Summer TV 2022: A ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel, the ‘Better Call Saul’ finale, and more highlights

After a wet, cool spring, maybe you can’t wait to get outdoors, and soak up the summer sun. But, hey, you’ve got to go back inside sometimes, right? That’s where summertime TV comes in. This season brings the usual crop of escapist fun, with frothy game shows and silly reality fare.

Fans of more ambitious TV will also have some fresh offerings to choose from, ranging from new entries in the respective “Star Wars” (“Andor”) and Marvel universes (”Ms. Marvel,” “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law”), along with the season’s most anticipated series, the “Game of Thrones” prequel, “House of the Dragon.”

Here’s a round-up of some of the most promising programs coming to our summer screens.

JUNE 6

“Irma Vep”: Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”) stars in writer-director Olivier Assayas’ reworking of his 1996 film. This version is an eight-episode limited series, with Vikander playing an American movie star who travels to France to star in a remake of the French silent film, “Les Vampires.” The cast includes Carrie Brownstein (“Portlandia”), Tom Sturridge, Vincent Macaigne and Jeanne Balibar. (9 p.m. HBO; stream on HBO Max)

JUNE 8

“Ms. Marvel”: Iman Vellani stars as a Muslim American teen-ager who finds her life changing when she develops superpowers. (Stream on Disney Plus)

JUNE 9

“Queer As Folk”: A reboot of the series about LGBTQ characters that originated in Britain, and was reimagined as an American show, now gets another iteration. This new version is set in New Orleans, and features new characters, played by a diverse group of actors. (Stream on Peacock)

JUNE 10

“For All Mankind”: The drama returns for a third season, where the alternate-history story takes place in the early ‘90s and a new space race to Mars. The cast includes Joel Kinnaman, and new series regular Edi Gathegi. (Stream on Apple TV Plus)

“Peaky Blinders”: The drama about a British crime gang active in the early 20th century returns for its sixth and final season. Cillian Murphy stars. (Stream on Netflix)

JUNE 12

“Dark Winds”: Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon star as Navajo police officers in the Southwest in the 1970s in a series inspired by Tony Hillerman’s mystery novels about Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. The six-episode first season premieres with two episodes. (9 p.m. AMC; live stream on Philo, which offers a free trial, and on fubo TV, which also offers a free trial)

JUNE 15

“Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend”: The cooking competition gets a reboot featuring the return of host Alton Brown and Mark Dacascos as “The Chairman.” Kristen Kish, of “Top Chef,” joins Brown as co-host. Iron Chefs include Curtis Stone, Dominique Crenn, Marcus Samuelsson, Ming Tsai and Gabriela Cámara. Challengers slated to do battle in the Kitchen Stadium are Portland-based chef and “Top Chef” veteran Gregory Gourdet, Mason Hereford, Curtis Duffy, Claudette Zepeda, Esther Choi, Mei Lin and Yia Vang. (Stream on Netflix)

Related: Portland’s Gregory Gourdet will compete in Netflix’s ‘Iron Chef’ reboot

JUNE 16

“The Old Man”: Jeff Bridges stars in a seven-episode drama, based on the novel by Thomas Perry. Jeff Bridges plays Dan Chase, a former CIA agent who has been living off the grid. As the show’s website says, his life gets complicated when an assassin tries to kill Chase, and “the old operative learns that to ensure his future he now must reconcile his past.” (10 p.m. FX)

“Rutherford Falls”: The comedy co-created by Ed Helms (“The Office”), Sierra Teller Ornelas (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and Michael Schur (“The Good Place”) returns for a second season. Oregon’s own Jana Schmieding co-stars and is one of the writers in a series that stands out for its humor and nuanced portrayal of Native characters. The first season revolved around the conflict between Nathan (Helms) objecting to the proposed moving of a statue of Nathan’s ancestor, and his friend Reagan (Schmieding) trying to balance her friendship for Nathan and loyalty to her people, members of the Minishonka Nation. (Stream on Peacock)

Related: Oregon’s Jana Schmieding adds warmth to a smart comedy about a town’s culture clash

JUNE 22

“The Umbrella Academy”: The adventure based on the Dark Horse Comics series written by Gerard Way and illustrated by by Gabriel Bá, returns for Season 3, in which the offbeat superheroes have to contend with the Sparrow Academy. The cast includes Elliot Page, whose character comes out as transsexual in the new season. (Stream on Netflix)

JUNE 24

“Loot”: Maya Rudolph stars in and is an executive producer of this workplace comedy about a wealthy woman whose life goes into turmoil when her marriage falls apart. Left with a boatload of money, she becomes active with her charitable foundation. The cast also includes former Portland stand-up comedy favorite Ron Funches (“Undateable”), Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (“Pose”), Nat Faxon (“Married”) and Joel Kim Booster (“Sunnyside”). (Stream on Apple TV Plus)

