New TV shows to watch this week: Tune in to ‘Lanterns’ on HBO, stream ‘My Brilliant Career’ on Netflix and revisit ‘Heroes’ on Tubi

Hey TV watchers! TV critic Michel Ghanem here. Every two weeks, I highlight the shows worth your TV time for Trust Me, I Watch Everything . Whether you prefer sticking to cable, catching the latest on streaming or digging up a hidden gem that slipped through the cracks, I try to curate something for everyone.

Can you believe summer is coming to a close? A few late August series have arrived to keep us entertained before the fall TV season is upon us. This week, consider tuning in to Adults, a low-stakes hangout comedy airing on FXX, or the HBO superhero adaptation Lanterns . Over on streaming, Netflix's My Brilliant Career is for those who love a period drama with a love triangle. Finally, in light of Hayden Panettiere's tragic death at 36, consider revisiting her breakout role in Heroes on Netflix or Tubi. Plus, a few other recommendations below.

Why you should watch it: Debatably, the Green Lanterns of the DC Comics aren't the flashiest superheroes. They are not mutants with superhuman abilities. Rather, the Lanterns are ordinary humans and aliens alike who wield superpowered rings provided by an intergalactic enforcement agency that help them fly, create force fields and project various green objects. Basically, they're the universe's police force — with rings they need to charge periodically, lest they find themselves completely ordinary without them.

Luckily, Lanterns is in good hands. The eight-episode drama is created by Chris Mundy ( Ozark ), Damon Lindelof ( Watchmen ) and comic book writer Tom King. Kyle Chandler stars as Hal Jordan, a former pilot and member of the Green Lantern Corps responsible for keeping Earth safe from extraterrestrial threats. He's also been training his recruit, John Stewart (Aaron Pierre), for many years.

The two men get caught up in an incident in the small town of Rushville, Neb., where Hal quickly butts heads with local sheriff Kerry Kane (Kelly Macdonald) over how to handle a suspicious shooting. It all spirals into something much bigger, with a cast that also features Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Jason Ritter and Nathan Fillion (reprising his hilariously grating Justice Gang member Guy Gardner from Superman ).

I wouldn't watch expecting the show to immediately jump into bright-green action sequences like an animated Justice League episode ; there's definitely more intrigue and story-building in these early episodes as we find out more about what's actually happening. Lindelof's Watchmen came out swinging from the jump, but this show has more of a True Detective slow burn.

In the spectrum of superhero adaptations on television, Lanterns is a very decent and engaging offering. It's accessible enough that you don't need to have watched anything else in the DC extended universe to jump in, and there's enough sci-fi suspense to keep you anticipating the next episode.

How to watch: New episodes of Lanterns stream every Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max and air simultaneously on HBO.

Why you should watch it: Will there ever be another Friends ? Sitcoms about tight-knit friend groups who may or may not date each other are in rare supply these days. Adults , created by The Tonight Show comedy writing duo Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, might just be filling that gap.

We follow a group of post-college 20-somethings who all live together in their friend Samir's (Malik Elassal) house. The group in question includes Billie (Lucy Freyer), a stress-prone journalism major working in media; Anton (Owen Thiele), a remote worker with the special ability to befriend pretty much anyone; and Issa (Amita Rao), who is working overtime to get the household to accept her Canadian boyfriend, Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), into their crew.

It's all funny misadventures and dinner parties gone wrong, but half the fun is the scenes packed with bits and witty dialogue. I can't yet divulge anything juicy from the second season, which premieres on Aug. 27, but I can confirm there are some exciting guest stars (like Zosia Mamet, Raven-Symoné, Gaten Matarazzo) and a very queer love triangle set up in the first season's finale. Take this as your sign to catch up before it returns.

Adults is an easy recommendation in a television landscape with bloated episodes and an over-reliance on murder mysteries. The stakes are low in comparison, and episodes clock in at around 25 minutes, are tightly structured and move quickly. Before you know it, you'll feel right at home with your new group of friends.

