What To Watch This Weekend: Stream Our Top 7 TV and Movie Picks (June 23–29)

Steph Tolev: Filth Queen | Netflix | Stand-up comedy

Special, Tuesday, June 24: Canadian comedian Steph Tolev sure has a lot of YouTube clips with “filth” in the title. Well, that’s not fair; there are three. And I did, after all, search the title of this, her first stand-up special. But those three clips aren’t related to her special. Rather, they’re from Filthy Fridays, an ostensible live event Tolev used to run, where Tolev booked comics as raunchy as her—and she can be filthy. Royally filthy, actually. So if you like blue humor (jokes about sex and bodily functions and stuff), you’ll want to check Tolev out.

P.S. Found the trailer (see left)—and here’s a bonus filthy crowd work clip, where Tolev demonstrates self-awareness by following a joke with, “Even for me, that was sick.” You’re &@*#$%! welcome.

The Bear | Hulu | Comedy, drama

Season 4 premiere, Wednesday, June 25: The Bear is the only cooking-adjacent show I can stand to watch. Like real cooking shows, the series has some drool-inducing moments that I’ll never be able to recreate in my own kitchen, which is still frustrating. But at least I get to gorge myself on The Bear’s exquisite writing and performances, which distract me from that jealous hunger. Anyway, in the fourth season, Carmy and his crew continue striving to make the titular restaurant a success. Binge all 10 episodes today on Hulu.

Countdown | Prime Video | Drama

Series premiere, Wednesday, June 25: Are you a Supernatural fan hankering for more Jensen Ackles? Countdown (from Derek Haas, a collaborator of Law & Order creator Dick Wolf) is a new 13-episode dose of the actor as a wisecracking LAPD detective on a multi-agency task force looking to solve the murder of a Homeland Security agent. Unsurprisingly, there’s more to the murder case than meets the eye, and it becomes a race to save Los Angeles itself. The first three episodes stream today on Prime Video, with the rest following weekly.

My Mom Jayne | HBO, Max | Documentary

Movie, Friday, June 27: Did somebody say “Dick Wolf?” Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay directs this documentary. “I’ve spent my whole life distancing myself from my mother, Jayne Mansfield, the sex symbol,” Hargitay says in the trailer. For this film, the actress tapped the family archive—photos, clips, possessions, and even siblings’ memories—to achieve a greater understanding of her mom’s complex character and career. Since Mansfield died violently when Hargitay was only three years old, My Mom Jayne promises to be a powerful watch.

Smoke | Apple TV+ | Drama

Series premiere, Friday, June 27: Created by novelist and screenwriter Dennis Lehane, Smoke is based on a true story (told in the podcast Firebug). Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country) play an arson investigator and police detective, respectively, who are hot on the trail of two serial arsonists. Anna Chlumsky, Greg Kinnear, and John Leguizamo also star. We get two episodes tonight, with the remaining seven coming weekly thereafter.

Squid Game | Netflix | Drama, thriller

Final season premiere, Friday, June 27: It’s finally here: The third and final season of Netflix’s Korean twisty dystopian thriller/pop-culture phenomenon. Are you prepared? What will happen when protagonist Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) learns his tight bro/fellow contestant Young-il (Player 001) is actually the chief bad guy Hwang In-ho/Front Man—who killed Gi-hun’s best friend Jung-bae before his eyes at the end of Season 2? Will Gi-hun and Hwang Jun-ho (In-ho’s real bro) manage to bring an end to the sadistic game? Trying to guess how creator Hwang Dong-hyuk will resolve his wild story is a fool’s game—but that’s why the series is so much fun.