December may prove to be a quiet month when it comes to the best new shows to stream. But at least for the first weekend of December, you still have options. Apple TV+ has premiered the third season of its underrated show Slow Horses, while Netflix has a new action comedy, Obliterated, that critics absolutely hate. But action fans seem to be enjoying the show so far. The only other noteworthy addition this week is the new comedy Bookie on Max.
Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Max, Apple TV+, Disney+, Paramount+, and Peacock have their work cut out for them in terms of providing content in 2024, especially when the effects of the writers’ and actors’ strikes catch up with them. Right now, the high prices of these streaming services are being felt by their subscribers. If you need some relief from those prices, the you should consider signing up for the ad-supported tiers. In the meantime, here’s our weekly roundup of the best new shows to stream.
When you’re done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, best shows on Hulu, best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and best shows on Disney+.
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Slow Horses2022 -
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Obliterated2023
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Bookie2023
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Fargo2014
Apple TV+
Slow Horses (2022) new
Don’t let the name of the show fool you. Slow Horses is a spy thriller of the highest order. In the context of the show itself, “slow horses” is the unfortunate nickname of MI5 agents who have been exiled to Slough House, a place for spies who ruined their careers that is run by Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman)
River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is one of the few spies at Slough House who doesn’t really belong there. And in the third season, he may get a chance to prove that. Someone has kidnapped River’s colleague, Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves), and now River is being blackmailed to get her back.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023) new
There are two big surprises in store for fans of Legendary’s MonsterVerse in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The first is that the show doesn’t shy away from linking directly to both the 2014 Godzilla reboot and to Kong: Skull Island. The other surprise is that this series is an unexpectedly compelling drama in its own right. The story begins one year after the events of Godzilla, as two strangers, Cate (Anna Sawai) and Kentaro (Ren Watabe), discover that they are half-siblings through their late father, Hiroshi (Takehiro Hira).
As the siblings compare notes, they discover that Hiroshi was closely linked with Monarch, the organization that has been tracking the monstrous Titans for decades. Cate and Kentaro also meet Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell), one of Monarch’s former operatives. In flashbacks, Russell’s son, Wyatt Russell, plays the younger Lee as he takes part in the origins of Monarch itself.
For All Mankind (2019)
Netflix
Obliterated (2023) new
Chad McKnight (Nick Zano), Ava Winters (Shelley Hennig), and the rest of their elite squad can hardly be blamed for partying after saving Las Vegas in Netflix’s new action-comedy Obliterated. The problem is that they celebrated a little bit too early. It turns out that the team was fooled into thinking that the terrorist threat was over, and now they’re all too hammered to properly react to the situation.
This won’t stop them from trying to save the day, of course. Because the consequences of failure won’t just cost the team their own lives. If they fail, everyone in Las Vegas will die with them.
Squid Game: The Challenge (2023) new
Fans really seem to love Squid Game, so much so that the loosely connected reality series based on the Korean original, Squid Game: The Challenge, debuted at No. 1 on Netflix less than a day after its premiere.
Technically, this time it’s a series produced in Britain. But the aesthetic, and the games themselves, are pure Squid Game.
The first five episodes have been released, as 456 players from around the world compete for a $4.56 million prize. But first the pool of competitors need to be cut down to a more manageable size.
The Crown (2016)
Netflix’s prestige royal family drama, The Crown, kicks off its final season in the late 1990s, as Diana, Princess of Wales (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Elizabeth Debicki) proves to be more headstrong than the royal family can handle, even after she has divorced Prince Charles (Dominic West).
The first half of the season doesn’t waste any time showing Diana’s 1997 death in a car accident alongside her lover, Dodi Fayed (Khalid Abdalla), before flashing back and chronicling the events that led up to that fateful night in Paris. The new episodes also explore the fallout of what came after. Four new episodes of The Crown are available to stream right now, while the remaining six episodes of the series will premiere on December 14.