How to watch: The new season of Adults premieres on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 9 p.m. ET on FXX with two episodes. Episodes will stream simultaneously on Hulu .

Why you should watch it: If you loved The Other Bennet Sister , Little Women and/or Bridgerton , you should make your way expeditiously to watch Netflix's new Australian period drama, My Brilliant Career , created by Liz Doran.

Based on the 1901 novel of the same name by Miles Franklin (and previously adapted as a film in 1979), the series stars Philippa Northeast as Sybylla Melvyn, a sassy aspiring writer stuck in the rural town of Possum Gully. She's encouraged by her family to move to Caddagat with the hopes of both furthering her writing career and finding a husband along the way. (Sybylla has little to no interest in centering a search for a partner, but since her family's financial future depends on it, the pressure is on.)

Life in Caddagat with her wealthy grandmother, Winifred (Anna Chancellor), and her widowed aunt, Helen (Genevieve O'Reilly), is a little different. There are rules of early 1900s society in place here; decorum and expectations of dress must be considered. But Sybylla has little regard for these aspects of higher society. She just wants to write her modern poetry in peace — and snort while she laughs without someone pointing it out.

Things take a turn when she meets two potential suitors: Harry Beecham (Christopher Chung), a very muscular Chinese Australian, and Frank Hawden (Jake Dunn), an English foreman. This is when the story leans more toward a typical love triangle affair as Sybylla finds herself unexpectedly yearning for romance, but it's all enjoyable enough to watch.

The series moves quickly across six episodes and is energetic, using an anachronistic soundtrack and some nice-looking cinematography that elevate it beyond the usual Netflix fare. Sybylla is easy to root for, even at her most chaotic. My Brilliant Career is a very strong entry in the romance-period-drama genre for those willing to take the plunge.

How to watch: All six episodes of My Brilliant Career are streaming on Netflix.

Outer Banks: The compelling teen drama set in North Carolina first premiered in 2020, and now returns for its fifth and final season . It remains one of Netflix's most popular series, and some of the cast — Drew Starkey in particular — have broken out to broader career success. See what's in store for one final adventure with the Pogues. — Now streaming on Netflix .

Why you should watch it: In light of Hayden Panettiere's untimely death , you may want to revisit her breakout role as Claire Bennet in NBC's iconic superhero drama, Heroes .

The landscape of superhero television has changed drastically since 2006. Marvel hadn't yet found the foothold it now has, and it was bold to debut an original series that bore a vague resemblance to X-Men without the foundation of comic books or previous films. Having recently rewatched the first season, I can confirm the series still holds up and should be held up as an example of how to make a propulsive, character-driven series that balances an overall plot with smaller, disparate arcs.

The show had a large ensemble cast, with high schooler Claire (Panettiere) playing a pivotal role when a prophecy sets Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) on a mission to "save the cheerleader, save the world." The other heroes in question include Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka), who has the ability to teleport and manipulate time; Nathan Petrelli (Adrian Pasdar), Peter's brother, who can fly; Matt Parkman (Greg Grunberg), a police officer and mind-reader; and Niki Sanders (Ali Larter), who finds out she has a split personality with a much stronger, brazen version of herself.

Each character gets a piece of the story as they discover their abilities, but become connected when the story's villain, Sylar (Zachary Quinto), begins eliminating the superpowered one by one in the most horrific way possible — sawing open their heads and consuming their brains, absorbing their abilities in the process.

There's also an organization hunting the heroes down, and a scientist studying how human DNA evolved to include these abilities in the first place.

Before going more off the rails in later seasons (and in a later spin-off, Heroes: Reborn , that couldn't quite recapture the magic), Heroes was a masterclass in complex storytelling. It's hard to imagine a broadcast network show quite as ambitious — or a version of this show that would have worked without Panettiere's performance.

How to watch: All four seasons of Heroes are available to stream on Netflix or for free with ads on Tubi .

That's the end of this week's episode, but there'll always be more TV to watch. I'll be back on Sept. 7 with new recommendations.

Think there's something missing that deserves my TV time? Let me know what else I should have on my radar in the comments below!