We’re so close to the beginning of the fall 2014 television season! Come September, we’ll have more TV shows than we know what to do with. But to tide us over, August is providing us with plenty of season and series premieres. Here are the ten TV events to watch this month, including another full series from Netflix, an underrated comedy on Pivot, and Starz’s take on Outlander.
August 5: Sequestered premieres on Crackle
If you’re over Netflix, Hulu, and the like, then why not try out Crackle? It’s the home of Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee and soon it will premiere a legal thriller. Sequestered, starring Summer Glau, Jesse Bradford, and Patrick Warburton, is about a woman forced to choose between her belief and her family’s safety. The first six episodes premiere August 5; the next six premiere in October.
August 6: Top Chef Duels premieres on Bravo
It’s only a matter of time before the Top Chef franchise takes over TV. Its latest installment, Top Chef Duels, brings back memorable Top Chef contestants and pits them together for a “gastronomic battle royale of epic proportions.” The season will feature a ton of celebrity judges: P!nk, Shailene Woodley, Andy Samberg, Rob Zombie, and others.
August 7: 7 Deadly Sins premieres on Showtime
Morgan Spurlock’s latest television experiment is 7 Deadly Sins, in which the filmmaker takes an in-depth look at, well, the seven deadly sins. Premiering at 11pm on August 7, the seven-episode series will provide a “modern day interpretation” of the sins, with each half-hour focusing on one.
August 7: Garfunkel and Oates premieres on IFC
It seems like it’s been years since IFC announced it was giving comedy-folk duo Garfunkel and Oates a show (and even longer since we first discovered the duo), but now the long wait is over. Garfunkel and Oates will follow Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome as they sing their way through the misadventures of life. You can already watch the first episode here.
August 8: Please Like Me Season 2 begins on Pivot
Last year, Josh Thomas’ Australian import Please Like Me became one of the surprise gems of the TV season. Please Like Me was both awkward and sweet, hilarious and sad, and the six-episode season was far too short. Fortunately, it’s back for a ten-episode second season (and has been renewed for a third). Unfortunately, it’s on Pivot, a channel that barely exists anywhere.
August 8: The Knick premieres on Cinemax
The trailers for The Knick might have made me queasy, but I’m still excited for this promising drama about medicine (and cocaine and poor hygiene) set in 1900. The entire first season is directed by Steven Soderbergh, it stars Clive Owen, and it’s already been renewed for a second season, so it’s sure to be great.
August 9: Outlander premieres on Starz
Diana Gabaldon’s popular Outlander fantasy novel finally gets the adaptation treatment from Starz. The time-traveling romance series starring Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan has already received some positive reviews. It’s a series that will, no doubt, manage to please fans of the book while also winning over new ones.
August 13: Franklin and Bash returns on TNT
It’s tough to explain why I’m such a sucker for Franklin and Bash, but there’s something about how earnestly it embraces its high-fiving, beer-chugging, bro-lawyer premise that I find strangely endearing. The show returns for a fourth (fourth!) season in August and will, for some reason, feature Mike Tyson.
August 22: BoJack Horseman premieres on Netflix, midnight
What would we have done this summer without Netflix? After a busy season, the site shows no plans of slowing down this August, when it will release the entire season of BoJack Horseman in one fell swoop. The animated comedy about a former TV-star horse boasts the voice talents of Aaron Paul, Will Arnett, Alison Brie, and Amy Sedaris.
August 25: The Emmys air live on NBC, 8 PM
Is there anything more fun than snarking about an award show that usually gets everything wrong? Nope! Whether or not you believe the Emmys actually mean anything (spoiler: they don’t), it’s always a good excuse to drink wine, angrily tweet about snubs, and swoon over attractive people in fancy clothes.