TV Watchlist: Soderbergh Returns to TV, 'The Blacklist' Ends for Good and 'The Afterparty' Conjures a New Mystery

Plus a new season of "What We Do in the Shadows" and a pair of engrossing new streaming docs Week of July 8 – 14 Everybody rested from the Fourth of July holiday? What’s that? You’re not? And you’d rather take a few days and spend them in front of the streaming device of your choosing? Well funny you should say that, because this week is full of great new offerings, including a new mystery series from director Steven Soderbergh (“Full Circle”), a new season of “Project Greenlight” (and an accompanying new movie called “Gray Matter”) and new seasons of “The Afterparty,” “The Summer I Turned Pretty” and “What We Do in the Shadows.” Plus some gripping docs and the end of “The Blacklist” (forever!) If you need some chill time, we’ve got the perfect accompaniment. On with the television! Full Circle Thursday, July 13, Max Source: Max Steven Soderbergh returns! The creatively restless filmmaker who has been responsible for everything from the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy and “Erin Brockovich” to experimental films like “Gray’s Anatomy” to made-for-streaming movies like “No Sudden Move” and “KIMI” is back with his first original television series since “Mosaic,” a mystery that also doubled as a branching narrative experience via an interactive app. (Remember that?) Soderbergh reunites with “Mosaic” and "No Sudden Move" writer Ed Solomon for the six-part thriller, which investigates the messy components and personalities that led to a botched kidnapping. The uniformly excellent cast suggests that when Soderbergh calls, you answer, with Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Timothy Olyphant, Dennis Quaid, Jim Gaffigan, William Sadler and CCH Pounder all appearing. How great does this all sound? And if that wasn’t enough, it might not even be Soderbergh’s only television project for 2023 – his year-end list included something called “The Pendulum Project,” which many assumed was an unannounced television series. But hey, we’ll take all the Soderbergh we can stomach. [[TRAILER](] The Blacklist Thursday, July 13 at 9 p.m., NBC Source: NBC Incredibly, “The Blacklist” has been on the air for 10 years and has inspired a comic book series, mobile games and one spin-off series (the short-lived “The Blacklist: Redemption”). And on July 13, all of that comes to a close with a two-hour series finale. If for some reason you never saw “The Blacklist,” it concerned a notorious criminal named “Red” Reddington (a deliciously slimy James Spader) who helps the FBI with their so-called “blacklist” – a list of particularly dangerous and wanted criminals – in exchange for time off of his sentence. As with any primetime drama that goes on this long, there have been cast defections and shakier creative choices, but here’s hoping that the finale sticks the landing. It would be tough if it obliterated the goodwill established over a decade of entertainment. [[TRAILER](] Gray Matter Thursday, July 13, Max Source: Max “Project Greenlight” is back! Remember “Project Greenlight?” It was the show produced during reality TV’s heyday that followed the development and production of a feature film. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were executive producers and the movies actually opened, not that anybody remembers them (“The Battle of Shaker Heights” anyone?) Well, this time “Project Greenlight” is on Max, with Issa Rae, Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood serving as the on-camera mentors for this fresh crop of filmmakers. And what’s more, you can watch all of the new episodes from this season, plus the movie that they produce (a sci-fi movie called “Gray Matter” about children with telekinetic powers) on Max at the same time. Truly, we are blessed. [[TRAILER](] The Jewel Thief Thursday, July 13, Hulu Source: Hulu This new true-crime documentary from the executive producers of “Wild Wild Country” centers on Gerald Blanchard, a man who grew up as a nerd in Omaha, Nebraska but was later known for his legendary jewel heists (several people in the trailer describe him as being like James Bond). But what makes “The Jewel Thief” different than other true crime documentaries is that you get to hear from Blanchard himself, who walks us through his story. This looks absolutely wild. [[TRAILER](] The Knick Max Source: Cinemax If you are itching for more Soderbergh-directed prestige television, look no further than “The Knick.” The show ran for two seasons on, of all places, Cinemax, and starred Clive Owen as a casually self-destructive surgeon working at the Knickerbocker Hospital in New York in 1900. It’s here that he is dealing with a hotshot new surgeon (played beautifully by André Holland) who happens to be Black and navigating his relationship with the head of the Knick’s social welfare office (Juliet Rylance), along with his raging drug addiction. And that just scratches the surface of “The Knick,” a series that is deep and thoughtful, with one of the great finales of all time (that’d be season 2, of course) and some of the best music ever composed specifically for television (by Cliff Martinez). It’s also a great reminder that no matter how shoddy some modern medicine can be, it’s way better than the way things used to be. [[WATCH](] Source: Apple TV+ “Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” Sunday, July 9 at 9 p.m., HBO How’s this for an official synopsis? “In the early 1990s, with homophobia and hate crimes on the rise as the AIDS crisis worsens, a serial killer preys upon gay men in New York City, infiltrating queer nightlife to find his victims.” This new documentary looks to investigate the perfect storm of societal and cultural biases that would leave these crimes in the shadows and the gallant activists who brought the problem to light. (If you saw the most recent season of “American Horror Story,” we’re sure that it was based in part on these killings.) This will be harrowing. [[TRAILER](] “The Afterparty” Wednesday, July 12, Apple TV+ “The Afterparty” is back! Apple TV+’s breakout comedic thriller, created by Chris Miller and produced by Miller and his partner Phil Lord (who are having a pretty good summer thanks to “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and the resurrected “Clone High”), returns with a new afterparty (following a wedding) and a new crime (the murder of the groom). Through this prism all sorts of new genres and sub-genres are mined including, crucially, a Wes Anderson comedy and an erotic thriller. To say any more would be to ruin the fun. And this season could be just as great – if not greater – than the original season. Which is really saying something. [[TRAILER](] “What We Do in the Shadows” Thursday, July 13 at 10 p.m., FX Our lovable vampires have returned. And not a moment too soon. “What We Do in the Shadows,” which charts the lives of a group of goofy vampires living together in New Jersey, is back for its fifth season. And with each passing season the series, created by Jemaine Clement and based on the movie he made with Taika Waititi, gets funnier, deeper and more emotionally complex. And this season looks no different. If anything, it’ll give you 30 minutes of joy each week. That’s pretty good, right? [[TRAILER](] “Bird Box Barcelona” Friday, July 14, Netflix Remember 2018’s “Bird Box,” the movie with Sandra Bullock and the monsters that could only hurt you if you looked at them (or something)? We all watched it. We all talked about it. And now it’s getting a spin-off, this time set in Spain and starring Georgina Campbell (from “Barbarian”), Mario Casas and Diego Calva (from “Babylon”). Don’t think of this as a true sequel (Bullock won’t be returning), think of it as a parallel story happening at the same time as the events of the original film. Everything has a universe these days. Why not “Bird Box?” [[TRAILER](] “The Summer I Turned Pretty” Friday, July 14, Prime Video What is the summer without “The Summer I Turned Pretty?” The show is back for its second season on July 14, with Prime Video streaming the first three episodes and then going weekly instead of the first season's binge-drop. This time around the show will be based on “It’s Not Summer Without You,” the second book in Jenny Han's series (see what we did there). There’s only one more book in the YA trilogy, so hold onto summer while you still can. [[TRAILER](] 2034 Armacost Ave. | Los Angeles, CA 90025 [Unsubscribe](