A Very Busy Sunday: Loads on HBO as well as Masterpiece

If you thought you could relax now that Games of Thrones and Silicon Valley have completed their seasons, you had better get back into the living room.  HBO is rolling out two new series as well as the second season of True Detective tonight, and even Masterpiece is back in the game after the recent showing of Wolf Hall.  Yes, another busy Sunday and another busy summer. 

The first new HBO show is Ballers with Dwayne Johnson (aka "The Rock") as he plays the part of a retired football player who now mentors other players in this half-hour comedy.  David Hinckley The New York Daily News seems to like the show, but he notes, "Pro football itself doesn’t come off well here."  Are you surprised? 

The second new HBO show is The Brink, starring Tim Robbins as the Secretary of State and Jack Black as a foreign service officer trying to keep the world together.  Good luck.  It looks like a great way to discuss the insanity of politics today without being too serious as was the case with The Newsroom or shows set overseas such as Tyrant (which returned for a second season last week).

And not to be outdone, PBS's Masterpiece returns tonight with a remake of Poldark with Aidan Turner.  Mr. Turner plays the part of Ross Poldark, who has returned from fighting against the Americans in the Revolutionary War only to learn that everything he left is gone, including his family's wealth and his first love. The program has already run in the UK and been renewed for a second season. 

As far as True Detective, HBO lined up a whole new cast, including Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, and Taylor Kitsch: Here is the basic story (it was really too much to easily summarize):

A bizarre murder brings together three law-enforcement officers and a career criminal, each of whom must navigate a web of conspiracy and betrayal in the scorched landscapes of California. Colin Farrell is Ray Velcoro, a compromised detective in the all-industrial City of Vinci, LA County. Vince Vaughn plays Frank Semyon, a criminal and entrepreneur in danger of losing his life’s work, while his wife and closest ally (Kelly Reilly), struggles with his choices and her own. Rachel McAdams is Ani Bezzerides, a Ventura County Sheriff’s detective often at odds with the system she serves, while Taylor Kitsch plays Paul Woodrugh, a war veteran and motorcycle cop for the California Highway Patrol who discovers a crime scene which triggers an investigation involving three law enforcement groups, multiple criminal collusions, and billions of dollars.

By the way,  if you still have time tonight you can watch the second season of The Last Ship on TNT.  Last season the Navy crew thought they were bringing an end to the plague, but nothing is that easy (especially when you have a hot show and you need a way to continue it for another season).  Hence, stay tuned for more shipboard and land-based battles as the diseased and cured fight the immune - don't ask, just watch it for yourself.