📺 Yes, Chef!
2 TV season reviews, and 6 new and returning series to watch this week
Happy Thursday. Today on this auspicious second official day of Summer, we get a new season of a 2022 favorite: The Bear! ☀️
Also, ICYMI, we started a Veronica Mars rewatch/watch-for-the-first-time series (title pending) for the podcast. It’s one of Jenni’s nostalgic favs and Jess has never seen it before now. Join us in watching one episode per week and then check out the pod for our reactions and plot breakdowns! Listen on Spotify / Apple.
In today’s edition:
Weekly Watchlist
Black Mirror Season 6 (Netflix)
Jury Duty (Prime/Freevee)
— Jenni Cullen and Jess Spoll
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We keep an eye on all of the new streaming content that is set to premiere. Here’s a list of new shows and movies to watch this week.
The Bear (Season 2) — Yes, Chef! 2022 breakout hit The Bear finally returns.
Watch on Hulu: June 22 (all 10 episodes)And Just Like That… (Season 2) — Carrie and company return in this Sex and the City sequel.
Watch on Max: June 22 (2 of 10 episodes, then weekly)I’m a Virgo (Season 1) — From the writer-director of Sorry to Bother You comes this absurdist comedy about a 13-ft-tall Black man in Oakland.
Watch on Prime Video: June 23 (all 7 episodes)Swagger (Season 2) — Inspired by Kevin Durant’s experiences in youth basketball clubs, this sports drama returns for a second season.
Watch on Apple TV+: June 23 (1 of 8 episodes, then weekly)Hijack (Limited Series) — Idris Elba stars in this seven-part thriller following the journey of a hijacked plane as it makes its way to London.
Watch on Apple TV+: June 28 (2 of 7 episodes, then weekly)Grown-ish (Season 6, Part 1) — The ish-verse comes to an end with the sixth and final season of Grown-ish, the spin-off to Black-ish.
Watch on Freeform/Hulu: June 28 (1 of TBA episodes, then weekly)
Our thoughts on brand new streaming content, and where you can watch.
Black Mirror - Season 6
Keywords: anthology, sci-fi, thriller
Watch if you like: The Twilight Zone, Electric Dreams, Red Rose
Jess’s Rating: C
Black Mirror took a long hiatus after its 5th season premiered in 2019. The world was grim enough without the twisted, allegorical tales. It returned last week with 5 new episodes for its 6th season.
With any anthology series, there will be great episodes, and there will be not-so-great episodes. Charlie Brooker, the creator, said that he wanted to try something different this season, and he certainly did. As a whole, I can safely say that we’re nowhere near the height of quality that the 3rd season reached. Brooker’s attempts to create something new are admirable, but not totally a slam dunk. Episodes like Loch Henry and Beyond the Sea feel fairly commonplace in the Black Mirror universe, while Mazey Day and Demon 79 seem to fit more in the Cabinet of Curiosities anthology than in a standard season of BM. The episode starring Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy, Joan is Awful, is proving to be divisive amongst audiences, with a more absurdist and comedic tone than we’ve seen in this series before; I really enjoyed the lighthearted, satirical take.
If you’ve bemoaned how harrowing Black Mirror could be in a world that was already dark, then you might like the different direction that this season takes. (But make no mistake, it’s still not an upbeat series). If you’ve grudgingly watched each new season while hoping for an episode as mind-blowing as San Junipero or White Christmas, you will be disappointed.
6th season episodes, ranked:
Joan is Awful
Loch Henry
Beyond the Sea
Demon 79
Mazey Day
— Jess
Length: ~60-min runtime, 5 episodes in the newest season (27 episodes total)
Watch on: Netflix
In which we choose a recent show we’ve been enjoying to review and feature.
Jury Duty
Keywords: mockumentary, comedy, semi-improvised
Watch if you like: The Office, Joe Schmo Show, Parks & Recreation
Jenni’s Rating: A
If you, like me, had been putting off watching Jury Duty, worried it couldn’t possibly live up to all the hype it received — this is your sign to add it to the queue. Created by Office alums Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, this unique sitcom follows the daily minutia of a jury trial and all the wacky characters one might encounter fulfilling their civic duty. But there’s a major twist: one of the jurors is not an actor and thinks it’s all real.
Everything hinges on Ronald Gladden, our unsuspecting protagonist. His incredibly roll-with-the-punches attitude makes Jury Duty avoid feeling like the cringe-worthy prank show this premise could’ve delivered. That’s not to say the supporting actors didn’t pull their weight, however. Alan Barinholtz as the perfectly crotchety judge, Mekki Leeper as teetotaler juror Noah, and Susan Berger as Barbara — a juror that keeps sleeping during the trial — are a few standouts.
I found myself belly laughing at times, surprisingly moved at others. While this series begins as an absurd docu-style experiment, like so many great sitcoms, it becomes a heartwarming story of community in the end. It is one of the most charming shows I’ve watched in a long long time.
— Jenni
Length: 30-min runtime, 1 season / 8 episodes
Watch on: Freevee, Prime Video
Your shows, returned:
And Just Like That…, Season 2: Premieres June 22 on Max
The Bear, Season 2: Premieres June 22 on Hulu
Swagger, Season 2: Premieres June 23 on Apple TV+
The Bachelorette, Season 20: Premieres June 26 on ABC
Grown-ish, Season 6: Premieres June 28 on Freeform/Hulu
Warrior, Season 3: Premieres June 29 on Max
The Witcher, Season 3, Part 1: Premieres June 29 on Netflix
Upcoming new releases:
Downey’s Dream Cars: Premieres June 22 on Max
Glamorous: Premieres June 22 on Netflix
I’m a Virgo: Premieres June 23 on Prime Video
The Gold: Premieres June 25 on Paramount+
Hijack: Premieres June 28 on Apple TV+