulnerable to rash behavior when she realizes that a blond former sitcom star, played by Zooey Deschanel, has seized the crown of America’s fitness queen. Wednesday, Aug. 2, Apple TV+
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food Americans are routinely told that the U.S. food supply is the world’s safest. This documentary calls that claim a lie, visiting scientists, former regulators, and other industry experts to explain how deregulation has led to an alarming rise in the prevalence of foodborne illnesses. Most troubling are the testimonials of Americans who’ve lost loved ones to the food industry’s sloppiness. Wednesday, Aug. 2, Netflix
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart
This summer’s coming-of-age epic has arrived. In a series based on a best-selling 2018 novel, a girl raised in coastal Australia moves to her grandmother’s flower farm after a fire claims the lives of both her parents. Her grandmother, played by Sigourney Weaver, has made the farm a refuge for women who have suffered trauma, and as she watches her granddaughter grow into womanhood, she closely guards secrets she considers too painful to be shared. Alycia Debnam-Carey costars. Friday, Aug. 4, Prime
Winning Time
The “Showtime” Lakers have more winning to do. As Season 2 begins for Adam McKay’s overthe-top NBA soap opera, Jerry Buss’ team has the 1980 league title in hand and is looking for more. John C. Reilly’s boisterous Buss and Quincy Isaiah’s credible turn as Earvin “Magic” Johnson give the series momentum. But Magic is about to supersede a teammate as the NBA’s highest-paid player, and Sean Patrick Small’s Larry Bird is ready to take the hated Boston Celtics to a new level. Sunday, Aug. 6, at 9 p.m., HBO
Other highlights
Heartstopper
In Season 2 of this series based on a graphic novel, a gay high school misfit’s crush blossoms into romance. Joe Locke and Kit Connor co-star. Thursday, Aug. 3, Netflix
The Big Nailed It Baking Challenge Hilarious host Nicole Byer and chocolatier extraordinaire Jacques Torres oversee a spin-off competition pitting 10 abysmal bakers against one another. Friday, Aug. 4, Netflix
The Wild Sides
A three-part BBC nature series launches, zeroing in on wildlife in Botswana’s Mashatu reserve as the region emerges from a four-year drought. Saturday, Aug. 5, at 8 p.m., BBC America