August 2022 Television Preview

As we head into the second half of summer, what could be a better new show for Women and Hollywood readers to check out than Abbi Jacobson’s spin on “A League of Their Own”? It’s got baseball, a huge amount of love and respect for its source material, women discovering personal empowerment and liberation through sports, thoughtful racial and queer inclusion among its ensemble cast, and tons of Easter eggs. A reboot of Penny Marshall’s 1992 classic, we’ve been looking forward to this series since it was first announced in 2018. It finally hits Prime Video August 12.

“A League of Their Own” isn’t the only series that will delve into the intensely close — for better or worse — relationships between women this month. August will also see the premieres of Sharon Horgan’s latest, “Bad Sisters” (August 19) and Dolly Alderton’s “Everything I Know About Love” (August 25), both of which hail from all-women directing teams. The former is an Apple TV+ comedy-thriller about five sisters who, ever since their parents’ untimely death, have vowed to always stand by one another. Peacock’s “Everything I Know About Love” stars Bel Powley and Emma Appleton as best friends whose platonic devotion to one another may or may not be able to survive when one of them enters into a romantic relationship.

August is also going to be a good month for genre fans, with intriguing entries into the true crime, superhero, and supernatural categories set to premiere. FX docuseries “Children of the Underground” (August 12) revisits the story of Faye Yager, a woman who used vigilante methods in order to protect women and children from domestic abuse. From head writer Jessica Gao and starring Tatiana Maslany, Disney+’s “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” (August 17) welcomes Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk into the MCU. And FX’s “Little Demon” (August 25), featuring the voices of Aubrey Plaza and Lucy DeVito, is an animated mother-daughter comedy where the daughter in question is literally the Devil’s spawn.

A few of our favorite shows are returning as well. The third season of Mindy Kaling’s semi-autobiographical comedy “Never Have I Ever” bows August 12 on Netflix, and the second and final season of meta-dramedy “Kevin Can F**k Himself” premieres August 22 on AMC and AMC+. The new season premieres of HBO’s Myha’la Herrold-starring financial world saga “Industry” and The CW’s iteration of DC Comics’ “Stargirl” bookend the month, with respective August 1 and August 31 debuts.

Here are August’s premiering and returning women-driven and women-created TV projects. All descriptions are from press materials unless otherwise noted.

TV and Episodic Premieres

“Darby & Joan” – Created by Glenys Rowe and Phillip Gwynne (Premieres August 8 on Acorn TV)

Two lone strangers trekking on the road — a retired Australian policeman (Bryan Brown) with a dog as his only company and a widowed English nurse (Greta Scacchi) — meet each other and embark on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.

“I Just Killed My Dad” (Docuseries) – Directed by Skye Borgman (Premieres August 9 on Netflix)

Anthony Templet shot his father and never denied it. But why he did is a complex question with profound implications that go far beyond one family.

“I Am Groot” (Short Film Anthology) – Written and Directed by Kirsten Lepore (Premieres August 10 on Disney+)

“I Am Groot” is a collection of five original shorts starring Baby Groot, everyone’s favorite little tree, and will feature several new and unusual characters.

“Bump” – Created by Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro (Premieres August 11 on The CW)

An overachieving 17-year-old student’s (Nathalie Morris) life is irrevocably changed by an unplanned pregnancy.

“A League of Their Own” – Created by Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham (Premieres August 12 on Prime Video)

“A League of Their Own” evokes the joyful spirit of Penny Marshall’s beloved classic, while widening the lens to tell the story of an entire generation of women who dreamed of playing professional baseball, both in and outside of the AAGPBL. The show follows Carson (Abbi Jacobson) and Max (Chanté Adams) and a new ensemble of sharp and hilarious characters as they carve their paths toward the field, along the way finding their teams and themselves. Also with D’Arcy Carden, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Roberta Colindrez, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Kate Berlant, Kelly McCormack, Priscilla Delgado, Molly Ephraim, Melanie Field, and Dale Dickey.

“Children of the Underground” (Docuseries) – Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite and Ted Gesing (Premieres August 12 on FX)

“Children of the Underground” tells the pulse-pounding true story of charismatic vigilante Faye Yager, who built a vast underground network that hid hundreds of mothers and children, saving them from the alleged abuse of husbands and fathers when a broken court system would not. Stepping out into the spotlight of daytime TV talk shows to raise awareness for the cause, Yager placed herself in the crosshairs of the FBI, setting off a highly publicized trial that raised the specter of a dark side to the movement.

