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.
20. Taylor Tomlinson: Have It All (Netflix)
Freshly minted late-night host Taylor Tomlinson is back with another standup special at Netflix. This one covers dream job, love, and anxiety, which… yeah. That seems pretty relatable. Looks like a fun little weekend watch.
19. Players (Netflix)
Netflix’s reigning rom-com queen Gina Rodriguez is back at it. This one kind of flips things on its head, though. Now it’s the ladies who are out partying and having one-night stands with no intention of settling down. At first. Will there be a twist? Maybe a meet-cute that makes our main character question everything they’ve believed to that point in their life?
Buddy, you know it.
18. Genius: MLK/X (Hulu)
The fourth season of this NatGeo series focuses on Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and will, as per the promotional materials “explore the formative years, where they were molded by strong fathers and traumatic injustices, and their rich, parallel stories as they shaped their identities and became the change they wished to see in the world.” Which sounds cool and informative and like everything television can be. The trick is making it work. Worth diving in to check it out.
17. The Second Best Hospital In The Galaxy (Prime Video)
High-stakes alien adventure and future medicine smush together in a star-studded animated comedy from Amazon about a pair of renegade doctors, their hospital, and their patients. Featuring the voice talents of Natasha Lyonne, Stephanie Hsu, Keke Palmer, and Kieran Culkin, the show is the kind of place where the line, “I will now sing my planet’s song of orgasmic death” seems right at home. If you’re a fan of Rick And Morty or Star Trek: Lower Decks looking for your fix, this might be one to check out.
16. This Is Me… Now: A Love Story (Prime Video)
Let’s go straight to Prime Video’s official description for this one: “This Is Me…Now is like nothing you’ve ever seen from Jennifer Lopez. Alongside director Dave Meyers, Jennifer has created a narrative-driven, cinematic original which showcases her journey to love through her own eyes.”
Hmm. As long as it features a minimum of 20 visits to Dunkin’ with her longtime partner Ben Affleck, we can support this.
15. Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (Hulu)
Tom Hollander (not Tom Holland) stars in Ryan Murphy’s latest FX creation that’s already dubbed itself the tale of the “Original Housewives of New York.” Hollander plays Truman Capote (yes, that Truman Capote) a writer with a standing invitation to the brunch table of New York’s wealthiest women. He trades on his status as their confidante, writing a book about the scandals and secrets harbored within their Upper East Side brownstones which leads to an all-out society war that no one escapes unscathed. Come for the clothes, stay for the drama and the veteran actresses like Demi Moore, Calista Flockhart, and Naomi Watts who make this thing so deliciously messy.
14. The Holdovers (Peacock)
Paul Giamatti is picking up awards left and right for his performance in Alexander Payne’s latest film, which is great. For Paul Giamatti. But also for us. Like, as a society. Look at this: “A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school remains on campus during Christmas break to babysit a handful of students with nowhere to go. He soon forms an unlikely bond with a brainy but damaged troublemaker, and with the school’s head cook, a woman who just lost a son in the Vietnam War.”
Our official position here is twofold: one, we support anything where Paul Giamatti gets to be curmudgeonly; two, we love to see Paul Giamatti thrive. This checks both boxes.
13. Barbie (Max)
Greta Gerwig’s massive summer blockbuster hits streaming. There’s not much to say that hasn’t been said. It’s wickedly smart and funny and sly. It’s much weirder than people expected, in the best ways possible. Margot Robbie is incredible as Barbie, providing layers of depth to a character who has rarely before had more than one. Ryan Gosling is a delight as the deeply confused Ken who is watching his simple little world crumble around him. There are cameos galore and touching moments and belly laughs. If you haven’t seen it yet, now’s the time. If you have, well, now’s the time to watch it again. This one is worth a rewatch. Or two. Or five. How you spend your time is your business.
12. The New Look (Apple TV)
Two important things to know here. The first is that the premise of it all, summarized by Apple as “the story of how fashion icon Christian Dior and his contemporaries, including Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga, navigate the horrors of World War II and launch modern fashion,” sounds interesting.
The second is that the cast is straight-up loaded. Ben Mendelsohn, Maissie Williams, John Malkovich, etc. They really went all out on this one. That’s commendable.
11. Masters of the Air (Apple TV)
Here’s a stellar Band Of Brothers followup from Steven Spielberg (Amblin Television) in conjunction with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (Playtone). This new series is based upon Donald L. Miller’s book of the same name about the “Bloody Hundredth,” i.e. the 100th Bomb Group, who risked everything they had to conduct bombing raids upon Nazi Germany. Austin Butler dropped his Elvis voice to portray a U.S. major alongside Callum Turner. There’s a “Buck” and a “Bucky” in the character list, and there’s also the ever-present Barry Keoghan joining in the camaraderie while the U.S. carries out perilous missions to take down Hitler’s Third Reich. It’s an adventure-filled yet harrowing viewing experience but fully worth the ride.
10. Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
Yes, there’s been a live-action adaptation of this IP already. And yes, people overwhelmingly prefer the Nickelodeon animated series, but here is another reimagining that will hopefully make everyone forget about that M. Night Shyamalan project. The setup will be familiar, of course. The story takes place in a world where the four nations (represented by the elements of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air) no longer live in harmony. Fire Nation destroyed the Air Nomads, and one young Air Nomad (Aang) must now ascend to his rightful ruling position and restore peace between the elements and realms. The Fire Nation is very angry, however, so watch out, Aang and friends.
9. Halo (Paramount Plus)
Pablo Schreiber is back as Master Chief, and if he has any say in the matter, there won’t be Sexy Master Chief on display this season. Officially, he will be fretting about the changing tide of his war and how to prepare for what he believes is an imminent attack by the Covenant on the most valuable stronghold known to mankind. Can he finally find the Halo, which will either help humanity survive or kill it off forever? So much pressure! Yeah, please don’t have him wasting time getting down and dirty this season.
8. Curb Your Enthusiasm (Max)
24 years, 12 seasons, and countless social assassinations; Curb Your Enthusiasm is set to begin its end, promising a season filled with familiar faces (Ted Danson, Richard Lewis, Cheryl Hines, Vince Vaughn, JB Smoove) and misanthropic delights as Larry David readies to walk off into the sunset so he can strangle more muppets or do whatever else he does when he isn’t kvetching about required niceties and other peccadilloes. Whether this season will be funny is not in question. Whether Larry’s “character” makes it out alive is.
7. Constellation (Apple TV)
No streaming service is doing sci-fi quite like Apple TV+ and this entry into the genre continues that winning streak. Starring Noomi Rapace as an astronaut who survives a disaster in space only to return to a slightly off-kilter existence on Earth, Constellation is the kind of mind-melding thriller that sparks those most philosophical of questions: What? Why? Huh? More timeline hopping, government conspiracies, a truly fed-up Jonathan Banks, and some exquisitely directed Scandinavian night shots elevate the central mystery propelling most of the action here, as does Rapace who plays a woman on the brink in the most heartbreaking of ways.
6. Griselda (Netflix)
Here comes “the Godmother” of cocaine. Original Narcos co-creator Doug Miro and Narcos: Mexico executive producer Eric Newman team up to tell the story of Colombian drug cartel leader Griselda Blanco, a prolific cocaine trafficker as portrayed by Sofia Vergara. We haven’t seen the Modern Family star get dramatic on TV yet, so this series should attract eyeballs for more reasons than one. Griselda reigned in Miami in the 1970-’80s, and her tour of terror included operating under 20 aliases, moving hundreds of kilos per month, and ordering dozens of murders.
5. The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC Plus)
Rick Grimes has been missing from TV screens for a handful of years and in The Walking Dead timeline for over a decade. Now, Michonne is about to save his ass and hopefully torch the CRM while she’s at it. Too much? Nah, this franchise went off the rails a long time ago, and that’s part of the fun. This spinoff ends up being a worthy love story within the parameters of this world, and existing viewers will adore it. Meanwhile, Daryl is still in France, now with added Carol, so they won’t be reinforcements for the “Save Rick” cause, but we can hope for a reunion.
4. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Did we really need a reimagining of the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie? Watch the first few episodes, and you might agree that this effort was not wasted. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine pick up as assassins who happen to be paired together (and “married”), and you aren’t ready for the rollicking, madcap, action-packed set of missions that they must complete (or else?). Even better: John and Jane Smith’s onscreen relationship is as much of daredevil stunt as the action scenes.
3. Abbott Elementary (Hulu)
School’s back in session at Abbott Elementary and the show has made some big changes after the romantic cliffhanger that ended season two. Janine has a new job (and a new love interest), Gregory’s struggling to move on, Josh Segarra from The Other Two is auditing classrooms, and Ava Coleman is a Harvard (adjacent) graduate. Lord help Mrs. Howard. After a longer-than-expected hiatus it’s nice to see the Emmy-winning comedy reinventing itself instead of resting on its laurels, but don’t worry, there are plenty of Janelle James one-liners and Tyler James Williams pans to camera to keep things comfortably familiar.
2. Bottoms (Prime Video)
Bottoms is a screwball comedy about two gay teenage girls who start a high school fight club as a ploy to hook up with their cheerleader crushes. Ayo Edebiri is in it. So is Marshawn Lynch. There are acts of vandalism set to 80s bangers and football players in cages and none of it makes any sense but it’s absolutely worth just rolling with it.
This one is a blast. And it’s streaming on the same website you bought your coffee maker on. The future is kind of wild.
1. Oppenheimer (Peacock)
With this historical biopic, Christopher Nolan unknowingly created an atomic amuse-bouche for a double-feature blockbuster viewing experience that saved cinema last year. But, watching Cillian Murphy’s cheekbones cut glass as he chain-smokes his way to becoming Death, Destroyer of Worlds for three-plus hours is just as much fun at home as it was in a packed movie theater. Sporting a packed line-up of A-list talent (hello future Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr.), a bone-rattling score, and some clever monochromatic cinematography to distinguish between its multiple timelines, Oppenheimer has more than earned its place on every nominations list this awards season. Now, go enjoy it in the way Nolan intended – streaming on Peacock.