TV Talk: Summer TV series already debuting on cable, streamers

It’s not yet Memorial Day but cable networks and streamers are already setting up their summer scripted series premieres, in part to get them out the door before the Summer Olympics in late July, a noticeably lighter month for premieres.

On Friday Amazon’s Prime Video debuts “The Underground Railroad,” adapted from the 2016 Colson Whitehead novel. The premiere episode of the series depicts brutal torture – this is not an easy watch – as slave Cora (newcomer Thuso Mbedu) escapes from an antebellum Southern plantation via an actual subterranean train.

Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”), who wrote and directed the premiere and serves as showrunner, says in “Underground Railroad” Cora’s story is the focus.

“Maybe without seeing it, you assume for 10 episodes Cora is trying to vanquish the condition of American slavery,” Jenkins said in a virtual press conference last month. “But what shes really after is shes trying to reconcile this sense of abandonment she feels towards her mother.”

I’ll preview summer broadcast networks’ shows in the weeks ahead. Additional scripted cable/streaming summer series premieres include:

“Halston” (May 14, Netflix): Ewan McGregor stars as the famed fashion designer in this five-episode limited series from executive producer Ryan Murphy (“Ratched”).

“Run the World” (8:30 p.m. Sunday, Starz): Amber Stevens West (“Greek”) stars in this half-hour comedy about a group of thirtysomething Black women in Harlem.

“Death and Nightingales” (10 p.m. Sunday, Starz): Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”), Ann Skelly (“The Nevers”) and Jamie Dornan (“The Fall”) star in a three-part limited series set over 24 hours in 1885 Northern Ireland.

“Too Close” (May 20, AMC+): British psychological drama about a forensic psychiatrist (Emily Watson) who gets too close to a woman accused of a heinous crime.

“Solos” (May 21, Amazon Prime Video): Seven-part anthology about human connection even in isolation.

“Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.” (May 21, Hulu): Animated comedy about a villain (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who loses his job as his marriage crumbles.

“Flatbush Misdemeanors” (10:30 p.m. May 23, Showtime): Comedy about two friends living in Brooklyn.

“In Treatment” (9 p.m. May 23, HBO): Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the New Black”) stars as the therapist in HBO’s reboot of its 2008-10 series.

“Panic” (April 28, Amazon Prime Video): Ten-episode drama based on the Lauren Oliver novel about Texas high school seniors who compete in a series of challenges.

“Rugrats” (May 27, Paramount+): Reboot of the animated Nickelodeon kids’ series.

“Sweet Tooth” (June 4, Netflix): Eight-episode, hopeful dystopian drama about a hybrid deer-boy who bonds with a loner.

“Lisey’s Story” (June 4, Apple TV+): Stephen King adapts his own novel for this eight-episode series about a novelist (Julianne Moore) two years after her husband’s death.

“Domina” (10 p.m. June 6, Epix): Ten years after the assassination of Julius Caesar, the golden girl of the Claudii family, seeks to renew her place in Roman high society.

“Loki” (June 9, Disney+): Marvels’ God of Mischief (Tom Hiddleston) meets a new threat: bureaucracy.

“Blindspotting” (9 p.m. June 13): Follow-up to the Rafael Casal/Daveed Diggs 2018 movie of the same name about chaos in the life of an Oakland, Calif., family.

“Sex/Life” (June 25, Netflix): Love triangle develops among a woman (Sarah Shahi), her husband (Mike Vogel) and a man (Adam Demos) from her past.

“Little Birds” (9 p.m. June 6, Starz): This 1955-set period drama is about a New York woman who finds herself with the help of a dominatrix in Tangier.

“Kevin Can F**K Himself” (June 13 on AMC+ and 9 p.m. June 20 on AMC): Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”) stars as a prototypical sitcom wife who revolts against her situation.

“Physical” (June 18, Apple TV+): Rose Byrne stars in this half-hour dark comedy set in 1980s San Diego at the dawn of the aerobics era.

“Monsters at Work” (July 2, Disney+): Animated sequel series to the 2001 Pixar film.

“The Beast Must Die” (July 5, AMC+; 10 p.m. July 12, AMC): A mother (Cush Jumbo, “The Good Fight”) stalks the man (Jared Harris, “Mad Men”) she believes was responsible for the hit-and-run death of her son.