“The Princess” (Documentary) (Premieres August 13 on HBO/HBO Max)

The relationship of Diana and Charles, the Princess and Prince of Wales, was tabloid fodder for nearly two decades, the subject of almost daily headlines in the 24-hour news cycle. “The Princess” draws solely from contemporaneous archival audio and video footage to take audiences back to key events in Diana’s life as they happened, including the seemingly fairy-tale public courtship and wedding, the birth of two sons, the bitter divorce, and her tragic and untimely death on August 31, 1997.

“Tales of the Walking Dead” (Anthology) – Created by Channing Powell and Scott M. Gimple (Premieres August 14 on AMC/AMC+)

“Tales of the Walking Dead” consists of six original one-hour standalone episodes focused on both new and established characters within the walker apocalypse. Each episode has its own distinct tone and point of view — but the stakes are high in each story, pushing new, indelible characters with relentless, life-threatening choices and situations. We get to see the apocalypse through different eyes, discovering more worlds, mythos, and mysteries of the Walking Dead. Olivia Munn, Samantha Morton, Parker Posey, Poppy Liu, Jillian Bell, Embeth Davidtz, and Daniella Pineda are among the stars.

“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” – Directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia; Written by Jessica Gao (Premieres August 17 on Disney+)

“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” follows Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) as she navigates the complicated life of a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered hulk. The cast also includes Ginger Gonzaga, Jameela Jamil, and Renée Elise Goldsberry.

“The Undeclared War” (Miniseries) (Premieres August 18 on Peacock)

Set in a post-pandemic 2024 in the run up to a British general election, a leading team of analysts buried in the heart of GCHQ secretly works to ward off a cyberattack on the country’s electoral system. Saara Parvan (Hannah Khalique-Brown) is a young student getting work experience in the malware department when a security breach leads to a high-stakes first day at the office. She’s quickly thrust into the center of an escalating data war with Russia that has dangerous implications extending far beyond cyberspace.

“Bad Sisters” – Directed by Dearbhla Walsh, Josephine Bornebusch, and Rebecca Gatward (Premieres August 19 on Apple TV+)

A delicious blend of both dark comedy and thriller, “Bad Sisters” follows the lives of the Garvey sisters, who are bound together by the premature death of their parents and a promise to always protect one another. The series stars Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene, and Eve Hewson.

“Kleo” (Premieres August 19 on Netflix)

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, a former East German spy resolves to find out who betrayed her and why — and use her lethal skills to exact revenge.

“Anne” (Miniseries) (Premieres August 22 on Acorn TV)

“Anne” tells the extraordinary story of Anne Williams (Maxine Peake), a Liverpool housewife whose 15-year-old son Kevin (Campbell Wallace) was tragically crushed to death at the FA Cup semi-final in 1989 between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

“Everything I Know About Love” – Created by Dolly Alderton; Directed by China Moo-Young and Julia Ford (Premieres August 25 on Peacock)

The central love story of “Everything I Know About Love” is between childhood best friends Maggie (Emma Appleton) and Birdy (Bel Powley). But it is also a raucous girl gang show, set in a 2012 London house-share inhabited by four girls: Maggie, Birdy, and their mates from university, Amara (Aliyah Odoffin) and Nell (Marli Siu). The series is an unflinching deep dive into bad dates, heartaches, and humiliations and begs the question: can platonic love survive romantic love as we grow up?

“Little Demon” – Created by Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner, and Kieran Valla (Premieres August 25 on FX)

After being impregnated by the Devil (Danny DeVito), a reluctant mother (Aubrey Plaza) and her Antichrist daughter (Lucy DeVito) attempt to live an ordinary life in Delaware.

Returning Series

“Industry” (HBO/HBO Max, August 1)

“Good Morning, Verônica” (Netflix, August 3)

“Good Grief” – Created and Written by Eve Palmer, Grace Palmer, and Nick Schaedel (Sundance Now, August 4)

“The Ms. Pat Show” – Created by Patricia Williams and Jordan E. Cooper (August 11, BET+)

“Never Have I Ever” – Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher (August 12, Netflix)

“Chesapeake Shores” – Created by Nancey Silvers and John Tinker (August 14, Hallmark)

“Devils” – Created by Elena Bucaccio, Barbara Petronio, Daniele Cesarano, Ezio Abbate, Guido Maria Brera, Mario Ruggeri, and Alessandro Sermoneta (August 16, The CW)

“Kevin Can F**k Himself” – Created by Valerie Armstrong (August 22, AMC/AMC+)

“Stargirl” (August 31, The CW)