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (2023)
Second chances are rare for franchises that failed the first time out of the gate, but Scott Pilgrim Takes Off is giving series creator Bryan Lee O’Malley another shot at adapting his hit graphic novels. This time, O’Malley’s art style is being used for the animation, while the show is retaining the all-star cast from the 2010 live-action Scott Pilgrim vs. the World film.
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is a typical slacker who isn’t trying very hard to get ahead in life. But as soon as Scott meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), he’s immediately smitten with her and willing to do anything to win her heart. Unfortunately for Scott, “anything” entails literal battles with Ramona’s seven evil exes.
Max (formerly HBO and HBO Max)
Bookie (2023) new
Sitcom maven Chuck Lorre’s new show Bookie has landed on Max with its first two episodes. The show follows two bookies, Danny (Sebastian Maniscalco) and Ray (Omar J. Dorsey), who are having a hard time with their chosen vocation because legalized gambling is eating away at their profits and their clients.
All that’s left for the guys is shaking down their regulars for the money they’re owed, and trying to figure out how they can keep up in the modern world of sports betting.
Julia (2022)
The Max dramedy Julia is back for a second seaso, chronicling the life of Julia Child (Sarah Lancashire), a famous cook who popularized French cooking in America with her cookbooks and her TV series, The French Chef. Julia also features Frasier veteran David Hyde Pierce as Julia’s husband, Paul Child, with recurring Frasier and Cheers guest star Babe Neuwirth as Julia’s closest friend, Avis DeVoto.
Season 1 ended with Julia ready to walk away from her show after a single season, before Paul talked her into continuing to pursue her dream. And so Julia continues hosting her TV series in the new season, but there are always new challenges on the horizon.
Rap Sh!t (2022)
Insecure’s Issa Rae created Rap Sh!t for Max, but she’s strictly behind the scenes for this comedy series. Aida Osman and KaMillion co-headline the show as Shawna Clark and Mia Knight, respectively. Although Shawna and Mia have been distant for years, they both have a passion for rap and a desire to live out their dreams.
After discovering how well they work together, Shawna and Mia form their own group. However, some bad choices, especially by Shawna, threaten to tear them apart as the series returns for season 2.
Hulu
Fargo (2014) new
FX’s hit anthology series Fargo is back on Hulu for its fifth season with a brand new cast of characters and a timeline that falls just a few months before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the country. This season is all about Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Juno Temple), the loving wife of Wayne Lyon (David Rysdahl). Or is she?
It becomes clear pretty early that Dot isn’t who she pretends to be, and no one has a bigger reason to smoke her out of her hiding place than North Dakota Sheriff Roy Tillman (Jon Hamm), Dot’s previous husband, who may still be technically married to her. Dot’s stayed several steps ahead of Tillman for a long time, but she can only run from her past for so long.
Shoresy (2022)
It’s almost impossible for a comedy to be more Canadian than Shoresy, a spinoff from Letterkenny that puts Jared Keeso’s “Shoresy” Shore into his own story. Keeso not only created and headlines the series, he also wrote and directed every episode of the show to date through the end of season 2.
Within the series, Shoresy goes to extremes to keep his new Triple-A hockey team, the Sudbury Bulldogs, from folding. Shoresy even promises that the Bulldogs will never lose again if he’s in charge of the team, but that’s a vow that Shoresy and his teammates will have a difficult time living up to.
Goosebumps (2023)
In a strange case of corporate synergy, Sony Pictures TV is producing the new Goosebumps series, which is being streamed on both Hulu and Disney+. This time, R.L. Stine’s kid-friendly horror stories are being reimagined as a serialized series that is built around the mystery of what happened to a teenager, Harold Biddle (Ben Cockell), in 1993.
As Harold’s angry spirit haunts the town, Isaiah (Zack Morris), Margot (Isa Briones), James (Miles McKenna). Isabella (Ana Yi Puig), and Lucas (Will Price) find themselves drawn into the mystery, which may have links to their parents.
