What to Watch on TV This Summer

Some of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars and directors will be turning up on television this summer in new shows for cable and streaming services. Among the highlights: Cameron Crowe’s return to rock with “Roadies,” “Moulin Rouge!” director Baz Luhrmann’s exploration of 1970s New York City and Ellen Barkin as a perverse family matriarch in “Animal Kingdom.” Here, a guide to the new shows vying for your poolside discussions and DVR space.

Famous Directors

“Roadies” (Showtime, June 26)

In 2000’s “Almost Famous,” Cameron Crowe mined his life as a rock journalist for a behind-the-scenes look at a young reporter who gets a dream assignment covering an up-and-coming band on the road. With “Roadies,” Mr. Crowe returns to those roots for his first TV series, this time exploring a road crew in charge of a rock band and its arena tour. “It’s a very intensive way to be with other people,” says executive producer Winnie Holzman. “In a funny way, you’re away from your quote-unquote real life—but yet [the road] is realer than your real life.”

“The Get Down” (Netflix, Aug. 12)

This series, from “Moulin Rouge!” director Baz Luhrmann, will plunge viewers into late 1970s New York City, but don’t expect the grit of “Serpico” or “Superfly.” “It’s saturated, it’s candy-colored, it’s sexy,” says author and cultural critic Nelson George, whose personal experiences inform the narrative. Through the eyes of its young black and Latino leads, “The Get Down” will dramatize the rise of hip-hop and other cultural touchstones that rose out of that tumultuous era of blackouts and bankruptcy. Mr. George, a writer and producer on the series, also promises one of the greatest disco dance scenes since “Saturday Night Fever.”

Comic Book Adaptations

“Outcast” (Cinemax, June 3)

It’s the summer of twisted comic-book adaptations. Based on “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman’s chilling title about demonic possession plaguing a West Virginia town, “Outcast” won’t rely just on jump scares and gore. Rather, showrunner Chris Black says, much of the terror will come through letting the audience get to know characters who either suffer from possession or witness their loved ones going through the spiritual ordeal. “Audiences have become more sophisticated,” says Mr. Black. “It’s hard to scare them. It’s harder to shock them.”

“Preacher” (AMC, May 22)

Some viewers may first notice the level of violence (requiring “a huge blood budget,” according to showrunner Sam Catlin). But fans of the comic book series will be monitoring how producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg interpreted “Preacher” for the screen. The two childhood friends say they narrowed some of the story’s setting and scope, but stayed as faithful as possible to the characters, including the supernaturally empowered hero played by Dominic Cooper. Garth Ennis, who co-created the comic, says he gave the producers his blessing “because they loved the story and the characters, not because they thought it was the perfect starting point for some idea of their own.”

Supernatural Thriller

Winona Ryder, Charlie Heaton, Natalia Dyer in ‘Stranger Things.’ Photo: Netflix

“Stranger Things” (Netflix, July 15)

Part sci-fi mystery, part homage to the 1980s, “Stranger Things” is the latest addition to the popular supernatural genre on television. This “long-form” movie—to use the words of co-creator Matt Duffer—follows a small Indiana community in the aftermath of a young boy’s unexplained disappearance. “We really wanted something in the vein of the classic films we loved growing up: the Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter movies,” says Mr. Duffer, who shares showrunning duties with his brother, Ross Duffer (“Wayward Pines,” “Hidden”). “They explored that point where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.” Winona Ryder, David Harbour and Matthew Modine star in the eight-episode season.

New Antiheroes

“The Night Of” (HBO, July 10)

The world of a New York City murder case is an intricate maze of unspoken rules, and according to “The Night Of,” you’d better learn how to play the game early on. This eight-part limited series comes from co-creators Steven Zaillian (“Schindler’s List”) and Richard Price (“The Wire”), who adapted the story from the 2008 BBC drama “Criminal Justice.” Although the late James Gandolfini was initially attached to the project while it was in its early stages (and he is still billed as an executive producer), the finished product stars John Turturro as the grizzled ambulance-chasing attorney who takes on the case’s primary suspect, a frightened Pakistani-American college student (Riz Ahmed).

“Vice Principals” (HBO, July 17)

In “Eastbound & Down,” Danny McBride and Jody Hill struck comedic gold with foul-mouthed Kenny Powers, a has-been baseball player determined to make a comeback. In “Vice Principals,” Messrs. McBride and Hill tackle more wannabe heavy hitters, this time two high-school vice principals vying to be top dog. “We wanted to avoid doing another Kenny Powers, just in a different location,” Mr. Hill says. “In a lot of ways, it’s more shocking than ‘Eastbound & Down.’ But there is a certain amount of sincerity that you don’t get in Kenny Powers.

Adapted From Abroad

“Animal Kingdom” (TNT, June 14)

Based on a 2010 Australian film of the same name, “Animal Kingdom” is a drama about a teenager named Joshua “J” Cody (Finn Cole), who is taken in by wealthy family members after his mother dies of a heroin overdose. The family is controlled by J’s loving but lethal grandmother, “Smurf” (Ellen Barkin), and their money comes from a sophisticated web of criminal activities. “The DNA of the show is really about a provocative, perverse matriarch and the emotionally incestuous hold that she has over her four boys,” says Jonathan Lisco, who penned the pilot and serves as co-showrunner with longtime collaborator John Wells.

“Feed the Beast” (AMC, June 5)

This year has been a mini renaissance for David Schwimmer. The former “Friends” star appeared as Robert Kardashian in FX’s acclaimed “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” and now he stars as a down-and-out sommelier who’s grappling with becoming a widower and raising a 10-year-old son. How does he rebound? By opening up a new restaurant with an old friend who has mob ties. Adapted from a Danish series “Bankerot,” the show was created by Clyde Phillips (“Dexter,” “Nurse Jackie”). Mr. Phillips grew up in the food world—his father was a butcher who had a tough time staying clear of trouble. “My dad was a small-time crook and you never knew when he was telling the truth,” Mr. Phillips says. “That’s kind of what the story is going on.”

Still More O.J.

“O.J.: Made in America” (ABC/ESPN, June 11)

When filmmaker Ezra Edelman set out to explore Mr. Simpson’s life nearly two years ago, he never intended to make a 7-hour-and-43-minute documentary. “Even if I wasn’t working, it pervaded my existence,” he says. After debuting at Sundance earlier this year, “OJ: Made in America” is getting an event-series rollout, starting on ABC and then moving to ESPN for its final four parts. Mr. Edelman spends a great deal of time exploring the cultural and political landscape that existed when Mr. Simpson was a star running-back-turned-actor, as well as when he was tried for double murder. “[The film] speaks to us as individuals in different ways, based on who we are,” he says.

Write to Mike Ayers at [email protected], Michael Calia at [email protected], Sarene Leeds at [email protected] and John Jurgensen at [email protected]