TCL is reportedly preparing to roll out a major firmware update for newer Google TV models.
The update will upgrade select models from Android 12 to Android 14.
The update could also add support for HDMI 2.1 QMS, “Super Resolution” upscaling, and more.
If you own a TCL TV, be on the lookout for a new update. The company appears to be preparing to release a firmware update that will take its newer Google TV models from Android 12 to Android 14.
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According to FlatPanelsHD, TCL is readying firmware version 590 (v313 in the US) for its Google TV models with a MediaTek Pentonic 700 chip sitting inside. This affects the following models: C8K, QM8K, C7K, QM7K, C6K, QM6K, C855, C845, QM851G, C805, QM751G, and TCL NXTVISION. It appears that the firmware currently exists as a manual update file, but it will soon be rolled out through the TVs’ built-in update feature.
This update will upgrade TCL’s last-generation TVs from Android 12 to Android 14. Right on time to get these models up-to-date before the company launches its 2026 devices, which will have Android 14 pre-installed.
User reports (1, 2, 3) claim that this update brings more than just Android 14. It appears that we can expect a few new features, like support for HDMI 2.1 quick media switching (QMS). If you’re unfamiliar with QMS, it improves the refresh rate switching between HDMI devices. This feature can help you avoid seeing a black screen when an HDMI device adjusts its refresh rate to match the content’s frame rate.
In addition to HDMI 2.1 QMS, the update may bring support for “Super Resolution” upscaling. This is a feature that uses AI-powered algorithms to add pixels and details to a picture, making lower-resolution content look better. Android 14 also adds support for energy modes, picture-in-picture, performance boosts, and more.
At the moment, TCL has not officially announced the rollout of this firmware. The company has also not yet published the release notes for the update.
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Streaming services are known for having award-worthy series but also plenty of duds. Our guide to the best TV shows on Netflix is updated weekly to help you know which series you should move to the top of your queue. They aren’t all surefire winners—we love a good less-than-obvious gem—but they’re all worth your time, trust us.
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The Witcher
Almost everything is different in The Witcher’s fourth season. Gone is former leading man Henry Cavill, with Liam Hemsworth donning the gray wig as monster-slaying Geralt of Rivia in his place. It’s been a controversial switch, but Hemsworth holds his own well enough, despite being perhaps a bit too cautious in his portrayal. However, this latest chapter in the fantasy epic, based on the novels of Andrzej Sapkowski, really belongs to sorceress Yennefer (the returning Anya Chalotra), gathering forces against the dark mage Vilgefortz (Mahesh Jadu), and trainee Witcher Ciri (Freya Allen), seeking a new life for herself with a group of thieves called the Rats. While the core trio’s tales barely intersect this season, the distance allows each to stand on their own strengths. It also sets the stage for greater things to come in the fifth and final season. This Cavill-less Witcher might take some getting used to, but if you’ve been watching since the beginning, it’s definitely worth sticking around.
Boots
Adapted from Greg Cope White’s memoir The Pink Marine, this eight-episode series follows closeted teen Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer) as he follows his friend Ray (Liam Oh) into the US Marine Corps—even as his mother Barbara (Vera Farmiga) barely notices him leaving. Picking up in 1990—before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”—Boots walks the fine line between drama and comedy as it charts Cameron’s fish-out-of-water travails through basic training. While it could all have easily devolved into a collection of tropes, the series instead serves up a smart exploration of masculinity and camaraderie that can feel surprisingly tender at times, while never pulling its punches when it comes to the conditions recruits can face.
Wayward
Wayward was created by comedian Mae Martin, but don’t expect a laugh riot in this dark and distressing thriller. The series focuses on the secretive Tall Pines Academy in Vermont, a boarding school for troubled teens, ruled with an iron fist by self-styled savior Evelyn Wade (a chillingly commanding Toni Collette). Except, to the outside world, Wade is a caring pillar of the community, helping desperate youths—a dichotomy that the school’s latest residents, Abbie (Sydney Topliffe) and Leila (Alyvia Alyn Lind), are about to brutally experience firsthand. Their only hope may be Alex (Martin), a newly transferred cop who grows suspicious of the hold Wade has over both the town and Laura (Sarah Gadon), Alex’s wife who is herself a graduate of Tall Pines. Despite having the vibe of a docudrama, Wayward is entirely fictional—but its exploration of control, coercion, and the power of charismatic figures feels all too real.
House of Guinness
If you’re a fan of a pint of the black stuff—that’s famed Irish stout beer Guinness for the nondrinkers out there—this historical drama based on the family behind its creation will go down smooth. When patriarch Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness dies, he leaves behind one of the largest and most powerful businesses in Ireland, setting the stage for a war of succession between his four children. With control left to eldest sons Arthur (Anthony Boyle) and Edward (Louis Partridge), but nothing for daughter Anne (Emily Fairn), and only a token trust fund for Benjamin Jr. (Fionn O’Shea), the wealthiest family in Ireland is about to go to war—right as the company is trying to expand into New York. Is it 100 percent authentic to the period or settings? About as accurate as creator Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders was to early 20th century Birmingham, England—which is to say, not exactly, but the mix of drama, betrayal, and politics is a hell of a lot of fun all the same. Sláinte!
Haunted Hotel
When Katherine inherited the dilapidated Undervale Hotel from her late brother Nathan, she didn’t expect he’d still be ra esident there—but anyone who dies at the Undervale never checks out, so he’s hanging around as a ghost. Now Katherine is stuck trying to manage a failing business, keep a few centuries’ worth of squabbling specters happy, and stop her kids Ben and Esther from dabbling in the dark arts—all while Abaddon, a demon trapped in a pilgrim child’s body, keeps trying to get his infernal powers back. Created by Rick and Morty writer Matt Roller, Haunted Hotel starts off as a seemingly familiar addition to Netflix’s roster of original adult animated series but manages to interrupt its spooky hijinks with some unexpectedly profound and emotionally resonant moments. With a voice cast boasting comedy greats Will Forte and Eliza Coupe, Haunted Hotel is worth digging up this Halloween.
Alice in Borderland
When slacker Ryohei Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) was mysteriously transported to a deserted Tokyo, his keen gaming skills turned out to be an edge in navigating a series of lethal games that tested intellect as much as physical prowess. Yet after finally escaping and starting a new life with Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), the newly arrived third and final season finds Arisu drawn back into the Borderland for one final round of brutal games—with the lives of everyone he cares about on the line. Going beyond the material laid down in Haro Aso’s original manga was a risky decision, but it pays off in this last batch of six episodes, serving up some of the most inventive and thrilling challenges in the series’ history while tying up some long-running character arcs.
Black Rabbit
The Black Rabbit is on its way to being New York’s hottest restaurant, an ultra-cool eatery that’s one glowing New York Times review away from blowing up. Proprietor Jake Friedken (Jude Law) has poured everything into it—so it’s the absolute worst time for his screw-up brother Vince (Jason Bateman) to crawl back into his life. On the run from a hit-and-run in Reno, and with long-standing debts to the mob hanging over him, Vince’s reappearance threatens to drag Jake down, and pushes brotherly love to lethal limits. Created by writers Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, this eight-episode limited series blends The Bear and Breaking Bad into a deliciously tense thriller that leaves you wanting a second course.
