Brian Lowry

‘Succession’ looked like the Murdochs, but it owed a major debt to ‘The Godfather’

Although not officially billed as a “series finale,” “Ted Lasso” surely reached what felt like the end of something, capping off the least appealing of its three seasons with an episode awash in sentimentality and heart. For those who felt the show drifted creatively a bit in the long buildup to the title character’s seemingly inevitable decision, the aptly subtitled “So Long, Farewell” offered one last reason to believe.

Editor’s note: the following contains spoilers about the premiere of “The Idol.”

Few sports broadcasters are more polarizing than Bill Walton, who often seems to be talking about everything except the game that he’s actually watching. Yet Walton’s improbable second act as a basketball analyst – overcoming a stutter – is only part of “The Luckiest Guy in the World,” a four-part “30 for 30” docuseries that’s as big and colorful as its subject.

The many lives of Arnold Schwarzenegger get neatly divided into three equal parts in “Arnold,” a Netflix documentary-cum-self-led tour through his remarkable success story as bodybuilder, actor and politician, each more improbable than the other. Now acting again (in a series for Netflix, conveniently), Schwarzenegger’s missteps aren’t ignored in the doc, but the emphasis is on how he pursued and achieved his goals, envisioning his stardom before making it a reality.

The seventh entry in the toy-turned-movie franchise that began in 2007 (including the most recent “Bumblebee”), “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” reaches into the past in more ways than one, offering a simple-minded strain of giant-robot combat. Much in need of a script tune-up, it’s a less-than-meets-the-eye summer-movie machine, and not a particularly well-oiled one.

Kaley Cuoco continues to burnish her post-“Big Bang Theory” credentials as a streaming queen with “Based on a True Story,” a twisty, darkly comic series with strong echoes of two Netflix shows, “You” and “Dead to Me.” The series likely won’t rival either on Peacock – a service that tends to fly under the radar – but those who find it won’t be disappointed.

Tom Holland stars and produces this Apple TV+ mystery series, playing Danny Sullivan, a young man arrested for a shooting incident in a bustling New York venue in 1979.

Marvel’s various forays into the multiverse have yielded a mixed bag creatively, so credit DC/Warner Bros. with striking gold on the first try with “The Flash,” a movie that wears its love for the comics that inspired it on its crimson-streaked sleeve. Funny, action-packed and effectively touching, anyone familiar with the DC stable of heroes should run, not walk, to see it.

“Flamin’ Hot,” a crowd-pleasing, chips-to-riches story, marks Eva Longoria’s directorial debut with a movie inspired by the feel-good tale of a Frito-Lay janitor who rose into the executive ranks and highlighted an underserved community.