“Leverage: Redemption” (July 9, IMDbTV): A new iteration of the former TNT crime drama with Noah Wyle as the new lead alongside returning cast members Gina Bellman, Beth Riesgard, Christian Kane and Aldis Hodge.

“Schmigadoon!” (July 16, Apple TV+): Six-episode musical comedy about a backpacking couple (Cecily Strong, Keegan-Michael Key) who discover a magical town that looks and sounds like a 1940s movie musical.

“Turner & Hooch” (July 16, Disney+): Josh Peck stars as the son of the Tom Hanks character from the 1989 film.

“The Mysterious Benedict Society” (June 25, Disney+): Orphans band together to foil a plot, based on the bestseller by Trenton Lee Stewart.

“The White Lotus” (9 p.m. July 11, HBO): Mike White (“Enlightened”) created, wrote and directed this limited series social satire about the staff and guests at an upscale Hawaiian resort.

“Power Book III: Raising Kanan” (8 p.m. July 18, Starz): Prequel set in 1991 to the original “Power” about Kanan Stark, Ghost and Tommy’s mentor.

“Heels” (9 p.m. Aug. 15, Starz): Former Steelers linebacker James Harrison is in the ensemble cast of this drama about independent wrestlers starring Stephen Amell (“Arrow”) and Alexander Ludwig (“Vikings”).

“The Chair” (Aug. 27, Netflix): Filmed-in-Pittsburgh comedy about a college English department chair (Sandra Oh).

Returning cable/streaming series

May 14: “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” (Disney+), “Love Death Robots” (Netflix).

May 16: “Good Witch” (9 p.m., Hallmark Channel).

May 20: “Gomorrah” (HBO Max), “Special” (Netflix).

May 21: “Trying” (Apple TV+).

May 23: “Master of None” (Netflix), “The Chi” (9 p.m., Showtime), “Black Monday” (10 p.m., Showtime).

May 25: “Mr. Inbetween” (10 and 10:30 p.m., FX).

May 26: “The Bold Type” (10 p.m., Freeform).

May 28: “The Kominsky Method” (Netflix), “Lucifer” (Netflix).

June 3: “Why Women Kill” (Paramount+), “Bunk’d” (8 p.m., Disney Channel).

June 6: “War of the Worlds” (9 p.m., Epix).

June 11: “Zenimation” (Disney+), “Love, Victor” (Hulu), “Home Before Dark” (Apple TV+), “Lupin” (Netflix).

June 13: “Tucca Bertie” (11:30 p.m., Adult Swim).

June 16: “Dave” (10 p.m., FXX).

June 18: “Elite” (Netflix).

June 20: “Rick & Morty” (11 p.m., Adult Swim).

June 22: “David Makes Man” (9 p.m. OWN), “Motherland: Fort Salem” (10 p.m., Freeform).

June 25: “Central Park” (Apple TV+).

July 8: “grown-ish” (8 p.m., Freeform).

July 14: “Good Trouble” (10 p.m., Freeform).

July 23: “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+).

Aug. 12: “Star Trek: Lower Decks” (Paramount+).

Aug. 15: “Chesapeake Shores” (9 p.m., Hallmark Channel).

Aug. 22: “The Walking Dead” (9 p.m., AMC).

Kept/canceled/rebooted

Although it was canceled after its first season, PBS’s “Masterpiece” has managed to revive “Sanditon” with an order for seasons two and three.

Fox renewed sitcom “Call Me Kat” for a second season and ABC will bring back “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Station 19” for the 2021-22 TV season.

NBC is ending late-night show “A Little Late with Lilly Singh” after two seasons but the network renewed “Days of Our Lives” for two more seasons.

Fox canceled “Prodigal Son” after two seasons.

“Absentia” won’t return to Amazon’s Prime Video for a fourth season.

The CW ordered a reimagined, adult version of ‘90s Nickelodeon competition show “Legends of the Hidden Temple.”

Channel surfing

The “lost” 1970s George A. Romero film “The Amusement Park,” filmed at West View Park in the North Hills, will be available to stream on Shudder and AMC+ June 8. … Streamer Peacock is developing a multi-part docu-series on the life and NFL career of Western Pennsylvania native Joe Montana. … TBS’s “Conan” will end its run as a nightly series on June 24. … NBC won’t air the Golden Globes in 2022 due to myriad controversies around the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.