Wolf King
Based on the Wereworld books by Curtis Jobling, this animated fantasy adventure follows young farmer Drew (Cel Spellman), whose life is thrown into chaos when he learns he’s actually the hidden son of the lost Wolf King. Being the Wolf King’s hidden son means he’s also the last threat to the rule of King Leopold, the werelion who has stolen the throne. Joined by reluctant allies Whitley (Nina Barker Francis) and Hector (Chris Lew Kum Hoi), Drew is thrust into a quest to master his lupine powers and claim the crown he’s destined for—if they can evade Leopold’s forces. While the animation style won’t be for everyone—a pseudo-stop-motion approach—Wolf King will capture fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Dragon Prince, and its balance of swords and sorcery and savage werebeasts gives it just enough bite for parents and older viewers.
Long Story Short
Adult animation is awash with family sitcoms—The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, on and on—but they’re all stuck in the perma-present, mixing outlandish events with a never-changing status quo. Not so for Long Story Short, the latest series from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The show follows the thoroughly pedestrian antics of the Schwoopers, jumping between the 1950s and 2020s as it does so. As it ricochets through the lives of parents Naomi and Elliot, and their children Avi, Shira, and Yoshi, it proves itself as a series that balances finding comedy in the mundane—from chaotic bar mitzvahs to anniversaries-turned-interventions—with Waksberg’s penchant for the poignant woven throughout, all brought to life by a fantastic voice cast including Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, and Nicole Byer. Already renewed for a second season, this is one story Netflix hasn’t cut short.
Hostage
With the UK in the midst of a health crisis, prime minister Abigail Dalton (Suranne Jones) is keen to strike a deal for medicine from French president Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy)—standard politics, until Dalton’s husband Alex (Ashley Thomas), a doctor working with Medicins san Frontieres, is kidnapped in French Guiana. With the kidnappers demanding the PM’s resignation, the professional and the personal dangerously blur, while a conspiracy threatens Toussaint’s own position. Tense and masterfully paced, and with striking performances from Jones and Delpy, this five-episode limited series is an excellent political thriller to binge.
Wednesday
After spending the summer honing her psychic powers by tracking down serial killers, Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) returns to Nevermore Academy—but this school year is more of an Addams Family reunion. With her mother, Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), drawn into an onsite committee role by suspicious new principal Barry Dort (Steve Buscemi), brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) joining the school after developing electric powers, and eccentric Grandmama (Joanna Lumley) turning up, Wednesday barely has a chance to investigate a new string of murders or a conspiracy surrounding a shady psychiatric hospital. The perils of the show’s protracted three-year gap between seasons is hard to overlook in places—Pugsley now towers over Wednesday, explained as a growth spurt, and you’ll almost certainly need to rewatch the first season to remember what’s going on—but this is a welcome return for Netflix’s spooky, ooky teen drama.
Love, Death + Robots
Developed by Deadpool director Tim Miller, Love, Death + Robots is one of Netflix’s most exciting animated offerings—an anthology series where the only common thread is each episode’s unique interpretation of that eponymous trio of themes. Now in its fourth season, viewers are treated to wild concepts that include psychic street gangs in a postapocalyptic future (400 Boys), a re-creation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Live at Slane Castle performance of “Can’t Stop” in marionette form (directed by David Fincher, no less), and, in a rare hybrid of live action and CGI, a priest (played by Rhys Darby) meeting an alien envoy that thinks God has been reborn as an Earth dolphin. Wildly experimental, Love, Death + Robots constantly juggles animation styles and genres and practically vibrates off the screen with sheer visual energy. You never know what you’re going to get with this show—and that’s half the fun.
Sneaky Pete
Just released from prison, Marius (Giovanni Ribisi) steals the identity of former cellmate Pete Murphy in order to hide from the dangers of his old life. On the run from a vicious gangster played by Bryan Cranston (who also jointly created the show), Marius nestles in with Pete’s motley crew of estranged family. They’re delighted to be reunited with their long-lost relative, but he finds taking over another man’s life might be even more dangerous than the past he’s running from. Originally an Amazon Prime series, this three-season drama can now be binged in its entirety on Netflix.
Grace and Frankie
The brainchild of Friends cocreator Marta Kauffman, this sharp sitcom sees Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as the titular Grace and Frankie, longtime acquaintances forced into living together after their husbands leave them late in life—for each other. The show follows this contemporary odd couple as they deal with their ex-husbands’ coming out, their adult children’s drama, and each other’s maddening personalities, all while building a genuine friendship and trying to prove to themselves and the world that age is just a number. Taking cues from Arrested Development, Grace and Frankie‘s chief comedic currency is awkwardness, as their two extended families—the rich, business-minded Hansons and the borderline hippy Bergsteins—bring their neuroses and baggage to bear while navigating adult familial relationships. Think of it as a modern-day Golden Girls—just with more swearing and drug use.
Sakamoto Days
Taro Sakamoto used to be the worst of the worst, a hitman par excellence, his lethal skills making him a legendary figure in the criminal underworld. Then he fell in love, got married, and retired to run a convenience store with his wife Aoi and their daughter Hana. Unfortunately, he didn’t exactly leave his old job on the best of terms, and now a cadre of killers are out for the billion yen bounty on his head. Luckily, Sakamoto’s lost none of his skills—even though he’s let himself go in other areas—but can he protect his family without breaking Aoi’s strict “no killing” rule? Based on the manga by Yuto Suzuki, this comedy action anime is a blast. Now into its second season, with new episodes dropping each Monday, it’s appointment viewing you won’t want to miss.
Squid Game
The Korean sensation that became a global phenomenon, Squid Game’s blend of Hunger Games’ shocking elimination battles and Parasite’s condemnation of exploitative capitalism turned it into one of Netflix’s biggest-ever hits. It started off simply enough—hundreds of desperate people recruited to compete in a series of playground games with a deadly twist, the survivor winning a ₩45.6 billion ($35.8 million) jackpot. But now, with its third and final season, the stakes are higher than ever, and even perennial survivor Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) might not be able to win this round. Intense, brutal, and frequently graphic, Squid Game remains gripping to the very end.
Trainwreck
Little else is as fascinating as a real-life disaster born of sheer hubris. The strange mix of “saw that one coming” and “get the popcorn,” as you watch events unfold makes for captivating viewing. That’s the special sauce for Trainwreck, Netflix’s series of documentaries exploring some of the biggest, well, train wrecks of recent history. From the crack-cocaine-fueled tenure of Toronto’s disgraced mayor Rob Ford to the avoidable errors that saw a luxury cruise liner turned into an infamous “poop cruise,” each installment is a fascinating exploration of how badly things can go wrong when the wrong people are in charge. Netflix oddly categorizes each Trainwreck as its own movie, but it’s really a loosely connected anthology, and while some cases require their own multi-episode arcs to excavate the wreckage (shoutout to Woodstock ’99), there’s no particular starting point—simply pick your favorite screw-up and just try to look away.
The Survivors
Years ago, Kieran Elliott (Charlie Vickers) survived a storm that trapped him in a sea cave, but his brother Finn and friend Toby died in the rescue attempt. Fifteen years later, he returns to his hometown with his partner Mia (Yerin Ha) and their baby Audrey for a memorial, finding that everyone from neighbors to his own mother still blame him for the tragedy. While those deaths still haunt the small town community, they may also have obscured another tragedy—teenager Gabby Birch went missing the same night. Now, out-of-town investigator Bronte (Shannon Berry), the only person who still cared about the long-cold case, has wound up dead herself, and everyone in Kieran’s life seems to be connected. Adapted from the novel by Jane Harper, this Australian murder mystery from Glitch creator Tony Ayres is a darkly compelling miniseries.
