TV Trailers of the Week: The Westies, Murder 101, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 4 and More
📺 Take a peek at some of the latest trailers for upcoming TV shows.
📺 “The Westies” Trailer: J.K. Simmons Rules 1980s Hell’s Kitchen in MGM+’s Irish Mob Crime Drama with Titus Welliver — Premiering Sunday, July 12th on MGM+
Hell’s Kitchen in the early 1980s was not exactly a neighborhood built on peace, patience, or clean money. And in MGM+’s upcoming crime drama The Westies, one accidental killing of a “made man” might be all it takes to turn a fragile underworld arrangement into open war.
The series centers on the Westies, the infamously violent Irish gang trying to hold its ground in a New York criminal landscape dominated by the Italian Mafia. Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons stars as Eamon Sweeney, the gang’s ruthless leader, while Bosch star Titus Welliver co-stars as Glenn Keenan, a veteran NYPD officer with deep ties to the same streets he is supposed to police.
Anyone looking for a moody throwback to the hard-nosed crime thrillers of the 1970s and early ’80s... you know, where cops were as corrupt and dirty as the crooks they were trying to bust — this definitely looks like the kind of thing built to scratch that itch. Add J.K. Simmons and Titus Welliver chewing scenery together, and this could be appointment television.
Young thugs running amok and giving the old guard some serious headaches? Check.
Beat cops watching the neighborhood slide toward a turf war? Check.
Irish mobsters trying to protect their piece of Hell’s Kitchen with brute force and bad decisions? Check.
Italian crime families circling any weakness they can exploit to tighten their grip? Check.
Put it all together, and The Westies looks like it has all the makings of a bruising old-school mob saga where loyalties aren’t only tested, but broken, bought, and buried.
Joining Simmons and Welliver, the cast also includes Tom Brittney (Grantchester) as James “Jimmy” Roarke, Jessica Frances Dukes (Ozark) as Birdie Polk, Stanley Morgan (A Thousand Blows) as Mickey Flanagan, Sarah Bolger (Mayans M.C.) as Bridget Walsh, Allen Leech (Downton Abbey) as Brendan Cahill, and Hamish Allan-Headly (Daredevil: Born Again) as a young John Gotti.
Created by Godfather of Harlem creators Chris Brancato and Michael Panes, with Brancato serving as showrunner, The Westies looks like another bruising crime saga that may force us to think about adding one more streaming subscription to the pile.
The Westies debuts with a two-episode premiere starting Sunday, July 12th on MGM+.
📺 “Murder 101” Trailer: A Tennessee High School Sociology Class Reopens the Redhead Murders Case in This New True-Crime Docuseries About Teens Trying to Solve It — Premieres Monday, July 13th on Prime Video
True crime has taken plenty of heat over the years, and not without reason. The genre can tip into exploitation fast, turning real pain into bingeable mystery-box fodder and treating victims like plot devices rather than people who had lives, families, and stories of their own.
But Murder 101 looks like it might be coming at the form from a different angle. One that may even change how we think about what true crime can be. Not as a way of capitalizing on tragedy, but as a way of honoring the difficult work of bringing justice to those who need it most, while building empathy in the process.
Based on the hit KT Studios and iHeart Media podcast, this upcoming three-part docuseries follows teacher Alex Campbell and his high school sociology class at Elizabethton High School in Tennessee as they investigate the Redhead Murders, a series of decades-old unsolved killings that once drew attention across the South before slowly fading from public memory.
On paper, that sounds like familiar true-crime territory: cold cases, buried clues, old headlines, long-delayed justice. But the trailer points toward something more unusual and, frankly, more human. This isn’t a team of seasoned detectives or media pros stepping in with cameras and theories. It’s a classroom of teenagers, guided by an unorthodox teacher, trying to understand what happened to victims who can no longer speak for themselves.
That gives the series an underdog quality. The students are not just studying crime as an abstract subject; they’re learning about vulnerability, injustice, and the responsibility that comes with paying attention to someone else’s pain. The lesson isn’t about punishment as much as it is about sensitivity to other people’s suffering, and that distinction truly matters.
Directed by Stacey Lee, Murder 101 is produced by KT Studios and Freshman Year, with Jon Watts, Dianne McGunigle, and Stephanie Lydecker serving as executive producers.
At its best, true crime can restore focus to cold cases that have been forgotten. Murder 101 seems interested in showing how a group of students, working together with purpose, might help bring buried stories back into the light.
Following its SXSW debut earlier this year, Murder 101 is now slated to premiere Monday, July 13th on Prime Video.
📺 “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 4” Trailer: Captain Pike and the Enterprise Crew Encounter New Dangers on the Final Frontier — Premiering Thursday, July 23rd on Paramount+
The Enterprise is heading back into the great unknown, which is exactly where Star Trek: Strange New Worlds tends to feel most at home. New planets, strange encounters, terrifying aliens, emotional detours... you know, just another week aboard one of Starfleet’s most famous ships.
Season 4 of the Paramount+ original series once again follows the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, led by Captain Christopher Pike, as they embark on a new run of interstellar adventures across the stars.
Anson Mount returns as Captain Pike, joined by Rebecca Romijn as Number One Una Chin-Riley, Ethan Peck as science officer Spock, Jess Bush as nurse Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as security chief La’An Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as communications officer Uhura, Melissa Navia as helmsman Erica Ortegas, Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. Joseph M’Benga, and Martin Quinn as engineer Montgomery Scott, among others.
The new season looks to keep leaning into the bright, exploratory spirit that has made this series such an interesting corner of the franchise. The crew will face external threats and inner demons, cross paths with colorful new characters, reunite with familiar faces, and try to hold onto a hopeful future, even when the universe keeps throwing very large problems directly in their path.
One of the more interesting pieces here is the continued development of Spock and James T. Kirk. With Ethan Peck’s Spock and Paul Wesley’s Kirk moving closer to the legendary friendship we know is coming, Season 4 appears ready to build out that early tit-for-tat dynamic before it becomes one of the defining relationships in Star Trek history.
Carol Kane will return as Commander Pelia for a guest-star arc in this fourth season, which is produced by CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers serve as co-showrunners.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 4 premieres globally Thursday, July 23rd on Paramount+. Meanwhile, all three previous seasons are available to stream on Paramount+.
📺 “The Ark: Season 3” Trailer: Ark One’s Mission Splits Between Deep Space Rescue and a Dangerous New Homebase — Premieres Wed, July 29th on SYFY
Humanity finally has somewhere to land, but survival doesn’t get any simpler. Season 3 follows Captain Sharon Garnet (Christie Burke) and the crew of Ark One as their mission expands, sending part of the team back into space to search for lost Earth survivors while those on Homebase 1 begin uncovering troubling signs about their new world. Reece Ritchie and Richard Fleeshman also return as the series stretches its survival story across both ship and colony. Humanity found a home... now it has to survive the neighborhood.
📺 “Esports World Cup: Level Up: Season 2” Trailer: 5-Part Esports Docuseries Returns for a High-Stakes Look at Players, Clubs, and a $70 Million Global Video Game Competition — Premieres Fri, June 26th on Prime Video
The stakes are bigger, the spotlight is brighter, and the controller grip is probably getting a little tighter. Season 2 returns with a five-part look inside the world’s largest esports competition, following players, clubs, and families through the seven-week event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler, the docuseries tracks the chase for a $70 million prize pool and the EWC Club Championship, while appearances from Post Malone, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lando Norris, Tony Hawk, and more show just how far esports culture has pushed into the mainstream. For these competitors, one match can change a career... or end a dream in real time.
📺 “The Gilded Age: Season 4” In Production Teaser: HBO’s High-Society Drama Returns to Set for More Old Money, New Money, and Social Warfare — Coming This Fall on HBO
The cast of The Gilded Age is back on set as HBO’s lavish historical drama prepares for its fourth season. Created by Downton Abbey mastermind Julian Fellowes, the series returns to late 19th-century New York, where Bertha Russell’s climb through high society continues to rattle the old-money world of Agnes van Rhijn, Ada Brook, and Marian Brook. Carrie Coon, Louisa Jacobson, Christine Baranski, and Cynthia Nixon remain at the center of a series that has steadily become less about polite period-piece manners and more about how power, class, and influence helped shape modern America.
📺 “Outer Banks: Season 5” Teaser: The Pogues Take One Last Ride in Netflix’s Final Season — Premieres Thurs, August 20th on Netflix
The treasure hunt is almost over, but the Pogues are heading into the final season bruised, broken, and far from home. After the tragic loss of JJ in Morocco, John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo are stranded, grieving, and still hunted by familiar enemies, with Chandler Groff at large, Dalia and the Corsairs closing in, and the Kooks cutting off any safe return. Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Carlacia Grant, and Drew Starkey return as the crew is forced into an uneasy alliance with Rafe while trying to avenge their best friend and reclaim the future they’ve been chasing since the beginning. One last ride means one last chance to bring it all home.
📺 “Survival of the Thickest: Season 3” Trailer: Comedienne Michelle Buteau Takes One Last Strut Through Love, Fashion, and Family in Her Show’s Final Season — Premieres Thurs, July 2nd on Netflix
Mavis Beaumont is stepping into her final season with big style, bigger feelings, and one more chance to build the life she wants. Comic actress Michelle Buteau returns as the plus-size Black stylist riding high in the designer fashion world, while she and Luca begin the life-changing journey of starting a family. Based on Buteau’s acclaimed book of essays, this farewell season brings back the show’s mix of romance, self-worth, chosen family, and pointed comedy. Mavis came in funny, fabulous, and fully herself... and that seems exactly how she plans to go out.
📺 “The East Palace” Teaser: A Spirit Walker and a Court Lady Hear the Dead in Netflix’s Korean Supernatural Mystery Series — Premieres Fri, July 17th on Netflix
A dead crown prince, a cursed pond, and a palace full of secrets make for a pretty ominous royal crisis. This Korean supernatural mystery takes viewers into an ancient kingdom where tradition and superstition become matters of life and death. Nam Joo-hyuk stars as Gu-cheon, a man who can cross into the spiritual Realm of Gwi, summoned by the King after rumors spread that a vengeful spirit is wiping out his bloodline. Roh Yoon-seo co-stars as Saeng-gang, a court lady who can hear spirits and is ordered to watch Gu-cheon as he enters the East Palace on a life-or-death mission. Directed by Choi Jung-kyu and co-starring Cho Seung-woo as the King, the series looks like a haunted palace thriller where conspiracy, distress, and ghostly vengeance may all be hiding beneath the same dark water.
📺 “Vigil: Season 3” Teaser: Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie Investigate a Killing at a Remote Arctic Research Station in BBC’s Tense Police Procedural — Coming Soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
The coldest cases can be the most dangerous. DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) head to a remote Arctic research station after a British special forces officer is found shot dead, pulling them into another high-pressure investigation far from familiar ground. As the case unfolds against an unforgiving frozen backdrop, Vigil returns with suspicion in the air and danger closing in from every direction. The temperature may be brutal, but the real chill comes from realizing no one is easy to trust.
📺 “Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston” Trailer: Actor Tom Hiddleston Reexamines the Human Choices Made Before Mount Vesuvius Erupted — Premieres Wed, July 22nd on NatGeo, Hulu/Disney+
Pompeii was not just a city frozen in catastrophe. This cinematic documentary series follows Tom Hiddleston as archaeologists, historians, geologists, and disaster experts revisit the crucial hours before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Blending scripted drama with investigative storytelling, this historical docuseries looks beyond the ruins to the real people who lived in the volcano’s shadow, including those who may have had a chance to escape. Rather than treating the disaster as one fixed moment of destruction, the series digs into the fear, choices, and resilience that came before it. The past may be carved in stone, but the people caught inside it were anything but still.
📺 “Agent Kim Reactivated” Trailer: So Ji-Sub Plays a Former Black-Ops Spy Searching for His Missing Daughter in Netflix’s Korean Action Series — Premieres Fri, June 26th on Netflix
Being a quiet dad only works until someone drags the past back into the open. Based on the Webtoon Manager Kim, this Korean action series stars So Ji-Sub as a mild-mannered savings bank employee and single father hiding a dangerous secret: he’s a former spy with years of special-ops missions behind him. But when his daughter disappears, the skills he tried to bury come roaring back, turning an anonymous civilian into a dangerous man hiding in plain sight. Some fathers will do anything for their children; this one just happens to have a black-ops résumé.
📺 “The Bear: Season 5” New Promo: Carmy Steps Away as Sydney, Richie, Sugar, and the Crew Fight for One Last Service — Premieres Thursday, June 25th on Hulu/Disney+
Yes, chef! The shouted orders, hallway blowups, and kitchen panic may be reaching their final service as FX’s award-winning series heads toward its close. With Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) walking away, Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), Sugar (Abby Elliott), and the rest of the crew are left to hold the restaurant together on their own. Between money problems, a possible sale, and a storm closing in, the team has to figure out whether they can finally move as one. After everything they’ve built, one last service could decide what survives.
📺 “The Amazing Digital Circus Finale” Trailer: Gooseworx’s Surreal Animated Web Series Reaches Its Final Act — Arriving Fri, June 19th on Netflix
The circus tent is closing, which probably means things are about to get even stranger before the final curtain drops. Created, written, and directed by Gooseworx and produced by Glitch Productions, this Australian independent animated series follows a group of humans trapped inside a circus-themed virtual reality simulation overseen by an erratic artificial intelligence. After episodes eight and nine received a theatrical rollout as The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act, the series finale now heads to Netflix and YouTube this weekend. For a show built on neon-colored absurdity, one last trip through the circus feels like the only proper exit.
📺 “The F Ward” Trailer: Anna Friel Leads a Group of Medical Interns Fighting for One Last Shot at an Underfunded Sydney Hospital — Premieres Fri, July 17th on Australia’s Stan
Second chances are hard enough without life-or-death consequences attached. This Australian medical drama follows a group of flawed but talented interns sent to Pines Hospital, an underfunded Sydney facility where they must confront their insecurities, past mistakes, and the brutal expectations of the job. British actress Anna Friel leads the cast alongside Ioane Sa’ula, Daniel Wyllie, Lola Bond, Alex Fitzalan, and Emily Barclay, as the series turns medical training into a pressure cooker of ambition, exhaustion, and devastating failure.
📺 “Treasure & Dirt” Trailer: Michael Dorman and Liv Hewson Investigate a Grisly Murder in Australia’s Opal Mining Underworld — Streams Sun, July 19th on Australia’s ABC iview
A headless body found deep inside an opal mine is the kind of case that tends to bring every buried secret clawing back to the surface. This Australian crime drama stars Michael Dorman (For All Mankind) as Ivan Lucic, a big-city detective pulled into a brutal murder investigation in a lawless outback mining town where greed, corruption, and old sins run deep. Yellowjackets star Liv Hewson co-stars as rookie detective Nell Buchanan, whose knowledge of the town’s underbelly may be the only thing keeping the case from swallowing them both. With veteran Kiwi actress Sarah Peirse (Heavenly Creatures) also starring, the series looks like a sun-scorched murder mystery where the dirt may be just as dangerous as the people digging through it.
📺 “Louis C.K.: Ridiculous” Trailer: Stand-Up Comic Louis C.K. Returns to New York with a New Comedy Special — Debuting Tues, June 30th on Netflix
Louis C.K. is back onstage in New York, returning to the strange machinery of his own mind after years of public controversy and career fallout. The ridiculous thoughts are still coming, as the veteran comic works through absurd stories, uncomfortable hypotheticals, and blunt observations that turn small moments into darkly comic riffs. Whether poking at everyday behavior or spiraling into more uneasy territory, this new special puts him back in familiar mode: one man, one microphone, and a head full of thoughts that somehow keep making it to the stage.
