5 things you ought to check out on TV this summer

Sure, it’s almost summer. And you’ll be spending more time outdoors. But you can’t spend all summer outside — too hot, too dry, too many bugs — and if you do, you’ll miss some great TV.

Here, in chronological order, are five can’t-miss shows you’ll want to check out:

1. ‘Evil’ (Season 4)

This has to be the weirdest, creepiest, most disturbing show on TV — but once you get engaged with it, you’ll be hooked. I can’t wait to see what happens in this fourth and final season.

In a nutshell, a team of paranormal investigators in the employ of the Catholic Church — true believer/newly minted priest David (Mike Colter); super skeptical, ex-Catholic psychologist Kristen (Katja Herbers), and the religiously neutral tech guy Ben (Aasif Mandvi) — who investigate such things as wayward technology, possessed pigs, demonic oppression and infestation, alleged witches and an evil relic.

We’re promised that Season 4 will give us resolution, and a showdown between Our Heroes and Leland (Michael Emerson). He’s in league with Satan and trying to bring about the coming of the antichrist, using one of Kristen’s eggs. Which was stolen from a fertility clinic. For all that, “Evil” is a very funny show. If you’re looking for something to watch this summer, all 36 episodes from Seasons 1-3 are streaming on Paramount+.

• Paramount+ ordered four extra episodes of “Evil” — expanding Season 4 from 10 to 14 episodes — to wrap things up. The season premiere debuted May 23; new episodes premiere weekly on Thursdays through Aug. 22.

2. ‘Clipped’

If you want proof that the Utah Jazz and their fans have been lucky when it comes to team ownership, look no further than “Clipped,” a fact-based miniseries about the turmoil that ended Donald Sterling’s ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers.

I’m not saying that Larry H. Miller was perfect. Neither is Ryan Smith. But compared to Sterling — an oafish, racist, bully — there’s not much to complain about.

You may recall the headlines when, in 2014, Sterling’s mistress leaked audio tapes of him using racial slurs. By the time the scandal played out, Sterling had been fined $2.5 million, forced to sell the team and banned from the NBA for life. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg to this story — a soap opera-ish drama that swirled around Clippers coach Doc Rivers (Laurence Fishburne), Sterling (Ed O’Neill), his mistress. V. Stiviano (Cleopatra Jones); and his wife of almost 60 years, Shelly (Jacki Weaver), among many others.

If this wasn’t more or less real, I’d slam it for being to ludicrous to be believable. It doesn’t all reflect terribly well on the NBA, but the league cleaned up the cesspool that was the Clippers.

• The first two episodes of “Clipped” start streaming on FX on Hulu on Tuesday, June 4. Episodes 3-6 will premiere on successive Tuesdays through July 2.

3. ‘Presumed Innocent’

Scott Turow’s legal thriller was adapted into a pretty good movie. with Harrison Ford in the lead, back in 1990. So are there reasons to get excited about this eight-episode reboot?

Absolutely. For one thing, Turow’s book is terrific and makes excellent source material. For another, David E. Kelley — the man behind truly great TV like “L.A. Law,” “Picket Fences,” “The Practice.” “Ally McBeal” and “Big Little Lies” (just to name a few) — is the writer/showrunner of the new “Presumed Innocent.” For another thing, Jake Gyllenhall is starring as Rusty Sabich, the assistant district attorney who gets caught up in a sensational murder case.

And, let’s be honest. It’s impossible for all of a novel like “Presumed Innocent” to make it into a movie script. We’ll see more of the story in this miniseries.

• The first two episodes of “Presumed Innocent” will start streaming on Wednesday, June 12, on Apple TV+. Episodes 3-8 will debut on successive Wednesdays through July 24.

4. ‘House of the Dragon’ (Season 2)

For everything that happened in Season 1 of this “Game of Thrones” prequel — and a whole lot happened — it was just a prelude to Season 2, when civil war breaks out between two branches of the Targaryen family, the Blacks and the Greens.

Both sides in the conflict have dragons, which add a certain air of excitement, terror, carnage and unbelievable coolness to the conflict. Dowager Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and her Greens are trying to keep her idiot son, Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney), on the Iron Throne, while Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) fights to take the throne that was stolen from her. And she wants revenge after her son, Lucerys, and his dragon (Arrax) were killed by Allicent’s son, Aemond, and his dragon (Vhagar).

Family counseling is not going to save the Targaryen dynasty. If you’ve read the book on which this is based, “Fire & Blood,” you know where this is headed. No spoilers here, but the death and destruction in Westeros is going to get a whole lot worse. Quickly.

“House of the Dragon” returns Sunday, June 16, on HBO. It will also stream on Max. There are 10 episodes — one per week through Aug. 18.

5. ‘The Bear’ (Season 3)

It’s sort of weird to recommend a show about which we know pretty much nothing, but the best indication of future success is past success. And the first two seasons of “The Bear” — a dramedy set in a fledgling Chicago restaurant — were spectacular.

The Emmys aren’t alway right or fair, but “The Bear” deserved the 10 it won for Season 2 — the most of any show — including for best comedy. (Although we could argue about whether the show is a comedy or a drama.)

We do know one thing about Season 3: At the end of Season 2, Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) was locked in a freezer. In a trailer for Season 3, he’s out … so we can assume we’ll learn how that happened.

All 10 Season 3 episodes of “The Bear” will start streaming June 27 on FX on Hulu.

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