Blame it on the better weather and its privileging of being out over staying in, but I’ve been having a hard time getting into any streaming entertainment these days. I’ve started dozens of shows and abandoned them after an episode or two, never to return. Are recent shows just poor matches for my taste? Has TV become boringly mid, as my colleague James Poniewozik described? Or perhaps it’s more serious: Have I finally and irretrievably reached the outer limits of my own attention span?
It’s no great tragedy, not having something to watch — go for a hike! watch a sunset, why don’t you! — but being deeply engaged with a show is one of the chief comforts of the enthusiastic cultural consumer. When the algorithm fails and the queue dries up, the world becomes a cold and unwelcoming place. When my eyes snapped open at 3 a.m. recently, I reached, as always, for the iPad, for something to watch, something amply distracting to induce a sleep that would stick. For an hour, I stared at the grid of shows on the Netflix app, and the grid stared back, each option equally unappealing.
So I was relieved to find that our critic Mike Hale this week issued his list of 30 shows to watch this summer. I won’t lie and say I’m certain that something on the list will reconnect me to the streaming tides, but I’m hopeful. There are a bunch of suspenseful shows in particular that seem designed to grab my anemic attention and hold on tight.
On Wednesday, David E. Kelley’s new adaptation of Scott Turow’s legal thriller “Presumed Innocent” arrives. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a prosecutor suspected of murdering his lover, played by Renate Reinsve from the film “The Worst Person in the World.” I’m willing to forget that I know how the story ends (you’ll recall the 1990 movie version, starring Harrison Ford) if the show proves entertaining enough. Kelley’s recent addictive shows include “Big Little Lies” and “The Undoing,” so I feel like this one has promise.
In July, Natalie Portman stars in a screen adaptation of Laura Lippman’s novel “Lady in the Lake” as a newspaper reporter in the 1960s investigating two mysterious deaths. The show also stars Moses Ingram (“The Queen’s Gambit”), Y’lan Noel (“Insecure”) and Mikey Madison (“Better Things”) and it’s written and directed by Alma Har’el, who directed “Honey Boy,” that very good Shia LaBeouf movie from 2019, images from which still pop up in my mind with a curious frequency.
Another book-to-screen project I’ve got my eye on for August: Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel “Bad Monkey,” which Janet Maslin called a “comedic marvel,” is getting new life as a series by Bill Lawrence, a co-creator of “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking.” It stars Vince Vaughn as a detective turned restaurant inspector who’s pulled back onto the beat by a fisherman’s grisly discovery of a severed arm. Vaughn is one of those actors who seem to make everything they’re in a little cooler, a little funnier, a little daffier. I look forward to spending time with him.
Speaking of daffy, I’m back and forth on the madcap appeals of “Only Murders in the Building,” but I watched the trailer and it seems the trio of accidental gumshoes are headed to Hollywood for the fourth season. Perhaps it’s just my fond memories of “L.A. Story” and “Bowfinger,” but I am excited to see Steve Martin bumble his way into the star-making apparatus of Los Angeles. The new season arrives at the end of August.
Oh, and it’s not suspenseful per se (although those elaborately choreographed montages of the kitchen staff assembling orders with virtuoso precision do make me hold my breath), but I will tune in for the third season of “The Bear” on June 27, and I think you should, too. This is one of those shows that it seems everyone loved when it first came out — it won a lot of awards, its stars became megastars — and now I’m hearing lots of critical grumbling about how it’s overrated. I’m going to ignore this, not only because I’m desperate for something to watch, but also because I maintain that the show’s earnest depiction of the rewards of collaboration makes for extremely satisfying viewing, and Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri are so quirky and compelling I can’t stay away.
Other Big Stories
CULTURE CALENDAR
🎥 “Inside Out 2” (Friday): We last saw Riley, the tween hero of Pixar’s “Inside Out,” in 2015. Apparently it’s taken this whole time for her to hit puberty. The first film depicted Riley’s inner life by imagining a command center of the soul, staffed by the likes of Joy, Sadness and Anger. In this sequel, new characters arrive: Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment, etc. Considering “Moana,” “Turning Red” and “Frozen,” we are in an 18-karat golden age for animated movies about the lives of girls and young women that don’t center on romance. And considering that these new emotions don’t include Libido, “Inside Out 2” looks to be one more. But how long will we have to wait for “Inside Out 3: Perimenopause”?
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Coconut-dill salmon
Now’s the time to break out the grill if you didn’t get to it over Memorial Day weekend. Yewande Komolafe’s coconut-dill salmon with green beans and corn is a good place to start, especially if grilling fish makes you nervous. Instead of dealing with a fish basket or worrying about delicate fillets sticking to the grill grates, Yewande wraps the salmon in heavy-duty foil before placing it over the fire; the foil allows the fish to steam in a fragrant dressing of coconut cream, mustard, vinegar and dill. Then she grills green beans in a separate foil package alongside. For serving, the salmon and green beans are tossed with corn, tomatoes and more dressing. It’s a perfect meal to cook for a crowd.
REAL ESTATE
The Hunt: After years of renting in Dubai, a French woman decided to put down roots. Which home did she buy? Play our game.
What you get for $700,000: A three-bedroom condo in a converted Gothic Revival church in New Haven, Conn.; an 1873 rowhouse in Lambertville, N.J.; or a 1938 bungalow in Atlanta.
For sale: The pink one-story home in Louisville, Ky., where Muhammad Ali grew up is up for sale. It’s listed, along with two neighboring properties, for $1.5 million.
LIVING
A lost art: Film photography is having a renaissance, but some new photographers are leaving something behind: negatives.
Old flames: Rumors of a breakup between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are a reminder of the pressures and messiness of rekindled love.
Unplugging: One writer documented her phone-free girls’ trip to Costa Rica. (She used a pen, paper and a disposable camera.)
Father’s Day: Looking for something to get Dad? T magazine’s picks include colorful watches, Japanese toolboxes and a mini synth.
ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER
Bring your own chair
The ground beckons to me every summer: picnics, beach trips and campfires. If you, like me, require back support, I recommend a tiny packable camping chair. One of Wirecutter’s favorites is a permanent fixture in my bag. It’s so light and compact it slides right into my tote. Meeting a friend for a walk? Who knows where we’ll end up! Quick coffee run? Why not! The chair sets up in seconds and is more convenient to travel with than a clunky beach chair or even a picnic blanket. If you prefer to be even closer to the ground, my colleague Elissa Sanci swears by this legless chair. — Hali Potters
GAME OF THE WEEK
Dallas Mavericks vs. Boston Celtics, N.B.A. finals: The core of this Celtics team is young — Jayson Tatum is 26, Jaylen Brown is 27 — but it has been remarkably successful. In their seven seasons together on the Celtics, Tatum and Brown have reached the Eastern Conference finals five times. They haven’t yet won a title, but this could be the year: The Celtics had the best record, the best offense and one of the best defenses in the N.B.A. this season.
They cruised past the Mavericks in Game 1 on Thursday. The most striking statistic from that game: Luka Doncic, the Mavs’ superstar, had only one assist, the lowest of any playoff game in his career. Game 2 is Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on ABC
