It’s time for Ted Lasso’s welcome wagon and an animated Tig Notaro special
Also this weekend: The Tokyo Olympics officially begin, and Kevin Smith’s Masters Of The Universe: Revelation arrives
Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Friday, July 23, and Saturday, July 24. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
Ted Lasso (Apple TV+, Friday, 12:01 a.m., season two premiere): The Jason Sudeikis-led comedy returns with two episodes, with new ones releasing every week. Myles McNutt will recap. Here’s our season review: “The biggest concern picking up with Ted Lasso is hoping it lives up to its wildly successful debut. It might take the show a minute to find its flow again, but it returns with optimism and warmth (and biscuits), qualities mined from Ted’s and his friends’ unpredictable challenges.”
Tig Notaro: Drawn (HBO, Saturday, 10 p.m.): As she told us earlier this year, newly minted action star Tig Notaro can’t wait to get back on the road to do stand-up. But for now, she’s releasing her first animated comedy special, Drawn. Notaro teamed up with Six Point Harness, the animation studio behind Hair Love and Lazor Wulf. Multiple styles of animation are utilized, bringing Notaro’s pleasantly meandering, often revealing anecdotes to life.
Regular coverage
Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+, Friday, 3:01 a.m.)
Wild cards
The Tokyo Olympics: Opening Ceremony (NBC, Friday, 6:55 a.m.): The Olympics kick off with an opening ceremony that will be broadcast bright and early on NBC. For those who don’t want to wake up incredibly early, they will re-air the ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The games begin on July 23 and run through August 8. NBC and its different platforms, including Peacock, CNBC, USA, and Golf Channel, will broadcast the games.
Masters Of The Universe: Revelation: Part 1 (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): “Revelation functions as a direct continuation of the original 130-episode run. This is at once fascinating, ambitious, and quixotic, as Revelations has to try to match the original show’s aesthetic and sensibility, update the narrative and visuals, comment on and/or clarify a lot of the original characterizations, provide old fans with plenty of references and Easter eggs, and re-establish the world of the show to brand new audiences. And it must do all of that in the five episodes that make up the first part of this 10-episode limited series from Kevin Smith.” Read the rest of Kevin Johnson’s review here.
Movies That Made Us (Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.): Season two of this docuseries will provide comprehensive insights into the making of four classic movies—Jurassic Park, Back To The Future, Pretty Woman, Forrest Gump—and feature interviews with crew members who helped piece these films together.