Prime Video streams the new(est) animated incarnation of “Batman: Caped Crusader.” Produced by J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves and Bruce Timm, the cartoon never lets one forget the gothic in “Gotham” and takes the action back to a reimagined mid-20th-century urban cesspool of official corruption, organized crime and a parade of theatrical evildoers.
Look, or rather listen, for Hamish Linklater in the title role. Jason Watson voices the faithful manservant, Alfred. Among the notable talents to lend their voices are Minnie Driver, Haley Joel Osment, Christina Ricci and Diedrich Bader.
Of DC’s two main superheroes, Batman and Superman, the Caped Crusader has always seemed gloomier and aimed at the mopier side of comic books’ adolescent audience. If Superman borrowed from the Book of Exodus’s Moses fable, Batman’s tale of a young man galvanized into vigilante cosplay by witnessing the bloody martyrdom of his wealthy parents seems straight out of a tabloid headline — or perhaps a psychology textbook.
Comic books have long surpassed the Bible as inspiration for scripted epics. “Batman” adaptations arrive too quickly to count. Look for a new iteration of “The Penguin” to arrive on HBO on Sept. 19, starring Colin Farrell as the waddling villain. There was a time when HBO set its sights on far more mature fare.
— While we’re on the subject of slightly morbid arrested development, Netflix streams the new BBC series “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.” While some Netflix series can seem formulaic to a fault, others have the air of inevitability. It’s hard to believe somebody hasn’t tried to blend the true-crime podcast genre with good-old-fashioned “Nancy Drew” mysteries. And now they have.
Emma Myers (“Wednesday”) stars as the brilliant and focused student Pip Fitz-Amobi, who just can’t seem to stop thinking about the town tragedy everybody else wants to forget. Five years earlier, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered. Closure came rather quickly when authorities pinned the blame on her boyfriend, Sal Singh — a bit too quickly for our heroine.
She obsessively sets out to prove Singh’s innocence and, more importantly, find the killer who is still among them — unless he finds her first. This six-episode series is based on the New York Times bestselling mystery YA novel by Holly Jackson.
— Speaking of Netflix, look for the streamer to offer 13 series that had been previously exclusive to AMC and its streaming apps. They include “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon,” “Monsieur Spade,” “Dark Winds,” “A Discovery of Witches,” and the first seasons of Anne Rice adaptations “Interview With the Vampire” and “Mayfair Witches.”
This continues a long tradition of streamers presenting series from other sources and helping them find new and much larger audiences. In 2015, Lifetime launched the smart if cynical series “UnReal,” about the making of a “Bachelor”-type series. It really wasn’t discovered until it became a “Hulu original.” Lifetime also launched the psychological thriller “You” in 2018, but it was only found when it streamed on Netflix, where it is now in its fifth season. Netflix also helped popularize cable series “The Sinner” and “Suits,” to name a few.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— Primetime in Paris: The Olympics (8 p.m., NBC) presents coverage of swimming and gymnastics events.
— The Houston Texans and Chicago Bears meet in the annual Hall of Fame Game (8 p.m., ABC) from Canton, Ohio, the official kickoff of the NFL preseason schedule.
— A billionaire explains all on “Just the Facts With Steve Ballmer” (9 p.m., Fox).
— Death in a crowded house on “The Real CSI: Miami” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
TCM kicks off August’s Summer Under the Stars, focusing on the films of one performer for a whole 24-hour block. First up: the films of William Powell, including the 1948 comedy “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid” (8 p.m., TV-PG), co-starring Ann Blyth, a fantasy that must have provided a little inspiration for the 1984 Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah fantasy “Splash.”
SERIES NOTES
“Big Brother” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … Law school on “Young Sheldon” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … A phishy email on “Ghosts” (9:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Glen Powell and Charlamagne Tha God sit down on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … “The Tonight Show” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” are preempted for Olympic coverage … Kathryn Hahn, Peyton Manning, Emma Roberts and The War and Treaty appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r) … Taylor Tomlinson hosts Alex Edelman, Jack McBrayer and Jackie Tohn on “After Midnight” (12:35 a.m., CBS, r).