Amazon Prime Video
Invincible (2021)
The reigning king of the superhero shows, Invincible, returns for its second season with a horrific look at an alternate Earth where Mark Grayson/Invincible (Beef‘s Steven Yeun) sided with his father, Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons), in the conquest of Earth. Back in the primary timeline, Mark is emotionally bereft after the fight with his father as he struggles to recapture his purpose as a hero.
Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Globe face a leadership shake-up and the Mauler Twins (Kevin Michael Richardson) may have just created a new nemesis for Invincible. Get ready for some fireworks, because the action is about to begin.
Upload (2020)
The digital afterlife hasn’t been easy for Nathan Brown (Robbie Amell) in Prime Video’s Upload. And things aren’t getting any simpler in the newly launched third season. After being tied to his living girlfriend, Ingrid Kannerman (Allegra Edwards), even after his death, Nathan is finally free to pursue a relationship with Nora Antony (Andy Allo).
Because Nathan’s mind exists in the digital realm, Ingrid now has access to a copy of Nathan, who doesn’t realize that he broke up with her. Is this show big enough for two Nathans? What’s going to happen when the original Nathan meets his new doppelganger?
Paramount+
Lawmen: Bass Reeves (2023)
Taylor Sheridan’s next western TV series Lawmen: Bass Reeves is already a hit on Paramount+. David Oyelowo stars as Bass Reeves, one of the first Black Deputy U.S. Marshals whose legend was built ten years after the Civil War. The real Reeves was recruited in part because he spoke multiple Native languages, and he proved to be one of the best detectives of his era.
Plot details for the series are currently under wraps, but the cast includes Dennis Quaid as Sherrill Lynn, Forrest Goodluck as Billy Crow, Lauren E. Banks as Jennie Reeves, Barry Pepper as Esau Pierce, Grantham Coleman as Edwin Jones, Demi Singleton as Sally Reeves, and Donald Sutherland as Judge Isaac Parker.
Fellow Travelers (2023)
Like sweeping historical dramas with charismatic lead actors, a compelling dramatic story, and steamy love scenes? Look no further than Fellow Travelers, the 8-part limited series that is streaming on Paramount+. The series stars Matt Bomer as Hawkins Fuller, an ambitious junior politician who is trying to live lived as a closeted gay man in 1950s Washington. He meets, and quickly falls in love with, earnest Tim Laughlin (Bridgerton‘s Jonathan Bailey), whose optimism and faith both attract and repel Hawkins over the years.
The show, which spans multiple decades from the 1950s to the 1980s, marries the political and the personal, offering a unique perspective of the late 20th century that touches on topics such as sexuality, race, and religion.
Frasier (2023)
20 years after Frasier wrapped its eleven-season run on NBC, Paramount+’s revival series has finally arrived. And for the first time since Cheers, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) is back in Boston for more than just a visit. Following the death of his father, Frasier attempts to mend his relationship with his son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), who has become a blue-collar firefighter.
Frasier may be retired as a psychiatrist, but he soon gets an opportunity to explore a new career in higher education as a professor at Harvard University. This is the third act that Frasier has been waiting for, and he intends to make the most of it.
Disney+
Loki (2021)
Mistakes were made at the end of time, and the MCU became a multiverse in the season 1 finale of Loki. Season 2 finds Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in a greatly changed TVA that now seems to be devoted to Kang (Jonathan Majors). Even Loki’s first true friend, Mobius M. Mobius (Owen Wilson), no longer knows who he is. More alarmingly, Loki himself appears to be unstuck in time as he disappears and reappears at random intervals.
Season 2 introduces Ke Huy Quan as Ouroboros, the man who invented the TVA’s time travel tech. But even he may not be able to help Loki find his female variant, Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), whom Loki fell in love with last season.
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