Disney’s Wizards and Teen Vampire, ‘Wrong Paris’ Romcom, ‘Rainmaker’ in Court, Streaming ‘Warfire’

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place

The sequel to Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place returns for a second season with back-to-back episodes, featuring a crowded house of young wizards now that protégée Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) has been joined in the magic trade by Russo brothers Roman (Alkaio Thiele) and Milo (Max Matenko). While Justin (David Henrie) helps train the young wizards for the Family Wizard Competition, expect guest-star appearances by Selena Gomez (reprising her role as Justin’s sister Alex), What We Do in the Shadows alum Harvey Guillén as Gossip Stone and Criminal Minds‘ Kirsten Vangsness as Bigelow McFigglehorn, a member of the Wizard Tribunal. All episodes of Season 2 will begin streaming on Disney+ on October 8.

Vampirina: Teenage Vampire

The supernatural fun continues on a music-heavy comedy series starring Kenzi Richardson as Vampirina — or as her friends call her, “Vee” — a tween vampire from Transylvania who’s left the crypt to sink her teeth into a performing-arts boarding school. As one does. Living Single‘s Kim Coles costars as the Wilson Hall Academy of the Arts’ Dean Merriweather, with Jiwon Lee as Vee’s perky roommate Sophie and Milo Maharlika as Demi, a 600-year-old ghost sent by Vee’s parents to keep a spectral eye on Vee. The entire season will begin streaming on Disney+ on October 15, with the first single (“Slay”) available today.

The Wrong Paris

What would Emily Cooper (of Emily in Paris) do? Have a meltdown, most likely. Which is country girl Dawn’s (Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly fame) initial reaction when she signs on as a contestant for the Honey Pot dating show, set in Paris, where she hopes to pursue her art-school dreams. But reality (as in reality TV) sets in when she discovers the show is actually set in Paris, Texas. This being a romcom, you won’t be surprised to learn that the cowboy bootcamp has an upside: the bachelor himself, a hunky hayseed named Trey (Pierson Fodé) who takes a shine to Dawn.

The Rainmaker

Novice lawyer Rudy (Milo Callaghan) squares off in court on the opposite side of his girlfriend Sarah (Madison Iseman) for a high-stakes evidentiary hearing in a pivotal episode of the legal drama based on John Grisham’s bestseller. Sarah and her new mentor Brad (Wade Briggs) know their jobs at Tinley Britt are on the line, while Rudy keeps trying to prove himself to his boss Bruiser (Lana Parrilla), though he has a risky habit of ignoring all of her advice and warnings. Adding to the anxiety: the results of the bar exam are beginning to come in.

Warfare

Described by the New York Times as “a tough, relentless movie about life and death in battle,” writer-director Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s unflinching 2025 real-time war film set during an ill-fated Iraq War mission makes its streaming debut. (The movie premieres on HBO Saturday at 8/7c.) The ensemble cast includes Reservation Dogs‘ D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Shogun‘s Cosmo Jarvis, Heartstopper‘s Kit Connor, Will Poulter (The Bear), Finn Bennett (True Detective: Night Country), and Noah Centineo (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before).

Chief of War

War clouds are forming on several fronts in the penultimate episode of Jason Momoa‘s historical epic set in the pre-unification Hawaiian Islands of the early 1800s. Grieving the slaughter on the beach of hundreds of innocent villagers by European invaders, Ka’iana (Momoa) is losing faith in war chief and future king Kamehameha’s (Kaina Makua) resolve. And there’s another enemy within, with the battle-hungry Keoua (Cliff Curtis) on the rampage.

INSIDE FRIDAY TV:

• True Crime Watch: On ABC‘s 20/20 (9/8c), Stephanie Ramos reports on the 2001 murder of Leslie Preer in her suburban Maryland home, which was only solved nearly 25 years later when DNA under her fingerprints finally found a match. On Dateline NBC (10/9c), Keith Morrison reports on the investigation into the 2014 murder in Calgary, Alberta of Shannon Madill Burgess, an aspiring actress and newlywed.
• Lost in the Jungle (9/8c, National Geographic): A real-life survival story unfolds in a documentary from Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo, The Rescue) and director Juan Camilo Cruz, recounting the 40-day ordeal of four Indigenous children who are stranded in the Colombian jungle after a 2023 plane crash.

ON THE STREAM:

• Larry the Cable Guy: It’s a Gift (streaming on Prime Video): The veteran comedian returns to the stand-up stage with down-home humor delivered to an audience in Clearwater, Florida.
• Andrew Santino: White Noise (streaming on Hulu): More laughs in a comedy special from the comedian-actor (Dave, Ricky Stanicky) and podcaster (Whiskey Ginger).
• Invasion (streaming on Apple TV+): With aliens-on-Earth mayhem occurring off camera near portal sites, Travante (Shamier Anderson) and Mitsuki (Shioli Kutsuna) are thrust with zillionaire tech bro Nikhil Kapoor (Shane Zaza) into a treacherous mission in the dreaded Dead Zone, while Aneesha (Golshifteh Farahani) tries to escape FBI custody and reunite with her family. More sci-fi action in the Season 3 finale of Foundation, where Gaal (Lou Llobell) and the Second Foundation confront the Mule (Pilou Asbaek).