12 Shows To Watch In June: ‘The Bear,’ ‘The Idol,’ ‘Secret Invasion’ & More

Daniel D'Addario Chief TV Critic On the second season of “The Bear,” FX’s breakout restaurant drama, each character gets a moment to shine. But few seize it with quite such abandon as Richie. As played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Richie spent much of the first season at top volume and vein-popping intensity, perennially there to remind Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) of the chaos in the restaurant’s kitchen, and to add to it. Which makes him an unlikely candidate to train, for a period, at a true fine-dining restaurant, but so he does. Much as Marcus (Lionel Boyce) flies to Copenhagen to apprentice as a high-level pastry chef, so too does Richie “stage” in an upscale Chicago this show hadn’t yet shown us, so that he may learn the essentials of service.

Sophia Scorziello editor Chris Zucchero, owner of Chicago’s beloved Italian sandwich shop Mr. Beef, is on the “L” trying to get a word in on the phone. He just wrapped up a long two days of catering parties for FX’s “The Bear” Season 2, providing hot Italian beef sandwiches with sweet peppers and spicy giardiniera for Hollywood’s finest. “The Bear” creator Christopher Storer — who Zucchero has been friends with since kindergarten — based “The Bear” on the classic establishment and shot about 90% of the pilot in Mr. Beef. Storer even cast Zucchero in the pilot as the guy in the parking lot who deals meat to Jeremy Allen White’s character Carmy.

The African American Film Critics Association will honor Jennifer Hudson, Delroy Lindo, Marla Gibbs, “Ted Lasso” and “S.W.A.T.” at the fifth annual AAFCA TV Honors.Hudson will receive the “We See You” Award, given to performers who demonstrate versatility in their work with consistent excellence in their craft. Delroy Lindo (“UnPrisoned”) will receive the “Legacy Award” presented to an artist or institution that inspires others to follow their path.Marla Gibbs will receive the “Legend Ward” for changing the landscape of TV and Film.The “Inclusion Award” will go to AppleTV+’s “Ted Lasso,” for it’s ability to “prioritize representation of people from all walks of life.” CBS’ “S.W.A.T.,” produced by Sony, will receive the “Impact Award” for its influential storylines and performances to the African American community.On July 19, the AAFCA will also announce winners in 14 categories, including Best TV Comedy, Best TV Drama, Best New Show, Breakout Star, Best Ensemble, Best Writing, Best TV Directing and more.

Warning: This story contains spoilers about the plot of The Bear season 2.

News broke last month that The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White and his wife of four years, actress Addison Timlin, are getting a divorce.

The Bear returns for its second season this month.Created by Christopher Storer, the show’s first season followed award-winning chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) who returns to run his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop following the suicide of his older brother.The second season picks up after Carmy’s decision to close the shop in order to open a new restaurant, alongside Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) and Richie (Ebon Mass-Bachrach).A synopsis reads: “Carmy, Sydney and Richie work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot. As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future.

is ready for seconds. The award-winning and acclaimed FX comedy returns to Hulu with season 2 on June 22, promising new recipes for the same beloved kitchen. Created by Christopher Storer,  tells the story of fine-dining chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), who returns home to save his family's failing Chicago sandwich shop, The Original Beef, in the wake of his brother Michael's (Jon Bernthal) suicide.

The Bear season two are out, with critics praising new episodes as “electrifying” and “fresh”.The FX show’s first season, created by Christopher Storer, followed award-winning chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) who returns to run his family’s Italian beef sandwich shop following the suicide of his older brother.The second season picks up after Carmy’s decision to close the shop in order to open a new restaurant, with an official synopsis sharing: “Season two follows Carmy, Sydney and Richie as they work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot. As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future.”Early critics’ reviews of the new series are positive, which has given the show a 100 per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.Rolling Stone described season two as “electrifying” while avoiding a “sophomore slump”.“The new season has its moments, and even whole episodes, that might not be healthy viewing for anyone under a cardiologist’s care, but the tone is often much lighter, and at times plain joyous,” Alan Sepinwall wrote.Variety said season two “keeps up the heat” and wisely gets out of the kitchen”.

Julie Vincent Guest Contributor AFC Richmond brought some of its top players and an esteemed journalist to the Monte-Carlo Television Festival after the soccer team at the heart of Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” concluded its final season. Kola Bokinni, Billy Harris, Cristo Fernandez and James Lance bid a fond farewell to the show in Monaco. But is it truly good-bye? When asked about it, Harris replied: “We’re still pretty much together. We were in L.A. last week, and now we’re in Monte-Carlo. I suppose we’re enjoying the fruits of our labor.” Lance chimed in, saying: “The show may be over, but we’re just getting started, aren’t we? We’re still here, having a great time.”

