6 things you have to watch on TV this weekend
That long-awaited Paper Girls adaptation, a thriller starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and more
Welcome to the weekend edition of What’s On. Here are the big things happening on TV from Friday, July 29 to Sunday, July 31. All times are Eastern. [Note: The weekly What’s On will publish on Sundays.]
1. Prime Video brings Paper Girls to the small screen
Friday, Prime Video, 12:01 a.m.: Based on Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang’s comic books of the same name, the long-awaited Paper Girls adaptation is finally here. The show centers on four young girls who are out delivering newspapers on the morning after Halloween in 1988. They unwittingly get caught in a conflict between warring factions of time-travelers (as one does), and eventually encounter future versions of themselves. The cast includes Ali Wong, Nate Corddry, Riley Nai Nelet, Camryn Jones, Sofia Rosinsky, and Fina Strazza. Keep an eye out for The A.V. Club’s review on the site today.
2. Gugu Mbatha-Raw leads Surface
Friday, Apple TV+, 12:01 a.m.: Veronica West’s neo-noir thriller Surface follows Sophie Ellis (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), who suffers from amnesia after a suicide attempt. She must now piece together fragments of her chaotic life while dealing with an untrustworthy husband and a secret boyfriend. Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Stephan James, and Ari Graynor also star. Here’s an excerpt from The A.V. Club’s review:
It’s a riveting performance by Mbatha-Raw, just not a riveting show, the rare middling new drama from a streamer we’ve come to rely on.
3. All is Not Okay with Zoey Deutch in this dark comedy
Friday, Hulu, 12:01 a.m.: Quinn Shephard writes and directs this satire starring Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, and Karan Soni. Deutch plays influencer Danni Sanders, who fakes a trip to Paris to gain friends, fans, and fame. When a terrorist attack occurs, Danni is mistakenly assumed to be a survivor and gets caught up in massive lies to save face. Check out a snippet from The A.V. Club’s review of the film:
Too smart to blindly villainize Danni or absolve her from her irresponsible acts, Shephard instead aims to probe her type here, trying to weigh often unanswerable questions about flawed people doing and saying careless, even awful things in an era where rightful anger can explode to punishing extremes.
4. Neil Patrick Harris looks for love in Uncoupled
Netflix, Friday, 3:01 a.m.: The eight-episode Uncoupled is co-created by Sex And The City and Emily In Paris’ Darren Star (along with Jeffrey Richman), so you already know the kind of fluffy humor and romance to expect. Neil Patrick Harris plays real estate agent Michael Lawson, who gets dumped by his partner of 17 years and is forced to start fresh as a single gay man in his mid-40s. The cast includes Tuc Watkins, Tisha Campbell, and Marcia Gay Harden.
5. Paramount+ debuts coming-of-age film Honor Society
Friday, Paramount+, 3:01 a.m.: In this young-adult comedy, Honor (Angourie Rice) is a tenacious teen whose sole focus is getting into Harvard, assuming she can score a coveted recommendation from her guidance counselor, Mr. Calvin (the one and only Christopher Mintz-Plasse). So she concocts a scheme to take down her top three competitors—that is, until she falls for her biggest nemesis, Michael (Stranger Things’ Gaten Matarazzo).
6. Uh oh, Riverdale’s chaos is coming to an end (for now)
Sunday, The CW, 8 p.m.: Like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye to the madness that is Riverdale’s sixth season. Titled “Night Of The Comet,” the finale will see Archie and the gang band together to save their town (after he’s apparently proposed to Betty, that is). After zombies, witches, curses, a multiverse, and other loopy twists, Riverdale will conclude with its upcoming seventh season. What else can the show possibly do to provide fodder to Twitter accounts and other internet memes? We’ll find out. Look for The A.V. Club’s deep-dive into this latest batch of episodes on Monday.