‘Minx’ Seeing Starz, a Frenzy of ‘Sharksploitation,’ ‘They Cloned Tyrone,’ RuPaul Finale

Minx

Max’s loss is a cheeky gain for Starz, which rescued the acclaimed comedy from early cancellation. Set in the 1970s, this is the story of ambitious feminist Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond), whose dream of publishing a progressive magazine on women’s issues takes a detour when her message gets wrapped in eroticism in a nudie mag (featuring men) called Minx. As Season 2 opens, Joyce is being wooed by major publishers—Hearst, Conde Nast and the like—while her sleazy former publisher Doug (a rascally Jake Johnson) is down to his last dollar as his Bottom Dollar brand struggles. Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds, currently on The Afterparty) joins the cast as a former CEO, “the unsung heroine of capitalism,” who just might be the catalyst to bring Joyce and Doug back together on their frisky mission.

Sharksploitation

Biting the hand of the genre that sometimes feeds it, the horror streamer gets in front of Shark Week (starting Sunday on Discovery) with a documentary exploring pop culture’s fascination with the terror elicited by sharks ever since Jaws ignited the summer blockbuster trend in the 1970s. “The shark is natural monster in the ocean,” offers cult director/producer Roger Corman (Sharktopus, Dinoshark). Others fishing for answers to why sharks on screen are so popular: director Joe Dante (Piranha), screenwriter Carl Gottlieb (the first three Jaws movies), actor Mario Van Peebles (Jaws the Revenge) and Jaws author Peter Benchley’s widow Wendy, now an environmental conservation advocate.

They Cloned Tyrone

The spirit of Blaxploitation cinema, infused with a Jordan Peele-style genre mashup, enlivens director Juel Taylor’s lively sci-fi comedy thriller. Jamie Foxx stars as past-his-prime pimp Slick Charles, who along with Nancy Drew-loving sex worker Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) and drug dealer Fontaine (John Boyega) stumble across a bizarre government conspiracy affecting their urban neighborhood of The Glen. David Alan Grier and Kiefer Sutherland co-star in what’s bound to the top choice for those who opt out of seeing Barbie and Oppenheimer on their opening weekend.

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars

Two queens will be crowned on the season finale of the eighth all-star tournament. First, a fan favorite accepts “Queen of the Fame Games” honors. Then, finalists Kandy Muse and Jimbo face off in an epic round, performing to new original songs before RuPaul anoints the latest member of the Drag Race Hall of Fame with a $200,000 grand prize.

The Crowded Room

The penultimate episode of the psychological drama goes to court when the trial of Danny Sullivan (Tom Holland) begins in a Brooklyn courthouse. His lawyer Stan Camisa (a very good Christopher Abbott) puts his client’s controversial condition in the spotlight, and while some medical experts still see it as a “fringe theory,” his loyal therapist Rya (Amanda Seyfried) explains Danny’s fragmented personalities as “a defense mechanism against horrific, unfathomable pain.” But will the jury buy it? And can Stan and Rya get Danny’s mother Candy (Emmy Rossum) to take the stand in his defense?

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 (7 pm/ET, Fox): Coverage of the U.S. Women’s National Team, seeking its third consecutive World Cup victory, begins in Auckland, New Zealand, with a match against Vietnam. (The match starts at 9 pm/ET.)
• Outlander (8/7c, Starz): In what Claire (Caitríona Balfe) describes as “a turning point for the American cause,” she and Jamie (Sam Heughan) help civilians escape Ticonderoga when Redcoats take over the fort. In modern times, Roger (Richard Rankin) gets to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the “Nuckelavee,” the mythical creature his son Jemmy (Blake Johnston Miller) swears he laid eyes on.
• CMT Summer Sessions (9/8c, CMT): This week’s headliner: Chris Janson, performing lakeside in Franklin, Tennessee.
• Moonshine (9/8c, The CW): Sibling rivalry is particularly toxic on this comedic soap, when Rhian (Anastasia Phillips), who’s just lost a finger, seeks revenge when she learns her husband (James Gilbert) has been sleeping with her sister, Nora (Emma Hunter).
• Praise Petey (10/9c and 10:30/9:30c, Freeform): An adult animated comedy from former Saturday Night Live head writer Anna Drezen stars Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy as the voice of Petra aka Petey, a New York “It Girl” who inherits a small-town cult from her late dad. (Christine Baranski voices her frosty mom.) Can this fish out of water bring her new followers into the 21st century—and possibly steer them away from human sacrifices?

ON THE STREAM:

• Major League Soccer (streaming on Apple TV+): International soccer star Lionel Messi’s debut with U.S. team Inter Miami, in a Leagues Cup match against Mexico’s Cruz Azul, can be streamed with a subscription to MLS Season Pass.
• Stephen Curry: Underrated (streaming on Apple TV+): A biographical profile of the NBA superstar traces the career of the “undersized scrawny kid” from underdog to MVP.
• Almost Paradise (streaming on Amazon Freevee): Filmed in the Philippines, the escapist action thriller returns for a second season, starring Leverage’s Christian Kane as former DEA agent Alex Walker, whose forced retirement (for hypertension) turns out to be anything but relaxing as he continues to tangle, often fists first, with bad eggs from around the world.
• Big RV Remix (streaming on Hulu): Outkast’s Antwan “Big Boi” Patton is the star of a reality series that goes inside his and business partner Janice Faison’s shop for oversized renovations of large RVs.
• Reptile Royalty (streaming on The Roku Channel): Indiana Jones would not enjoy this reality show following the exploits of professional snake (among other reptiles) wrangler Jay Brewer and his family, who operate the Reptile Zoo in Fountain Valley, California. Their menagerie includes Coconut, one of three albina alligators in America. See it and shriek.