Multiple times per week, our TV and film experts will list the most important ten streaming selections for you to pop into your queues. We’re not strictly operating upon reviews or accrued streaming clicks (although yes, we’ve scoured the streaming site charts and ratings) but, instead, upon those selections that are really worth noticing amid the churning sea of content. There’s a lot out there, after all, and your time is valuable.
TIE: 10. Ms. Marvel (HBO Max series)
The Marvel shows can’t seem to stop, but with this one, we’re receiving a sneak peak of the youngest piece of dynamite coming in 2023’s The Marvels, which will also obviously feature Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Paris). Iman Vallani makes her debut as Kamala Khan, a Captain Marvel superfan whose characters differ in substance and origin from the comics. Don’t worry, that’s for the best even if it is slightly controversial for those who don’t like adjustments to the canon. Lighten up because this show is a breeze.
TIE: 10. Dark Winds (AMC+ series)
FX’s Reservation Dogs led the way last year in bringing indigenous writers to the forefront of their own Native American stories. This series also happens to be produced by George R.R. Martin (because can you blame him for delaying The Winds Of Winter a bit longer in favor of different winds?) and follows 1970s Navajo cops who are dealing with murder and other ominous happenings near Monument Valley-tangential outpost. What they see makes them question everything that they’ve ever been told or believed, and it’s a sleeper of a show that’s worth queuing up.
9. Peaky Blinders (BBC One/Netflix series)
This addictive series is still as cool and addictive as always, but it’s all coming to an end now, at least temporarily, for Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Fookin’ Shelby, but the good news is this: this show’s swagger will be back, either in movie or spinoff form. Shelby’s journey points him toward America and a fresh-ish beginning, but before that happens, the gang’s got more confrontations and Cockney rhyming profanity while the show also does not ignore the untimely passing of Helen McRory.
8. Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (Paramount+ movie)
If you’re familiar with the MTV series, then you know that this show isn’t exactly brainiac material. Mike Judge’s couch slackers also mostly rely on one joke, but what a joke it is. Revisit all the buttmunch jokes and, for that manner, a lot of mentions of butts, and thank goodness Cornholio still needs TP for his bunghole. “Do you have any…. olio?” This wave of pointless-yet-entertaining nostalgia couldn’t be more welcome on the heels of Top Gun: Maverick will striking a very different tone. God, I missed these two idiots. They’ll help you forget about the dumpster fire of today’s very serious world, and that spirit couldn’t be more appreciated than right now.
7. Doctor Strange And The Multiverse Of Madness (Disney+ movie)
Benedict Cumberbatch’s title character alerted Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man to the one chance the Avengers had to stopping Thanos, but since then, the Sorcerer Supreme’s been absolute chaos. He f*cked around and found out with the multiverse, and Wanda Maximoff was not pleased going into this film after she broke the rules and actually faced consequences. As a bonus, as well, this film turned out to essentially be an Evil Dead movie from director Sam Raimi with a few other notable cameos that should help to integrate the Marvel characters previously snatched up by Fox.
6. Only Murders In The Building (Hulu series)
Heck yes, this dream team is back with Selena Gomez alerting everyone to the many reasons why she’s been underappreciated in Hollywood, until recently. The first season wrapped up while perfectly unwrapped and the season begins with a few new guest stars and everyone buzzing about “Bloody Mabel.” One of those guests actually ends up being a romantic interest for Mabel, but I don’t trust the newbie! Everyone’s a suspect, man. And everyone should be very clear that Gomez is a fantastic costar while bouncing perfectly off Steve Martin and Martin Short. This second season turned around in less than a year, and as previously, it’ll hook you on a weekly basis.
5. The Umbrella Academy (Netflix series)
Get your dancing shoes on because The Hargreeves siblings begin this sublime season in a gleeful way, despite the fact that they’re about to deal with yet another world-shattering timeline disruption. Elliot Page’s Victor makes his formal debut this season, all while the Sparrow Academy’s antagonizing the O.G. Hargreeves siblings. This show continues to strike a careful balance between “overstuffed” and “still character based,” all while literally dancing through the quirky, action-filled mayhem.
3. The Boys (Amazon Prime series)
The show followed up the “Herogasm” episode with a major revelation that lines up a spectacular confrontation in the upcoming season finale. Meanwhile, the world still hasn’t recovered from The Deep’s octopus fetish, but hold tight because Black Noir and Mother’s Milk are both ones to watch as well. This show consistently manages to skewer superheroes while going way too far in the most skilled way possible. Who needs restraint, anyway?
2. The Bear (FX series streaming on Hulu)
You may not be able to stop shouting “Chef!” after watching this show that’s ultimately about finding one’s own family. It’s an intense story about a high-pressure working environment as a former fine dining chef (Jeremy Allen White, back in Chicago) tries to wrap his arms around running his family’s sandwich shop. He’s got some trauma embedded deep inside, and White is supported by some stellar players, including a megaphone-wielding Ebon Moss-Bachrach and a perspective-sharing sous chef played by Ayo Edebir. The title means something, of course, and you gotta watch to find out.
1. Stranger Things (Netflix series)
The final (enormously long) episodes of this fourth season finally arrived, and the Duffer brothers prepare to close in on their final season production but not without crashing Netflix’s servers in the process. Millie Bobbie Brown publicly hoped for some Game of Thrones-style deaths, but will she receive her wish? There’s absolutely no telling, but expect for this season to at least reap some Emmy nominations that will challenge Thrones in the record-holding department. Happy streaming.
