Disney’s She-Hulk, Neon’s House of the Dragon, Netflix’s Sandman among August’s must see TV – صحيفة الصوت

August offers up a bewildering array of viewing options to choose from.

The free-to-air line-up includes the return of a revamped Heartbreak Island to a new home on Three (August 11), a second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under (August 5, TVNZ 2) and another dose of local reality series The Unbreakables (August 2, TVNZ 1).

Meanwhile, Sky’s UKTV debuts the seventh season of beloved British drama Grantchester (August 17) and Netflix has the third installments of both Locke & Key (August 10) and Never Have I Ever (August 12), as well as the provocatively titled docu-series Clusterf..k Woodstock ‘99 (August 3).

Prime Video boasts another round of fashion competition Making the Cut (August 19) and the sophomore season of British crime-comedy The Outlaws (August 5), Apple TV+ features the Sharon Horgan-created Bad Sisters (August 19) and TVNZ+’s line-up includes Canadian rural medical drama Skymed, gamer mockumentary Players (both August 5) and 1970s-set Australian surfing tale Barons (August 12).

However, after looking through the schedules, Stuff to Watch has come up with this list of 12 shows we’re most excited to see debut over the next few weeks.

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Andor (August 31, Disney+)

Sacrificing himself in order to ensure the Rebels gained the Death Star plans at the end of Rogue One hasn’t stopped Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) from getting his own 12-part series. Naturally, events take place before the thief-turned-spy’s fatal mission to Scarif, focusing on the forming of the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire.

Created by Rogue co-writer Tony Gilroy, the show’s cast also includes Stellan Skarsgard, Denise Gough, Adria Arjona and Fiona Shaw.

The Bear (August 31, Disney+)

Eight-part comedy which follows the fortunes of Carmen Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) after a heartbreaking death forces the fine-dining chef to come home to Chicago to run his family sandwich shop – The Original Beef of Chicagoland. A world away from what he is used to, he’s forced to balance the potentially soul-crushing realities of small business ownership with his own set of high standards.

”Horrifically stressful; it’s also thrilling, ambitious, funny, devastating… As anxious as The Bear might make you feel, it’s a gorgeous show, riddled with moments of short, sharp beauty,” wrote The Atlantic’s Sophie Gilbert.

Darby & Joan (August 8, Acorn TV)

Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi team up for this eight-part Australian drama about two people trying to find themselves in the middle of nowhere.

Brown’s Jack Darby is a retired detective fleeing his past mistakes. Scacchi’s Joan Kirk is a widow attempting to outrun her grief. Together they embark on an Outback odyssey that will see them encounter a range of mysteries and colourful characters.

Five Days at Memorial (August 12, Apple TV+)

Based on real-life events, as depicted in the 2013 non-fiction book of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Sheri Fink, this eight-part drama chronicles the impact of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath on a New Orleans hospital.

When the floodwaters rose, power failed and heat soared, exhausted caregivers at the Memorial Medical Center were forced to make decisions that would follow them for years.

Created by 12 Years a Slave screenwriter John Ridley and Lost’s Carlton Cuse, the cast includes Vera Farmiga and Cherry Jones.

House of the Dragon (August 22, Neon/SoHo)

Three years after Game of Thrones’ much-maligned final season, we’re back in Westeros for this 10-episode prequel set two centuries before.

Based on George R.R. Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood, it aims to tell the story of House Targaryen. The impressive assembled ensemble includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Sonoya Mizuno and Rhys Ifans.

A League of Their Own (August 12, Prime Video)

Penny Marshall’s beloved 1940s-set, 1992 sports dramedy gets an eight-part makeover.

Mozart in the Jungle’s Will Graham and actor-writer Abbi Jacobson (who also plays nominal lead character Carson Shaw) widen the lens to focus on an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball, whether in or outside the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Mike (August 25, Disney+)

Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes plays the controversial former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson in this unauthorised and no-holds-barred, eight-part look at his life and career.

Created by I, Tonya screenwriter Steven Rogers, it aims to use Tyson’s story to examine class, race, fame, media power, misogyny and the American Dream.

Harvey Keitel joins the action as his boxing manager and trainer Cus D’Amato, who adopted Tyson after his mother died.

The Patient (August 30, Disney+)

Steve Carell stars opposite Domhnall Gleeson in this 10-part thriller about a therapist who is held prisoner by his patient.

A self-confessed serial-killer, Gleeson’s Sam Fortner demands Carell’s Alan Strauss curb his homicidal urges. It leads the latter to examine his own repressed troubles, including the death of his wife and painful estrangement from his religious son.

Created by Joel Fields and Joseph Weisberg, who previously collaborated together on the much-loved The Americans.

The Rehearsal (August 11, SoHo)

Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder created and stars in this six-part series where he aims to help ordinary people rehearse difficult conversations, or life events, through the use of actors and sets.

The subjects include a New Yorker who wants to confess to his pub trivia team that he lied about his Master’s degree and an Oregon woman who wants to simulate adopting and caring for a baby.

“It’s a frank, unorthodox look at ourselves, our obsession with reality TV stars and our relentless, often selfish desire to be that lone puppet master pulling all the strings and determining the fates of others,” wrote San Jose Mercury News’ Randy Myers.

The Sandman (August 5, Netflix)

Based on the beloved, award-winning DC comic series by Neil Gaiman, this 10-part fantasy drama looks at the fallout from the capture and century-long imprisonment of the eponymous powerful cosmic being (Tom Sturridge) who controls all our dreams. Once freed, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.

From Allen Heinberg and David S. Goyer, who combined writing credits include Wonder Woman and The Dark Knight, the show also stars Patton Oswalt, Gwendoline Christie, Eleanor Fanyinka, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman, Stephen Fry and David Thewlis.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (August 17, Disney+)

This latest nine-episode dip into the Marvel universe revolves around Tatiana Maslany’s (Orphan Black) Jennifer Walters – a lawyer specialising in superhuman-orientated cases.

When not in court, she also has to navigate the complicated single life of a 30-something who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch super-powered hulk.

Among the Marvel veterans joining Maslany are Mark Ruffalo, Tim Roth and Benedict Wong.

The Undeclared War (August 17, TVNZ+)

Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance and Adrian Lester are among the impressive ensemble assembled for this six-part crime-drama set in a post-pandemic Britain.

It’s 2024 and, in the lead-up to the general election, a leading team of analysts are secretly battling a Russian cyberattack on the country’s electoral system.

“Sets itself apart with riveting contemporary relevance,” wrote the Sydney Morning Herald’s Brad Newsome. “It’s all exceedingly well-made too, with director Peter Kosminsky drawing what should be a career-making performance out of young lead Hannah Khalique-Brown.”