Dept. Q
Edinburgh police detective Carl Morck (The Crown‘s Matthew Goode) used to be one of the best—until his arrogance got his partner paralyzed and a uniformed officer killed, and saw him narrowly survive a bullet through his own neck. After returning to work following a lengthy period of mandatory leave, Morck finds himself heading up the new Department Q—an underfunded, under-staffed operation in the precinct’s dank basement, dedicated to solving the iciest of cold cases. Gathering a team of misfits, including Rose (Leah Byrne), eager to please but recovering from a breakdown, Akram (Alexej Manvelov), a Syrian refugee, and Morck’s still-bedbound partner James (Jamie Sives), the department has a lot to prove—but solving the disappearance of Merritt Linguard (Chloe Pirrie) might be a good start. Based on the novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, Dept. Q is a brilliant blend of Scandi noir and gritty British crime drama.
Sirens
First The White Lotus, then The Perfect Couple, and now Sirens—Meghann Fahy is making a career out of starring in shows where we get to see awfully rich people doing awfully bad things to each other. Here, she plays down-on-her-luck Devon, drawn into the luxurious world her sister Simone (Milly Alcock, imminently Supergirl) inhabits by proxy, working as an assistant to billionaire’s wife Michaela (Julianne Moore). It’s never clear how willingly Simone got involved with the charismatic Michaela, who may be a mentor or cult leader or something else entirely, nor how overprotective or paranoid Devon is, but the hook of this glossy, dark comedy is in finding out.
Blood of Zeus
This adult animated take on Greek mythology returns for its third and final season, bringing the odyssey of demigod Heron—son of Zeus and mortal woman Electra—to a brutal conclusion. After years of manipulation, power plays, and betrayals, the season picks up with the Olympian gods and their Titan predecessors lined up against each other, the fate of the world hanging on the outcome of the ultimate family feud. Heron and his estranged brother Seraphim may be the only ones able to bring peace—so it’s rather inconvenient that Heron is dead. From start to finish, Blood of Zeus has impressed with smart writing that offers compelling twists on the classic myths, all brought to life with top-tier animation and phenomenal voice acting, and it doesn’t disappoint as it reaches its finale. One of Netflix’s best animated series.
You
Based on the novels of Caroline Kepnes, You is an often deeply disturbing series. During the first season, bookstore manager Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) falls in deranged-love-at-first-sight with aspiring author Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). In subsequent ones, he relocates to Los Angeles, where heiress Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti) became the focus of his attention, and then to London, where he poses as an unassuming university professor before meeting his match in Kate Galvin (Charlotte Ritchie). At each turn, the globe-hopping saga of murderous obsession has become more and more unsettling. In the fifth and final season, Joe returns to New York with his new wife, Kate, but the darkness and brutality that’s followed him around the world is never far behind. Often shocking, You is a gripping thriller that hits the same sinister sweet spot as early (read: good) seasons of Dexter.
Black Mirror
Black Mirror returns with six new episodes that continue to explore humanity’s complicated relationship with technology. Although the new, seventh season includes a couple of rare sequels to previous Black Mirror episodes, the anthology format means every episode remains accessible. That means you can jump right in with the heartbreaking “Eulogy,” where Paul Giamatti’s Phillip dives through his own fractured memories of a lost lover. Or you can start with the sinister “Plaything,” in which a gaming journalist gets murderously obsessed with a strange life-sim game, partly inspired by series creator Charlie Brooker’s own background. (In a very meta twist, you can play the game for real.) Whether you’re a longtime fan or this is your first encounter with poignant tech dystopias, all of Black Mirror awaits your viewing.
North of North
Young Inuk woman Siaja (Anna Lambe, True Detective: Night Country) married straight out of high school, then spent years trapped in the shadow of her shallow, selfish husband, Ting—the golden boy of their small town of Ice Cove, nestled far in the Arctic Circle. A brush with death—and possibly the goddess Nuliajuk—gives her the push to make a fresh start, but an explosive breakup in a community of only 2,000 people means Siaja’s personal life is now everyone’s business. Netflix’s first Canadian original series, this sharp sitcom is packed with warmth and humor, while its on-location shooting in Iqaluit (the real-life capital of the Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut) delivers breathtaking natural beauty along with the laughs.
Devil May Cry
Building on the success of Castlevania, Netflix’s take on Capcom’s Devil May Cry series continues the streamer’s strong track record of animated video game adaptations. For those who’ve never picked up a controller, the series follows half-demon devil hunter Dante, a stylish slayer with a penchant for slicing up hell’s worst offenders. This eight-episode spectacular sees Dante (voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) clashing with the horrific White Rabbit (Hoon Lee), a twisted monster aiming to tear down the barrier between Earth and hell. Animation fans will also appreciate one of the final performances from the venerable, sadly-passed Kevin Conroy as the villainous US Vice President Baines. Devil May Cry may be unashamedly in love with its own early 2000s origins—as evidenced by a soundtrack filled with songs from the likes of Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach—but this slickly animated action masterpiece is a hellishly good time.
Adolescence
A quiet English town. 6 am. Police raid the house of Jamie Miller on suspicion of murdering an innocent girl. Jamie is 13 years old. A shocking mini-series, this isn’t a whodunit, but a whydunit. Its four episodes—each masterfully shot in a single real-time take—explore how boys are radicalized online to hate women, and the horrifying effects it has. The powerhouse cast includes cocreator and writer Stephen Graham (Bodies, A Thousand Blows) as Jamie’s father Eddie, Ashley Walters (Bulletproof) as Detective Boscombe, the arresting officer and investigator of Jamie’s crime, and Erin Doherty (The Crown) as the psychologist evaluating Jamie. Each brings this incredibly difficult material to life, but it’s newcomer Owen Cooper as Jamie who most astounds, turning from petrified to cheeky to vitriolic in a terrifying heartbeat. Adolescence is harrowing but important viewing.
Pantheon
Originally an AMC+ show, both seasons of Pantheon are now available on Netflix. Good timing too, since its nightmarish scenario of digitally uploaded human consciousnesses and exploration of the impact such technology would have on society feels worryingly prescient. With plot threads weaving between isolated Maddie Kim, whose dead father may have been reborn as an “Uploaded Intelligence,” Caspian Keyes, a genius teenager whose entire life is a Truman Show–style lie, and Vinod Chanda, an engineer investigating UI, this hard sci-fi outing—based on the short fiction of Ken Liu—offers a dark examination of virtual immortality. A uniquely brilliant adult animated series.
Zero Day
Cards on the table: A significant part of the appeal here is seeing the iconic Robert De Niro in his first major English-language TV role (he previously appeared in the Argentinian Nada, aka Nothing). He doesn’t disappoint with his performance as former US president George Mullen—pulled out of retirement to oversee a commission investigating a colossal cyberattack that left thousands of Americans dead and the terrifying warning that “this will happen again”—commanding the screen with his trademark gravitas. Director Lesli Linka Glatter wrings great drama from the whodunit of it all (Russians? hackers? hedge fund bros?), but with Mullen handed unprecedented powers to track down the culprits, the real nail-biting moments come from its suddenly timely explorations of abuses of power. With a powerhouse cast that includes Angela Bassett, Lizzy Caplan, and Jesse Plemons, Zero Day is an engaging political thriller, and at six episodes it makes for a great binge-watch.
