August 2015 TV premieres, movie, specials, finales

August 2015 TV premieres are heavy on scripted comedy, but the funniest/saddest event of the month will be Jon Stewart signing off as “The Daily Show” anchor.

After 16 years in the hot seat, Stewart is moving on to other things. But before he leaves, Comedy Central will air an all-day marathon of Stewart’s best episodes Aug. 6 and a repeat of a “Daily Show” special before his final episode airs at 10 p.m. that night. Trevor Noah makes the show his in September.

On the premiere front, new comedies “Significant Mother” (CW, Aug. 3), “Difficult People” (Hulu, Aug. 5), “Mr. Robinson,” (NBC, Aug. 5), “Kevin from Work” (ABC Family, Aug. 12), “Detectorists” (acorn.tv, Aug. 17) and “Blunt Talk” (Starz, Aug. 22).

Returning comedies include “The Hotwives of Las Vegas” (Hulu, Aug. 18), “Real Husbands of Hollywood” (BET, Aug. 18), “Survivor’s Remorse” (Starz, Aug. 22), “Vicious” (PBS, Aug. 23), “Awkward” and “Faking It” (both MTV, Aug. 31).

August isn’t just about laughs, though. AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead” extends the franchise beginning Aug. 23, and El Rey Network’s “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” returns for an even bloodier second season Aug. 25.

Check out the August 2015 TV premieres calendar below for more new and returning shows, specials, movies and finales.

August 2015 TV premieres, movie, specials and finales

Saturday, Aug. 1

10:30 a.m.

• “Malibu,” Reelz (special; about the popular area)

8 p.m.

• “The Dead Files,” Travel (season finale)

9 p.m.

• “Jay Pharoah: Can I Be Me?” Showtime (standup special)

Sunday, Aug. 2

10 a.m.

• “Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter,” Sundance (series premiere; filmed panel discussions featuring potential 2015 Emmy nominees)

6 p.m.

• “America’s Secret Swimming Holes,” Travel (1-hour special; as title says)

7 p.m.

• “Bachelor in Paradise,” ABC (2-hour season 2 premiere)
• “On the Record with Mick Rock,” Ovation (series premiere; talk show)

8 p.m.

• “Gourmet Detective: A Healthy Place to Die,” Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (movie; chef and detective investigate murder at gourmet food conference)
• “Ice Road Truckers,” History (season 9 premiere)
• “Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Challenge,” CMT (series premiere; physical competition series)
• “Naked and Afraid Bares All,” Discovery (special)
• “The Day the Bomb Dropped,” Smithsonian (special; 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima)

Monday, Aug. 3

2:01 a.m.

• “George Gently, Series 7,” acorn.tv (U.S. premiere; 4 feature-lengths mysteries featuring Inspector George Gently, Detective Sergeant John Bacchus and Constable Rachel Coles)

7 p.m.

• “Bachelor in Paradise,” ABC (time period premiere)

8 p.m.

• “Toe Tag Parole: To Live and Die on Yard A,” HBO (doc premiere; look at extreme sentencing policies through eyes of prisoners at California State Prison, Los Angeles County)
• “Deadly Devotion,” Investigation Discovery (season 3 premiere)
• “Wander Over Yonder,” Disney XD (season 2 premiere)

8:30 p.m.

• “Significant Mother,” CW (series premiere; restaurateur’s buddy starts dating his mother; see video above)

9 p.m.

• “Unreal,” Lifetime (season 1 finale)

10 p.m.

• “The Men in Blazers Show,” NBCSN (season premiere)

Tuesday, Aug. 4

4 p.m.

• “Wristbanded: Lollapalooza,” fuse.tv (special; interviews, performances from Lolla 2015)

7 p.m.

• “CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock,” ABC (special)

9 p.m.

• “Playing House,” USA (season 2 premiere, 2 episodes)
• “Get Swank’d,” FYI (series premiere; makeover show)
• “West Texas Investors Club,” CNBC (series premiere; self-made millionaires in Texas invite entrepreneurs to try to secure funding)

 

Wednesday, Aug. 5

2:01 a.m.

• “Difficult People,” Hulu (series premiere; two New York friends become bitter while trying to make it in comedy)

7 p.m.

• “World’s Got Talent,” NBC (special; memorable acts from “Got Talent” productions around the globe)
• “America’s Next Top Model,” CW (season premiere)
• “Melissa & Joey,” ABC Family (series finale)
• “Lucha Underground,” El Rey (season finale)

7:30 p.m.

• “Baby Daddy,” ABC Family (summer finale)
• “Lab Rats: Bionic Island,” Disney XD (special 1-hour episode)

8 p.m.

