Who needs the sun when bold TV awaits?
U M M E R I S the best time to catch up on television, and fortunately, there are plenty of series, new and returning, to keep you entertained when it gets too hot to lounge at the beach or pool. However, it means you’ll have to say goodbye to at least one show, but you’ll also get to say hello to a couple revivals, some mystery miniseries and documentary series (and a film) that take a closer look at notable subjects such as Celine Dion, Black artists in Hollywood and that beloved ’70s music genre, disco.
EVIL Paramount+, May 23
Since premiering in 2019, Robert and Michelle King’s wickedly inventive procedural, in which a psychologist (Katja Herbers), a priest (Mike Colter) and a tech whiz (Aasif Mandvi) team up to investigate supernatural phenomena for the Catholic Church, has wholly adopted the pair’s penchant for mischief. Combining genre conventions, topical plots and absurdist humor, the series has embraced aesthetic risks that would make most “prestige” dramas blanch, with crucial scenes unfolding inside an “Animal Crossing”-like game and a near-silent episode set at an upstate New York monastery; and deftly handled such thorny subjects as medical racism, labor exploitation and the scourge of social media. That it will end after this season, its fourth, is at once devastating and unsurprising: The most audacious series on television since the Kings concluded “The Good Fight” in 2022, “Evil” is quite simply too good for this world.
— Matt Brennan
ERIC Netflix, May 30
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare — your child goes missing without a trace. That’s the premise of this miniseries, which is set in gritty 1980s New York. “Eric” follows married couple Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Cassie (Gaby Hoffmann), who are trying to find their son Edgar (Ivan Howe), and NYPD Det. Michael Ledroit (McKinley
Belcher III), who is investigating the boy’s disappearance while battling his own issues. Vincent is a puppeteer who helms a “Sesame Street”-like show called “Good Day Sunshine,” and he convinces himself that he’ll find Edgar by getting a blue monster puppet, based on Edgar’s drawings, on TV. It may sound strange, but it’s an intriguing take on a mystery with lots of twists.
— Maira Garcia
DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION PBS.org and app, June 1; PBS, June 18
I’m a sucker for nostalgic music documentaries and any kind of revisionist history about unfairly maligned cultural phenomena, which is why I can’t wait for “Disco,” a threepart series — streaming June 1 online and airing weekly beginning June 18 — tracing the rise, fall and enduring legacy of one of pop music’s most joyful and most misunderstood genres. A BBC Studios production for PBS, this documentary looks at how disco, which came to be associated with mainstream white artists like the Bee Gees, actually originated in queer, Black and Latino communities in 1970s New York and rose in tandem with the liberation movements of the era. “Disco” also explores the virulent backlash, which was fueled by aggrieved white, heterosexual American men who saw its cultural dominance as a threat to their guitar-shredding way of life. Bring your boogie shoes — and your thinking caps. Meredith Blake
ORPHAN BLACK: ECHOES AMC, AMC+ and BBC America, June 23
#CloneClub, it’s been a while. Seven years after the original “Orphan Black” ended its five-season run, “Echoes” is here to pull you into a new clone conspiracy. Set some time in the near future, the 10-episode series stars Krysten Ritter as Lucy, a woman who possibly emerged from a vat of pink goo with no memories of who she is (or so the trailer suggests). Much like the flagship series, “Echoes” will see
Lucy and others have to navigate what it all means after they start to unravel the truth about their origins. The original “Orphan Black” is best known for the Emmy-winning performance of Tatiana Maslany, who depicted more than 10 clones over the course of the series. But the show was resonant because of its exploration of humanity, identity, agency, mortality, religion and science. As politicians continue to write legislation restricting bodily autonomy and debates around technology like artificial intelligence intensify, a show that can carry the torch from “Orphan Black” feels more needed than ever.
— Tracy Brown
I AM: CELINE DION Prime Video, June 25
Like many other fans, I was heartbroken to hear that the esteemed singer had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, an incredibly rare autoimmune disorder of the nervous system. Although the discovery of her condition led to the cancellation of her world tour last year, Dion — who has remained very private since sharing the news — is releasing a documentary that showcases her musical legacy as well as her struggle with this illness. The intimate portrait is helmed by Irene Taylor, an Oscar-nominated director whose previous projects include such subjects as deafness, forests and the history of the Boy Scouts. — Ashley Lee
LAND OF WOMEN Apple TV+, June 26
For those of us who are unable to visit Spain this summer, Apple TV+ is offering the next best thing: “Land of Women.” Starring Eva Longoria, also an executive producer, the sixepisode limited series is based on Sandra Barneda’s bestselling novel of the same name. Gala Scott (Longoria) is living the perfect high society life in New York when she discovers that her husband, Fred (James Purefoy), owes millions to some pretty roughlooking criminals. After they threaten her teenage daughter (Victoria Bazúa) and her mother (Spanish film and television legend Carmen Maura), Gala decides they need to flee the country. The three women hide out in the small Spanish town that Gala’s mother fled 50 years ago, vowing never to return. Shot in English and Spanish, “The Land of Women” involves many family secrets, village tensions, handsome Spaniards of varying ages and, of course, a winery. — Mary McNamara
THE BEAR, SEASON 3 Hulu, June 27
After last season, I’ve been unable to handle a mushroom in the kitchen without thinking of Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Terry (Olivia Colman) tenderly peeling mounds of them. And now, Season 3 of “The Bear’’ is arriving as quick as it takes to hit “jump to recipe” on a cooking blog. Season 2 ended with the soft opening of the Bear — formerly the Original Beef of Chicagoland — for friends and family. It should have been a triumphant night for Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and his team, but pressure is always boiling beneath the surface for the brooding chef, who finds himself overwhelmed at the prospect of leading his own restaurant and being a boyfriend. He cracks under pressure and gets locked in the restaurant’s freezer because of a faulty door handle. Will Carmy work on himself and learn to let go in Season 3? Ayo Edibiri (Sydney) also reportedly directed an episode — that’s as enticing as a Boursin omelet topped with crushed potato chips.
— Yvonne Villarreal
THE DECAMERON
Netflix, July TBA
Ever wondered what it’s like to live through a pandemic? Oh, wait, you already know? Well, “The Decameron” is here to remind you anyway. The sudsy drama is set in 1348 Florence, as the Black Plague ravages the city, and a group of nobles retreats to a villa in the Tuscan countryside to ride out the surge in style with a decadent holiday. But conditions quickly deteriorate, and the indulgent escape turns into a “Lord of the Flies”-style story of survival. Created by Kathleen Jordan and executive produced by Jenji Kohan, the series stars Zosia Mamet