The Night Agent
Special agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso) is back, and the stakes have never been higher. While the first season of The Night Agent wove a compelling spy drama out of the idea of a mole at the heart of America’s intelligence services, the newly arrived second season takes a more global approach—Sutherland hunts down a stolen chemical weapon project, drawing him back into the orbit of tech savant and sometime love interest Rose Larkin (Luciane Buchanan), while Iranian diplomatic aide Noor Taheri (Arienne Mandi) offers secrets to the CIA in return for asylum, and a deposed Eastern European dictator aims to manipulate everything from behind bars. Sure, the show’s mix of politics and spook work won’t surprise genre diehards, but it weaves together its many influences—and many more plot threads—into a supremely entertaining thriller.
Asura
The four Takezawa sisters are close but have little in common. Eldest Tsunako (Rie Miyazawa) is already a widow; repressed Takiko (Yû Aoi) and rebellious Sakiko (Suzu Hirose) are always at each other’s throats; and second-born Makiko (Machiko Ono) tries to balance keeping the peace with being a housewife and mother to her own two children. Yet when Takiko learns that their father Kotaro (Jun Kunimura) may have a second, secret, family, the sisters’ bonds are put to the test as they struggle to uncover the truth. Asura is far more than a turgid family drama—it’s equal parts heartwarming and hilarious, capturing the complexities of the relationships between its quartet of protagonists. Keeping the 1970s setting of Kuniko Mukōda’s original novel allows Palme d’Or– winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda (Shoplifters) to craft a gorgeously shot period piece that still feels incredibly timely and modern.
Jentry Chau vs the Underworld
You know the drill—everyday teenager learns she has superpowers and is destined to fight the forces of darkness. Except Jentry Chau (voiced by Ali Wong) is not like any other teenage girl—she’s known about the supernatural her whole life (her uncontrollable fire powers were a giveaway) and spent a lifetime avoiding it. Sent to study in Korea for her own safety, Jentry is drawn back into the mystic world after being attacked in Seoul by a jiangshi named Ed (Bowen Yang). Brought back to her home in Texas by her great-aunt, Jentry has to survive not only the formidable mogui Mr. Cheng, who intends to drain her soul and powers, but the horrors of high school, culture shock, and the pain of her own past. Taking the “high school is hell” metaphor of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, adding a dash of Gravity Falls’ mystery, and rooting it all in Asian mythology, Jentry Chau vs the Underworld is one of Netflix’s freshest animated shows in years.
A Man on the Inside
The latest show from comedy mastermind Michael Schur (The Good Place, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine), A Man on the Inside features Ted Danson as Charles Nieuwendyk, a retired engineering professor who’s lost all direction since his wife passed. But when private investigator Julie Kovalenko (Lilah Richcreek Estrada) needs a man of his demographic to go undercover in a retirement community to investigate allegations of resident abuse, Charles may find an unlikely new lease on life—if he can figure out how to use his smartphone, that is. Reflecting on end-of-life realities as much as it plays up Charles’ fish-out-of-water situation, it’s a show that’s equal parts poignant, melancholic, and achingly funny—and it’s based on a true story, to boot.
Black Doves
Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) is wife to the UK defense secretary, mother to two children, and bored with her picture-perfect life. Spectacular cover then, since she’s actually a spy for the mercenary organization Black Doves, selling state secrets to the highest bidder. But when her real love Jason (Andrew Koji) is killed, Helen is determined to find out who killed him and why—and her pursuit of the truth threatens both her public and private lives. Paired with assassin and old friend Sam (Ben Whishaw, in a very different spy role to his turn in the James Bond films) at the behest of stern operator Mrs. Reed (Sarah Lancashire), Helen’s obsession could have led to a dour, gritty thriller, but Black Doves bucks the grim-dark trend to serve up a pulpy, colorful outing with enough heart to balance its violence. At only six episodes (with a second season already confirmed), it’s a brisk watch too.
Arcane
Animated series based on video games can run the gamut from cheap cash-ins to half-decent if forgettable tie-ins, inaccessible to anyone but hardcore devotees. Yet Arcane stood out by making its connections to Riot Games’ League of Legends almost optional. While its central figures, orphaned sisters Vi and Jinx, are playable characters in the game, this steampunk saga of class war, civil uprising, and the people caught in between is entirely accessible. The second and final season, released in a trio of movie-length blocks of three episodes apiece, escalates the conflict between the warring factions but never loses its central focus on the fractured relationship between sisters. With a gorgeous painterly art style, strong characters, and frequently shocking story beats, Arcane is one of the best animated series in years—and it has racked up plenty of awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, to prove it.
Heartstopper
One of the most joyful shows on Netflix returns for another school year of teen drama and heartfelt queer romance. In the long-awaited third season, things heat up between the central couple, with Charlie (Joe Locke) preparing to say three little words to Nick (Kit Connor) for the first time, while Elle (Yasmin Finney) and Tao (William Gao) try to have the perfect romantic summer before Elle starts art college. Heartstopper‘s return also sheds some of its earlier cloying tendencies, growing up alongside its talented young cast and giving them more serious material to work with, tackling more mature themes of sex, eating disorders, and gender dysphoria—all without losing the warmth and charm that made audiences fall in love with the show in the first place. The show younger LGBTQ+ viewers need now, older ones needed years ago, and one that everyone needs to watch, whatever their sexuality.
The Boyfriend
“Anyone can fall in love with anyone” is the opening narration to The Boyfriend, Japan’s first same-sex dating show—a bold and progressive statement that reflects the shifting tide of opinion in the country. Throwing nine single men together in an idyllic beach house for a summer and charging them with running a coffee truck, the over-arching concept is to see who’ll pair up, but the series is as interested in exploring the friendships that emerge between the cast as it is the romantic relationships. Unlike Western dating shows, there are no scandals, no dramatic twists, no betrayals, and the “challenges” are adorably focused on confessing feelings. The gentleness of it all adds an almost relaxing quality, with the men discussing their emotions—and the nature of being queer in Japan—earnestly. An absolutely joyful example of reality TV.
Kleo
If you’re pining for more Killing Eve, then this German thriller may be the next best thing. Set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the series follows the eponymous Kleo (Jella Haase), a Stasi assassin imprisoned by her agency on false treason charges. Released after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she seeks revenge on her former handlers—but West German detective Sven (Dimitrij Schaad), the only witness to her last kill, may have something to say about that. As dark and violent as you’d expect given the period and the themes of betrayal and vengeance, Kleo is lightened by its oft-deranged sense of humor and a charismatic lead duo who brilliantly bounce off one another—chemistry that’s only heightened in the second season as Kleo’s pursuit of her old allies intensifies, attracting attention from international spy agencies in the aftermath of the Cold War.
Supacell
One by one, five Black Londoners awaken to strange superpowers. Struggling father Andre (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) develops superstrength, nurse Sabrina (Nadine Mills) unleashes phenomenal telekinetic might, drug dealer Rodney (Calvin Demba) races at superspeed, and wannabe gang leader Tazer (Josh Tedeku) turns invisible. But it’s Michael (Tosin Cole, Doctor Who) who may be the most pivotal, realizing he can leap through time and space and learning he only has three months to save his fiancée’s life. Created by Andrew “Rapman” Onwubolu, Supacell is a show about superpowers, but not necessarily superheroes, with its fantastic cast offering up a far more realistic and human exploration of now-familiar ideas than anything you’ll find in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And the mystery of why—and how—only Black people seem to be gaining powers builds up to a more powerful punch than an Asgardian god of thunder. A smart, modern, and refreshing take on the genre.