• “Mr. Robinson,” NBC (series premiere, 2 episodes; Craig Robinson plays singer who moonlights as substitute music teacher; see video below)
• “A Wicked Offer,” CW (series premiere; couples tested with challenges)
• “Job or No Job,” ABC Family (series premiere; young adults land first jobs)

Thursday, Aug. 6

8:30 a.m.

• “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” marathon, Comedy Central (Stewart’s best episodes)

8 p.m.

• “Project Runway,” Lifetime (season 14 premiere)
• “From Wags to Riches with Bill Berloni,” Discovery Family (series premiere; theatrical animal trainer also rescues animals)

9 p.m.

• “The Daily Show: News Your Own Adventure,” Comedy Central (special repeat)
• “3 Bad Dates, 1 Soulmate,” TLC (special; 2 women remember their dating life)
• “Behind Bars: Rookie Year,” A&E (series premiere; rookie correctional officers begin their careers at the Penitentiary of New Mexico)

10 p.m.

• “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Comedy Central (series finale; Stewart signs off)

 

Friday, Aug. 7

8 p.m.

• “Alaskan Bush People: The Wild Year Special,” Discovery (special)

9 p.m.

• “Human Resources,” Pivot (season premiere; see video above)
• “Deadly Women,” Investigation Discovery (season 9 premiere)

9:30 p.m.

• “The Comment Section,” E! (series premiere; Michael Kosta hosts look at weekly stories and commentary about them)

Saturday, Aug. 8

9:30 a.m.

• “Live Like a Star,” Reelz (special)

9 p.m.

• “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team,” CMT (season premiere)
• “Autopsy: The Last Hours of Robin Williams,” Reelz (special)

10 p.m.

• “Funny Or Die Presents America’s Next Weatherman,” TBS (series premiere; 12 competitors vying for a job as America’s next great weather caster)
• “Atlantis,” BBC America (season finale)

 

Sunday, Aug. 9

6 p.m.

• “America. The Beautiful.” Travel (series premiere; awe-inspiring places; 2nd ep airs at 6:30 p.m.)

7 p.m.

• “El Rey Network Presents: The Director’s Chair,” El Rey (new episode; sit-down with Michael Mann)
• “Answered Prayers,” TLC (new time-slot premiere)

8 p.m.

• “Garage Sale Mystery: The Wedding Dress,” Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (movie; antiques dealer finds wedding dress worn on the day groom died, investigates the cold case; see teaser above)
• “True Detective,” HBO (season 2 finale)

9 p.m.

• “Project Afterlife,” Destination America (series premiere; team of investigators look into the afterlife)

Monday, Aug. 10

8 p.m.

• “Major Crimes,” TNT (summer finale)
• “I Am Chris Farley,” Spike (doc; life of the late comedian)
• “Top Gear: Best of 14/15,” BBC America (season finale)

9 p.m.

• “She’s Got Game,” VH1 (series premiere; rapperthe Game goes on 10 dates with women picked by his pals)
• “Style Unzipped,” FYI (series premiere; Emily Dees Boulden and Nicole Noles go on trend-setting road trip)

Tuesday, Aug. 11

7 p.m.

• “Pretty Little Liars,” ABC Family (summer finale)

8 p.m.

• “Next Step Realty: NYC,” ABC Family (series premiere; follows employees of Manhattan-based Next Step Realty)
• “Deadliest Catch: The Bait,” Discovery (special)
• “Boss Nails,” Oxygen (series premiere; following Dana Cody, owner of Tippie Toes Beauty Lounge in Miami)
• “Dance Moms,” Lifetime (summer finale)

9 p.m.

• “Startup U,” ABC Family (series premiere; entrepreneurial millennials at Draper University in Silicon Valley)
• “The Agent,” Esquire (docuseries premiere; run-up to the 2015 NFL draft as seen through the eyes of player reps)
• “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Houston Rockets,” HBO (season premiere)
• “Hollywood Cycle,” E! (season finale)

 

Wednesday, Aug. 12

7:30 p.m.

• “Kevin from Work,” ABC Family (series premiere; guy declares love to coworker when he thinks he’s being transferred; then he isn’t transferred)

8 p.m.

• “Complications,” USA (season 1 finale)

9 p.m.

• “Make Me a Millionaire Inventor,” CNBC (series premiere; finding the best inventions never made to give them new life)
• “Big Time RV,” Travel (season 2 premiere)
• “Swamp Murders,” Investigation Discovery (season 3 premiere)
• “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” Science (season premiere)

Thursday, Aug. 13

9 p.m.

• “Rectify,” Sundance (season finale)

Friday, Aug. 14

2:01 a.m.

• “Dinotrux,” Netflix (animated series premiere; dinosaur and truck hybrids)
• “Demetri Martin: Live (At the Time),” Netflix (standup special)

8 p.m.

