What to Watch This Week: June 19 to 24

From Italian opulence to annoying insects, we round up our top 10 shows to watch this week

1. Father of the Bride – Crave (Stream)

CraveThe latest remake of Father of the Bride (following the 1950 original with Spencer Tracy and the 1991 remake starring Steve Martin) follows a Cuban-American couple (Gloria Estefan, Andy Garcia) as they struggle to keep their own rocky marriage from imploding while caught up in the ever-escalating plans for the wedding of their daughter Sophie (Adria Arjona). At the heart of everything is a clash of two distinct cultures, as Sophie’s fiancé Adam (Diego Boneta) is of Mexican descent—which rubs her Cuban parents the wrong way. Saturday Night Live standout Chloe Fineman also stars, playing an eccentric wedding planner. 

2. Hotel Portofino – Sunday, June 19, 5 p.m. & 9 p.m., WTVS; 8 p.m., KCTS | Series Premiere

PBSLooking for a new period drama to become utterly obsessed with? You’re in luck, because this buzzy series, which bowed across the pond earlier in 2022, finally hits North American screens on Sunday.  

The 1920s saga revolves around the daughter of a wealthy industrialist who moves from the U.K. to Italy. There, on the Portofino coastline, she establishes a British hotel just as Mussolini’s fascist rule begins to take hold. Global upheaval, post-First World War trauma and stunning Italian vistas… the six-episode series has a little something for everyone. As if that weren’t enough, there’s also a thoroughly unpredictable murder mystery at the heart of it all. 

Natascha McElhone (Californication), Pasquale Esposito (Gomorrah) and Oliver Dench (Pandora) headline the ensemble.

3. The Hidden Lives of Pets – Wednesday, June 22, Netflix | Series Premiere

NetflixDownton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville narrates an animal-centric four-part series that utilizes the latest camera technology to dig deep into our pets’ inner lives to discover the secrets that until now they’ve kept hidden—from spectacular feats of communication to extraordinary athleticism, heightened senses and unique physical abilities. In addition to focusing on animals’ use of their “super senses” to comprehend the world around them in ways humans can’t imagine, the show also explores how they have been able to take the instincts honed for life in the wild and adapt them for their new domesticated existence.

4. Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe – Thursday, June 23, Paramount+ (Stream)

Paramount+First appearing on MTV back in 1996, Beavis and Butt-Head left an indelible mark on pop culture, while series creator Mike Judge went on to further success with Office Space, Idiocracy and the acclaimed HBO comedy Silicon Valley. 

Judge is now revisiting his most iconic characters by sending them on a new feature-length adventure for Paramount+, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe.  

“In perhaps the dumbest space movie ever made, Beavis and Butt-Head are sentenced to Space Camp by a ‘creative’ judge in 1998,” reads the synopsis for the film, which features Judge once again providing the voices of both characters. “Their obsession with a docking simulator (huh huh) leads to a trip on the Space Shuttle, with predictably disastrous results. After going through a black hole, they re-emerge in our time, where they look for love, misuse iPhones and are hunted by the Deep State. Spoiler: They don’t score.” 

Beyond that, details about the movie are being kept scarce, other than a pair of character drawings Judge released, depicting Beavis and Butt-Head as middle-aged dudes, quite likely the look they’ll be sporting as they stumble and bumble their way through 2022. 

Does this new film portend a more permanent return for the characters or is it simply a one-off? The former seems most likely, since it’s been reported that the release of Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe will precede more than 200 of the show’s original episodes becoming available to stream on Paramount+.  

Meanwhile, Judge is next teaming with Greg Daniels (The Office) and Borat alter-ego Sacha Baron Cohen for an HBO Max animated comedy based on Jewish folktales, Chelm: The Smartest Place on Earth.

5. The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: Ex-wives Club – Thursday, June 23, Hayu (Stream)

HayuLast winter, we got to soak up the sun with various Housewives from an array of spinoffs as they packed their suitcases and headed to Turks and Caicos together. Effectively, it was the franchise’s equivalent of an all-star game.  

This week, Ultimate Girls Trip returns, except now the vacationers in question are all former Housewives instead of current ones (hence their self-concocted nickname/subtitle: the Ex-Wives Club). Consummate pot-stirrers Brandi Glanville and Taylor Armstrong are repping from the Beverly Hills crew, while Phaedra Parks and Eva Marcille are there to front the The Real Housewives of Atlanta. From Orange County, we have Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge, plus New York City’s Jill Zarin. They’ll all head to the Berkshire home of another former NYC cast member, Dorinda Medley (who, in fact, never starred alongside Zarin).  

The genius of putting this particular cast together is twofold: not only are they the personalities fans have been clamouring for U.S. network Bravo to reinstate as full-time players over the years, they’re also some of the most controversial and trouble-making stars to come from their respective franchises. Having them all together under the same roof should prove entertaining, to say the least. Oh, we’re sure they’ll all play nice at first, but it won’t take long for things to explode—especially once those cocktails start flowing.  

There’s no guarantee this will serve as a launch pad for any of them to return to their former stomping grounds full-time, but if these women believe there’s a chance? Well, let’s just say they’ve been known to bring it. 

