Summer TV Roundup, Week 4

 


We’re cruising to the middle of July but, as you might expect, the first week in July surrounding the holiday was light on new releases. So, this week I’m focused on a trio of unscripted series that made their debut. Are they worth your time to check out? Let this weekly post be your guide as I review the pilot and second episode of new scripted and some unscripted series. Don’t see a new show listed below? Check previous weeks.

Tuesdays:
Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants, Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on HBO (Premiered July 2)
About: We’ve seen Hard Knocks become a yearly tradition in August as we approach the season. The series chronicles a different NFL Team as they go through Training Camp to prepare for the season. In recent years, the franchise has expanded to include an in-season version, where it follows a club through the highs and lows of the regular season. Now, for the first time, the franchise has expanded again, featuring the Giants in the run up to their 100th season for the first off-season addition. The series follows the Giants from the end of the 2023 season leading up to Training Camp as they put together the team. That means hiring coaches, player evaluations, free agency, and the draft, among other things. The NFL has truly become a 365-day-a-year endeavor for fans, and so a series expansion like this that takes you behind the scenes of the offseason is a welcome addition. The first episode was a crisp 40 minutes, and I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to see how this progresses as new episodes drop each Tuesday.
Pilot Grade: B+

Streaming Series:
Sprint, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered July 2)
About: It’s an Olympic year, perhaps you’ve heard. We have plenty of sports, from swimming, track and field, and gymnastics, that will come into public view in a way they don’t in non-Olympic years. That’s what makes a series like Sprint so invaluable, as it follows the best sprinters in the world during the last year leading to the World Championships and, eventually, the Olympics. That includes Americans like Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson, along with the best athletes from countries like Jamaica and England. It’s a fascinating sports documentary, but it also serves as a great primer for those that want some prior knowledge going into the summer games later this month. The series is six episodes, all now streaming on Netflix.
Pilot Grade: C+
Second Episode: C+

The Man with 1000 Kids, Now Streaming on Netflix (Premiered July 3)
About: There are people in society that are prolific in their achievements. That’s one way to describe Jonathan Jacob Meijer, a Dutch man who traveled the world spreading his seed—literally. He doesn’t participate in this documentary, but we get clips of his online videos and interviews that are enough to get to know him as he provides sperm throughout the globe. The main focus of this three-episode series is the horror and outrage of families around the world who came to realize their children had all come from the same donor, creating dangerous repercussions and leading to a legal battle to stop him from donating. The three episodes are each around 40 minutes, making it a quick binge. It’s an interesting story and well told in this docuseries.
Pilot Grade: B-
Second Episode: B-

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