• “Edge of Alaska,” Discovery (season premiere)

Saturday, Aug. 15

2:01 a.m.

• “Colin Quinn—Unconstitutional,” Netflix (standup special)

7 p.m.

• “The Doctor’s Finest,” BBC America (premiere; essential “Doctor Who” episodes from the modern era)

8 p.m.

• “Murder Made Me Famous,” Reelz (series premiere; killers whose crimes made them infamous)
• “Power,” Starz (season 2 finale)

Sunday, Aug. 16

7 p.m.

• “Ed Sheeran—Live at Wembley Stadium,” NBC (special)
• “Teen Choice 2015,” Fox (awards special)

8 p.m.

• “Show Me a Hero,” HBO (6-part miniseries premiere; mayor builds low-income housing units in the white neighborhoods, tearing city apart)
• “Love Under the Stars,” Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (movie; child and woman who lost loved ones bond)
• “Humans,” AMC (season 1 finale)

9 p.m.

• “Don’t Be Tardy…,” Bravo (season 4 premiere)

9:30 p.m.

• “Manzo’d with Children,” Bravo (season 2 premiere)

 

Monday, Aug. 17

2:01 a.m.

• “Detectorists,” acorn.tv (U.S. premiere; two amateur metal detectorists are obsessed with finding a trove of buried Saxon loot)

7 p.m.

• “Tashi and the Monk,” HBO (doc premiere; orphaned children find hope at school in the Himalayas)
• “36 Hours,” Travel (series premiere; 36 hours to get to know a city like a resident does)

8 p.m.

• “Time Traveling with Brian Unger,” Travel (season finale)

9 p.m.

• “Killer Instinct with Chris Hansen,” Investigation Discovery (series premiere; America’s most shocking murders)

Tuesday, Aug. 18

2:01 a.m.

• “The Hotwives of Las Vegas,” Hulu (season 2 premiere)

8 p.m.

• “Hack My Life,” truTV (season 2 premiere)
• “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo (3-part reunion special, Part 1)

8:30 p.m.

• “Six Degrees of Everything,” truTV (series premiere)

9 p.m.

• “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” BET (season 4 premiere)
• “WAGS,” E! (series premiere; WAGS = Wives and Girlfriends of Sports Stars—which really should be WAGSS)
• “Our Little Family,” TLC (season premiere)
• “Worst. Post. Ever: With Frankie Grande,” Oxygen (special; talking about social media posts)
• “Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda,” Investigation Discovery (season 5 premiere)

10 p.m.

• “Punk’d,” BET (series premiere; prank show rebooted)

11:30 p.m.

• “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail,” Comedy Central (season finale)

Wednesday, Aug. 19

7:30 p.m.

• “Young & Hungry,” ABC Family (midseason premiere)

9 p.m.

• “Steampunk’d,” GSN (series premiere; steampunk design competition; see video above)

10 p.m.

• “American Rehab: Charleston,” DIY (series premiere; contractor Trent Fasnacht restores condemned 1906 Victorian home in Charleston, S.C.)

Thursday, Aug. 20

7 p.m.

• “Astronaut Wives Club,” ABC (season finale)

8 p.m.

• “Party Down South,” CMT (season 4 premiere)

9 p.m.

• “Documentary Now!” IFC (series premiere; 6 episodes that comedically rewrite history, hosted by Helen Mirren)
• “Gainesville,” CMT (docuseries premiere; 7 friends out on their own)
• “Nowhere to Hide,” Investigation Discovery (season 2 premiere)
• “Alone,” History (season 1 finale)

Friday, Aug. 21

9 p.m.

• “Kendra on Top,” WEtv (season 4 premiere)

 

Saturday, Aug. 22

noon

• “Lake Docks and Decks,” GAC (series premiere; contractors create places for lakeside living)

7 p.m.

• “The Unauthorized Full House Story,” Lifetime (movie premiere; fictionalized look at iconic series)

8 p.m.

• “Blunt Talk,” Starz (series premiere; comedy about blunt British news show host)
• “Ghost Adventures,” Travel (season 11 premiere)

8:30 p.m.

• “Survivor’s Remorse,” Starz (season 2 premiere)

9 p.m.

• “Tig Notaro: Boyish Girl Interrupted,” HBO (stand-up special)
• “The Last Goodbye,” LMN (series premiere; spiritual medium Rebecca Rosen tries to connect living with a dead relative)
• “Indecent Proposal,” Investigation Discovery (series premiere, 2 episodes; people confronted with life-altering moral dilemmas)

10 p.m.

• “Natasha Leggero: Live from Bimbo’s,” Comedy Central (standup special)

11:30 p.m.

• “The Half Hour,” Comedy Central (season 4 premiere, second ep. follows)

Sunday, Aug. 23

7 p.m.

