As August bleeds into September, we’re gearing up not only for a change in weather (please, a reprieve from this heat), but a change in the television landscape, too, with the promise of new fall television just around the corner. While Netflix has mostly eschewed this more traditional programming model (original series like Orange Is the New Black and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt don’t arrive on typical TV timetables), it understands that most viewers who haven’t completely cut the cord yet are looking to catch up on last season’s offerings before they dive into new episodes in the autumn months.
Enter the streaming service’s September offerings, which include the most recent seasons of many shows, including The Walking Dead, New Girl, Gotham, Supergirl, and The Blacklist to keep those users happy. Netflix is also debuting a smattering of new series (Luke Cage, Narcos season two), critical darlings (Saving Private Ryan, Zootopia) and ’80s favorites (Top Gun, Footloose) that should appeal to every demographic. Making your own viewing schedule has never been easier.
Man on Wire (9/1)
Philippe Petit’s death-defying 1974 stunt — walking between the Twin Towers on a tightrope — received the blockbuster treatment last fall in Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk. But while that special-effects spectacle impressed critics, this 2008 Oscar-winning documentary still reigns supreme, mostly thanks to the presence of Petit himself. As the charming French highwire artist explains it, there was no real “why” behind the astonishing (and some would say astonishingly stupid) act; Petit simply saw the challenge, and decided to pull it off. The doc plays more like a heist film than a true-life tale, and the archival photo and video footage is truly breathtaking. “Life should be lived on the edge,” Petit declares. That he dares to step off it makes Man on Wire such an enjoyable, thrilling ride.
Marvel’s Luke Cage (9/30)
The latest offering from the Marvel-Netflix partnership looks every bit as awesome as predecessors Daredevil and Jessica Jones — perhaps even more so, if the first two trailers for the series are any indication. As creator Cheo Hodari Coker explained at Comic-Con this summer, the world is ready to root for a bulletproof black man, and Luke Cage (Mike Colter) is literally that — and so much more. The series will delve into Cage coming to terms with his new powers, struggling with how to use them to help his Harlem neighborhood while also running afoul of a drug kingpin played by the magnetic Mahershala Ali. The rest of the star-studded cast includes Rosario Dawson and Alfre Woodard, though Colter is the true draw here, playing both simmering rage and smooth charm with ease. We can’t wait to binge this one.
Jaws (9/1)
You’ve seen Jaws before, whether on cable for the umpteenth time, or perhaps even shown at your local beach (like my hometown did in my college days), a sadistic and perfect setting that will make you think twice before hopping into the waves again — no matter how far from the actual ocean you are. But what keeps viewers coming back is that Steven Spielberg’s summer blockbuster — famously the first such flick to earn that distinction — is still just as gripping and utterly terrifying as the last time you watched it. You still flinch when that rotting corpse floats out of the sunken boat. It’s still hard not to jump when the shark pops up behind an unsuspecting Roy Scheider, carelessly tossing chum into the water behind him. Netflix is also debuting later installments in the series, and while those films offer increasingly diminishing returns (and foretell the eventual advent of Syfy schlockfests like Sharknado), they still can’t take away the power of the original. It may be sad to see summer go, but Jaws will remind you that the water isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Available Sept. 1:
The Amityville Horror (2005)
Babel (2006)
Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker (2013)
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
Bratz: The Movie (2007)
Burn, Burn, Burn (2015)
Cats & Dogs (2001)
Crashing: Season 1
Defiance (2008)
Easy Fortune Happy Life (2009)
Europe’s Last Great Wilderness (2015)
The Fierce Wife (2010)
Footloose (1984)
Full Out (2015)
Game Winning Hit: Season 1
Heartland: Season 7
Hellevator: Season 1
Hoot (2006)
Hope Floats (1998)
I Am the Ambassador: Season 1 NETFLIX EXCLUSIVE
Indochina’s Wild Heart (2015)
The IT Crowd: Series 5
