August TV preview: Ahsoka, Only Murders In The Building, and 22 more shows to watch

The absurd, thoughtful, wholly original comedy is back for one more go, with a third and final season that centers on the show’s crew of Elora (Devery Jacobs), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), and Cheese (Lane Factor) after their trip to California. The last batch of episodes was a marvel, so we have high hopes this send-off delivers as well. (And be sure to keep up with Manuel Betancourt’s recaps throughout the season.) [Tim Lowery]

Netflix’s Heartstopper is the cutest TV show going. The British coming-of-age series has a sweet romance between teens Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke), and season two is all about them embracing their relationship publicly. Heartstopper is unabashedly queer and delightful, with excellent performances from Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, and, as this is a TV show in the year 2023, Olivia Colman. [Saloni Gajjar]

Based on Holly Ringland’s 2018 novel, The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart follows the titular character (Fear The Walking Dead’s Alicia Debnam-Carey), who lives with her grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) after a mysterious fire kills her parents. Alice ends up uncovering terrible secrets in this Australian-set, decade spanning drama, which has an ensemble that includes Asher Keddie, Frankie Adams, Charlie Vickers, Xavier Samuel, and Leah Purcell.[Saloni Gajjar]

Who’s ready to head back to the Arconia via Only Murders In The Building? Our favorite amateur sleuths have another exciting case to solve. Charles (Steve Martin), Oliver (Martin Short), and Mabel (Selena Gomez), aka neighbors-turned-podcast hosts-turned BFFs, try to figure out if Broadway actor Ben’s (Paul Rudd) demise—as seen in the season-two finale—was foul play or not. Season three’s cast additions are exciting, too, with Meryl Streep, Ashley Park, and Jesse Williams all joining Rudd. [Saloni Gajjar]

Community’s Dan Harmon presents his latest animated series, Strange Planet, based on the popular webcomics by Nathan W. Pyle (who co-created the show). It offers a hilarious, perceptive look at a distant world similar to Earth. Except this one is set in a whimsical wonder of cotton candy pinks and purples, with blue creatures exploring the absurdity of everyday human traditions. (Good luck to them.) [Saloni Gajjar]

Like Dopesick before it, Netflix’s six-episode miniseries chronicles the opioid crisis and blood-money tactics of Purdue Pharma, this time with a cast that includes the likes of Orange Is The New Black’s Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick (in the Richard Sackler role), Taylor Kitsch, Carolina Bartczak, and Sam Anderson. Kitsch’s fellow Friday Night Lights alum Peter Berg directs, with scripts courtesy of A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood co-writers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster. [Tim Lowery]

The 10-episode first season of this animated series is set 50 years after a terrifying alien species attacked the planet. Cut to teenager Stanford Yu (Brandon Soo Hoo), a janitor at the Sky Corps Military Academy whose dream is to pilot a Robo Mech. When he finally gets his shot, Stanford and his classmates must put aside all their differences and work together to defend humanity. [Saloni Gajjar]

The thriller Harlan Coben’s Shelter centers on Mickey Bolitar (Jaden Michael), who moves to New Jersey with his mother (Constance Zimmer) for a fresh start after the death of his father. Mickey ends up in the middle of a missing student’s case at his new school and, with the help of friends Spoon (Adrian Greensmith) and Ema (Abby Corrigan), unearths creepy secrets in the quiet suburb. [Saloni Gajjar]

If you watched Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and wondered where breakout series star Iain de Caestecker has been since ABC’s drama ended in 2020, we finally have an answer. He leads MGM+’s new show, The Winter King, a retelling of King Arthur’s legend. Caestecker plays Arthur alongside darker versions of famed characters like Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin, Uther, and Nimueh. [Saloni Gajjar]

Another Star Wars saga is upon us, people (although it’ll be hard to beat the high bar set by Andor). In this newbie, Rosario Dawson reprises her role as Ahsoka Tano. With multiple Star War: Rebels characters thrown into the mix, the show is set after the fall of the Empire and follows the former Jedi Knight as she investigates an emerging threat. Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lars Mikkelsen, Hayden Christensen, David Tennant, and the late Ray Stevenson round out the ensemble. [Saloni Gajjar]

The adult-animation staple is back for its 14th (!) season, somehow surviving and (occasionally) thriving after so many series shakeups. Are we excited? We’ll let William Hughes, who so beautifully put it as follows in his recap of the last episode, field that one: “Why is Archer, the show, somehow as blithely unkillable as Archer, the man, dodging kill shot after kill shot for a third of my entire life? (Christ.) The one thing I can figure, honestly, is that it all goes back to the one place where Archer has never slipped. Not once, in 13 years. Impeccable, from day one to day 4,745. And that, obviously, is the cast.” Which is all to say: Yes. Yes, we’re pretty excited. [Tim Lowery]

Eiichiro Oda’s beloved Japanese manga One Piece, going strong since 1997, is getting a long-awaited live-action adaptation—and the trailer ain’t too shabby. The show centers on the Straw Hat Pirates, whose adventures take them to dangerous seas and lands in search of One Piece. And what is the deal with this titular object? It’s a fabled treasure that can turn Captain Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) into the King. The action drama also stars Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Peter Gadiot, Ilia Paulino, and Jeff Ward. [Saloni Gajjar]

Physical season three (August 2, Apple TV+)

The Lincoln Lawyer season two, part two (August 3, Netflix)

The Chi season six (August 6, Showtime)

Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty season two (August 6, HBO)

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season four (August 9, Disney+)

Rap Sh!t season two (August 10, Max)

Billions season seven (August 13, Showtime)

Solar Opposites season four (August 14, Hulu)

My Dad, The Bounty Hunter season two and The Upshaws season four (August 16, Netflix)

Killing It season two (August 17, Peacock)

Invasion season two (August 23, Apple TV+)