From Guy Ritchie’s latest action flick to a comedy set during the Black Plague, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week
1. The Contestant – Saturday, July 20, Hollywood Suite 00s Channel
Narrated by Fred Armisen, this film tells the true story of Japanese reality TV star Tomoaki Hamatsu, who was confined to a room for more than a year, left naked with only a stack of magazines. He was tasked with entering sweepstakes contests to earn food and clothing, with a million yen awaiting at the finish line.
2. Sleeping Dogs – Saturday, July 20, Paramount+
A little over two decades after his career-launching turn in L.A. Confidential, Russell Crowe is back on the case with another dark crime flick. The Oscar winner plays retired cop Roy Freeman, who, at the behest of a prison-inmate advocate, unofficially reopens one of his old cases to make sure the man he put behind bars really was the culprit behind the bludgeoning of a prominent doctor (Marton Csokas).
Getting the wheels of justice to turn in the other direction is tough enough at the best of times — and for Roy, these are far from the best of times. Suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease, our grizzled sleuth must interrogate not only the suspects, but his own fading memories.
Sons of Anarchy’s Tommy Flanagan co-stars as his old partner, while Avengers: Endgame alum Karen Gillan is the ostensible femme fatale of this neo-noir: a colleague of the victim’s who is more than meets the eye.
Yet as Freeman undergoes an experimental treatment and his memories begin to return, he discovers he may have a more personal connection to this homicide than he thought.
3. Forbidden Love – Sunday, July 21, TLC | Series Premiere
Embark on a journey of romance and faith in this reality series following four couples, all deeply in love, who must come to terms with the one major hurdle complicating their relationships: religion. Facing such intense traditional differences, can these relationships survive the pressure of family expectations?
4. D.I. Ray – Sunday, July 21, WTVS & KCTS | Season Premiere
No sooner had Detective Inspector Rachita Ray (ER alum Parminder Nagra) returned from that two-month suspension she landed at the end of season one than the intrepid copper found herself immersed in yet another twisted, baffling murder on the streets of Birmingham. And yet again, this one had police corruption written all over it.
Over the course of season two, Ray has meticulously unravelled the conspiracy behind the deaths of a young nurse and a big-time crime boss, slowly making her way to the ugly truth. In tonight’s finale, after finding the missing gun, our heroine refocuses her attention on the Chapman family — while Suzie Chapman is driven to “drastic action.” Moreoever, Rachita and Clive execute a risky plan to expose the corruption poisoning the highest ranks of their force.
5. Gods of Tennis – Tuesday, July 22, WTVS & KCTS | Series Premiere
Get ready to relive the exciting glory days of tennis during the 1970s and ’80s through this fascinating series, delving into a high-stakes era that changed the sport forever. Framed through the world-famous Wimbledon tournament, Gods of Tennis features memorable archival footage from some of the most famous moments in tennis. In addition, viewers will also see revealing interviews from the greatest players to have ever graced centre court — including John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova — athletes who broke boundaries and drove significant change away from the tennis courts.
6. Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose – Wednesday, July 24, HBO Canada | Series Premiere
This four-episode docuseries follows the attempts of disgraced MLB star Pete Rose to be reinstated, gaining a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame, after receiving a lifetime ban from the league for gambling on the game.
7. Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam – Wednesday, July 24, Netflix | Series Premiere
Music impresario Lou Pearlman changed music culture forever by launching the careers of Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, O-Town and many other groups within the teen pop genre. Pearlman made millions by introducing these artists to the world, engineering their success as they rose to the top of the charts; in fact, he often referred to himself as the sixth Backstreet Boy.
However, Pearlman also held a dark secret: not only was he managing a who’s who of music’s hottest acts, he was also running one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in history. When it all came tumbling down, he was accused of defrauding 2,000-plus investors, swindling them out of more than $317 million over a period of 15 years, while also sued by a dozen banks for defaulting on more than $130 million in loans. Pearlman went on the run, and was eventually arrested in Indonesia, extradited and placed on trial. Found guilty of fraud, he was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison; Pearlman was still behind bars when he died in 2016 at the age of 62.
Utilizing never-before-seen archival footage and unique access highlighting the artists’ epic rise to global stardom, this six-episode docuseries “uncovers Pearlman’s web of lies, revealing the harsh realities of fame, power, exploitation and greed,” notes Netflix’s synopsis.
