Happy Friday, friends! We did it. We made it through the work week and we're one week out from the July 4th holiday.
The summer TV lineup is heating up and I'm here for it. Below I'm sharing four shows I'm psyched out:
- Friday, July 9 - If you haven't watched Virgin River on Netflix, catch up on season one and two before the third season drops in two weeks. It's the story of Mel, an OBGYN nurse who relocates to a small town to start over. It has the quirkiness of Gilmore Girls, plus the romance of a Hallmark movie.
- Sunday, July 11 - The Real Housewives of Potomac returns to Bravo. These women got me through last summer when all my trips were canceled during the pandemic. Watching them on Sunday nights helped diminish my pre-Monday scaries.
- Thursday, July 15 - Mindy Kaling is the producer of a Netflix show called Never Have I Ever, and it's coming back for a second season. I am giddy about this one!
- Friday, July 30 - At the end of this month, Outer Banks (OBX for short) will be back on Netflix with a second season. This show stars the insanely gorgeous Chase Stokes. The first season ended on a cliff hanger, so I can't wait to see where they're taking things.
Now onto this week's top picks.
1. Elite (Netflix) - Dear God, I love this show. Elite is like the Spanish version of Gossip Girl. Set in Madrid at a ritzy private high school, it has everything you adore about GG - the perfectly fitted uniforms, the steamy hook ups, the insane family drama - but with amazing character names like Guzman and Calletana.
Netflix just released season four, and in this new installment the school has a brand new principal, Benjamin. He has three teenage children - Ari, Patrick and Mencia - who join our friends in class. They immediately start stirring the pot and it's fantastic.
This new season has eight episodes (I've already watched the first four) and I wish there were more! The show is in Spanish, so you can either watch with subtitles or watch it dubbed in English.
Once you start, you won't be able to stop!
2. Fatherhood (Netflix) - I wasn't going to watch this movie, until I found out it was backed by Higher Ground, the Obamas' production company. I loved the documentary they produced called Crip Camp about disability and accessibility issues in the U.S. and I was hopeful this scripted film would be great too.
In Fatherhood, Kevin Hart stars as Matt, a young newlywed about to become a father. In the first 15 minutes of the movie, his wife passes away during childbirth. Woefully unprepared, he begins the journey of raising their newborn daughter alone.
There's all the funny moments you would expect - him bleary eyed from not sleeping, him learning to do her hair - but instead of feeling poignant, they all kind of felt lame and predictable.
There are two bright spots: DeWanda Wise as Matt's girlfriend and Alfre Woodward as his helicopter mother-in-law. Both women steal every scene they are in.
I wanted to love this movie. I even watched it on Father's Day! But ultimately, it was just too slow without enough emotion or humor. At one hour and 50 minutes, it needed more.
There you have it! I'll be back next Friday with a fresh round.
*Images courtesy of Unsplash, Daily Hind News and The Hollywood Reporter.
