August is the preliminary heat of the new fall TV season. But while it precedes the big race, that’s not to say the month’s programs lack value. August brings a comedy with great potential (Difficult People), perhaps the next great cable drama (Show Me a Hero) and the return of arguably the best reality competition on TV (Project Runway).
Hulu
Difficult People (Hulu, premieres Aug. 5)
Difficult People is the perfect comedy to binge-watch this August. It’s Broad City meets Will & Grace. The show stars everyone’s favorite shouter, Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street), and the funniest ginger to come along since Lucille Ball, Julie Klausner (host of the podcast How Was Your Week?), as best friends struggling to make it as comedians in New York City. The twist is that they seem to be horrible people, albeit in an amazing and relatable sort of way. The show is staffed with excellent cameos by the likes of Andrea Martin, Andy Cohen, Martin Short, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers. The cherry on top of the deliciously funny sundae is that Amy Poehler is the executive producer. Time to renew your Hulu subscription.
Watch the Difficult People preview
Elizabeth Caren / NBC
Mr. Robinson (NBC, premieres Aug. 5)
NBC is trying its hand at another multi-camera comedy, the format that made the network the king of the ’90s with shows like Seinfeld, Friends and Frasier. From the creator of Parks & Recreation and The Office comes Mr. Robinson, starring The Office’s Craig Robinson. He plays a teacher by day and musician by night who tries to balance both lifestyles. While multi-cam only seems to have succeeded on CBS this decade, that’s not to say it’s impossible; just a little more challenging. But like a 2011 episode of 30 Rock proclaims, NBC always seems to be determined to “make it 1997 again either through science or magic.” Frasier’s Peri Gilpin has a supporting role, so check it out if only for your homegirl Roz Doyle. (If you don’t know who Roz Doyle is, go to Netflix and watch all of Frasier. You’re welcome.)
Watch the Mr. Robinson preview
Martin Crook / Comedy Central
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central, series finale Aug. 6)
It seems like 2015 is the year everything ends: Mad Men, David Letterman and now Jon Stewart’s powerhouse era of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He took over for Craig Kilborn in 1999 and never looked back. Stewart’s hallmark is his intelligent, bitingly fierce sense of humor, which made him the king of late night cable. Along with a wealth of clips, Stewart leaves behind a legacy that will be tough to match. Some highlights from his run include top-notch election coverage and an array of talented correspondents. It’s important to recognize the countless careers that emerged from his Daily Show, including Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Kristen Schaal, Larry Wilmore, Ed Helms and John Oliver. In testament to the program’s success, it has received 18 Emmy Awards with Stewart at the helm. His heir to the Daily Show throne is Trevor Noah, who starts Sept. 28.
Browse The Daily Show clips from 1999 through 2015
Lifetime
Project Runway (Lifetime, returns Aug. 6)
One of the great reality competitions of all-time returns for a 14th season. Much of its success comes from having the right panel of judges from the beginning, including model and host Heidi Klum, fashion editor Nina Garcia and designer Zac Posen, who replaced Michael Kors on the panel starting in season 11. Perhaps the crown jewel in PR is adviser extraordinaire Tim Gunn. His caring but matter-of-fact demeanor has helped put a contestant on the right path many a time, and he coined one of the great taglines in television history: “Make it work!” But the real heart of the show is the ever-changing cast of designers. This season, a whole new crop of artists come in with aesthetics ranging from androgynous to couture to bohemian to even Swifty (yes, Taylor Swift). Project Runway shows you the process of how a designer gets from good to great, which is pretty rare in reality TV.
Watch the Project Runway preview
HBO
Show Me a Hero (HBO, premieres Aug. 16)
Show Me a Hero has all the pieces of the puzzle to achieve Emmy perfection. The program is created by David Simon (The Wire, Treme), directed by Paul Haggis (Crash) and will air on HBO. Talk about a heavy-hitting team. The miniseries is based on the book by former New York Times writer Lisa Belkin. It’s about the desegregation of middle-class white Yonkers, New York in the ’80s and ’90s and hits on Simon’s ultimate strength of highlighting race and class tensions in an urban environment. (Remember, he’s the dude who gave us The Wire.) It stars Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis, A Most Violent Year), Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Jim Belushi (According to Jim) and Winona Ryder (everything cool and weird like Beetlejuice and Heathers). This has every component to succeed, and I have no doubt that it will be HBO’s next great drama.
Watch the Show Me a Hero preview
NBC
Ed Sheeran Live at Wembley Stadium (NBC, Aug. 16)
Sometimes you just have to channel your inner 16-year-old girl and enjoy some damn Ed Sheeran. Airing on NBC, this special will be a behind-the-scenes look at Sheeran’s historic three shows at London’s Wembley Stadium last month. Wembley is home to the English National Football team and hosted the Olympics ceremonies in 2012. And while other bands like Muse and Green Day have played the stadium, its capacity is 90,000 people. That means over the course of three days, Sheeran played to a sold-out crowd of roughly 270,000. You have to admit that that’s pretty impressive. Plus, if you can sit still when you hear “Don’t,” you are a stronger person than I am.
Watch the video for Ed Sheeran’s “Don’t”
HBO
Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted (HBO, premieres Aug. 22)
More often than not, at the core of really great comedy is pain. Standup comedian Tig Notaro is no exception to the rule. She was working as an actor on shows like The Sarah Silverman Program and Inside Amy Schumer before a bilateral breast cancer diagnosis in 2012. Her life came to a screeching halt as she wondered not about her next job but whether she would live or die. Notaro took the opportunity to share her experience through her standup in what is now a legendary set at the Largo. Her friend Louis C.K. posted audio of the show in 2012, and suddenly Tig became a huge figure in comedy. Recently, Notaro also had a documentary on Netflix called Tig (which you should also watch). With a delivery style that is perfectly dry and sarcastic, Notaro seems relatively cool and unfazed by most things. She’s one of the most important individuals in comedy today, and if you call yourself a comedy nerd, you shouldn’t miss this one.
Watch the preview of Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted
Starz
Blunt Talk (Starz, premieres Aug. 22)
Created by Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death) and produced by Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Blunt Talk stars Patrick Stewart as a dysfunctional British newscaster who moves to L.A. to host a talk show. Stewart is a perennial fan favorite who in this show gets to work alongside Silver Linings Playbook’s Jacki Weaver and comedian Richard Lewis (Curb Your Enthusiasm). The television world knows Ames as a talented writer and storyteller, and combined with Stewart I think this show has a real shot at becoming a cable success.
