Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, July 24-30. Details and times are subject to change.
Monday
SON OF A CRITCH 8 p.m. on The CW. Based on a memoir of the same title by Mark Critch, this series stars Critch as his father and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as a younger version of himself. Filmed in and set in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, it is a coming-of-age story that focuses on Critch navigating junior high and connecting with the people in his orbit. The show originally aired on CBC in Canada but is being broadcast for the first time in the United States.
THE GOLDEN BOY 9 p.m. on HBO. Shortly after graduating high school, Oscar De La Hoya won a gold medal for lightweight boxing at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The media quickly dubbed him “The Golden Boy.” This two-part documentary series focuses on the man behind the title and how his struggles later in life made it hard for him to live up to expectations.
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (2018) 7:35 p.m. on FXM. This “Mamma Mia” prequel has all the Abba, romance and adventure our hearts could desire — not to mention the truly uncanny casting of the younger versions of Donna and the Dynamos as well as the “three dads.” The story takes place after Donna (the younger version played by Lily James; the adult version by Meryl Streep) graduates from college and decides to travel the world before settling down on a small island in Greece. The back story of how she meets Bill (Josh Dylan and Stellan Skarsgård), Sam (Jeremy Irvine and Pierce Brosnan) and Harry (Hugh Skinner and Colin Firth) are revealed, but we don’t get any closer to knowing who fathered Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) — which I guess is besides the point by now.
Wednesday
ANIMALS WITH CAMERAS 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This show is exactly what it sounds like — how better to get immersive footage of wildlife than from the wildlife itself? This episode focuses on the ocean, so sea turtles, sharks and sting rays — fitted with lightweight cameras — offer underwater perspectives that we might not have been able to see otherwise.
AFTER THE BITE 10 p.m. on HBO. In September 2018, Arthur Medici died after a shark attack at Newcomb Hollow Beach on Cape Cod, Mass. This was the first fatal shark attack in the state since 1936. But the resurgence of these sorts of attacks (another man had been bitten the month prior in the same area but fought off the shark) begs for a re-examination of the relationship our communities have with nature. This documentary explores how the tragic event shook up a way of life in the area.
Thursday
TRIPPIN’ WITH ANTHONY ANDERSON AND MAMA DORIS 10 p.m. on E! There’s nothing like a mother-son romp around Europe to keep us entertained. This show follows the actor and comedian Anthony Anderson and his mom, Doris Hancox, as they go on a shenanigan-filled six-week adventure: So far they have traveled to Paris, London and Venice — to name a few — and the season is ending with a last hurrah in Rome, where they take an art class featuring a nude model.
Friday
NEIGHBORS (2014) 8 p.m. on Cinemax. In this comedy from Nicholas Stoller, Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play a married couple who call the police on their frat boy neighbors, Zac Efron and Dave Franco, who proceed to make the couple’s life is a living hell. Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Get Him to the Greek,” “The Five-Year Engagement”) “is good at keeping the momentum going while also finding time for offbeat grace notes and occasional bursts of emotional candor,” A.O. Scott wrote in his review of the movie.
HEELS 10 p.m. on Starz. Despite what the title sounds like, this show has nothing to with Louboutins or Jimmy Choos. Instead, it refers to a “heel” in a wrestling ring, which means a villain. The series, which stars Alexander Ludwig and Stephen Amell as brothers who both excel at wrestling, is starting its second season this week. “At a time when professional wrestling is more popular than it’s been in years, it is thriving as a dramatic subject because the industry’s real stories are often just as — if not more — compelling than what happens in the ring,” Jeremy Gordon wrote in a 2021 New York Times article about the show.
Saturday
BODY HEAT (1981) 10 p.m. on TCM. Staring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, this erotic thriller involves a bomb maker, a murder plot and an illicit affair — all set in coastal Florida. It “is a hard-breathing, sexy, old-fashioned morality tale, which evolves into a mystery story with a couple of twists that are only matched by the last four or five minutes of Billy Wilder’s screen version of Agatha Christie’s ‘Witness for the Prosecution,’” Vincent Canby wrote in his review for The Times.
Sunday
TOUGH AS NAILS 8 p.m. on CBS. The fifth season of this reality competition show involving challenges of endurance and strength at real job sites was filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, and features Canadian cast members for the first time — which explains all the “ehs” you might have heard. As the season rounds out, teams Dirty Hands and Savage Crew are going to have to keep battling it out with down and dirty challenges, right until the end.
THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES 10 p.m on HBO. This comedy, about a famous televangelist family, is increasingly gaining popularity. According to Deadline, it is now Danny McBride’s most watched HBO show, above “Eastbound & Down” and “Vice Principals.” “The Righteous Gemstones,” which also stars Edi Patterson, Adam Devine and John Goodman, is wrapping up its third season with a two-part finale.