The war in the kitchen is over, for now.  Season 2 of FX’s “The Bear” is not about head chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), his co-owner cousin Richie (Eben Moss-Bachrach), and sous chef Sydney (by long-reigning series MVP Ayo Edibiri) commandeering a lively Chicago beef kitchen as if it were a battleship, ordering their fellow chefs to fire up every chicken they’ve got or to make giardiniera from scratch.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Imagine you’ve been given a role in a pilot: The exciting news appears in the trades, you film the episode and take the cast publicity photos. Then your show is picked up! But there’s a caveat: Your role is being re-shot with a new actor. Devastating! Cue sad trombone sound effect. That’s why I like these kinds of stories better: The background actors, guest stars and recurring actors who eventually graduate to series regular status thanks to sheer persistence and talent. That’s the case this season for “Ted Lasso” standout James Lance, who plays Trent Crimm — formerly of The Independent, now just independent — on the show.

David Benedict Having the audacity to harness stabs and slashes of Prokofiev’s celebrated ballet score for “Romeo and Juliet” for a production of Shakespeare’s play suggests remarkable confidence on the part of white-hot director Rebecca Frecknall. It’s not misplaced. Her startlingly visceral production, with a cast led by Toheeb Jimoh of “Ted Lasso,” is not only lit up by the power of bodies leaping in space and dramatically alert even when in repose; it’s also alive to the detailed drama of Shakespeare’s language. The intensity she engenders in her actors is sometimes ramped-up too highly and everything boils over, but at its finest, the fiercely articulate passion is electrifying. The fact that the rulebook is being rewritten is made plain from the get-go. The famous opening address about “two houses alike in dignity” is not spoken: The text is lit up on the wall covering the entire front of the stage. Beneath Gareth Fry’s low growl of a soundscape, the company gathers one by one to claw against it before sending it crashing to the ground. But this is not just a shock tactic. Frecknall is illuminating the line about “taking the wall of any man” and using physical energy to punch into a vigorously staged fight between the warring Montagues and Capulets.

On their latest shows, Brett Goldstein and Theo James have created characters who unpeel deeper truths beyond their hunky appearances. Goldstein, who’s won two Emmys for portraying soccer player and coach Roy Kent on “Ted Lasso,” returned for the Apple TV+ comedy’s third season. (He’s also a co-creator and writer on “Shrinking,” about a therapist played by Jason Segel.) James joined the second season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” set in Italy and from creator Mike White, as a chiseled, privileged vacationer. THEO JAMES: How did you end up writing for “Ted Lasso”? BRETT GOLDSTEIN: I’d done a pilot for Bill Lawrence. The pilot didn’t get picked up, but we stayed in touch, and he knew I was a writer as well as an actor. When people ask me for advice, I’m always like, there’s no magic phone call. It doesn’t happen. But I did get a magic phone call here, from Bill, out of the blue, saying, “I think you’d be good for this football show.”

It seems that most of the cast was satisfied with the season three finale of Ted Lasso.

two summer shows. From hotly anticipated hits that are returning for their sophomore season, to old favorites making comebacks, to brand new fare, here’s everything you need to know. This show looks like a less-vicious version of “The Devil Wears Prada” for the modern era, starring Kim Cattrall. The plot follows aspiring influencer Marco (Miss Benny), a young queer man who lands a job working for legendary makeup mogul Madolyn Addison (Cattrall). Premiere date: June 22  on Netflix.A follow up to the 1997 British comedy about steel workers who form a male strip-tease act, this series is set 25 years later, following  the same band of working class brothers.

Whitney Friedlander Whether it’s a collision in an office elevator or a case of mistaken identities, fans of romantic comedies have a love-hate relationship with meet-cutes: The central couple must meet somehow and, since this is a love story, preferably they should do so in a cute way. But how many more white shirts must be killed in the name of clumsy-cute trip-and-falls while holding cups of coffee or orange juice?  For serialized romances, the challenge is even greater. Directors and writers must create interesting run-ins for characters to help sustain interest for longer than it takes for audiences to eat a bucket of popcorn.  “I feel like the bar now is, if you are expected to figure out a meet-cute, it has to be your new slightly subversive never-before-seen version of it,” says director Jay Karas. “I don’t think it’s a trope that we can totally get away from, because people have to meet somehow, and it’s just about how do you modernize it.” 

EXCLUSIVE: The Golden Trailer Awards has unveiled its nominees for its 23rd annual extravaganza taking place on Thursday, June 29th at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. The awards show honors the creative teams that are tasked with condensing two-hour films into two-minute trailers.

Nick Mohammed still can’t believe how lucky he was to have scored the role of Nate Shelley in Apple’s multi-Emmy Award-winning series Ted Lasso—but it almost didn’t happen. Mohammed had set his sights on a different role which he didn’t land but at the time he didn’t realize it didn’t work out for a reason.

is ready for seconds. FX's comedy returns to Hulu on June 22, promising new recipes for the same beloved kitchen.  season 1 told the story of fine dining chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), who returned home to save his family's failing Chicago sandwich shop, The Original Beef, in the wake of his brother's death.

The Season 3 (and presumed series) finale of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso brought closure for most of the characters, including Phil Dunster’s reformed bad boy Jamie Tartt. After one more squabble with foe-turned-friend and mentor Roy Kent over who can date Keeley — a dilemma she easily solved by throwing both of them out of her house — Jamie and Roy are seen in the final seconds having a beer together, sitting alongside Keeley and their AFC Richmond teammates. In the flashforward, Jamie also has a friendly conversation with his father, a sign of a possible reconciliation.