Good Omens season 2, Henry Cavill’s Witcher farewell, Twisted Metal, and more

This is typically the time of summer where we’d be turning our eyes ahead, coming off San Diego Comic-Con with a slew of exciting new announcements for next year’s TV. This year’s event was far more muted amid the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. So instead of looking ahead, we’ll look at this week in TV in particular, which is bursting with highly anticipated new releases.

Netflix’s The Witcher returns for the final part of season 3, and the final three episodes with Henry Cavill as Geralt before Liam Hemsworth takes over. Before he says goodbye, however, he’s got to face down the big battle that part 1 left him and Yen (Anya Chalotra) staring down.

Also in big releases this week is Good Omens season 2, the long-awaited (and very mysterious) Prime Video follow-up to the first season (considered a “limited series” at release). On the one hand, great news that David Tennant and Michael Sheen are back; on the other, fantastic news that we get to see more of their Aziraphale and Crowley.

In other big adaptation news this week: Twisted Metal, the show starring Anthony Mackie based on the PlayStation games, also premieres (with its full season). While the original game had not much by way of plot, Peacock’s Twisted Metal gives the world a driving force and a hubbub of action.

Here are all the significant TV premieres (and finales!) this week:

New shows on Netflix

The Witcher season 3 part 2

Genre: Fantasy
Release date: July 27, with all (three) episodes
Showrunner/creator: Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
Cast: Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan, and more

The Witcher season 3 returns with Henry Cavill’s final episodes. The second part of the season picks up exactly where volume 1 left off — Geralt (Henry Cavill) and Yen (Anya Chalotra) having uncovered a massive conspiracy at the mage conclave that they’re only just beginning to understand.

The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals season 7

Image: Netflix

Genre: Reality baking competition (professionals’ version)
Release date: July 26

Though “the professionals” subhed here might ruffle some feathers, we have it on good authority that it actually makes the stakes, challenges, and (of course) the food all the stronger for it.

Baki Hanma season 2

Genre: Shonen martial arts anime
Release date: July 26
Director: Toshiki Hirano

Season 2 of this shonen fighting anime is here for another bout, this time with the showdown between father and son: Baki Hanma versus Yujiro Hanma. Also important to note: This season will be released in two parts on July 26 (with “The Tale of Pickle & The Pickle War Saga”), followed “The Father vs. Son Saga” on Aug. 24.

The Dragon Prince season 5

Genre: Animated fantasy
Release date: July 27
Showrunner/creator: Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond
Cast: Jack DeSena, Paula Burrows, Sasha Rojen, Jason Simpson, Racquel Belmonte, Jesse Inocalla, and more

In season 5 of The Dragon Prince, the stakes have never been higher. Claudia is racing to free elf mastermind Aaravos so she can save her father from dying for real; meanwhile, Rayla, Callum, Soren, and King Ezran are working to stop Claudia, given that Aaravos is one of the most powerful and dangerous beings the world of Xadia has ever known.

New shows on Disney Plus

Secret Invasion season 1 finale

Photo: Gareth Gatrell/Marvel Studios

Genre: MCU spy show
Release date: June 26
Showrunner/creator: Kyle Bradstreet
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and more

Secret Invasion’s spy story comes to close, with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) heading out to confront Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) in order to stop World War III. It’s not quite the fate of the universe, but Nick Fury is really worried about what the Russians might do.

New shows on Hulu

Futurama season 11

Genre: Animated sci-fi comedy (reboot)
Release date: July 26, with one episode
Showrunner/creator: Matt Groening and David X. Cohen
Cast: John DiMaggio, Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman

Futurama is back from the dead… again! Hulu is bringing the animated comedy back for season 11, the fourth reboot for the show with the whole cast — even John DiMaggio and his Bender — on board. The new season is chock-full of your favorite characters, as well as a few COVID jokes for good measure.

This Fool season 2

Genre: Irreverent prestige comedy
Release date: July 28
Showrunner/creator: Chris Estrada, Pat Bishop, Jake Weisman, and Matt Ingebretson
Cast: Chris Estrada, Frankie Quiñones, Laura Patalano, Michelle Ortiz, Julia Vera, and Michael Imperioli

This Fool season 2 premieres this week, picking up with Julio (Chris Estrada) after his life kind of fell apart at the end of the first season. Now with a new living situation, he and Luis (Frankie Quiñones) are looking for fresh opportunities for work and romance — which, knowing the tone and title of the show, should work out just fine.

New shows on Max

Harley Quinn season 4

Image: Warner Media

Genre: Debauched animated supervillains
Release date: July 27
Showrunner/Creator: Justin Halpern, Patrick Schumacker, and Dean Lorey
Cast: Kaley Cuoco, Alan Tudyk, Lake Bell, Christopher Meloni, Ron Funches, J.B. Smoove, Tony Hale, and more

What started with a breakup with the Joker has grown into so much more — and yet, Harley Quinn retains its same brand of animated nonsense. In season 4 of the animated DC comedy, Harley Quinn faces a right of passage for DC villains: struggling to get respect from the Bat Family.

How To With John Wilson season 3

Genre: Quirky documentary
Release date: July 28, with one episode
Showrunner/creator: John Wilson
Cast: John Wilson

The third — and final! — season of How To With John Wilson premieres on Max this week. Host John Wilson is back for the last time with some idiosyncratic and poignant musings on things like how to find a public restroom or how to clean your ears — questions that always take you to the absolute last place you’d expect.

Teenage Euthanasia season 2

Genre: Animated comedy
Release date: July 26 on Adult Swim; July 27 on Max
Showrunner/creator: Alissa Nutting and Alyson Levy
Cast: Maria Bamford, Bebe Neuwirth, Jo Firestone, and Tim Robinson

You might’ve missed this animated comedy about the funeral home-owning Fantasy family and Annie “Euthanasia,” the teenager living her life between them. But you might want to check out season 2, which includes a helluva lineup of guest stars: Succession’s Kieran Culkin and J. Smith-Cameron, Ann Dowd, Chris Redd, H. Jon Benjamin, Janelle James, Jinkx Monsoon, Lori Tan Chinn, Sophia Bush, Tim Heidecker and Ziwe Fumudoh.

New shows on Prime Video

Good Omens season 2

Genre: Screwball apocalypse
Release date: June 28
Showrunner/creator: Neil Gaiman and John Finnemore
Cast: David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Jon Hamm, and more

Not much was known about Good Omens season 2 when it was announced; Gaiman said he and Terry Pratchett (who co-wrote the book with him) had some ideas for what a hypothetical second book would look like. Now we know: Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and Crowley (David Tennant) suddenly find themselves harboring a memory-wiped Gabriel (Jon Hamm), and once again fending off the grander forces of heaven and hell.

New shows on Peacock

Twisted Metal

Genre: Wacky video game adaptation
Release date: July 27, with all episodes
Showrunner/creator: Michael Jonathan Smith
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Stephanie Beatriz, Will Arnett, Neve Campbell, Thomas Haden Church, and more

Did you think you’d see a show this year where a giant clown made Anthony Mackie sing “Thong Song” in a casino? Well, Twisted Metal is here for you. The new show, based on the PlayStation franchise of the same name, will follow Mackie’s John Doe as he tries to deliver something in a post-apocalyptic USA so he can finally live in one of the nation’s remaining city-states.