TV Talk: ‘Bridgerton’s’ return kicks off summer scripted series on streaming, cable

Trib Total Media TV writer Rob Owen offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

Netflix’s hit Shonda Rhimes-produced, Regency-period drama “Bridgerton” returns for the first half of its eight-episode third season May 16, capturing the events of Julia Quinn’s fourth book in the “Bridgerton” series, “Romancing Mister Bridgerton.” (Part two, the final four episodes, debuts June 13).

This time the focus is on Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) as their friendship turns into a romantic relationship.

Additional new and returning scripted series premiering on cable and streaming this summer include:

“Murderesses” (May 21, Viaplay): Niche Nordic drama streamer Viaplay introduces this six-episode crime thriller about a rookie cop investigating her missing ex-cop father’s fate.

“Eric” (May 30, Netflix): Set in 1980s New York, this thriller from writer Abi Morgan (“The Hour”) follows a children’s TV show host (Benedict Cumberbatch) left reeling from the disappearance of his son, Edgar, and clings to his son’s drawings of a blue monster puppet named Eric.

“The Big Cigar” (May 17, Apple TV+): Limited series about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton (Andre Holland) and his escape from the FBI to Cuba.

“Geek Girl” (May 30, Netflix): Teenager gets a whirlwind tour of the world of fashion.

“Star Wars: The Acolyte” (June 3, Disney+): From writer Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”), the latest live-action “Star Wars” series sounds darker and more mystery-driven as a respected Jedi master (Lee Jung-jae) faces off against a dangerous warrior (Amandla Stenberg) from his past.

“Clipped” (June 4, Hulu): Based on the ESPN “30 for 30” podcast “The Sterling Affairs,” this limited series explores the dysfunction of the L.A. Clippers in 2013 when coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne) tries to minimize the role of team owner Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill) whose racist remarks were caught on tape and leaked to the world.

“Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” (June 7, Hulu): Daniel Brühl stars as the iconic couturier in this series that traces his life and career from 1972 forward as he takes on his friend and rival Yves Saint Laurent (Arnaud Valois).

“Queenie” (June 7, Hulu): Based on the Candice Carty-Williams novel, this series follows a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman (Dionne Brown) who makes bad choices after a romantic breakup.

“Presumed Innocent” (June 12, Apple TV+): Scott Turow’s legal thriller, previously made into a 1990 movie starring Harrison Ford, gets a re-do as an eight-episode series written by David E. Kelley (“The Practice”) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a Chicago prosecutor suspected of a horrific murder.

“Hotel Cocaine” (9 p.m. June 16, MGM+): Roman Compte (Danny Pino), a Cuban exile and Miami hotel manager, juggles the businessmen, politicians, narcos, models, sports stars and FBI agents who pass through his hotel’s nightclub.

“Orphan Black: Echoes” (10 p.m. June 23, AMC, BBC America, AMC+): Set in the world of the 2013-17 BBC America series “Orphan Black,” this new show stars Krysten Ritter (“Love and Death”) as a woman uncovering her identity.

“Land of Women” (June 26, Apple TV+): Eva Longoria stars as a woman whose husband implicates the family in financial shenanigans, forcing her to flee New York with her mother and teenage daughter.

“My Lady Jane” (June 27, Amazon Prime Video): A radical re-telling of British history set in an alt-fantasy Tudor world where King Henry VII’s son Edward (Jordan Peters) does not die of tuberculosis and Lady Jane Grey (Emily Badler) is not beheaded.

“Those About to Die” (July 18, Peacock): Roland Emmerich (“Independence Day”) executive producers this Ancient Rome-set gladiator drama detailing the “dirty business of entertaining the masses.” Anthony Hopkins stars as Emperor Vespasian.

Returning:

May 13: “Harry Wild” (Acorn TV).

May 16: “Bridgerton” season three, part one (Netflix).

May 16: “Outer Range” (Amazon Prime Video).

May 22: “Trying” (Apple TV+).

May 23: “Evil” (Paramount+).

May 30: “We Are Lady Parts” (Peacock).

June 2: “Billy the Kid” (9 p.m., MGM+), “Mayor of Kingstown” (Paramount+).

June 6: “Criminal Minds: Evolution” (Paramount+), “Sweet Tooth” (Netflix).

June 7: “Power Book II: Ghost” (8 p.m., Starz).

June 9: “The Lazarus Project” (9 p.m., TNT).

June 11: “Deadliest Catch” (8 p.m., Discovery Channel).

June 13: “The Boys” (Prime Video), “Bridgerton” season three, part two (Netflix).

June 16: “House of the Dragon” (9 p.m., HBO, Max).

June 17: “My Life is Murder” (9-11 p.m. BBC America, Acorn TV).

June 21: “Shoresy” (Hulu).

July 15: “Hit Monkey” (Hulu).

July 18: “Cobra Kai” (Netflix).

July 21: “Snowpiercer” (9 p.m., AMC, AMC+).

July 29: “Futurama” (Hulu).

Aug. 1: “Unstable” (Netflix).

Aug. 12: “Solar Opposites” (Hulu).

Aug. 15: “Emily in Paris” (Netflix).