Origin Stories Create Streaming Summer Hits

Isabel May stars as the untamed daughter in “1883” prequel to Kevin Costner’s “Yellowstone”

Jamie Wheal in his book “Recapture The Rapture” argues that the world does not need creation stories. This is untrue if you look back at this past Summer’s streaming prequels, backstories, preludes and blockbuster reveals. Still available for your “Watch Next” list.

“Julia”

We’ve seen a lot of Julia Childs in the past but we’ve never seen the way Julia pushed men out of her way to create her series on Boston’s tiny WGBH in the 1950s. While others were trying to produce pipe smoking “educational” television, Julia hopped on to promote her new book “Mastering The Art Of French Cooking.” Serving up an impromptu French omelette in this HBO Max Series starring Sarah Lancashire, we see how Julia charmed viewers with her clumsy on-air antics and wit. She was a hit. When mansplaining producers wanted to stifle her, Julia produced (and paid for) her own pilot. The rest is television history. (Off camera, a young black woman pushed Julia’s show to other public broadcasting stations across the country — unloosing a new distribution model.) Watch this, it’s two hits in one.