• “Talking Dead Season 6 Preview Special,” AMC (special)

8 p.m.

• “Fear the Walking Dead,” AMC (90-minute series premiere; zombie virus outbreak hits Los Angeles; see video above)
• “Vicious,” PBS (season 2 premiere)

9 p.m.

• “Ballers,” HBO (season 1 finale)

9:30 p.m.

• “The Brink,” HBO (season 1 finale)

Monday, Aug. 24

7 p.m.

• “Switched at Birth,” ABC Family (season 4 premiere)

9 p.m.

“Black Ink Crew,” VH1 (season 4 premiere)

 

Tuesday, Aug. 25

2:01 a.m.

• “Cheetah in August,” Video on Demand (series premiere; former high school athlete deals with personal issues in VOD’s first original series)

7 p.m.

• “Monica the Medium,” ABC Family (series premiere; Penn State junior navigates friends, family, relationships)
• “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo (3-part reunion special, Part 2)
• “Little People Big World: The Wedding,” TLC (2-hour special; Zach Roloff and Tori Patton get married)
• “Tough Enough,” USA (season finale)

8 p.m.

• “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series,” El Rey Network (season 2 premiere; read “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series” S2, what to know; see video above)
• “Below Deck,” Bravo (season 3 premiere)

9 p.m.

• “Public Morals,” TNT (series premiere; seedy streets of 1960s New York; see video below)
• “My Fab 4oth,” Bravo (series premiere; a look at over-the-top 40th birthday parties)
• “Tosh.0,” Comedy Central (midseason 7 premiere)

Wednesday, Aug. 26

8 p.m.

• “Suits,” USA (season 5 finale)

8:30 p.m.

• “The Carmichael Show,” NBC (series premiere, 2 episodes; man’s relationship with wacky family)

9 p.m.

• “Mr. Robot,” USA (season 1 finale)

Thursday, Aug. 27

8 p.m.

• “The Real Housewives of New York City,” Bravo (3-part reunion special, Part 1)

9 p.m.

• “Power & Ice,” History (series premiere; folks who build and maintain the Alaskan power grid)

Friday, Aug. 28

TTBA

• “Janoskians: Untold & Untrue,” YouTube (spoof; band comes together, fights and makes up to sell out the iconic Wembley Arena in London)

Saturday, Aug. 29

7 p.m.

• “Girlfriends’ Getaway 2,” TV One (movie; 4 friends travel to Puerto Rico for a wedding in sequel to 2014 film)

8 p.m.

• “Mythbusters vs. Jaws,” Discovery (“Shweekend” special; the MythBusters revisit their 2005 “Jaws” challenge)

9 p.m.

• “Shark Alley,” Discovery (“Shweekend” special; in the Great White waters that surround Dyer Island, South Africa)

Sunday, Aug. 30

7 p.m.

• “El Rey Network Presents: The Director’s Chair,” El Rey (new episode; sit-down with George Miller)
• “Air Jaws: Ring of Death,” Discovery (“Shweekend” special; natural history producer Jeff Kurr, shark photographer Chris Fallows and shark diver Dickie Chivell return to South Africa to capture the breach of a Great White shark from underwater and topside)

8 p.m.

• “MTV Video Music Awards,” MTV (special)
• “Still Alive: Shark Surprise,”  Discovery (“Shweekend” special; two terrifying moments when divers come face-to-face with huge sharks)
• “The Missing Evidence,” Smithsonian Channel (series premiere; new leads surrounding unsolved crimes and famous tragedies, mysteries)
• “Attic Gold,” DIY (series premiere; New England-based Eric and Michelle Meyers clean up attics, search for appraisal items)

9 p.m.

• “On the Case with Paula Zahn,” Investigation Discovery (season 6 premiere)
• “Breaking the Silence,” TLC (doc premiere; child sexual abuse)

Monday, Aug. 31

7 p.m.

• “Fashion Police,” E! (season premiere)
• “Big Blue Live,” PBS (3-part premiere; restoration of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; airs over three consecutive nights through Sept. 2; check local listings)

8 p.m.

• “Awkward,” MTV (season premiere)

8:30 p.m.

• “Faking It,” MTV (season premiere)

9 p.m.

• “The Whispers,” ABC (season finale)
• “Todrick,” MTV (series premiere; YouTube star Todrick Hall)
• “House of DVF,” E! (season 2 premiere)
• “The Storm Makers,” PBS (“POV” premiere; 3 personal stories reflect human toll of globalization)

9:30 p.m.

• “Girl Code Live,” MTV (season premiere)

I’ll continue adding to this list as I learn about more August 2015 TV premieres, movies, specials and finales. Please send me a note if you notice something missing. Happy viewing.