Each week our staff of film and television 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.
15. Laid (Peacock)
Stephanie Hsu, who really should have won the Oscar over her Everything Everywhere All at Once co-star, is joined by Zosia Mamet in the new series Laid. The “f*cked up rom-com” is about a woman who finds out that her former lovers are dying in unusual ways, and must go back through her “sex timeline” to figure out what the heck is going on.
14. Squid Game (Netflix)
Netflix’s most-watched show ever is back. Squid Game season 2 sees the return of Gi-hun (played by Lee Jung-jae), a.k.a. Player 456, who has only one goal: to end the horrifying competition for good. This time, Gi-hun finds himself “locked in a tense battle” with the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), as well as trying to survive against the other competitors. Squid Game is the rare water-cooler show in the “death of the monoculture” era. Keep up if you want to know what your co-workers are talking about.
13. Asura (Netflix)
Written and directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters), Asura is a family drama set in 1979 about about four sisters — Tsunako (Rie Miyazawa), Makiko (Machiko Ono), Takiko (Yu Aoi), and Sakiko (Suzu Hirose) — who discover that their dad is having an affair. It’s being called 2025’s “first great new TV show.”
12. The Pitt (Max)
Noah Wyle? As a doctor? It’s crazy enough to work. This time, the ER star works in a hospital in Pittsburgh, and the show is “a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the frontline heroes.” The entire 15-episode first season takes place over the course of one 15-hour emergency room shift, not unlike 24.
11. American Primeval (Netflix)
For a while there, Taylor Kitsch was everywhere. He went from playing hunk with a heart of gold Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights to starring in two big-budget films, John Carter and Battleship, as well as a prominent role in Oliver Stone’s Savages, all released in 2012. But when all three films underperformed and/or were met with scorn from critics (justice for John Carter!), Kitsch stopped being The Next Best Thing. But now he’s back with his biggest part in years: American Primeval, a gritty, gloomy limited series set in the American frontier during the 1800s. The cast also includes the great Betty Gilpin, Kim Coates, and character actor favorite Shea Whigham.
10. Harley Quinn (Max)
Now in its fifth season, Harley Quinn shakes things up by moving the action from Gotham to Metropolis, which means the introductions of characters like Lena Luthor, Brainiac, and Red X. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the excellent voice cast, including Kaley Cuoco as Harley Quinn, Lake Bell as Poison Ivy, Alan Tudyk as Joker and Clayface, Ron Funches as King Shark, J.B. Smoove as Frank, and James Adomian as scene stealer Bane.
9. A Different Man (Max)
Sebastian Stan received career-best reviews for his performance in A Different Man, in which he plays Edward, an inspiring actor who undergoes a radical medical procedure to transform his appearance. But his dream turns into a nightmare when he loses out on the role he was born to play to the uber-confident Oswald (Adam Pearson), who has the same genetic condition he once had. A Different Man is a surreal, thought provoking, and inventive film.
8. A Real Pain (Hulu)
A Real Pain — which appeared on numerous Best Movies of 2024 lists — finds cousins David (played by Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Golden Globes winner Kieran Culkin) reuniting for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. But the journey takes a turn when old tensions resurface.
7. Severance (Apple TV Plus)
After a long, long break, one of the best shows on TV is back. Severance picks up where season 1 left off, with Mark (Adam Scott), Helly (Helly Riggs), Dylan (Dylan), and Irving (Irving Bailiff) trifling with the severance barrier, “leading them further down a path of woe,” according to the cryptic Apple TV Plus synopsis. There are so many mysteries left to answer: what’s the deal with Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman)? What’s the deal with Seth Milchick (series MVP Tramell Tillman)? And seriously, what’s the deal with the freaking goats?
6. Sleep (Hulu)
Sleep is one of the final film appearances from South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, who rose to international fame for his performance in Parasite. In this horror-thriller, he plays Hyeon-soo, who recently got married to Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi). One night, she discovers that her husband is sleepwalking, and potentially posing a violent threat to himself — and their newborn baby.
5. Harlem (Prime Video)
Created by Girls Trip writer Tracy Oliver, Harlem follows four friends, Camille (played by Meagan Good), Tye (Jerrie Johnson), Quinn (Grace Byers), and Angie (Shoniqua Shandai), on the “precipice of change like never before,” according to Prime. “Whether it be motherhood, singlehood, sisterhood, complicated career journeys, or even more complicated families, our stylish and ambitious best girlfriends strive to choose themselves above all else.”
4. The Wild Robot (Peacock)
Best Animated Feature at the 2025 Oscars is unusually stacked. Inside Out 2 is the frontrunner considering how much money it made, but honestly, it’s probably the weakest of the nominees. Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is a delight, obviously, while the beautiful and heartbreaking Flow is my personal favorite. But don’t sleep on The Wild Robot, a charming critical and commercial hit from Lilo & Stitch co-director Chris Sanders about a robot learning to adapt to their surroundings in the great outdoors. It’s very good.
3. Gladiator II (Paramount Plus)
Gladiator II wasn’t a Best Picture-winning smash hit like 2000’s Gladiator, but it has its moments. And by moments, I mean Denzel Washington vamping it up, Paul Mescal in a lil’ gladiator outfit, Joseph Quinn and Fred Hechinger’s insane and sickly-looking emperors, and the shark battle in the Colosseum. Even a mid-tier Ridley Scott movie is better than most movies.
2. Prime Target (Apple TV Plus)
Fresh off his performance as f*ckboy Jack in The White Lotus, Leo Woodall stars in Apple TV+’s Prime Target. Created by Sherlock and Doctor Who writer Steve Thompson, the thriller follows Edward Brook, a brilliant young mathematician who teams up with a government agent to unravel a troubling conspiracy. Here’s one mystery we’ll never get an answer to: why isn’t Prime Target on Prime Video?
1. The Night Agent (Netflix)
The Night Agent season 1 premiered in 2023 and quickly became one of Netflix’s biggest shows ever. Now it’s back for season 2, which picks up with Peter Sutherland (played by Gabriel Basso) as a certified Night Agent. Per Netflix: “But working in the secretive organization [will] propel Peter into a world where danger is everywhere and trust is in short supply.” You can check out the exciting trailer here.