3 Body Problem
In 1960s China, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, gifted scholar Wenjie Ye witnesses her physicist father being beaten to death for his research, only for her to be recruited to a secret project relying on that same knowledge. Fast-forward to the present day, and physics is broken: Particle accelerators around the world are delivering impossible data, while scientists are being plagued by countdowns only they can see. Meanwhile, strange VR headsets appear to be transporting players to an entirely different world—and humanity’s continued existence may rely on there being no “game over.” Game of Thrones’ creators D. B. Weiss and David Benioff and True Blood executive producer Alexander Woo reimagine Chinese author Cixin Liu’s acclaimed hard sci-fi trilogy of first contact and looming interplanetary conflict as a more global affair. Wildly ambitious, and boasting an international cast featuring the likes of Benedict Wong, Rosalind Chao, Eiza González, and GOT alum John Bradley, Netflix’s 3 Body Problem serves up the opening salvo in a richly detailed and staggeringly complex saga.
Ripley
Perhaps best known nowadays from 1999’s The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Matt Damon, novelist Patricia Highsmith’s inveterate criminal Tom Ripley has a longer, darker legacy in print and on the screen. For this limited series, creator Steven Zaillian goes back to Highsmith’s original text, presenting Ridley (a never-more-sinister Andrew Scott of All of Us Strangers) as a down-on-his-luck con man in 1950s New York who is recruited by a wealthy shipbuilder to travel to Italy and persuade the businessman’s spoiled son Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to return home. But once in Italy, Ripley finds himself enamored with Dickie’s lavish lifestyle—and will do anything to take it for himself. Shot in black and white to really sell its noir credentials, this is an instant contender for the finest interpretation of Highsmith’s works to date.
Blue Eye Samurai
In the 17th Century, Japan enforced its “sakoku” isolationist foreign policy, effectively closing itself off from the world. Foreigners were few and far between—so when Mizu (voiced by Maya Erskine) is born with blue eyes, nine months after her mother was assaulted by one of the four white men in the country, it marks her as an outsider, regarded as less than human. Years later, after being trained by a blind sword master and now masquerading as a man, Mizu hunts down those four men, knowing that killing them all is the only way to guarantee her vengeance. Exquisitely animated—which makes its unabashed violence all the more graphic—and with a phenomenal voice cast bolstered by the likes of George Takei, Brenda Song, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, and Kenneth Branagh, Blue Eye Samurai is one of the best adults-only animated series on Netflix.
One Piece
Mark one up for persistence: After numerous anime adaptations ranging from “awful” to “not too bad,” Netflix finally strikes gold with its live-action take on the global phenomenon One Piece. Despite fans’ fears, this spectacularly captures the charm, optimism, and glorious weirdness of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved manga, manifesting a fantasy world where people brandish outlandish powers and hunt for a legendary treasure in an Age of Piracy almost verbatim from the page. The perfectly cast Iñaki Godoy stars as Monkey D. Luffy, would-be King of the Pirates, bringing an almost elastic innate physicality to the role that brilliantly matches the characters rubber-based stretching powers, while the crew Luffy gathers over this first season—including swordsmaster Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), navigator and skilled thief Nami (Emily Rudd), sharpshooter Usopp (Jacob Romero Gibson), and martial artist chef Sanji (Taz Skylar)—all brilliantly embody their characters. A lot could have gone wrong bringing One Piece to life, but this is a voyage well worth taking.
Even with Netflix’s recommendation algorithm serving you new movies, new TV shows, and original programming tailored to your viewing habits, the streaming service’s fire hose of content makes what’s coming difficult to parse. We’re here to help.
This month has some exciting back catalogue picks, like the whole Twilight saga, the Ocean’s Eleven movies, horror flicks like Heart Eyes, Train to Busan, and Smile; and The Wild Robot. There’s also a new volume of Love, Death & Robots out, along with more Blood of Zeus. Netflix’s first original Korean animated movie, Lost in Starlight, also arrives sometime this month.
Editor’s Pick: Past Lives
Image: A24
Director: Celine Song Cast: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
Director Celine Song’s debut theatrical film is an achingly poignant story about one woman and the two great loves of her life. A semi-autobiographical movie, Past Lives follows Nora, who moves from Korea to Canada in her youth, leaving behind a childhood sweetheart. Though they reconnect in their 20s, the relationship fizzles out due to distance and other life opportunities. Ten years later, the two reconnect one last time and reflect on where life has taken them.
Black Mirror: Thronglets (Netflix Games)
From Netflix: Oh, look! A Thronglet! Enter the world of “Black Mirror” with this curiously cute simulation from the episode “Plaything.” Play at your own risk.
Single’s Inferno: Choices (Netflix Games)
From Netflix: Take a romantic beach walk, send a sweet note and… win a “chicken fight”? Do whatever it takes to get quality time with your crush in this story game.
Street Fighter IV CE (Netflix Games)
From Netflix: Go blow for blow against warriors around the world. Rule the ring with your favorite fighters in this hard-hitting version of the classic arcade game.
Available sometime in May
Losmen Bu Broto: The Series(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: For the Broto family, managing their beloved Yogyakarta inn is no easy feat — especially when their youngest son falls in love with a married guest.
Lost in Starlight (Netflix Film)
Image: Netflix
From Netflix: When an astronaut leaves Earth for Mars, the vast infinite space divides star-crossed lovers in this animated romance that crosses the cosmos.
Mad Unicorn(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: An aspiring entrepreneur breaks new ground with the launch of a startup courier service that brings new opportunities – and powerful enemies.
Rhythm + Flow: Poland(Netflix Series) From Netflix: Aspiring Polish rappers drop bars, battle, and craft tracks to impress judges Bedoes 2115, DZIARMA, and Sokół — vying for fame and a 500,000 złoty prize.
Angi: Fake Life, True Crime (Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Sentenced for the murder and impersonation of her friend, this documentary sheds new light on Angi — and the death of her husband years before.
The Biggest Fan(Netflix Film)
From Netflix: Facing online cancellation, an actress travels to Mexico to revive her career. But when she meets her biggest fan, her life turns upside down. The Four Seasons(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: The decades-long friendship between three married couples is tested when one divorces, complicating their tradition of quarterly weekend getaways
Airport Airport ‘77 Airport 1975 Ali American Gangster American Graffiti Burn After Reading Constantine Crazy, Stupid, Love. Dawn of the Dead Eat Pray Love The Equalizer 2 Hanna Home The Jerk The Lego Movie
Image: Warner Home Video
Mid90s The Mule Ocean’s Eleven Ocean’s Thirteen Ocean’s Twelve The Paper Tigers Past Lives Sisters Starship Troopers The Sugarland Express Trainwreck Trolls Twilight The Twilight Saga: New Moon The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2
Image: Summit Entertainment
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Image: Well Go USA Entertainment via Everett Collection
Unseen: Season 2(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: In the wake of tragedy, Zenzi is forced to trust those who put her behind bars. Will her newfound desire for freedom finally put her grief to rest?
Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (Netflix Comedy Special)
From Netflix: Comedy’s biggest stars gather to toast and celebrate late-night legend Conan O’Brien as he accepts the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Britain and The Blitz(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: This immersive documentary brings history to life through vividly restored archival footage and firsthand accounts of WWII Britain during the Blitz.
Mighty Monsterwheelies: Season 2(Netflix Family)
From Netflix: Bolts, Sweeps, Axyl and the gang are back on patrol in Motorvania, keeping everyone safe from avalanches, storms — and even a runaway Ferris wheel!
The Devil’s Plan: Season 2(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Brilliant contenders gather for a new battle of minds. From a Go legend to a poker pro, Hollywood actor, news anchor, and lawyer — who will triumph?
