Summer TV seems hotter than ever, to be honest. In June alone, we’ve got the return of long-running series Never Have I Ever and Outlander, sophomore outings for fan favorites like The Bear and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, plus some series starring heavy-hitters like Kaley Cuoco and Idris Elba. That’s a lot of buzzy television. Let’s take a closer look at the June TV calendar, shall we?
Based on a True Story
June 8 on Peacock
“No one ever went broke betting on America’s obsession with murder,” says Kaley Cuoco’s Ava Bartlett in the trailer for Peacock’s new true-crime comedy Based on a True Story, and she’s not wrong. TV networks have been built on the genre, there are countless podcasts deep-diving into murder cases, and now we have a show that combines them both. What a world! The series follows a married couple (Chris Messina plays Nathan, Ava’s husband) who are strapped for cash, with a kid on the way. When they decide to start their own podcast about a serial killer on the loose in Los Angeles, they wind up witnessing one of the murders. Ava and Nathan get in too deep, and shenanigans ensue. Hey, no one ever said true-crime podcasting was easy.
Never Have I Ever
June 8 on Netflix
Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is back and ready to make her senior year at Sherman Oaks High the best one yet. Knowing her, it will probably be a disaster of her own making, but we’re always rooting for Devi, no matter what. The end of Never Have I Ever season three saw Devi losing her v-card to frenemy-turned-boyfriend-turned-ex Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison) and the other corner in her love triangle, Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet), heading off to college, but from the looks of the trailer, neither of those things will turn out exactly as planned. Hopefully, the fourth and final season of Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s coming-of-age comedy will bring Devi happiness and closure, whichever way that love triangle pans out, some quality time with best friends Fab (Lee Rodriguez) and Eleanor (Ramona Young), and maybe a fun little love story for her mom, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan). She certainly deserves it!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
June 15 on Paramount+
Anson Mount’s perfect head of hair returns to boldly go where no head of hair has gone before, in season two of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Okay, fine, this Star Trek series isn’t about Mount’s hair; it’s about the crew of the USS Enterprise, led by their fearless captain, Christopher Pike (Mount), exploring planets and the beings who inhabit them throughout the galaxy. In season two, Pike will once again be joined by his trusted team, including Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Chief of Security La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and Cadet Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). This season, they’ll be joined by a new face with a very familiar name: Paul Wesley joins the cast as James T. Kirk, who, yes, will go on to become the famed Captain Kirk. Hit it, as they say.
Outlander
June 16 on Starz
The seventh chapter in the saga of Claire and Jamie Fraser (Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan) is upon us! This season of the time-traveling romance will be split into two parts (and season eight has already been announced as the series’ last), but part one, arriving this month, promises a ton of drama: The Revolutionary War has arrived and pits Jamie against his own son, fighting for the British Army, on the battlefield. But as longtime Outlander viewers know, Claire and Jamie are overachievers when it comes to drama, so there’ll be much more than a pesky war going on — arson, childbirth, and maybe some talk of possible time travel also await the Frasers. Don’t worry — there will also be tons of romance too.
And Just Like That ...
June 22 on HBO Max
The girls are back in town, baby. Whether you loved season one of the Sex and the City sequel series or loved to hate-watch it, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) are back for more in season two. Once again, they’ll be joined by their new cohort of friends, including season one MVP Sarita Choudhury as Carrie’s real estate agent turned single buddy Seema; Sara Ramírez as Che Diaz, Miranda’s new partner; Nicole Ari Parker as Lisa Todd Wexley, Charlotte’s friend and ally at her kids’ school; and Karen Pittman as Dr. Nya Wallace, Miranda’s professor and maybe new friend. And while you might be tuning in to season two to check in with pals old and new, the most anticipated return is that of one Mr. Aidan Shaw (John Corbett). And just like that, things sound a little complicated.
The Bear
June 22 on FX on Hulu
Last summer’s surprise hit dramedy The Bear is back for season two this month. You may recall that at the end of season one, prodigal chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), who returned to Chicago to save his family’s sandwich shop after the suicide of his older brother, discovered a little treat his brother left in a whole slew of tomato sauce cans: a ton of cash. Carmy and sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) decide to use it to revamp the Beef into a destination restaurant called the Bear. Expect lots of growing pains as one of TV’s most stressful and compelling shows returns.
I’m a Virgo
June 23 on Prime Video
Director and rapper Boots Riley brings his fantastical sensibilities to TV this month with the absurdist I’m a Virgo. The Prime Video series, from co-showrunners Riley and Tze Chun, stars Emmy Award-winner Jharrel Jerome as Cootie, a 13-foot Black man whose family has attempted to shield him from ridicule by keeping him inside for his entire life — until now. The optimistic, playful Cootie decides it’s finally time to go on an adventure, and so he does. The cast also includes Olivia Washington, Walton Goggins, Brett Gray, and Mike Epps.
Hijack
June 28 on Apple TV+
Idris Elba returns to the small screen in Hijack, a seven-episode thriller about the hijacking of a plane en route to London that will be told in real time over the seven-hour flight. The miniseries was created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith, and Elba stars as Sam Nelson, a passenger on the flight who attempts to stop the takeover, with Emmy Award-winner Archie Panjabi as Zahra Gahfoor, a counterterrorism agent on the ground, investigating. The first two episodes will premiere on June 28, with the next five premiering weekly.
Maggie Fremont is a freelance pop culture writer with a focus on television. You can find more of her writing on Vulture, Entertainment Weekly's EW.com, and TV Guide.
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