What To Watch This Week | TV Picks for July 1–7, 2024

Whoa: Trigger Warning, Jessica Alba’s new action flick, has been streamed over 25 million times since it premiered on June 21, and it’s the number one movie in every country that has Netflix. It’s a perfectly entertaining-if-implausible mashup of First Blood and John Wick, but those numbers are wild—expect Trigger Warning 2 by next summer.

This week’s What to Watch recs include the new Emma Roberts comedy Space Cadet, Eddie Murphy’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the return of SharkFest, the premiere of Step Brothers on Hulu, and the Fourth of July tradition of the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. Chow down!

What’s new on TV this week

Space Cadet | Prime Video | Comedy

Movie premiere, Thursday, July 4: In a plot ripped directly from a ’90s Pauly Shore movie that never happened, Florida party girl Tiffany “Rex” Simpson (Emma Roberts) gets into NASA thanks to an astronomically padded resume. Can she complete astronaut training before she’s found out? Most likely, yes—there’s little Roberts can’t charm her way through, including a setup this dumb. At least Space Cadet delivers the laughs, aided by co-stars Poppy Liu, Dave Foley, and The Daily Show’s Desi Lydic.

Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest | ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN+ | Sports, eating

Coverage begins Thursday, July 4, 7:45 a.m. PT/10:45 a.m. ET: Is competitive eating really a sport? Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is on three ESPN platforms, so it must be. This year’s competition has a little more media heat than usual, thanks to the ouster of longtime star stomach Joey Chestnut over signing an endorsement deal with Nathan’s arch nemesis Impossible Foods. Will Chestnut’s absence clear the way for a new champion hot dogger? Our divided nation needs it now more than ever.

Jump to your preferred streaming service for more recs

What to watch on Netflix this week

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F | Netflix | Action, comedy

Movie premiere Wednesday, July 3: Beverly Hills Cop was a critical and commercial smash in 1984. I remember watching it while sitting on the crowded aisle floor of a theater because all the seats were sold out. Beverly Hills Cop II and III didn’t fare as well, but Murphy has remained an international superstar ever since. So what’s the new Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F about? He’s returned to California from Detroit to investigate a threat against his estranged daughter, and yes, the theme song is also back.

Suits | Netflix | Drama

Season 9, now streaming: It’s finally arrived on Netflix: The ninth and final season of 2011–2019 legal drama Suits (season 9 was already on Peacock, but you do you). No one can explain why the old USA Network series blew up on Netflix last summer, but the phenomenon has afforded stars Gabriel Macht and Patrick J. Adams new careers as T-Mobile pitchmen, as well as an upcoming NBC spinoff series, Suits: L.A. If we’re bringing USA shows out of retirement, might I suggest Duckman?

What to watch on Hulu this week

SharkFest | Nat Geo Wild, Hulu, Disney+ | Reality, nature

Season 12 premiere, Monday, July 1: SharkFest goes all month, whereas Shark Week only lasts, well, a week. But we all win, because sharks. This year’s SharkFest surfaces new shows like Shark Beach With Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast, Shark vs. Ross Edgley, Sharks Gone Viral, Supersized Sharks, Baby Sharks In the CIty, Shark Attack 360, and Attack of the Red Sea Sharks, in addition to 20 more hours of fin-tastic new programming. Shark Week, hosted by John Cena on Discovery, premieres Sunday, July 7, BTW.

Step Brothers | Hulu | Comedy

Movie, now streaming: Aside from We’re the Millers, there are few mid-aughts comedies more ubiquitous on cable than 2008’s Step Brothers. (Go turn on any channel; it’s probably on right now.) No complaints here because the Will Ferrell and John C. Riley flick from director Adam McKay is a stone-cold classic, and it’s now streaming on Hulu for the first time. The foul-mouthed tale of a pair of middle-aged frenemies (Ferrell and Riley) is no less revered than the freakin’ Catalina Wine Mixer. Drink it in.

More of what to watch on streaming this week

The Real Bros of Simi County: High School Reunion | The Roku Channel | Comedy

Movie premiere, Friday, July 5: Never heard of The Real Bros of Simi County? Not surprising. The series ran for three brief seasons on YouTube and Facebook Watch between 2017 and 2020, chronicling the lackadaisical SoCal life of dimbulb Xander (series co-creator Jimmy Tatro) and his crew. It’s not hard to parody Jersey Shore and every other MTV reality of the past 20 years, but The Real Bros of Simi County does it stingingly well, and High School Reunion takes it to another ridiculous level, bro.

Psi Cops | Adult Swim | Animation, comedy

Series premiere, Sunday, July 7: Canadian import Psi Cops looks weird in a good, classic Adult Swim way. The series, about a pair of detective buds (voiced by show creators Bart Batchelor and Chris Nielsen) who join a paranormal investigative group, Psi Cops, utilizes washed-out 3D animation that resembles a janky early aughts video game. Combined with the hyper-quick dialogue and leftover X-Files plots about aliens, ghosts, and demons, Psi Cops is perfect for Adult Swimmers. Either that, or they’ll hate it.

New movie releases available to rent/buy on VOD this week

Babes (2024)

BFFs Eden (Ilana Glazer) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau) are at different life-giving stages: Eden is accidentally pregnant by a one-night stand who’s literally ghosted her, while Dawn is struggling with post-partum depression and caring for a newborn. It doesn’t help that Eden’s idea of babysitting is putting on The Omen. Babes is Pamela Adlon’s film directorial debut, and it shares the tone of her TV work on FX’s Better Things, spotlighting messy female friendships and messier motherhood. It’s a comedy, but not always an easy one.

• Babes (July 2)
• Boneyard (July 2)
• Chestnut (July 2)
• Chicken for Linda! (July 2)
• Conversion (July 2)
• Hummingbirds (July 2)
• The Last Breath (July 2)
• Minnesota Mean (July 2)
• Music for Black Pigeons (July 2)
• Murder Company (July 5)