8. Resurrected Rides – Wednesday, July 24, Netflix | Series Premiere
Two decades back, MTV introduced audiences to a little automotive makeover show called Pimp My Ride, in which a team of gearheads took decrepit cars and spruced them up both inside and out. It only ran from 2004 to 2007, but the series left an indelible, undeniable mark on popular culture.
While Resurrected Rides — debuting on Netflix this Wednesday — isn’t a “reboot” exactly, the Pimp soul remains the same. And so too do the executive producers, as Pimp My Ride masterminds Rick Hurvitz and Ari Shofet are the men behind the wheel here as well.
“This is an aspirational and wish-fulfillment show with a comedic lens, and we’re excited to give deserving folks a mind-blowing automotive makeover,” Shofet teased to Netflix’s Tudum. His partner Hurvitz added: “We took the spirit and knowledge from the original and reimagined it with a hilarious host, brand-new cast, plus the eye-popping technology and culture of today.”
That “hilarious host,” by the way, is none other than Chris Redd, whom you’ll recognize from his stint on Saturday Night Live and scene-stealing role in Lonely Island musical satire Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
In each of this season’s eight episodes, the Missouri-born funnyman will, per Netflix, work alongside “a dream team of car experts to breathe new life into worn-out rides with stunning customized makeovers.”
Describing the experience of changing both brake pads and lives, Redd told Tudum: “We took an iconic concept and gave it a fresh twist, all while helping people along the way. Plus, we got to roast, prank and even ‘steal’ folks’ cars on a show budget! This show truly has it all!”
9. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – Thursday, July 25, Prime Video
Director of such British blockbusters as Snatch and Sherlock Holmes, Guy Ritchie unleashed another kinetic historical thrill-ride on cinema-goers this past April. The loosely fact-based tale stars Superman himself Henry Cavill as the leader of a secret military unit filled with “rogues and mavericks,” commissioned by Winston Churchill during the Second World War to use unconventional (i.e. ultra-violent) tactics to thwart the Nazi scourge by taking down a fleet of German U-boats.
Now, the unhinged carnage comes to Prime Video, as the film makes its streaming debut.
Fighting alongside Cavill are a few actors who know a thing or two about action: Alan Ritchson (Jack Reacher), Eiza González (Baby Driver) and Henry Golding (The Gentlemen).
10. The Decameron – Thursday, July 25, Netflix | Series Premiere
Get ready to gorge yourself on debauchery and hilarity, as this gonzo new series whisks us back to 14th-century Italy for a period piece that has, oddly enough, never felt more timely.
Produced by Orange Is the New Black’s Jenji Kohan and created by Teenage Bounty Hunters’ Kathleen Jordan, The Decameron is loosely based on author Giovanni Boccaccio’s short story collection — first published during the 1300s — about a group of nobles waiting out the Black Plague together at an Italian villa, telling each other funny, sexy tales to pass the time. Yet this adaptation uses that basic premise for a bawdy dissection of class disparity. Per Netflix’s Tudum, “as time goes on and social rules wear thin, the orgy of riches and liquor collapses into a struggle for survival. Wealthy citizens escaping a plague by engaging in a lavish and insular display of wealth? Doesn’t sound like this could be relevant at all!”
The quirky ensemble is led by Veep Emmy-winner Tony Hale as Sirisco, the villa’s overeager-to-please steward, and Girls alum Zosia Mamet (pictured) as the amusingly oblivious, soon-to-be lady of the house, Pampinea.
Creator Jordan told Tudum that: “. . . at times of crisis, the chasm between the haves and the have-nots grows wider and wider. Obviously, that’s something we’ve seen in the last few years, in particular with COVID.” Meanwhile, star Hale added: “When something like a plague comes along, the ground goes even. It doesn’t matter. So what am I investing in? What relationships am I investing in? How am I treating people? That’s the stuff that matters.” But perhaps the most succinct, enticing tease comes from fellow cast member Jessica Plummer, who plays “spoiled oddball” noblewoman Filomena: “Think, like, Love Island, but back in the day. A lot of drama, a lot of sex, a lot of, yeah, craziness.”