From ‘Veronica Mars’ to ‘The Boys’: Five things to stream in July

Nostalgia is running full tilt on streaming services in July as viewers get a hearty serving of new episodes from their old favourites.

Several marquee titles premiere their latest seasons in the coming weeks, including Netflix’s “Stranger Things” (July 4), “Queer Eye” (July 19) and the final episodes of “Orange is the New Black” (July 26). But several other pop-culture obsessions are making their return, too.

Here’s a look at five things to add to your must-see lists:

“Veronica Mars”

Kristen Bell’s beloved private detective is back in business with this eight-episode revival of the popular mystery TV series from the mid-aughts. When spring breakers start turning up murdered in the town of Neptune, the parents of one victim hire Mars to track down the killer and restore the vacation resort hotspot to its former glory. But the case gets complicated when she discovers there’s interest in scaring off partying teens from the sunny seaside community. Fresh additions to the cast include J.K. Simmons, Patton Oswalt and Kirby Howell-Baptiste. New viewers can stream the original three seasons of “Veronica Mars” on Crave before the new show arrives. (Crave, July 26)

Music Documentaries

From epic rock to children’s pop, there’s an array of stories about the music industry streaming this month, including “Carmine Street Guitars” (Crave, July 5), which captures the work of guitar-maker Rick Kelly at New York’s famous Greenwich Village shop, where he builds instruments with reclaimed wood from old hotels and churches. The storefront has attracted the likes of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Patti Smith. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Crave+, July 5) takes a revisionist-history approach to the rise of rockers Queen and frontman Freddie Mercury, played by Oscar winner Rami Malek. Four-part series “Shangri-La” (Crave, July 12) explores music producer Rick Rubin’s famed Malibu studio and his creative process. And “Parchis: A Documentary” (Netflix, July 10) travels back to the 1980s to revisit a manufactured Spanish kids’ band that was a sensation in their home country.

“The Hilarious House of Frightenstein”

For a generation of young Canadians, the horror-themed children’s variety show was either a transfixing fright or a television delight. After years of grainy copies being circulated on YouTube, all 129 episodes of the 1970s cult series are landing on Crave for the first time. Inspired by old Universal monster movies and late-night horror flicks, the show features numerous creatures alongside host Billy Van as the Count and the occasional cameo by Hollywood star Vincent Price. (Crave, July 19)

“The Boys”

Superheroes using their powers for good is so overdone, at least that’s the bent Amazon’s darkly satirical new series takes. Based on a comic books written by Garth Ennis, the eight episodes follow a group of CIA operatives tasked with infiltrating a deeply corrupt organization of celebrity superheroes who use and abuse their abilities for personal gain. Chace Crawford, Elisabeth Shue and Karl Urban star in the New York-set series, which filmed around Toronto and Hamilton. (Amazon Prime Video, July 26)

“Who Killed Garrett Phillips?”

Questions abound in HBO’s two-part true crime documentary on the case of Garrett Phillips, a 12-year-old boy who was strangled inside his apartment in Potsdam, a small town in upstate New York. Police quickly turn their attention to Oral Hillary, a black soccer coach at a local university and ex-boyfriend of Garrett’s mother, who they believe is a prime suspect. But they don’t have DNA evidence or witnesses to back up their case. Using shocking video surveillance footage from interrogations, the film takes a closer look at the twists and turns of a murder that shook a community. (Crave/HBO Canada, July 23 & 24)

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT (titles already streaming):

“Girlfriends”

A young Manhattan woman’s life is thrown into turmoil when her best friend and roommate moves out to get married, leaving her to wonder how she’ll write her own next chapter. That’s how director Claudia Weill sets up the conflict for her 1978 film, a funny and sometimes heartbreaking glimpse of the complexities of female relationships and how they’re often juxtaposed against the men in their lives. “Girlfriends” went nearly unseen for years, but it’s credited for inspiring a whole subgenre of films and television shows, including Lena Dunham’s “Girls” and Greta Gerwig’s “Frances Ha.” (Criterion Channel)

“Pen15”

Teenage life is already filled with awkward moments, but the experience gets even stranger when 30-something comedians Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle slip into younger versions of themselves for this 10-episode series. Set in the year 2000, the grownup classmates navigate the politics of middle school alongside a cast of actual 13-year-olds who don’t seem to notice they’re in the company of two women 20 years their senior. It’s a reflection on adolescence that recalls the bowl haircuts, puberty hurdles and rainbow gel pens of an era long passed. (CBC Gem)

— All release dates are subject to change.

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David Friend, The Canadian Press