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. 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?
14. Common Side Effects (Max)
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels have been attached to some of the best TV comedies of the last 30 years, including Parks and Recreation, The Simpsons, and The Office for Daniels and Beavis and Butt-Head and Silicon Valley for Judge. They also co-created King of the Hill. Their latest collaboration is producing Common Side Effects, a surreal Adult Swim animated series about the “world’s greatest medicine” from creators Joseph Bennett (Scavengers Reign) and Steve Hely (30 Rock). Episodes will stream the next day on Max.
13. Mythic Quest (Apple TV Plus)
A new season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is coming later this year, but don’t forget about Rob McElhenney’s other excellent comedy series. Mythic Quest season 4 (also the show’s final season) brings everyone — including McElhenney’s Ian, Charlotte Nicdao’s Poppy, and Danny Pudi’s Brad — back together at Mythic Quest HQ, where they’ll confront “new challenges amongst a changing video game landscape as stars rise, egos clash, relationships bloom and everyone tries to have a little more work life balance.” I’ll miss Ian and Poppy’s Don and Peggy-like fraught yet platonic relationship the most.
12. Clean Slate (Prime Video)
Clean Slate is one of the final projects from the late Norman Lear, the creator and/or producer of All In The Family, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, and Maude. The comedy follows Alabama car wash owner Harry (played by George Wallace) who learns that his child, who he thought was his son, is actually a trans woman named Desiree (Laverne Cox). As per Prime Video: “Her homecoming brings together a hilarious cast of friends, coworkers, and love interests, as Desiree and Harry try to get it right the second time around.
11. Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (Peacock)
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy is the fourth Bridget Jones movie, but the first to feature a character being killed off-screen while doing humanitarian work in Sudan. No spoilers! Otherwise, the rom-com follows Bridget (played by Renée Zellweger) as she raises her young kids with help from her friends and former lover, Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant).
10. The White Lotus (Max)
The White Lotus returns with a new location (Thailand) and a new group of talented actors playing emotionally- and spiritually-empty rich folks. The cast includes Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Blackpink’s Lisa, Michelle Monaghan, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Aimee Lou Wood. “I do feel like the other seasons were a rehearsal for this one,” creator Mike White teased.
9. Nosferatu (Peacock)
Is the Count Orlok voice the new Bane voice? Judge for yourself with Nosferatu, the latest film from The Lighthouse and The Northman director Robert Eggers. The gothic tale is creepy, sexy, and has wonderful performances from Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, and Willem Dafoe. It’s great, unless you don’t like rats. Then maybe skip it.
8. Zero Day (Netflix)
Shockingly, Zero Day is Robert De Niro’s first starring role in a TV show. OK, maybe that wouldn’t be shocking 30 years ago, when movie stars didn’t “do” TV, especially streaming shows (also, they didn’t have streaming shows 30 years ago). But it’s still surprising it took this long. Zero Day is a six-episode political thriller starring the two-time Oscar winner as a former U.S. president who is tasked with investigating a deadly cyberattack. Is there nothing Bobby D can’t do?!?
7. A Thousand Blows (Hulu)
There’s a Peaky Blinders movie coming out soon, but before then, creator Steven Knight has a new show on Hulu. A Thousand Blows is about the world of underground boxing in 1880s Victorian London, as well as the all-female crime syndicate Forty Elephants. The cast includes Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty, Francis Lovehall, and Stephen Graham, giving the show a Peaky connection.
6. Reacher (Prime Video)
You know what time is it? It’s Reacher o’clock. In season 3, the big guy meets an even bigger guy. He also “hurtles into the dark heart of a vast criminal enterprise when trying to rescue an undercover DEA informant whose time is running out,” according to the Prime Video synopsis. “There, he finds a world of secrecy and violence and confronts some unfinished business from his own past.” Every episode is basically the same, which is to say, they’re all a lot of fun.
5. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (Max)
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a.k.a. the Lord of the Rings anime, is set approximately 200 years before Bilbo Babbins discovers the One Ring. The plot of the animated film tells the story of Rohan king Helm Hammerhand and his daughter, Héra, who must summon the will to lead the resistance against an enemy intent on total destruction. The War of the Rohirrim received mixed reviews from critics, except for the stunning animation, which was universally lauded.
4. Venom: The Last Dance (Netflix)
The Venom trilogy (an objectively funny collection of words) comes to an end with Venom: The Last Dance. There’s sadly no Michelle “I’m Sorry About Venom” Williams, but Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock / the Looney Tunes-inspired voice of Venom. This time, they’re on the run and forced into a “devastating decision.” Is it not giving horse and frog Venom their own spin-off movie? Because they deserved one.
3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Netflix)
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is one of the most purely enjoyable big-budget movies of the 2020s. So I will never understand why it underperformed at the box office. The people weren’t ready for Chris Pine’s melting face, I guess. But hopefully enough people watch Honor Among Thieves on Netflix that a sequel gets the greenlight. Do it for Jarnathan.
2. Running Point (Netflix)
Mindy Kaling’s comedy empire expands with Running Point. The series stars Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon, a high-powered executive who is unexpectedly put in charge of her family’s pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. The cast also includes Scott MacArthur, Drew Tarver, Max Greenfield, and the suddenly-everywhere (which, to be clear, is a very good thing) Brenda Song.
1. The 97th Academy Awards (Hulu)
Assuming you’re not too heartbroken from Challengers getting snubbed, the 2025 Oscars are this Sunday. Will frontrunner Anora win Best Picture? Could Timothee Chalamet upset Adrien Brody for Best Actor? And can Flow please, please, please win Best Animated Feature? There’s one question we can already answer, however: where can I watch the Oscars? For the first time, the ceremony, hosted by Conan O’Brien, is streaming on Hulu.