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. Dan Da Dan (Netflix)
The acclaimed anime Dan Da Dan is about Momo, a high school girl from a family of spirit mediums, and her classmate / occult fanatic Okarun, who begin talking after she saves him from getting bullied. However, an argument ensues between them: Momo believes in ghosts but denies aliens, and Okarun believes in aliens but denies ghosts. It’s a real Mulder and Scully dynamic, if they were both Mulder (and there was a Turbo Granny). Dan Da Dan, which is getting a weekly release, comes from animation studio Science Saru, who also made last year’s shockingly good Scott Pilgrim Takes Off.
14. Shrinking (Apple TV Plus)
Bill Lawrence might be rebooting Scrubs, and working on more Ted Lasso, and he has big plans for Bad Monkey season 2, but for now, he — and fellow creators Jason Segel and Brett Goldstein — is focused on Shrinking. The mental health comedy returns for another season with Segel as grieving therapist Jimmy and Harrison Ford as his cranky co-worker Paul. But the show’s real MVP is Jessica Williams.
13. Somebody Somewhere (Max)
It’s the final season for one of TV’s sweetest shows. Somebody Somewhere follows Sam Miller (played by Bridget Everett), who goes on a journey of self-acceptance and finds “a community of outsiders who don’t fit in but don’t give up, showing that finding your people, and finding your voice, is possible,” according to the Max synopsis. “In season 3, we see growth against all odds.”
12. What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu)
Let’s keep it simple: Is What We Do in the Shadows — in its final season — still the funniest show on TV? Yes.
11. Citadel: Honey Bunny (Prime Video)
Citadel, the one with Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra and produced by the Russo brothers, was an expensive misfire by Prime Video. But Citadel: Honey Bunny, the spin-off set in India with Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, is supposed to be thrilling. Rolling Stone called it “raucous” and “slickly entertaining,” while Collider praised the “impressive stunt sequences, complex character work, and perfect blending of drama and spy thriller.” Oh, and if you’re wondering about the title, “Honey” and “Bunny” are the names of the lead characters. Seems important to know.
10. Arcane (Netflix)
The animated series on Netflix from creators Christian Linke and Alex Yee is based on League of Legends, but trust me, even if you know zilch about the multiplayer online role-playing game, you can still enjoy Arcane. Season 1 premiered all the way back in 2021 (it’s somehow been an even longer wait than Stranger Things), but the strikingly stylish show is now back for its second season… which is also the final season. The voice cast includes Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell, the queen of the video game show.
9. My Old Ass (Prime Video)
The Aubrey Plaza-starring My Old Ass is the kind of movie that will make you say: wow. During a mushroom trip on her 18th birthday, Ellliott (played by Maisy Stella) comes face to face with her 36-year-old self (Plaza). But when her “old ass” starts giving her advice based on 20 years of experience, Elliott begins to rethink her life during a transformative summer. It’s Gen Z’s defining coming-of-age comedy.
8. Cross (Prime Video)
Prime Video is the streaming king of dad content with Reacher, Jack Ryan (which is being turned into a movie), and now Cross. Based on author James Patterson’s airport-popular Alex Cross novels, the crime-thriller stars Aldis Hodge as Alex Cross. Rather than adapt a single book, however, Cross takes “the bone structure of that world and fills it up with a beautiful story.”
7. Thelma (Hulu)
June Squibb: box office star! Thelma is the feel-good nonagenarian comedy of the year. After Thelma (played by Squibb) falls victim to a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets off on an adventure, with help from the late Richard Roundtree, to regain what was stolen from her. Make it a scammer-revenge double feature with The Beekeeper.
6. Cobra Kai (Netflix)
The final season of Cobra Kai was split into three five-episode chunks, beginning with Part I in July. Part II arrives this weekend, followed by Part III later this year. “The stakes are set at the end of the first five,” star William Zabka, who plays Johnny Lawrence, previously said about the final season. “I think if it was just a movie, it’s a great ending that would beg for a sequel, which fortunately is coming in a few months.” It’s here now.
5. Twisters (Peacock)
Twisters is a throwback to a sillier and more fun time for blockbusters where the chemistry between the stars (in the original, Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt; in the sequel, Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones) is as much of a draw as the special effects (in both, tornados). It’s a lot of fun.
4. Bad Sisters (Apple TV Plus)
The past comes back to haunt the Garvey siblings in season 2 of Irish dark-comedy Bad Sisters. As Eva (Sharon Horgan), Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene), and Becka (Eve Hewson) are “thrust back into the spotlight, suspicions are at an all-time high,” according to the official logline. “Lies are told, secrets revealed, and the sisters are forced to work out who they can trust.”
3. Silo (Apple TV Plus)
You know who rocks? Rebecca Ferguson, that’s who. She rocks in Mission: Impossible. She rocks in Dune. And she rocks in Silo. The future-set Apple TV+ sci-fi series is about a community of people who live in an underground silo due to the toxic conditions of the outside world. Literally toxic, not “social media is bad for your mental health” toxic. Ferguson is joined by Tim Robbins, Common, Harriet Walter, and new addition Steve Zahn.
2. Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
The true star of Emilia Pérez isn’t Zoe Saldaña or Selena Gomez. It’s Karla Sofía Gascón. In Jacques Audiard’s musical crime-drama, the actress, who is trans, plays a feared cartel boss who undergoes sex reassignment surgery with the hope of beginning a new life free from the past. Emilia Pérez has been getting Oscars buzz since it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, with special attention paid to Sofía Gascón’s performance. Could she make history?
1. Deadpool & Wolverine (Disney Plus)
Deadpool & Wolverine is the second highest-grossing movie of the year behind only Inside Out 2 with a box office gross of over $1.3 billion. Which is to say, you’ve probably already seen it. But if you want to rewatch the bus fight scene with Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine fighting a mini-army of Deadpool variants, or turn the closed captioning on to figure out what the heck Channing Tatum’s Gambit is saying, now you can.