Untold: Shooting Guards (Netflix Sports Film)
From Netflix: What really went down between Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton? This exposé unpacks how a gambling dispute led to guns drawn in an NBA locker room.
Full Speed: Season 2(Netflix Sports Series)
From Netflix: Tales of triumph and tenacity fuel this high-octane sports docuseries following NASCAR Cup Series drivers on and off the track during the playoffs.
Last Bullet(Netflix Film)
From Netflix: Car genius Lino returns to conclude his vendetta against Areski and the corrupt commander who ruined their lives in this turbo-charged trilogy finale.
Blood of Zeus: Season 3(Netflix Anime)
From Netflix: Set loose from captivity and burning for revenge, the king of the Titans swears to crush the Olympian gods and reclaim the power they stole from him.
FOREVER(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Reunited as teens, two childhood friends fall deeply in love, experiencing the joy and heartache of a first romance that will change their lives forever.
Heart Eyes
Image: Sony Pictures Releasing/Everett Collection
Karol G: Tomorrow was Beautiful (Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Karol G pulls back the curtain of her career in this intimate look at her life as she navigates a stadium tour, love, health and chasing greatness.
A Deadly American Marriage(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: A chilling 911 call. A gruesome scene. What is the real story behind Jason Corbett’s brutal death? In this documentary, Jason’s wife and children reflect on the elusive truths behind their seemingly fairytale life. Bad Influence(Netflix Film)
From Netflix: An ex-con gets a fresh start when hired to protect a wealthy heiress from a stalker — but their chemistry is hard to resist as they grow closer.
Nonnas (Netflix Film)
From Netflix: After the loss of his mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with a group of local grandmothers as the chefs.
The Royals(Netflix Series)
From Netflix:When charming Prince Aviraaj meets Sophia, a self-made girl boss, the worlds of royalty and startups collide in a whirlwind of romance and ambition.
Tastefully Yours (Netflix Series)
All American: Season 7
Bad Thoughts(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: In this six-episode dark comedic series, Tom Segura navigates unthinkable situations and fantasies within a cinematic world.
Untold: The Liver King(Netflix Sports Film)
From Netflix: He built a supplement empire by devouring raw meat on social media. And he had the muscles to prove it. But, really, how did the Liver King get so huge?
American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden (Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Featuring rare footage and interviews with CIA insiders, this edge-of-your-seat documentary series traces the epic hunt for Osama bin Laden. Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story (Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Recently discovered police recordings and first-person accounts tell the story of Fred and Rose West, two of the UK’s most prolific murderers.
Married at First Sight: Season 17 Smile
Image: Paramount Pictures
Snakes and Ladders(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: An ambitious but overlooked teacher wants to be head of a prestigious school, but must climb a slippery ladder of lies and corruption to reach the top.
From Netflix: At a private school where gambling determines social status, a skillful new student with a mysterious past is shaking things up — and betting on revenge.
Love, Death & Robots: Volume 4(Netflix Series)
Image: Netflix
From Netflix: Dinosaur gladiators, messianic cats, string-puppet rock stars — it can only be Love, Death + Robots. The fourth volume, presented by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) and David Fincher (Mindhunter, The Killer), sees Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2, Season 3’s “Kill Team Kill” return as supervising director for ten startling shorts showcasing the series’ signature, award-winning style of bleeding-edge animation, horror, sci-fi, and humor. Buckle up.
Franklin(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: A counterfeit artist, also a single father, is forced to work with his ex-lover to craft the perfect $100 bill — all to save his dying daughter.
Pernille: Season 5(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: With Ole Johan’s wedding planning soaking up all the attention, Pørni struggles to balance the demands of her job with her family — and her own heart.
Secrets We Keep(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: When a neighbor’s au pair vanishes from her wealthy suburb, Cecilie seeks answers — and unravels secrets that shatter her seemingly perfect world.
Thank You, Next: Season 2(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Leyla is finally about to get her happy ending with Cem, but will she allow herself to trust his mysterious nature and fall in love all over again?
Vini Jr.(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Vini Jr. has it all: talent, resilience and boldness. Follow his dancing, unpredictable feet on his inspiring journey to becoming a global soccer star.
Dear Hongrang(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: When a long-missing heir returns with lost memories, love and suspicion entwine. Is he truly Hongrang, or a stranger disturbing hearts and family ties?
Football Parents(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: When it comes to their children’s amateur football careers, this group of parents has no shame, no chill — and a peculiar sense of team spirit.
The Quilters (Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: In this award-winning short documentary, men in a Missouri maximum-security prison design and sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children.
Rotten Legacy(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: After a grave illness, a media mogul discovers his children’s tactics threaten the empire he carefully built — and he’ll do whatever it takes to save it.
Sarah Silverman: Postmortem(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Following the recent death of both of her parents, comedian Sarah Silverman finds comedy in the darkest corners of life. She hilariously navigates the absurdities of death with her signature wit, from unexpectedly finding the “deal of a lifetime” while planning their funerals to cherishing the bittersweet experience of hearing her mother’s last words.
Untold: The Fall of Favre (Netflix Sports Film)
From Netflix: This eye-opening documentary delves into Brett Favre’s controversial career, the dark side of sports stardom and the scandals that marred his legacy.
Newly Rich, Newly Poor(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: A wealthy businessman and a working-class dreamer discover they were switched at birth. Now, they must swap lives to learn what truly matters.
Real Men(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Mattia, Massimo, Riccardo, and Luigi, four friends in their forties, confront their prejudices in a world evolving towards gender equality. They must rediscover their place in society and relationships amid hilarious situations and unexpected challenges.
Sneaky Links: Dating After Dark(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Six sexy singles check into a motel in pursuit of true love, only to discover their longtime booty calls, or “sneaky links,” are there as well. Facing desires old and new, and many hard truths, guests must decide whether to strengthen their sneaky link, or explore new connections. Will they stay sneaky, or is love worth “checking out”?
The UnXplained with William Shatner: Season 6
Image: Netflix
From Netflix: Devon thinks her sister Simone has a really creepy relationship with her new boss, the enigmatic socialite Michaela Kell. Michaela’s cult-ish life of luxury is like a drug to Simone, and Devon has decided it’s time for an intervention, but she has no idea what a formidable opponent Michaela will be. Told over the course of one explosive weekend at The Kells’ lavish beach estate, Sirens is an incisive, sexy, and darkly funny exploration of women, power, and class.
Tyler Perry’s She The People(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Lieutenant Governor candidate Antoinette Dunkerson runs a successful campaign and now must figure out how to thrive under a sexist and condescending governor while attempting to keep her family in line now that they’re all in the public eye.
Air Force Elite: Thunderbirds(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: For the first time ever, go inside the cockpit with the U.S. Air Force’s legendary flight squadron, The Thunderbirds, and witness the unprecedented training, peril, and personal sacrifice it takes to push the limits of aviation as a member of one America’s most revered demonstration teams.
Big Mouth: Season 8(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Nothing brings out the hormones — or the heartbreak — quite like high school. These longtime friends are growing up, and it’s the ultimate happy ending. Fear Street: Prom Queen (Netflix Film)
From Netflix: Who will be voted queen at Shadyside High’s 1988 prom? For underdog Lori, competition is cutthroat even before someone starts killing off the candidates.
Forget You Not(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: An aspiring stand-up comedian turns her struggles into heartfelt humor as she balances work and relationships while caring for her aging father. Off Track 2(Netflix Film)
From Netflix: Siblings Lisa and Daniel gear up for the Vätternrundan cycling race, where unexpected detours, old flames and marriage problems test their resolve.
Our Unwritten Seoul(Netflix Series)
From Netflix: Twin sisters— one living in Seoul, the other from the countryside— switch lives.
The Wild Robot
Image: DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures
CoComelon: Season 13 (Netflix Family)
From Netflix: Ready to move? Get up and groove! Join JJ and his friends as they dance to fun, familiar songs like “Twist and Shout,” “The Locomotion” and more.
Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: Who really laced Tylenol with cyanide? This true-crime series examines alarming theories behind the unsolved killings — and tracks down a key suspect. Mike Birbiglia: The Good Life(Netflix Documentary)
From Netflix: In his latest hour, Mike Birbiglia—who merges storytelling, theater, and comedy in a way that The New York Times has called “Birbiglian”—opens up about his father’s recent stroke and discusses how it has prompted him to reevaluate his own approach to fatherhood. Birbiglia says of the new special: “Over the years I’ve done a lot of personal shows but somehow this one is the most personal because it’s not in my past. It’s my life right now. So there’s really no filter. At certain points during the tour I literally thought on stage: ‘Whoa. Am I really gonna tell this story?’ But that’s sort of the idea behind these shows. I try to probe into what’s most painful in order to figure out what’s most funny.”
F1: The Academy(Netflix Sports Series)
From Netflix: Follow fifteen of the world’s best female drivers as they take to the tough tracks of F1 Academy in this high-octane documentary from Hello Sunshine.
From Netflix: A brash but brilliant detective (Matthew Goode) leads a cold case unit in this Edinburgh-based drama by the writer and director of “The Queen’s Gambit”.
A Widow’s Game(Netflix Film)
From Netflix: When a man is found dead, the investigation shatters his widow’s perfect facade and exposes a hidden double life in this thriller based on real events.
The Heart Knows(Netflix Film)
From Netflix: After a heart transplant, Manuel feels a personality shift and explores his donor’s life, leading him to meet the widowed Vale and her community.
Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event (Netflix Live Event)
From Netflix: Netflix Tudum 2025 is a must-watch LIVE event celebrating the global fandom of Netflix’s beloved series and movies. This high-energy show will be streamed LIVE on Netflix May 31st at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET from the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. The show will be packed with huge stars, exclusive reveals, and dynamic live performances sure to delight fans around the world.
While Netflix seemingly led the way for other streaming networks to create compelling original programming, Hulu actually beat them all to the punch. In 2011, a year before Netflix’s Lilyhammer and two years before the arrival of House of Cards, the burgeoning streamer premiered The Morning After, a pop-culture-focused news show that ran for 800 episodes over three years.
Hulu has continued to make TV history in the years since, most notably in 2017 when it became the first streamer to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series with The Handmaid’s Tale (which just dropped its long-awaited final season). In the years since, the streamer has continued to match—and often exceed—that high bar for quality entertainment with shows like The Bear, which took home 11 Emmys in 2024, and Shōgun, which recently set an Emmy record with 18 wins in a single season.
While more competition has popped up since Hulu started gaining critical credibility, the network has continued to stand out for its carefully curated selection of original series and network partnerships that make it the home of FX series and more. Below are some of our favorite shows streaming on Hulu right now.
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Dying for Sex
Five-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams plays Molly Kochan, a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage who learns that she has terminal stage IV breast cancer. After revealing that she has never had an orgasm with another person, it becomes apparent to Molly and everyone caring for her that this should be at the top of her bucket list. Realizing she doesn’t have much time left, Molly leaves her husband and, with the help of her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate), sets out to achieve the sexual satisfaction that has eluded her all her life—with unexpected consequences. New Girl creator Liz Meriwether teamed up with Kim Rosenstock (Only Murders in the Building) to create this hit new series, which is based on the life of the real Molly Kochan, creator of the Dying for Sex podcast, which launched in 2020.
The Handmaid’s Tale
When Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, little did she know that its television adaptation would revolutionize the still-nascent world of original streaming content. And she may not have anticipated just how many parallels her dystopian classic would share with the real world at the time it was adapted into an award-winning television series. It’s set in an unnamed time in what is presumably the very near future, when the United States has been taken over by a fundamentalist group known as Gilead, under whose regime women are considered property and stripped of any personal rights. The most valuable women are those who are fertile, as infertility has become an epidemic, and they are kept as handmaids who are forced to take part in sexual rituals with high-ranking couples in order to bear their children. Recognizing the power she wields, Offred, aka June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), is not content to remain enslaved and sets about changing the rules as she seeks to reunite with her lost husband and daughter. It’s been a while since we’ve seen any new episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, but its sixth, and final, season arrived on April 8.
Big Boys
Creator Jack Rooke won a well-deserved BAFTA Award in 2024 for this semi-autobiographical dramedy about a closeted 19-year-old—also named Jack (Dylan Llewellyn)—who, after a year of mourning the death of his father at home with his overprotective mom, leaves for university. There, he’s paired up with Danny (Jon Pointing), a 25-year-old more interested in meeting women than studying, as his roommate. As Jack struggles to become comfortable with his sexuality, he also comes to understand the truth behind Danny’s seemingly extroverted personality. Yes, it’s a coming-of-age story and one in which opposites attract (on a purely platonic level). But it’s also a laugh-out-loud funny series that shows there is life after death.
Deli Boys
Pakistani American brothers Mir (Asif Ali) and Raj (Saagar Shaikh) Dar have spent their entire lives wanting for nothing, thanks to the hard work of their father, who owns a chain of convenience stores. But after a freak accident kills dear old dad, the brothers are expected to take on the family business which, unbeknownst to them, is actually a front for a drug smuggling empire. While their antics are undoubtedly hilarious, the series does attempt to paint a truthful portrait of the immigrant experience—even if it’s often through an absurdist lens.
A Thousand Blows
If Netflix’s Adolescence has you seeking out more of Stephen Graham’s work, check out Steven Knight’s A Thousand Blows—the Peaky Blinders creator’s newest British historical drama in which crime and violence collide. In this case it’s an all-female crime syndicate, the Forty Elephants, who are at the center of the action, with Mary Carr (Erin Doherty) as their leader. When Mary’s crew crosses notorious kingpin Sugar Goodson (Graham), she turns to Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), two young men who have recently emigrated from Jamaica in order to make a better life for themselves, to help her escape Goodson’s wrath.
Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke
In 2015, thirtysomething Mormon mom of six Ruby Franke became one of YouTube’s most popular mommy vloggers with her channel, 8 Passengers. But as Franke’s popularity grew, so too did questions surrounding her punishment-prone style of parenting. Eight years later, Franke’s 12-year-old son showed up at a stranger’s door—looking emaciated and covered in open wounds and duct tape—asking the man to call the police as he was being abused. Franke’s roller-coaster ride from “perfect” mom to child abuser has been making headlines for years, but this three-part docuseries goes behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and footage that shed new light on the truth behind the tragedy.
Paradise
This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman reteams with that award-winning series’ star, Sterling K. Brown, for an intricate political thriller which plays with time to slowly reveal the details of a secret service agent (Brown) tasked with protecting the president (James Marsden) who ultimately becomes a suspect in the POTUS’ death. Expect many twists—including a massive one to kick off the series in episode 1. A second season is already in the works.
Scamanda
“Why would somebody fake cancer?” That’s the question asked—and that ABC News attempts to answer—in this true crime docuseries based on the podcast of the same name. The four-part special recounts the life and lies of Amanda C. Riley, a wife, mother, churchgoer, and popular mommy blogger who was celebrated for sharing her fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma with the world … only to have it all blow up in her face.
