Illustration by Chantelle Dorafshani
Summer Culture Preview • •
June 22: The Gilded Age, Crave
Jeremy Allen White returns as Carmen Berzatto in The Bear's fourth season.The Associated Press
The last season of this dramedy ended on a cliffhanger as Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) read the Chicago Tribune review for his new restaurant called The Bear – the critic’s verdict left unclear. In real life, the TV show The Bear got its first mixed-negative reviews for its third course – so one hopes the fourth is back up to chef’s high standards.
A guide to everything you want to do this summer
June 27: Squid Game, Netflix
Dystopian thriller Squid Game is set to release its third and final season.Noh Ju-han/Netflix/Supplied
This dystopian thriller about a killer kids-game competition with a ton of South Korean won as the prize comes to its final red light with the release of a third season. The creators have promised an even more brutal and cruel concluding chapter for hero Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) – who’s aiming to bring the gruesome game within the show to an end.
July 10: Too Much, Netflix
Megan Stalter stars in Too Much, created by Lena Dunham.ANA BLUMENKRON/Netflix/Supplied
In the comically stacked cast of HBO’s Hacks, Megan Stalter leads the way in laughs-per-line-reading as nepo-baby Kayla. Now the American actor gets her chance to play the lead in this new romantic comedy about a New Yorker who moves to London looking for love, created by Girls groundbreaker Lena Dunham and her British husband, Luis Felber.
July 17: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Paramount+
The Star Trek crew returns after a two-year cliffhanger.Marni Grossman/Paramount+/Supplied
This prequel series to the OG Star Trek that follows Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew of the starship Enterprise returns after a cliffhanger connected to the reptilian Gorn was left to hang for two years. Hopefully, this Toronto-shot series quickly returns to the two main reasons why it’s the most enjoyable watch for casual Trekkers – a mission-of-the-week structure and lots of Canadian cameos.
July 23: Washington Black, Hulu - Disney+
Esi Edugyan’s epic Giller Prize-winning picaresque gets a prestige adaptation from Hulu. Ernest Kingsley Jr. and Eddie Karanja play the title character at different ages, a boy born into slavery in Barbados, full of scientific curiosity and artistic talent. His escape takes him on a journey that passes through Virginia, Nova Scotia, England and Morocco. Executive producer Sterling K. Brown plays the key role of caretaker Medwin Harris.
Aug. 1: Chief of War, Apple TV+
Set in the late 18th century, this series from Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett sees a warrior named Ka’iana (Momoa) try to unify Hawaii in an era of colonization. With a predominantly Polynesian cast, it promises to be a historical epic distinctly told from an Indigenous perspective.
Aug. 6: Platonic, Apple TV+
Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen star in this open-hearted and humanistic comedy – it’s Apple TV after all – as Sylvia and Will, erstwhile besties of the opposite sex who renew their friendship in the maelstrom of midlife. Thankfully for viewers, Sylvia’s marriage did not fall apart in the first season – so we get more of the long-Hallmark-marooned Canadian actor Luke Macfarlane as her comically composed husband.
Aug. 8: Plan B, CBC Gem
Carolina Bartczak stars in this English-language take on a Radio-Canada hit.CBC/Supplied
A remake of a Radio-Canada hit, this emotionally brutal time-travel drama returns in its English version for a third go-around. If you’ve ever wondered how a parent who lost a child to suicide would use the power to go back in time, that’s the premise of this season starring Carolina Bartczak; the startling plots never go where you expect.
Aug. 22: Long Story Short, Netflix
Fans of the one-of-kind cartoon tragicomedy BoJack Horseman will be galloping back to Netflix at the end of the summer to see what its creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has come up with next. Another animated adult comedy, Long Story Short juggles multiple timelines to tell the story of the Schwooper family – whose main members are voiced by Lisa Edelstein (Little Bird), Paul Reiser (Mad About You), Ben Feldman (Mad Men), Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) and Max Greenfield (New Girl).