The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching
Sexy Beasts
Could you fall for a man with the face of a baboon? The weirdest show of the summer has arrived, and it might forever change how you view dating. Contestants hit the costume room hard, going on blind dates disguised as beavers, dolphins, demons, and assorted other creatures to find out if romantic chemistry transcends prosthetics. Catastrophe’s Rob Delaney narrates. Available Wednesday, July 21, Netflix
Ultra City Smiths
A murder mystery that unfolds in stop-motion animation, acted out by dolls and narrated by Tom Waits? Say hello to the season’s secondstrangest show. The six-part drama is set in Ultra City, a crime-ridden and corrupt metropolis where a wealthy mayoral candidate has gone missing. The animation is handled by the makers of Robot Chicken. The voice cast includes Kristen Bell, Alia Shawkat, John C. Reilly, and Bebe Neuwirth. Available Thursday, July 22, AMC+ Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony
Even sports are weird this year, as there will be no fans in the stands when Tokyo welcomes athletes participating in the “2020” summer Olympic games. NBC has planned to air the opening ceremony live for early birds, then again during prime time, kicking off two weeks of network, streaming, and online coverage. Expect plenty of medals for the Americans and heavy attention focused on sprinter Noah Lyles, beach volleyball teammates Alix Klineman and April Ross, controversial hammer thrower Gwen Barry, and gymnastics legend Simone Biles. Friday, July 23, at 6:55 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., NBC
Jolt
In a summer so hot that thinking feels like a big ask, Jolt might be the perfect action movie. Kate Beckinsale stars as a woman with a neurological condition that causes her to go on violent rampages at the barest hint of toxic male behavior. When she finally meets a worthy man and he’s killed the next day, no one can contain her quest for vengeance. With Bobby Cannavale, Laverne Cox, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci.
Available Friday, July 23, Amazon Prime
The Last Letter From Your Lover
Should romances be more your style, this feature-length drama, adapted from a novel by Jojo Moyes, interweaves two. Felicity Jones plays a journalist who finds a love letter from 1965 and becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the writer and his intended recipient: a married socialite he was imploring to leave her husband. Shailene Woodley and Callum Turner co-star in the period love story. Jones pairs up with Nabhaan Rizwan in the contemporary tale. Available Friday, July 23, Netflix
Other highlights
Turner & Hooch
The 1989 buddy-cop comedy that paired Tom Hanks with a sloppy French mastiff gets a sequel series co-starring a sloppy French mastiff and Josh Peck of Drake and Josh. Available Wednesday, July 21, Disney+
Masters of the Universe: Revelation
Kevin Smith unleashes the power of Grayskull on nostalgic Gen Xers with an animated continuation of the 1980s cartoon series. Available Friday, July 23, Netflix
Eden: Untamed Planet
A multipart series from the BBC Natural History Unit focuses on regions of the planet still relatively untouched by humans. Helena Bonham Carter narrates. Saturday, July 24, at 8 p.m., BBC America