Jaws (1975)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Jaws 3 (1983)
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Joyful Noise (2012)
Keepers of the Game (2016)
Last Holiday (2006)
Lucky Days: Season 1
Man on Wire (2008)
Milk Money (1994)
Practical Magic (1998)
Road Trip (2000)
Sam Kinison: Breaking the Rules (2000)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Shameless (U.S.): Season 56
Stomp the Yard (2007)
Sweeney Todd (2007)
Top Gun (1986)
True Grit (1969)
U571 (2000)
The Wicker Man (2006)
Wild Madagascar (2015)
The Womanizer: Season 1
The Year of Happiness and Love: Season 1
Available Sept. 2:
Baby Daddy: Season 5
Chef’s Table: France NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Kazoops!: Season 1 NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Kulipari: An Army of Frogs NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Narcos: Season 2 NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Young & Hungry: Season 4
Available Sept. 6:
Crash (2004)
The Finest Hours (2015)
Hard Target 2 (2016)
Honey 3 (2016)
R.L. Stine’s Mostly Ghostly: One Night in Doom House (2016)
Available Sept. 7:
The Blacklist: Season 3
Galavant: Seasons 1-2
Available Sept. 10:
Supergirl: Season 1
Available Sept. 13:
Extremis (2016) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Hawaii Five-0: Season 6
London Has Fallen (2015)
Available Sept. 14:
Goldie & Bear: Season 1
Available Sept. 15:
Sample This (2012)
The Walking Dead: Season 6
Available Sept. 16:
Cedric The Entertainer: Live from the Ville NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015)
The White Helmets (2016) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available Sept. 17:
3 Days to Kill (2014)
Luther: Season 4
Penny Dreadful: Season 3
Available Sept. 19:
Call the Midwife: Series 5
Gotham: Season 2
Available Sept. 20:
Colliding Dreams (2016)
New Girl: Season 5
Zootopia (2016)
Available Sept. 22:
Bones: Season 11
Easy: Season 1 NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Wallander: Series 4
Available Sept. 23:
Audrie & Daisy (2016) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Iliza Shlesinger: Confirmed Kills NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Last Man Standing: Season 5
Longmire: Season 5 NETFLIX ORIGINAL
VeggieTales in the House: Season 4 NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Available Sept. 24:
Portlandia: Season 6
River (2016)
Available Sept. 25:
Family Guy: Season 14
Margaret Cho: PsyCHO (2015)
Available Sept. 28:
The Fosters: Season 4 (Part A)
The Imitation Game (2014)
Available Sept. 30:
Amanda Knox (2016) NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Marvel’s Luke Cage: Season 1 NETFLIX ORIGINAL
Scream: Season 2
LAST CALL
Leaving Sept. 1:
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
A Walk to Remember (2002)
Anywhere but Here (1999)
Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Call Me Crazy: A Five Film (2013)
The Color Purple (1985)
Crocodile Dundee (1986)
Days of Thunder (1990)
Defending Your Life (1991)
Double Jeopardy (1999)
Everybody Loves Raymond: Seasons 1-9
Exporting Raymond (2010)
Flight of the Intruder (1991)
Girl Rising (2013)
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009)
Hardball (2001)
The Haunting (1999)
Nick Cannon: Mr. Showbiz (2011)
Our Man in Tehran (2013)
Primal Fear (1996)
Roboshark (2015)
Roman Holiday (1953)
S.W.A.T. (2003)
Sins of My Father (2009)
Spanglish (2004)
Traffic (2000)
The Weather Man (2005)
The Wood (1999)
Zoolander (2001)
Leaving Sept. 4:
Melissa & Joey: Seasons 1-4
Shanghai Knights (2003)
Leaving Sept. 5:
Gabe the Cupid Dog (2012)
Leaving Sept. 6:
Hollywood Homicide (2003)
My Babysitter’s a Vampire: The Movie (2010)
Leaving Sept. 9:
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Leaving Sept. 11:
Fringe: Seasons 1-5
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)
Leaving Sept. 15:
Bob Saget: That’s What I’m Talkin’ About (2013)
Leaving Sept. 16:
Gridiron Gang (2006)
The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Leaving Sept. 17:
Gimme the Loot (2012)
Simon Killer (2012)
Leaving Sept. 20:
Something, Anything (2014)
Leaving Sept. 23:
The Lost Medallion (2013)
Leaving Sept. 24:
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
Leaving Sept. 25:
Alias: Seasons 1-5
Jobs (2013)
Leaving Sept. 28:
Open Water (2004)
Open Water 2: Adrift (2006)
Leaving Sept. 30:
666 Park Avenue: Season 1
Another Gay Movie (2006)
The Aviators (2008)
League of Super Evil: Season 1
We Were Soldiers (2002)
Wolf (2013)
