Melinda Sue Gordon/Netflix
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
The “F” is for Foley—Axel Foley, the winningly unconventional detective who makes a return trip from Detroit to Beverly Hills in a reboot of the franchise (after 30 years) that helped make Eddie Murphy a big-screen superstar in the 1980s. The fourth film features plenty of car crashes (and even a helicopter incident) among other mayhem, with Axel tweaking authority alongside a new partner (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) while reuniting with familiar faces like Judge Reinhold (as Billy Rosewood) and John Ashton (John Taggart), all in service of uncovering a conspiracy after Axel’s daughter is threatened.
Disney+
Bluey
The beloved animated preschool series from Australia offers a special treat heading into the long holiday weekend: seven new vignettes, ranging from one to three minutes, featuring the adorable title puppy and her family. Two of the episodes, “Burger Dog” (in which Bluey and Bingo dance to music that annoys their dad, Bandit) and “Bingo 3000” (dad buys a “Bingo 3000” robot that doesn’t work), will be shown on Disney Jr. (at 7:25 am/6:25c and 8:25/7:25c) and Disney Channel (8:55 am/7:55c and 9:55 am/8:55c), with more rolling out through the weekend’s “Red, White and Bluey” marathon. An episode that perfectly reflects Bluey’s gentle whimsy, “Three Pigs,” features dad Bingo telling the pups the story of the three little pigs, only in this version, the enemies eventually become friends.
Apple TV+
Presumed Innocent
The slow-burning legal drama based on Scott Turow’s best-seller heads toward trial in its fifth episode, with prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal) desperately trying to find an alternative suspect to divert focus from himself as defendant in the murder of his co-worker and mistress. His lawyer and former boss (Bill Camp) argues whether to put Rusty’s wife, Barbara (Ruth Negga), on the stand as a character witness. Considering the state of their relationship, maybe not the best idea?
Apple TV+
Trying
The endearing British comedy wraps its fourth season with adoptive father Jason (Rafe Spall) coaching his “Bad News Bears”-like soccer team of unparented kids in their final match, worried he may have softened their angry edge too effectively. Which is nothing compared to the midlife crisis affecting his brother-in-law Scott (Darren Boyd), who’s preparing to row across the Atlantic, unless his wife Karen (Sian Brooke) can talk some sense into him.
Directed by Roger Corman (8/7c, Turner Classic Movies): The legendary master of the “B” movie, who died in May at age 98, helped launch innumerable careers (Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard as a director, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro in early roles) with his low-budget productions. TCM pays tribute to Corman’s prolific output over three Wednesdays in July, starting with a seven-movie marathon of films he directed in the 1950s and ’60s. The lineup starts with Ray Milland as X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, followed by such irresistibly pulpy titles as A Bucket of Blood (9:30/8:30c), The Wasp Woman (10:45/9:45c) and the original 1960 The Little Shop of Horrors (12:15 am/11:15c), which inspired the hit musical and features Nicholson as the sadistic dentist.
INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:
- Hope in the Water (9/8c, PBS): The marine conservation series concludes with Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies) getting in the water with divers who collect “zombie urchins” whose roe is grown and harvested. Another segment heads to Iceland, where a local project makes use of every bit of a cod, including developing a popular cod collagen soda.
- The Real CSI: Miami (10/9c, CBS): Digital forensics help solve the murder of James Barry, 21, who was killed in a house full of loved ones.
- Reginald the Vampire (10/9c, Syfy): In Season 2’s penultimate episode, it’s up to Reginald (Jacob Batalon) to save every bloodsucker on the planet.