6. Chloe – Friday, June 24, Prime Video | Series Premiere

Prime VideoIt’s easy to look at a person’s social media feeds and make assumptions about their “perfect life.” Of course, as we’ve learned over the years, the truth is always a lot more complicated than those smiling selfies and staged shots of family bliss. That divide between perception and reality forms the basis for a six-part psychological thriller out of the U.K.  

The series revolves around a young woman named Becky Green (The Crown’s Erin Doherty) who has been known to “creep” her childhood best friend online. Indeed, Chloe Fairbourne (Poppy Gilbert) has it all, while Becky is stuck at home caring for a mother with early onset dementia. Even though the girls lost touch years ago, Becky can’t help but follow Chloe from afar and marvel at her husband, her high-achieving friends and her overall charmed life. Until one day, Chloe dies suddenly by a supposed suicide, and Becky decides she needs to find out what happened. So she assumes a new identity and infiltrates the woman’s circle, in the process getting a taste of everything she’s been missing all these years. As the new and improved “Sasha,” suddenly Becky has everything she’s ever dreamt of: power, friendship, purpose. The only problem is she’s made it all up. As fiction and reality blur, our troubled heroine becomes more engrained in the character she’s created—but also begins to understand that Chloe’s existence was far from idyllic.  

Will Becky lose herself in the charade? Can she find out what really befell her former pal?  

The show, which has already aired abroad, is pegged as a modern reimagining of author Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 gothic masterpiece Rebecca, updated for the digital age.

7. The Man From Toronto – Friday, June 24, Netflix

NetflixThe phrase “from the director of the Hitman’s Bodyguard franchise and Expendables 3” might well strike fear into the hearts of those who stay far, far away from action flicks, and if you’re squarely within that demographic, then you’ll want to avoid The Man From Toronto, which stars the unlikely duo of Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson. Hart plays a sales consultant who’s perpetually screwing things up, but he’s really done a doozy this time, arriving at an Airbnb and somehow being mistaken for the world’s deadliest assassin—played by Harrelson, naturally—who has been double-booked at the same lodging.  

“This is an action thriller, high stakes, but unfortunately, the safety of Homeland Security is in the hands of a bumbling idiot,” filmmaker Patrick Hughes told Entertainment Weekly. “[Hart’s] character is someone that essentially just stepped into the wrong movie. He’s pretending to be this ‘Man From Toronto,’ but he doesn’t like blood and doesn’t like violence; he doesn’t like anything to do with this world. He’s just an idiot that works at a boxing gym—or actually, he doesn’t even have a job anymore because he got fired!” 

Rounding out this A-list cast are The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco and Animal Kingdom alum Ellen Barkin. 

8. Man vs. Bee – Friday, June 24, Netflix | Series Premiere

NetflixIf you’re a fan of British comedy, there are certain names that’ll cause you to sit up and take notice the very second you hear they’ve got a new project on the go. One of those names is Rowan Atkinson—though it’s worth mentioning that there are inevitably two types of Atkinson fans: the people who loved his work as historical rapscallion Blackadder, and those who prefer his more slapstick endeavours, such as Mr. Bean, Rat Race, Johnny English, etc.  

Having seen the trailer for the man’s new Netflix series, Man vs. Bee, we’re comfortable saying that it has the potential to be a great deal of fun for all—particularly if you have fond memories of the (Atkinson-free) 1997 comedy Mouse Hunt. Surely you remember the film in question, with Nathan Lane and Lee Evans mucking about a dilapidated old mansion they’ve inherited from their father and trying to get rid of a clever rodent that’s taken up residence in the walls.  

In the case of Man vs. Bee, Atkinson plays Trevor, a homeless fellow who can’t believe his luck when he’s mistaken for the newly hired, not-yet-met housesitter for a rich couple. Unlike the mansion in Mouse Hunt, this one’s filled with top-of-the-line technology, classic cars, priceless artwork and a dog named Cupcake.  

It would be the perfect place for Trevor to kick up his heels and live luxuriously while the owners are out of town… if not for one tiny wrinkle. The joint’s been invaded by a bee which seems determined to drive Trevor insane—to the point that our hero nearly destroys the house in his quest to eradicate this little buzzer. 

9. The One That Got Away – Friday, June 24, Prime Video | Series Premiere

Prime VideoIn recent years, Netflix has all but cornered the market on oddball dating shows: people who get engaged before ever even seeing each other, couples who aren’t sure if they want to get married so they enter open relationships with a stranger, people going on first dates dolled up in monster makeup…

Not one to quietly sit by while their competitors make a mint, Amazon is here to up the absurdity.  

Pop star Betty Who hosts a new series that follows six average folks who fear that their potential soulmates have slipped away. But now, thanks to the power of television, they’re getting a chance to recapture those missed connections. Specifically, by entering something called “The Portal,” where, one by one, crushes from the past will appear and surprise them.  

Maybe it’ll lead to true love or maybe just more heartache—but if nothing else, this little experiment in romantic time travel should help them put to rest those maddening what-ifs we’ve all found ourselves haunted by at one point or another, after the lights go out.

10. ET Canada Celebrates Pride – Friday, June 24, 7 p.m., Global

GlobalHosted by ET Canada’s Dallas Dixon and a very special guest co-host—Canada’s Drag Race winner Priyanka—this new program celebrating Pride Month shines the spotlight on some of the LGBTQ+ stars and allies who are making a difference in the world of entertainment.