Each week our staff of film and TV experts surveys the entertainment landscape to select the ten best new/newish shows available for you to stream at home. We put a lot of thought into our selections, and our debates on what to include and what not to include can sometimes get a little heated and feelings may get hurt, but so be it, this is an important service for you, our readers. With that said, here are our selections for this week.
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10. (tie) Pachinko (Apple TV)
Based on a best-selling book of the same name, this epic, generations-spanning saga follows a Korean family on an immigration journey, with the action taking place in Korea, Japan, and America. Looking for a well-reviewed, emotionally moving series that starts with a forbidden romance? Of course you are. Watch it on Apple TV.
10. (tie) Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max)
A pirate comedy starring Taika Waititi, Rhys Darby, Leslie Jones, and Hodor from Game of Thrones? Don’t mind if I do. Our Flag Means Death is about an 18th-century aristocrat (Darby) who gives up whatever aristocrats do to become a swashbuckler alongside Blackbeard (Waititi). If it’s anything like What We Do in the Shadows but with pirates, prepare to be… Hook-ed. Watch it on HBO Max.
10. (tie) Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel (HBO Max)
With Rothaniel, Jerrod Carmichael, in what is technically his third HBO special following 8 and Home Videos, comes to the spare stage of the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on a winter day ready to bare his soul. And while some of the truths he tells are things he may have alluded to in the past, this feels unique, naked, and gripping, elevated by the vision of director Bo Burnham, whose focus is unrelenting as Carmichael seems to be processing the experience of sharing the most intimate details and observations about his life in real-time with an audience whose feedback he welcomes. It is remarkable, human, and a special that everyone is going to be talking about. Watch it on HBO Max (after it premieres on HBO 4/1 at 9ET).
10. (tie) Minx (HBO Max)
We are going back in time, again, this time to the 1970s, again, to see the dawn of an erotic magazine made specifically for women. That sounds fun. It also co-stars Jake Johnson from New Girl as a seedy pornographer who wears shirts unbuttoned halfway to his navel, which sounds… really fun. Worth a shot, at the very least. Watch it on HBO Max.
9. The Girl From Plainville (Hulu)
If Hulu’s The Girl From Plainville wasn’t based on a true story, we’d say it was a bit too unrealistic. But, since all of this actually happened, we’ll just call it the wildest f*cking true-crime drama we’ve seen in a while. It’s got Elle Fanning playing a sociopathic teenager so obsessed with mirroring her life off a Ryan Murphy musical that she convinces her boyfriend to kill himself so she can take all the glory. It’s also got some terrific performances – from Fanning, obviously but also from Chloe Sevigny who plays the dead boy’s mom. Fanning’s Michelle Carter is both an ego-maniac and a shy, mentally disturbed young girl who idolizes Leah Michele, and her Glee alter-ego, Rachel Berry. That’s clearly her first mistake, but things turn dark when she decides her own love story should also turn out like Michele’s real-life relationship with co-star Cory Monteith. It’s just … bizarre. And yet, like a train car full of feral cats veering off the tracks, we just can’t help but watch. Watch it on Hulu.
8. Severance (Apple TV Plus)
“Am I livestock?” Who among us hasn’t asked ourselves that question while grazing amongst the cubicles at work? But the workplace in Severance (a new Adam Scott starring and Ben Stiller produced Apple TV+ series) is a little different, running workers through a process that effectively breaks people in two with zero crossovers between their work life and non-work life. Sound ideal in a world where work stresses bleed into home life and Sunday scarys seem to always kneecap your weekend? Perhaps in some respects. Susan from HR probably LOVES the idea, seeing it as the ultimate NDA, but as the show is set to explore, it’s a less tidy experience that raises all kinds of questions about what happens when people are severed from the awful things they might be asked to do at work. Watch it on Apple TV Plus.
7. Halo (Paramount Plus)
Audiences can’t get enough of space-bound conflict these days, and the ever-morphing Pablo Schreiber leads this cast as the indispensable “Master Chief,” who’s apparently the deadliest weapon in existence and the key to ensuring humanity’s survival against all odds. Expect a ton of action as humanity battles “the Covenant,” but more importantly, get ready to meet characters from all walks of life. Clearly too, this selection will be of interest to the gaming crowd. Watch it on Paramount Plus.
6. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (HBO)
If you think about it, Winning Time (HBO’s new Adam McKay-produced series about the 1980s LA Lakers) has all the elements of a classic heist movie. Assembled by a larger than life fast talker with equally big ambitions (in this case, former Lakers owner Jerry Buss), a rag-tag group comes together, leaning on their exceptional and unique talents to paper over any personality conflicts that might arise while taking the thing (a whole mess of gold trophies) no one thought they’d ever get their hands on. This while having some wild misadventures along the way. We’re simplifying, of course, but the point is this should appeal to basketball fans and non-basketball fans alike, earning the right to be the most buzzed-about piece of basketball culture crossover content since The Last Dance helped us all stave off boredom for a few months by telling the story of another mismatched group of big personalities and champions. Watch it on HBO.
5. Tokyo Vice (HBO Max)
Michael Mann brings the Heat once again with a side of Miami Vice on the other side of the globe. Here, Mann’s exploring how one maneuvers (as an outsider) through Japan’s underworld, yakuzas and everything. Ken Watanabe plays a detective, and Ansel Elgort joins him as an American reporter, a role for which Elgort apparently also went undercover in real life to prepare. Not only that, but he had to dive into speaking Japanese, not an easy feat by any stretch, to take on this crime thriller series. Watch it on HBO Max.
4. Abbott Elementary (Hulu)
Abbott Elementary has done something wild. It poked through the bubble of pop culture to become a phenomenon despite being a weekly network sitcom in 2022. Do you understand how crazy that is? Do you understand the odds against this happening? It’s basically impossible. And yet, here we all are, talking about Quinta Brunson and her very sweet, very good show. And Principal Ava. We are always talking about Principal Ava. Watch it on Hulu.
3. Bridgerton (Netflix)
The bad news, for enthusiasts of The Duke, is that Regé-Jean Page isn’t back this season (as planned), but the good news is that the show still brings the momentum despite the odds. This season focuses upon Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) seeking his own match as outlined by Julia Quinn’s books. Lady Whistledown (already revealed as Penelope, portrayed by Nicola Coughlan) is still doing her thing and f*cking with everyone during her society letters, thank god. Watch it on Netflix.
2. Atlanta (FX/Hulu)
Well, guess what: Atlanta is back, four years since its second season and just as ready and willing to throw you for a loop. Earn and Paper Boi and Darius are still off in Europe on that tour they were en route to way back then, but there are detours and flights of fancy and all the other weird, stunning, inventive stuff that made (and makes) this one of our greatest shows. Donald Glover and this crew are pretty good at this stuff. It’s great to have them back. Watch it on Hulu.
1. Moon Knight (Disney Plus)
Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke are in the MCU now, but don’t expect either of them to be the typical Marvel superhero or villain. This show is sheer chaos (and joyous to behold) with Isaac’s character plagued with dissociative identity disorder and tormented with mockery by an Egyptian god. He’s a gift-shop employee, a mercenary, and a hero? Sure. Hawke plays a David Koresh-esque cult leader. Hold on tight. Watch it on Disney Plus.