JUNE 28

“Only Murders in the Building”: When last we saw the true-crime podcast/murder-solving trio played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez, they were in hot water, as another murder happened in their apartment building. Season 2 continues the story, with returning cast members Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Jackie Hoffman, Tina Fey and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. New addition to the cast in the second season include Amy Schumer, Cara Delevigne, Shirley MacLaine, Andrea Martin and Michael Rapaport. (Stream on Hulu; Hulu is also available in the Disney Plus bundle, along with ESPN + and National Geographic)

JULY 1

“Stranger Things”: After a break, the final two episodes of Season 4 will be available to stream. And if the first seven episodes felt a little long, get ready for Episode 8, which is scheduled to be about two-and-a-half hours long. (Stream on Netflix)

Related: ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 piles on the horror, but skimps on the humor (review)

“The Terminal List”: Chris Pratt plays a Navy SEAL who survives a deadly mission only to return home to discover even more dangers. The cast includes Constance Wu, Taylor Kitsch, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Riley Keough, Arlo Mertz, Jai Courtney, JD Pardo, Patrick Schwarzenegger and LaMonica Garrett. All eight episodes of the series will be available to stream on the premiere date. (Stream on Amazon Prime Video)

JULY 8

“Black Bird”: The late Ray Liotta is among the stars of this six-episode thriller from executive producer Dennis Lehane. It’s adapted from crime memoir, “In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption” by James Keene and Hillel Levin Ray. Here’s what Apple TV Plus says to expect: “Inspired by actual events, when high school football hero and decorated policeman’s son Jimmy Keene (Taron Egerton) is sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison, he is given the choice of a lifetime — enter a maximum-security prison for the criminally insane and befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser), or stay where he is and serve his full sentence with no possibility of parole. Keene quickly realizes his only way out is to elicit a confession and find out where the bodies of several young girls are buried before Hall’s appeal goes through. But is this suspected killer telling the truth? Or is it just another tale from a serial liar?” (Stream on Apple TV Plus)

JULY 11

“Better Call Saul”: The series returns for the concluding episodes of its sixth and final season. (9 p.m. AMC; you can live stream “Better Call Saul” on Philo, which offers a free trial, and on fubo TV, which also offers a free trial)

(You can live stream the “Better Call Saul” midseason finale, “Plan and Execution,” on Philo, which offers a free trial, and on fubo TV, which also offers a free trial.)

AUGUST 3

“Reservation Dogs”: The impressive series from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, about a group of Native young people and their community returns for a much-anticipated second season. The all-Indigenous creative team fills the series with fresh, subtle insights, characters written and played with depth and humor, and a rural Oklahoma setting that grounds the series in carefully observed details. The gifted cast includes Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Paulina Alexis, and Lane Factor. (Stream on Hulu)

AUGUST 17

“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law”: As that ridiculous title indicates, this new Marvel Cinematic Universe series is intended to be fairly comedian. Tatiana Maslany (“Orphan Black”) stars as Jennifer Walters, a lawyer who gets Hulk-y when she’s angry. The cast also includes Tim Roth, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Jameela Jamil. (Stream on Disney Plus)

AUGUST 21

“House of the Dragon”: The most eagerly anticipated series of the summer is this prequel to “Game of Thrones,” which takes place 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and tells the story of House Targaryen. George R.R. Martin, whose “Fire & Blood” is the inspiration for the series, is co-creator, with Ryan Condal. Can the spinoff reignite the passion of fans let down by the underwhelming series finale of “Game of Thrones?” We’ll see. For now, the cast includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Rhys Ifans, and more. Ramin Djawadi, who provided the memorable music for “Game of Thrones,” scores the series. (9 p.m. HBO; stream on HBO Max)

AUGUST 30

“The Patient”: Steve Carell stars in a limited series from Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields (“The Americans”) about a psychotherapist who is held hostage by a serial killer who demands the therapist cure the killer of his homicidal urges. The cast includes Domhnall Gleeson, David Alan Grier, Linda Emond, Andrew Leeds, and Laura Niemi also star. (Stream on Hulu)

AUGUST 31

“Andor”: Diego Luna stars in a series created by Tony Gilroy, the latest addition to the TV “Star Wars” franchise. Here’s the description from the show’s website: “Diego Luna, reprising the role of rebel spy Cassian Andor from ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,’ will be joined by a fantastic new cast that includes Stellan Skarsgård, Adria Arjona, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma.” (Stream on Disney Plus)

— Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist