Your TV GPS, a look at the week ahead in television, appears every Monday morning on BostonGlobe.com. Today’s column covers June 30-July 6.
The red dust has hardly settled from the French Open. Now, the Grand Slam continues with the 138th edition of Wimbledon. The sports spectacular volleys onto ESPN+ with wall-to-wall coverage on ESPN, ABC, and the Tennis Channel. Launched in 1870, the grass-court matches that now attract royals, celebrities, and a vast global television audience rolls out at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. Play starts live this morning on ESPN+ at 6 a.m. with qualifying matches, and runs through the finals on July 13. Recent Roland Garros champions, American Coco Gauff and Italian Jannik Sinner, are expected to compete.
What else clicks this week?
“Shark Whisperer,” today on Netflix: Following summer’s official start, and the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” shark season is already underway despite the Discovery Channel’s 37th annual Shark Week slated for July 20. This Netflix documentary concentrates on the controversial conservationist Ocean Ramsay. The social media phenom swims with sharks, uncaged, as her 2 million Instagram followers watch. Expect the unexpected, a complex character study, and dazzling underwater photography co-directed by James Reed, who won an Oscar for his participation in the pop culture sensation “My Octopus Teacher.”
“Heads of State,” Wednesday on Prime Video: It used to be that July Fourth weekend was the big tentpole for action-driven movies like “Transformers,” “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” and “Independence Day.” Now, streaming has taken over that function with stunt-and-star original movies. “Heads of State” pairs two Hollywood stars, John Cena and Idris Elba, who boast big individual followings. The buddy bromance has Elba as the UK prime minister and Cena as the American president joining forces to thwart an international terrorist conspiracy before the free world sizzles like a sparkler.
“The Old Guard 2,” Wednesday on Netflix: In that same category of original movies capitalizing on the holiday weekend is this action-packed supernatural superhero sequel to the 2020 Netflix hit, both of which star Charlize Theron. The “Mad Max: Fury Road” action hero plays Andy, the leader of a team of immortal warriors that includes characters played by returning cast KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Marwan Kenzari. Andy straps on her weapons again, but has a new survival challenge: While no longer immortal, she’s confronting a new deathless antagonist played by Uma Thurman.
“All the Sharks,” Friday on Netflix: For the shark trend’s reality show version, Netflix lands this new competition. With a $50,000 purse to be donated to charity, which seems meager for the level of danger involved, four teams of aquatic experts travel the world competing in a treasure hunt. Who will discover and photograph the most shark species? It sounds dry on paper, but getting within shooting range of the toothy beasts could draw blood in the water from the Maldives to the Galapagos.
“Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks,” Friday at 8 p.m. on NBC and Peacock: The annual celebration, televised live and launching adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, will save at-home viewers from neck pain, mugginess, dehydration, and crowds. Broadway star and Oscar-winner Arianna DeBose is slated to host. Musical guests in anticipation of the fireworks are the Jonas Brothers, Eric Church, Lenny Kravitz, Ava Max, Keke Palmer, and Trisha Yearwood. For the 25-minute fireworks display, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and James Poyer will produce the score, with DeBose performing as well.
Thelma Adams is a cultural critic and the author of the best-selling historical novel “The Last Woman Standing,” about Josephine Marcus, the Jewish wife of Wyatt Earp.