Week In Sloth

\ Jul 25, 2019

4 min read

Thursday 25

“Another Life” (Netflix streaming anytime) Katee Sackhoff (“Battlestar Galactica”) returns to sci-fi with this drama about a spaceship crew braving unimaginable dangers while tracing the origin of a powerful alien artifact.

Friday 26

“The Boys” (Amazon streaming anytime) Writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson’s subversive (not to mention ultraviolent) dissection of superhero comics comes to Amazon. Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games) and Karl Urban (Star Trek) star as members of a clandestine CIA squad whose job it is to “monitor” superhero activity.

“Veronica Mars” (Hulu streaming anytime) After a 12-year hiatus (not counting the Kickstarter-funded theatrical movie in 2014), the UPN/CW’s teen crimesolver series returns for a looong-awaited fourth season. Kristen Bell is back as the titular SoCal sleuth.

Saturday 27

V.C. Andrews’ Heaven (Lifetime 6pm) Lifetime had success with its cheesy adaptations of V.C. Andrews’ PG-13 porn series Flowers in the Attic. So now the network turns its attentions to another of Andrews’ endless gothic “romance” novels, the Heaven Casteel Saga. This one’s about a poor but plucky West Virginia hillbilly named Heaven (Annalise Basso) who gets sold into slavery by her mean old father. Don’t worry, there are plenty of “forbidden relationships” on display (and four more movies to go).

“The Vanilla Ice Project” (DIY 7pm) It’s the Season 7 premiere of Vanilla Ice’s home renovation reality show. To put this in perspective: The white boy rapper has recorded seven studio albums since his debut in 1989. So his fame as a construction worker is about to eclipse his fame as a musician.

Sunday 28

“Shark Trip: Eat. Prey. Chum.” (Discovery 7pm) In honor of Discovery’s Shark Week, actor/comedian Rob Riggle “tricks” his famous “pals” Adam Devine, Anthony Anderson, Joel McHale and Damon Wayans Jr. into going on a boys trip—only instead of relaxing in the Caribbean, they’ll be diving with sharks!

“Pennyworth” (Epix 7pm) I’d venture to say that I’m a bigger comic book nerd than most. But even I’m having a hard time getting excited about this series about the adventures of Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred before he became Bruce Wayne’s butler. I mean, “Gotham” managed to pull off its “Batman before he became Batman” premise on sheer looney willpower. But I have my doubts about this straight-faced action series.

Monday 29

“Lights Out with David Spade” (Comedy Central 9:30pm) The former “SNL” cast member/Chris Farley pal David gets his own chat show. Spade and a roundtable of his comedian pals break down the day’s pop cultural headlines.

Tuesday 30

“60 Days In: Narcoland” (A&E 8pm) A&E’s docureality show about ordinary people going undercover in prisons to bust gangs gets a spin-off. Here, people go undercover along I-65 to bust drug traffickers.

Wednesday 31

“Four Weddings and a Funeral” (Hulu streaming anytime) Writer-producer Mindy Kaling (“The Office,” “The Mindy Project”) turns Richard Curtis’ much-loved 1994 rom-com into a series.

“Sherman’s Showcase” (IFC 8pm) Comedy duo Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle travel through time by looking back at the 40-year history of the legendary, ultra-funky (and entirely fictional) musical variety show “Sherman’s Showcase.”