Last week, Congress voted in favor of the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act, which requires the federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. But perhaps there is no more effective codifier of marriage than observing the aftermath of its very real consequences, straight or gay. In Netflix's Uncoupled, Neil Patrick Harris plays a successful New York real estate broker, dealing with very abrupt, surprising abandonment by his husband of 17 years, and navigating all the severe life changes anyone in his middle-aged shoes might, regardless of their orientation. The highly decorated Darren Star created and executive produced Uncoupled. Probably unlike the 157 GOP lawmakers who voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, we're looking forward to this eight-episode, single-camera comedy.
The Resort (Peacock, July 28)
This eight-episode comedic thriller stars William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) and Cristin Milioti (Palm Springs) as a couple on the brink of divorce. During a trip to an all-inclusive resort in the Mayan Riviera, they become embroiled in a bizarre unsolved crime that occurred 15 years prior. Nina Bloomgarden (Hot Pink), Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), and Skyler Gisondo (The Santa Clarita Diet) also star in the series, which is executive produced by Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot) and created by Andy Siara. Siara most recently co-produced and wrote Hulu's Angelyne starring Emmy Rossum, but he is known for writing 2020 Sundance sensation Palm Springs. The Resort is also about a couple, and Siara has a knack for writing about relationships, making this Peacock show promising. The first three episodes of The Resort will premiere on Peacock on July 28. The remaining five episodes will stream weekly every Thursday.
Idea House: Mountain Modern (Roku Channel, July 28)
This 11-part weekly series stars Jared and Amber Phifer, a married couple who lead an architectual firm in Denver. The series follows the couple as they build a 4,500-square-foot, energy-efficient, modern mountain home from start to finish. The half-hour episodes could be just another home improvement show, but I seriously doubt it because the same production team behind This Old House is also backing Idea House: Mountain Modern. (Roku acquired This Old House Ventures for $97.8 million in 2021. The home-improvement media company's shows include This Old House and Ask This Old House.) This Old House began airing in 1979 on PBS and is touted as the original home improvement show. Who knows? Maybe Jared and Amber Phifer are the next Bob Vila?
Paper Girls (Amazon Prime Video, July 29)
Based on the eponymous sci-fi graphic novel series written by Brian K. Vaughan, Paper Girls is set in 1998 and follows four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls who, while out on the job, become entangled in a conflict between warring factions of time-travelers. The girls enter a time-traveling adventure where they get to see future versions of themselves, all grown up without their childhood hopes. Yikes. The eight-episode series sounds similar to the first season of Stranger Things in that it's set in the 1980s, stars pre-teens, and features supernatural elements. The first Paper Girls graphic novel was first published in 2015. There have been 30 issues to date.
Surface (Apple TV Plus, July 29)
This eight-episode psychological thriller stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw (The Morning Show) as Sophie, a woman who, after suffering a traumatic head injury, possibly due to a suicide attempt, has extreme memory loss. As Sophie attempts to regain her memory, she begins to question whether the "truths" she is being told are fact or fiction. Created by Veronica West (High Fidelity), Surface has, so far, earned mixed reviews from critics. That said, Mbatha-Raw's performance has been overwhelmingly praised. "By the time we meet the woman Sophie used to be in a late-in-series flashback, we're convinced that Mbatha-Raw can do anything within the role," wrote Variety's Daniel D'Addario.
Uncoupled (Netflix, July 29)
The highly decorated Darren Star (Melrose Place, Sex and the City, Emily in Paris) serves as creator of this eight-episode, half-hour single-camera comedy starring Neil Patrick Harris as a successful New York real estate broker whose husband blindsides him with divorce papers after a 17-year marriage. That's not the only nightmare that Michael is facing. In his 40's, Michael must now begin to navigate the dating scene, with help from co-star Marcia Gay Harden. It may sound like a horror series, but I assure you it's a comedy. With Star at the helm, it might be the LGBTQ version of Sex and the City. Rotten Tomatoes aggregates critics scores at a somewhat lukewarm 71%.
Industry – Season 2 (HBO Max, August 1)
While Succession gets and deserves hype and accolades, Industry should receive similar credit but doesn't. Like Succession, the show features plenty of drug binges, sexual shenanigans and partying in the cutthroat world of finance. But to be fair, Industry has just one season in the books, and that season premiered close to two years ago. About a group of hungry, young graduates competing for a limited number of permanent positions at a leading bank in London, the show's second season will tackle timely subjects like the workplace post-COVID and a dwindling economic market. But don't fret, there will still be plenty of booze, drugs,and sex. The icing on the cake is that Jay Duplass will co-star in the sophomore campaign.
Clusterf**k: Woodstock '99 (Netflix, August 3)
This three-part docuseries uses home movies, archival footage and interviews with attendees and artists to unpack the disaster that was Woodstock 1999. While Woodstock 1969 was all about peace and music, the 1999 revival was about rage and riots. It was so bad that Woodstock '99 can be compared to the 2017 Fyre Festival, but more violent. Like Fyre, the 1990s version of Woodstock was poorly planned, which led to chaos. Candid interviews with festival participants, including Bush's Gavin Rossdale, Fatboy Slim, Jewel, Korn's Jonathan Davis, and Woodstock organizer Michael Lang make this doc definitely worth a watch.
Reservation Dogs - Season 2 (Hulu, August 3)
When this comedy about Indigenous teens in rural Oklahoma -- co-created by Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder) and Sterlin Harjo (Love and Fury) -- premiered last August, it became an instant success. The first season of the half-hour show won The Gotham Award, Independent Spirit trophy and a Peabody Award. The 10-episode second season will again focus on the gang who have disbanded to forge their independent paths. "The humor may take a backseat, but it's in service of more complex storytelling. The Reservation Dogs may not know who they are yet, but this show certainly does," wrote IndieWire's Kristen Lopez about the second season.
Lightyear (Disney Plus, August 3)
This Disney-Pixar film is a prequel to the first four Toy Story films, but the computer-animated sci-fi action movie doesn't delve into a Toy Story character's backstory. Instead, Lightyear is a movie that Andy, the boy from Toy Story, fell in love with back in 1995. That movie led to the Buzz Lightyear toy, which Andy begged his mother for in the first Toy Story film. In Lightyear, Buzz (voiced by Chris Evans) and his crew find themselves lost in space 4.2 million lightyears from Earth. Lightyear was released in theaters in June to disappointing box-office and critical results. But not everyone was a detractor. "This is a movie that knows what it's doing. The choice throwaway lines in Lightyear are better than most movies' thesis lines," wrote the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips.
