Fellow TV lovers: The TV Column is going on vacation and this will be my last communication until July 21.
Yes, I know. TV never sleeps. Neither does it go on vacation. Well, not a real vacation. Some worthy stuff will still arrive while The TV Column is on hiatus, so I'm taking the time now to give a heads up so you can mark your calendars.
Saturday:
• Hello World, 7:30 p.m., Discovery. Six-part series (airing back-to-back each Saturday) featuring narration and music from popular artists as a soundtrack for animal stories. Singers include Christina Aguilera, Usher, Ellie Goulding, Steven Tyler, Joan Jett and Dave Matthews.
Sunday:
• The Night Of, 8 p.m., HBO. This new, eight-part limited series deals with a fictitious murder case in New York and follows the police investigation and legal proceedings. The series, based on the BBC's Criminal Justice, stars John Turturro (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) and Riz Ahmed (the forthcoming Jason Bourne).
Monday:
• Penn & Teller: Fool Us, 7 p.m., The CW. This British-American series is a competition where contestants perform magic in front of magicians/comics Penn and Teller. If they can't figure out how the trick was done, the contestant gets to be the opening act in the duo's Las Vegas show.
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?, 8 p.m., The CW. The improvisational comedy hosted by Aisha Tyler (Archer) returns with stars Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady. Each episode features a special guest.
• Running Wild With Bear Grylls, 9 p.m., NBC. Bear returns for Season 3 to drag more celebrities out in the wilderness. Set to trek are actors Courteney Cox, Vanessa Hudgens, Nick Jonas, Julianne Hough, and Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn.
Wednesday:
• The 2016 ESPYS, 7 p.m., ABC. WWE star John Cena is host for this year's sports awards. Nominated for male athlete of the year are Stephen Curry, Cam Newton, Bryce Harper and LeBron James. If you don't know who they are, you won't care about this show anyway.
• Suits, 8 p.m., USA. It's Season 6 for legendary lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) and his associate Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams). The season begins immediately following last season's cliffhanger that left Mike behind bars with a two-year sentence for pretending to be a lawyer. The Pearson Specter Litt staff members abandoned ship. What now?
• Mr. Robot, 9 p.m., USA. The critically acclaimed thriller starring Christian Slater as anarchist Mr. Robot and Rami Malek as the paranoid Elliot Alderson returns for Season 2. There will be 12 episodes.
July 15:
• Stranger Things, 2:01 a.m., Netflix. The series is a 1980s mystery set in Hawkins, Ind., and deals with a boy who disappears. There are supernatural possibilities, top-secret government experiments and one very strange little girl. There will be eight hour-long episodes. Winona Ryder plays the mother and Matthew Modine plays a doctor.
July 17:
• Power, 8 p.m., Starz. The 10-episode third season continues the saga of New York nightclub owner James "Ghost" St. Patrick. He's also one of the city's major drug players.
• Survivor's Remorse, 9 p.m., Starz. Produced by basketball superstar LeBron James, Season 3 continues the comedic adventures of pro basketball superstar Cam Calloway (Jessie T. Usher) and his family.
• Ballers, 9 p.m., HBO. It's Season 2 of the comedy starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson playing sports financial manager Spencer Strasmore.
• Vice Principals, 9:30 p.m., HBO. This new comedy about the wacky side of high school administration stars Danny McBride, Walton Goggins, Georgia King, Busy Philipps, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Sheaun McKinney and Shea Whigham. Season 1 will have 18 episodes.
• Life's a Beach, 10 p.m., Travel. The series features folks who left their regular lives and moved to the beach. Yep. That's it.
July 19:
• Shooter, 9 p.m., USA. This new drama is based on author and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Stephen Hunter's 1993 best-seller Point of Impact and the 2007 film Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg.
The series stars Ryan Phillippe. He plays Hunter's iconic hero Bob Lee Swagger, an expert sniper living off the grid who is talked back into action after learning of a conspiracy to kill the president in 21 days.
How good is Swagger? In Afghanistan he held off more than 200 Taliban fighters for 46 hours. On his own.
Omar Epps portrays Secret Service agent Isaac Johnson, an ex-Marine and Swagger's former commanding officer.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
Weekend on 07/07/2016