What to Watch This Weekend: Unwind With Top 9 TV & Movie Picks (July 25–28)

New on TV this week

The algorithm demanded it, so we made it happen: 21 TV Shows You Can Binge-Watch in One Weekend, a guide to short-seasoned series you can enjoy before Monday without fear of further commitment. It’s the best thing since a canceled Zoom meeting with your manager.

This week’s What to Watch picks include Apple TV+’s series remake of Time Bandits, the streaming premieres of movies Knox Goes Away and Humane, dark Netflix comedy The Decameron, the return of legal drama 61st Street, and the start of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Just stay there on the couch; it’s all good.

New on The CW this week

61st Street | The CW | Drama

Season 2 premiere, Monday, July 22: After a run on AMC, Chicago legal drama 61st Street moves to The CW for season 2. (NBC declined to acquire it and rename the show Chicago Legal, apparently.) In season 1, public defender Franklin Roberts (Courtney B. Vance) took on the case of a high schooler implicated in the killing of a police officer. This time, Roberts is defending an officer accused of police brutality. Vance is excellent in 61st Street, but The CW is unlikely to fund another season, so watch hard.  Watch trailer

New on Hulu this week

Dress My Tour | Hulu | Fashion, competition

Series premiere, Tuesday, July 23: Another fashion-designer competition show? Yes, but this one is about making some of the biggest names in music pop—namely, JoJo Siwa, Paula Abdul, Toni Braxton, and Ty Dolla $ign. Eleven designers will compete to impress the artists, judges (Laurleann Gibson and Marina Toybina), and host Kate Upton to win a $100,000 prize. BTW, a quick internet search shows that only Abdul is actually touring anywhere this year, but who wants reality in their reality TV?  Watch trailer

New on Apple TV+ this week

Time Bandits | Apple TV+ | Comedy, fantasy

Series premiere, Wednesday, July 24: A reimagining of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 cult-classic movie Time Bandits as a TV series? If anybody can make it work, it’s Taika Watiti, Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows), and Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners). Eleven-year-old history nerd Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) accidentally falls in with a kooky crew of thieves, led by Penelope (Lisa Kudrow), as they traverse time and space searching for treasure and general kicks. Two of 10 episodes stream on July 24.  Watch trailer

New on Netflix this week

The Decameron | Netflix | Comedy, drama

Series premiere, Thursday, July 25: And they said a comedy about the Italian bubonic plague of the 14th century couldn’t be made. (Who are “they”? Got me.) Writer Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters) and producer Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black) loosely based The Decameron on a collection of stories from the time, about a group of nobles and their servants anxiously waiting out the Black Death in a countryside villa—fun! Tony Hale and Zosia Mamet star, and all eight episodes drop on July 25.  Watch trailer

Live on NBC this weekend

Olympic Summer Games 2024 | NBCUniversal Networks | Sports

Coverage begins Friday, July 26, 9 a.m. PT/12 p.m. ET: Live from Paris, France, it’s the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, broadcast across NBC, CNBC, E!, Telemundo, USA Network, and Peacock. This year’s Olympic Summer Games will span from July 26 to August 11, and you’ll want to consult CableTV.com’s beaucoup comprehensive How To Watch the 2024 Summer Olympics guide to see it all. Me, I’ll be over here sweating out three looong weeks without Late Night With Seth Meyers—ya burnt!  Watch trailer

New on Peacock this weekend

Olympic Highlights With Kevin Hart & Keenan Thompson | Peacock | Comedy, sports

Series premiere, Friday, July 26: Comedians Keenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live) and Kevin Hart (everywhere else) will host an Olympics recap show two to three times a week during the Games, which may alleviate Seth withdrawal for some of us (ahem). “We can’t wait to be a part of the Paris Olympics and help hype up the audience with highlights from the best moments of the Games,” Hart says in a Peacock press release. “We’re going for gold, everybody!”  Watch trailer

New on Max this weekend

Knox Goes Away | Max | Drama, thriller

Movie streaming premiere, Friday, July 26: When mob contract killer John Knox (Michael Keaton) is diagnosed with a quickly moving form of dementia, he makes plans to retire from the business. But, when his estranged son (James Marsden) asks him for help covering up a murder that he committed, Knox agrees. But does he have an ulterior motive? Yes, and it’s a doozy. Keaton is also the director of Knox Goes Away, only his second time since 2008’s The Merry Gentleman.  Watch trailer

New on Shudder this weekend

Humane | Shudder | Drama, horror

Movie streaming premiere, Friday, July 26: With population control mandated by the government, newscaster Charles York (Peter Gallagher) and his celebrity chef wife, Dawn (Uni Park), volunteer to be euthanized. In the most uncool dad move of all time, he invites his adult children (Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Sebastian Chacon, and Alanna Bale) to dinner to break the news—and things get wild from there. FYI, psychological thriller Humane is Caitlin Cronenberg’s (daughter of David) directorial debut.  Watch trailer

New movie releases available to rent/buy on VOD this week

Bad Boys: Ride or Die (2024)

After Bad Boys (1995), Bad Boys II (2003), and Bad Boys for Life (2020), what’s left in the tank? Apparently $380+ million, which is the worldwide gross for Bad Boys: Ride or Die so far in 2024. Why do we measure movie success by money intake but TV success by viewership, anyway? Shouldn’t they both be one or the other? Anyway: Bad Boys: Ride or Die reteams Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for more buddy-cop mayhem, with Vanessa Hudgens, Joe Pantoliano, and noted thespian DJ Khaled also returning.  Watch trailer

• Bad Boys: Ride or Die (July 23)
• Bed of Nails (July 23)
• Camera (July 23)
• Kill (July 23)
• Midnight Taxi (July 23)
• Myka Fox: My Joke, My Choice (July 23)
• The Practice (July 23)
• The Process (July 23)
• Sense & Sensibility (July 23)
• The Way We Speak (July 23)
• With Love and a Major Organ (July 23)
• The Arctic Convoy (July 26)
• The Fence (July 26)
• For Prophet (July 26)
• The Girl in the Pool (July 26)
• The Last Breath (July 26)
• Stay With Us (July 26)
• Starve Acre (July 26)