In an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week, we were finally gifted with the Severance/The Office mashup we’ve dreamt of but dared not ask for. No notes, 10/10. Not even Smash Mouth could taint it (that’s what she said).
This week’s What to Watch picks include the much-anticipated Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, MMA action at UFC 278, B-ball docuseries Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers, the fashionable return of Making the Cut, and the big green debut of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Yay, TV!
Jump to your preferred streaming service
What’s premiering this week
House of the Dragon | HBO, HBO Max | Drama, fantasy
Series premiere, Sunday, August 21: The long-awaited (or long-dreaded, depending on your level of fan anxiety) Game of Thrones prequel series is finally here! House of the Dragon takes place two centuries before GoT, chronicling the fall of House Targaryen and the lead-up to the Targaryen civil war (so much drama with those Targaryens). Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans, Eve Best, and Fabien Frankel star.
UFC 278 | ESPN+ | Sports, MMA
Coverage begins Saturday, August 20, 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT: Live from Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City (the home base of CableTV.com, BTW), it’s UFC 278. On the main card is Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards (Welterweight title bout), Paulo Costa vs. Luke Rockhold (Middleweight bout), José Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili (Bantamweight bout), Marcin Tybura vs. Alexander Romanov (Heavyweight bout), and Tyson Pedro vs. Harry Hunsucker (Light Heavyweight bout).
What to watch on Netflix this week
Look Both Ways | Netflix | Comedy, drama
Movie premiere, Wednesday, August 17: On the night she graduates from college, Natalie’s (Lili Reinhart, Riverdale) life splits into two parallel realities—these multiverse movies are getting out of hand. In one reality, Natalie moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream career as an artist; in the other, she’s pregnant and stuck in her Texas hometown. Any similarities in Look Both Ways to the 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow rom-com Sliding Doors are probably coincidental.
Tekken: Bloodline | Netflix | Anime, action
Series premiere, Thursday, August 18: After multiple video games, movies (animated and live-action), and comic books since 1994, Tekken finally becomes an anime series with Bloodline. Tekken: Bloodline follows young martial artist Jin Kazama (voiced by Isshin Chiba) on his quest for vengeance against the monster that killed his family as he enters the King of the Iron Fist tournament to lure out the beast. Power is everything!
What to watch on Hulu this week
Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers | Hulu | Documentary, sports
Docuseries premiere, Monday, August 15: Where HBO’s dramatized Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty was more fun than factual, Antoine Fuqua’s 10-part Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers docuseries—or jock-doc if you will—covers more real ground. Besides the Lakers’ 1980s heyday, Legacy also looks at the team’s subsequent seasons (good and bad), as well as the inter-family ownership battles of recent years.
Hotties | Hulu | Reality, competition
Series premiere, Tuesday, August 16: Comic Jade Catta-Preta landed the coveted host gig for E!’s beloved clip-show The Soup in February 2020, right before the pandemic killed it for good. She’s since landed on her heels with Hotties, a combo dating and foodie reality competition that sets blind-date couples loose in food truck kitchens to create something edible. As per the name, Hotties also features extremely spicy chow-down challenges.
What to watch on Prime Video this week
Making the Cut | Prime Video | Reality, competition
Season 3 premiere, Friday, August 19: Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn haven’t reclaimed the zeitgeist of their Project Runway days after three seasons on Prime Video, but Making the Cut is still a fun fashion free-for-all. Once again, 10 designers from around the world will compete for a $1 million prize and an Amazon Fashion mentorship. Also, the winning outfit from each episode will be available to buy on—where else?—Amazon.
Sprung | Freevee | Comedy
Series Premiere, Friday, August 19: Between My Name is Earl and The Guest Book, TV comedy showrunner Greg Garcia created a fantastic little FOX series called Raising Hope. His new Freevee series Sprung reunites Raising Hope stars Garret Dillahunt and Martha Plimpton, telling the tale of a trio of convicts who, upon early prison release due to the pandemic, decide to use their criminal powers for good. Two of nine episodes drop August 19.
W2W wildcards of the week
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law | Disney+ | Action, comedy
Series premiere, Thursday, August 18: There’s a hint of comedy in every Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series and movie, but She-Hulk: Attorney at Law leans harder (and greener) into the funny than anything before. After an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), lawyer Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black) gains Hulk-y powers of her own when scared or angered. Harvey Birdman approves.
Bad Sisters | Apple TV+ | Comedy, thriller
Series premiere, Friday, August 19: Creator/producer Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe, Shining Vale) relocates Belgian series Clan to the Irish Coast as Bad Sisters. The Garvey sisters (Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, and Eve Hewson) gather at the funeral of a creep who’s wronged them all in some way—they all wanted him dead, but did one of them actually do it? Bad Sisters is a deliciously dark comedy that won’t disappoint Horgan fans.
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