Rueben's Ramblings

Here is the list of the programming options to expect on TV this coming week:

On August 9, the season finale of The Beast Must Die will air online on AMC+. NOTE: The same finale episode will air on AMC on August 16 at 10 PM

The second season premiere of DC’s Stargirl will air on The CW at 8 PM on August 10.

Also on August 10, the FOX reboot of Fantasy Island will debut at 9 PM. A modern take on the classic 1970’s-1980’s series is set at a luxury resort, where literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Serving as steward of this mysterious island is Elena Roarke (Roselyn Sanchez from Devious Maids and Grand Hotel), a descendant of the iconic Mr. Roarke, who set aside her own ambitions, and the love of her life, to uphold her family’s legacy. Ruby Okoro (Kiara Barnes from The Bold and the Beautiful), is Elena’s assistant, a young woman with an old soul who arrives on Fantasy Island with a terminal illness and is given a new lease on life there; and Javier (John Gabriel Rodriquez from Rosewood) is the head of island transportation and a jack of all trades.

On August 11, the Netflix movie The Kissing Booth 3 will debut online. The third and final movie in the streaming franchise finds Elle Evans (Joey King), as she spends the summer after her high-school graduation at a beach house with her weirdly possessive boyfriend, Noah (Jacob Elordi), and her weirdly possessive best friend, Lee (Joel Courtney), who each want to go to college with her (at Harvard and Berkeley, respectively). Elle must choose one at the risk of alienating the other. The cast includes Maisie Richardson-Sellers (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) and 1980’s star Molly Ringwald.

The debut of the 11-episode animated series What If…? will air on Disney+ online on August 11. The animated series explores what would happen if major moments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe occurred differently, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their roles. Jeffrey Wright narrates the series.

Also on August 11, the season premiere of Riverdale will air on The CW at 8 PM.

The summer finale of the reboot of Gossip Girl will air on HBO Max online on August 12; while that same night, the third season of Titans will premiere on HBO Max online; and also that night, the season finale of Walker has been delayed, airing tonight on The CW at 8 PM.

On August 13, the Apple TV+ movie Coda will debut online. In Gloucester, Massachusetts, a culturally Deaf family runs a fishing business. Ruby (Emilia Jones from Locke & Key), who is 17 years old and the only hearing family member, helps her deaf parents (Troy Kotsur from The Number 23 and Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin) and brother Leo (Daniel Durant from Switched at Birth) with the business. In high school, she joins the choir club, where she is attracted to her duet partner and finds a passion for singing. Her choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez from Dora and the Lost City of Gold) encourages her to consider music school, and she has to decide between helping her family and pursuing her goal. The cast includes Kevin Chapman (Person of Interest) and Amy Forsyth (Channel Zero and Rise).

The box office movie Free Guy will debut online on Disney+ on August 13. In the open world video game Free City, Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a non-player character (NPC) working as a bank teller. Thanks to a program developed by programmers Milly (Jodie Comer) and Keys (Joe Keery) inserted into the game by the publisher Antoine (Taika Waititi), Guy becomes aware of his world being a video game, and takes steps to make himself the hero, creating a race against time to save the game before the developers can shut it down. Lil Rel Howery also stars.

On August 13, the second season of the Amazon drama Modern Love will premiere online. The 8 half-hour romantic anthology series, inspired by The New York Times column, once again, adapts different love stories taking place in New York City. This season’s cast includes Kit Harington (Game of Thrones), Tobias Menzies (Outlander), Sophie Okonedo (Flack), Anna Paquin (True Blood), Minnie Driver (Ella Enchanted), Jack Reynor (Strange Angel), Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) and Miranda Richardson (Good Omens).

The Netflix feature film Beckett will debut online on August 13. While vacationing in Greece, Beckett (John David Washington), an American tourist, becomes the target of a manhunt after a devastating accident. Forced to run for his life and desperate to reach the U.S. embassy in Athens to clear his name, tensions escalate as the authorities close in, political unrest mounts, and Beckett falls even deeper into a dangerous web of conspiracy. The film also stars Alicia Vikander, Boyd Holbrook and Vicky Krieps.

On August 13, the Disney original telefilm Spin will debut at 8 PM. Rhea (Avantika) is an Indian-American teen who discovers her passion for creating DJ mixes that blend the rich textures of her South Asian culture and the world around her. Her life revolves around her eclectic group of friends, her after-school coding club, her family’s Indian restaurant and her tight-knit, multi-generational family. Everything changes when she falls for aspiring DJ Max, and her long-lost fervor for music is reignited. The cast includes Anna Cathcart (To All the Boys movie franchise) and Agam Darshi (Sanctuary).

Also on August 13, the new limited series Brand New Cherry Flavor will debut online on Netflix. A filmmaker (Rosa Salazar) heads to Hollywood in the early ‘90s to make her movie but tumbles down a hallucinatory rabbit hole of sex, magic, revenge, and (oddly) kittens. The film also stars Catherine Keener.

The Hallmark Channel movie Sealed With a Kiss: Wedding March 6 will debut on August 14 at 9 PM. The modest wedding plans of a celebrity (Jack Wagner) and his down-to-earth fiancée (Josie) escalate while Mick gets an enticing opportunity Olivia won’t let him refuse, putting their own big day in jeopardy.

On August 15, the UPtv movie Love Stories in Sunflower Valley will debut at 7 PM. Kate Francis (Erin Cahill) has been a loyal assistant at a Seattle newspaper for the past five years. When one of her story ideas finally gets accepted, the assignment takes her back to her charming hometown of Sunflower Valley. But unexpectedly, handsome newcomer and longtime writer Drew Hutton (Marcus Rosner) is also coming along. They work together and unravel a series of heartwarming love stories about the local town people. As they delve deeper into these tales of life and love, will they find their own?

A special 90-minute presentation of All Creatures Great and Small will air on PBS at 7:30 PM on August 15 followed by the season finales of Unforgotten and Professor T at 9 and 10 PM respectively; meanwhile that same night, the series finale of The White Lotus will air on HBO at 9 PM. Also that night, the 5th season premiere of Chesapeake Shores will air on the Hallmark Channel at 9 PM; and also on August 15, A Discovery of Witches will air its two-hour season finale on AMC at 8 PM.

Lastly also on August 15, the new drama Heels will debut on Starz at 9 PM. The show is focused on the men and women who chase their dreams in the world of small town pro wrestling. Set in a close-knit Georgia community, it follows a family-owned wrestling promotion as two brothers and rivals – Jack Spade (Stephen Amell from Arrow) and Ace Spade (Alexander Ludwig from Vikings) war over their late father’s legacy. In the ring, somebody must play the good guy and somebody must play their nemesis, the heel. But in the real world, those characters can be hard to live up to – or hard to leave behind. The cast includes Alison Luff, Mary McCormack and Chris Bauer.

Mark your calendars!