The Best TV in July: ‘Mr. Robot,’ ‘Vice Principals’ and More
There’s no shortage of exciting options for cord-cutters in July (we’ve already rounded up the cream of the streaming crop), but those viewers holding fast to the programming beamed into their living-room sets have plenty to get excited about too. While the major networks catch their breath before launching back into their fall hits and misses, fascinating things are happening in the world of cable.
HBO has historically held fast and run uniformly excellent programming during the hotter months, and this year will be no different, with a well-pedigreed new miniseries and sitcom both debuting in the weeks to come. Elsewhere, TV’s Next Big Show attempts to keep its footing during its sophomore season, a cult classic returns from the great beyond, and another Sharknado brews on the horizon. Fix yourself a cool beverage, replace the batteries in that remote control, and read on:
The Night Of (HBO, 7/10)
This Americanized rework of hit BBC series Criminal Justice spares no detail in its microscopic inspection of one perp’s journey through the legal system. Writers Steven Zaillian and Richard Price (the latter an alumnus of The Wire, the gold standard for socially conscious crime TV) pay close attention to the cops, lawyers, judges, bailiffs, crooks, and bystanders that fill up the story of a Pakistani-American student (Riz Ahmed of Nightcrawler) accused of murdering a young woman. With a hero in beleaguered lawyer Jack Stone (John Turturro) and a clutch supporting turn from Peyman Moaadi, a.k.a. the Laurence Olivier of Iran, this eight-episode run could be the watercooler-dominating saga of the season.