Summer used to be a slow season for TV, but now the streamers keep us tied to our couches even when we should be out enjoying the weather. Here are the debut series you won’t want to miss this month.
Anna Pigeon
Brat Pack-adjacent Lea Thompson (Back to the Future, Some Kind of Wonderful) directs this new suspense drama from Canadian showrunner and Dora-winning playwright Morwyn Brebner (co-creator ofRookie Blue,CoronerandSaving Hope) — based on former park ranger Nevada Barr’s award-winning mystery novels set in U.S. national parks and protected areas. And even the stars are Canadian:Tracy Spiridakos(Chicago P.D.) plays the titular ranger detective and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica) is her sophisticated sister in the city. The outdoorsy dramafilmed in and around Calgarymakes the most of the dramatic Alberta vistas.
Where to Watch:Streaming on Crave starting Aug. 7 (10 episodes)
Sterling Point
Muskoka is the main character in this picturesque coming-of-age drama (from Margot Robbie’s U.S. production company) about family secrets and sibling reconciliation. Created by Canadian actor-turned-filmmaker Megan Park (My Old Ass, The Fallout), the setup involves New York twins Annie (Ella Rubin) and Connor (Keen Ruffalo, lookalike son of Mark) being left on an island in Canada by their estranged grandfather. This is no deserted land though, as the siblings find plenty of action, new friends and other family members to contend with. Also starring is TV character actors Jay Duplass and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as duelling island dads with something to hide, providing the au courant intergenerational theme – all within the confines of scenic Ontario vacation country. I’m coming to the cottage.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime starting Aug. 5 (8 episodes)
Two Weeks in August
The much-talked-about BBC series stars Jessica Raine (a.k.a. Nurse Jennifer inCall the Midwife) as Zoe, a teacher – in full sandwich-generation mode – who’s caring for her aging mother, her kids and also her husband while he “works through” some things. Their idyllic vacation at a Greek holiday villa with old friends becomes anything but, leading to her eventual crash-out. It’s equal parts dark satire and psychological drama, and populated by entitled, middle-aged, middle-class Brits. There’s a revelation, reckoning or twist in every episode to provide vicarious catharsis — and deep sighs of relief that this summer holiday from hell is happening to someone else.
Where to Watch:Streaming on CBC Gem starting Aug. 7 (8 episodes)
The Shards
This diaristic narrative of disaffected high school seniors at the dawn of cocaine-fuelled ’80s hedonism is adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’sgripping 2023 horror/autofiction novel(originally doled out on his podcast). It’s a spiritual prequel to his 1985 breakoutLess Than Zero, which made him a literary phenomenon at 21 and led to his masterfully gruesome capitalist satireAmerican Psycho.An addition to the Ryan Murphy universe, this haunting L.A. noir’s beguiling cocktail of sex, drugs and affluence has the same undercurrent of paranoia and dread as the novel. It’s 1981 and, blurring the line between fact and fiction, a serial killer dubbed the Trawler is terrifying Los Angeles. The story is set at an elite private school and stars relative newcomers Igby Rigney, Homer Gere (son of Richard) and Kaia Gerber (daughter of Gere’s ex-wife, supermodel Cindy Crawford), who plays the queen bee. The Gen X author often describes characters by invoking the brands they favour, so expect the series to be a time capsule, with pop culture touchstones peppered among the Vuarnet sunglasses, Topsiders, and spritzes of Aramis cologne – in the novel it was Elvis Costello posters and Michael Mann’sThief, with Blondie’sRaptureand The Go-Go’sOur Lips Are Sealedplaying at parties. It’s glossy, sordid psychological suspense with a side of nostalgia.
Where to Watch:Streaming on Disney+ starting Aug. 5 (10 episodes)
RETURNING FAVOURITES
Craving upstairs/downstairs high society? Hit play on the second instalment ofThe Hardacres, a working-class Yorkshire familythat goes from rags to riches in the Victorian era(Aug. 5, BritBox). There’s also the second half of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s magical realist classicOne Hundred Years of Solitude(Aug. 5, Netflix), and a third helping of Taylor Sheridan’sLioness(Aug. 2, Paramount+), the espionage thriller with Zoe Saldaña, Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman. FileDark Matterseason 2 (Aug. 28, AppleTV+) under: how is this sci-fi gem not as huge asSeverance? This year, CanadianHandmaid’s Talealum Amanda Brugel joins the cast.
Ahead of series spinoffNeagleyset to arrive next month, the most peripatetic vigilante sinceThe Littlest Hobois back on our screens asReacher.The show and its refreshinglyoutspoken progressive starAlan Ritchson return for a fourth action-packed season of the global Lee Child bestsellers (Aug. 12, Prime). It’s also a fourth and final chapter forTed Lasso(Aug. 5, AppleTV+), with Ted (Jason Sudeikis) back in London to coach the new Richmond women’s team that Rebecca (the divine Hannah Waddingham) has assembled.