Accused
Like a reverse engineered version of Law & Order, Accused—adapted by Homeland cocreator Howard Gordon from the acclaimed British series of the same name—follows the justice system from the perspective of the accused. Each episode begins with the defendant in the courtroom and recounts (via flashbacks) the circumstances that led them there. Like Dick Wolf’s iconic crime series, each episode is full of familiar faces, from Whitney Cummings and Wendell Pierce to Molly Parker and Margo Martindale.
Say Nothing
Fact and fiction combine in this historical drama based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s novel that follows the lives of a group of people growing up in Belfast during the Troubles and their dealings with the Provisional IRA. Much of the story focuses on the Disappeared—a group of 16 people who went missing during the Troubles and were believed to have been kidnapped and murdered. Jean McConville was one of these individuals, both the only woman among them and the only Irish Catholic convert. Nearly 50 years later, many questions remain about these individuals. While Say Nothing doesn’t attempt to answer all of these questions, it does add fascinating context to the events.
Interior Chinatown
Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang) is a waiter who attempts to escape his humdrum life by imagining that he is a background actor in a Law & Order-esque TV show called Black & White. After Wu witnesses a kidnapping, police detective Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet) enlists him to help investigate and take down the local gangs in Chinatown—where he discovers something about his own family in the process. Nothing is what it seems in this meta comedy-crime series, which Charles Yu adapted from his own National Book Award–winning novel. The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng ups the comedy as Wu’s coworker/BFF Fatty Choi, and Taika Waititi (one of the show’s executive producers) directs the pilot.
What We Do in the Shadows
If you are in need of a laugh-out-loud comedy (and don’t mind if it’s of the sometimes R-rated kind), there are few better than What We Do in the Shadows. In 2014, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi cowrote, codirected, and costarred in a feature of the same name—a funny mockumentary featuring a group of vampires who share a home. This series, which premiered in 2019, moved the vampire action from New Zealand to Staten Island and brought in a whole new group of vampires—who struggle to even get up off the couch, let alone take over all of New York City (as they’ve been instructed to). After several years, they finally seem ready to get around to the task. All six seasons of the series, which wrapped up its run in December, are available for streaming.
La Máquina
Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have been close friends since childhood, and it shows in the work they’ve done together—most famously in Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated Y Tu Mamá También (2001). More than two decades later, their onscreen chemistry is still potent, as evidenced by this Spanish-language boxing drama. Esteban (Bernal) is an aging boxer whose manager/BFF Andy (Luna) persuades him to step into the ring one last time before he officially retires. But as the match looms closer, the criminal underbelly of the sport rears its head—forcing Esteban to determine what parts of his life he’s willing to sacrifice. With just six episodes in all, La Máquina moves fast. Don’t flinch.
How to Die Alone
Former Saturday Night Live and Insecure writer Natasha Rothwell—whom you might know from her Emmy-nominated turn as spa manager Belinda in seasons 1 and 3 of The White Lotus—created and stars in this eight-episode series. Mel (Rothwell) is an employee at New York City’s JFK Airport who is content with the uneventful life she has built for herself. But when she has a sudden brush with death, she decides to take her life into her own hands. While it’s not the first series to explore matters of life and death, it does so in a way that is both beautifully nuanced and laugh-out-loud funny—all of it anchored by Rothwell’s performance. On February 4, Hulu announced that it had canceled the series after one season—a move that has Rothwell “baffled” and looking for a new network to produce season 2.
English Teacher
Television audiences are hardly lacking in high school–set comedies, or in really great high school–set comedies, and/or really great high school–set comedies that focus on the teacher perspective (see: Abbott Elementary). English Teacher fits into that elite niche. Brian Jordan Alvarez—who was behind the award-winning 2016 web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo—both created and stars in the show, in which he portrays an English teacher in Austin, Texas, who is dedicated to making an impact on his students, even if he sometimes needs to depend on their teenage wisdom to figure out the right way to do that. While it doesn’t shy away from the politics that exist in the teaching profession, the series—which has already been renewed for another season—also presents the “adults” as often just as lost as the kids they teach.
Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez make for a delightful trio of true-crime-obsessed podcast fans who, in season 1 of this original Hulu series, decide to join forces and create their own podcast while attempting to solve the mysterious death of a fellow resident of their Manhattan apartment building. From the very beginning of their odd alliance, it’s been clear that all is not what it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets. Now they’ve upped the ante on guest stars, too; the third season saw Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep join in the fun. Streep returned for the show’s fourth season, and was joined by Eugene Levy, Kumail Nanjiani, Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria. Season 5 is already in the works, with Renée Zellweger, Christoph Waltz, and Keegan-Michael Key among the already-confirmed guest stars.
Solar Opposites
This animated sci-fi comedy, which premiered in 2020, is about a family of aliens from the planet Shlorp who crash-land on Earth—for better or worse. The show is rooted in the idea that humans are, well, weird. Which seems appropriate given this current moment in time. Yet, in between the laughs and occasional threat to humanity, it maintains a positive outlook on the world and the people who inhabit it. Which is something we could probably all use right about now. The show’s sixth season, which is expected to premiere in the fall, will also be its last.
Futurama
Following a decade-long hiatus, Futurama—Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s animated sci-fi comedy—made a triumphant return in 2023, complete with gags about Twilight Zone and “Momazon” drone deliveries. Now is the perfect time to dive back in—or watch it all for the first time. All 12 seasons of the series are currently available for streaming and Hulu has confirmed that at least two more seasons are on the way (with the next one tentatively scheduled to premiere as early as July).
We Were the Lucky Ones
In Radom, Poland, the Kurcs are a loving family who seem to have it all—until the horrors of the Holocaust invade the serenity of their everyday lives. As World War II arrives on their doorstep, the family is separated—escaping to France, Brazil, West Africa, and Russia. Some are in hiding, others in concentration camps. But they’re all focused on one goal: surviving the war and reuniting with each other.
The Bear
Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is a superstar of the fine dining world who has returned to his hometown of Chicago to save his family’s struggling sandwich shop after his brother’s death by suicide. While Carmy initially struggles to acclimate himself to being home and to his inherited kitchen’s back-to-basics style, he eventually realizes that it’s not too late to change both himself and the restaurant. Anyone who has ever worked in a busy kitchen knows the stress that comes with it, and The Bear does an excellent job of making that tension palpable—as evidenced by its slew of aforementioned Emmy Awards. While the plot sounds simple enough, much of Carmy’s previous life is a bit of a mystery, and it’s doled out in amuse-bouche-sized bits throughout the series with top-tier guest stars you may not have seen coming (fact: Jamie Lee Curtis has never been better, as evidenced by her recent—and very first—Emmy win). Prepare to feast.
Queenie
Queenie Jenkins (Dionne Brown) is a Jamaican-British twentysomething whose world is thrown into an upheaval following an ugly breakup with her boyfriend. That messiness follows Queenie into the next chapter in her life, when she attempts to pick up the pieces of her failed relationship while frequently butting heads with her family and trying to reconcile her dual cultures. Candice Carty-Williams adapts her own bestselling novel to create a poignant dramedy that’s ultimately about trauma and healing.
Black Twitter: A People’s History
In the late 2000s—back when Elon Musk was just that car-and-spaceship billionaire—Twitter was more than a social media network. It was a genuine gathering place for people to find their people, whether that was Film Twitter or Cat Twitter. For Black Twitter, it was a lot more. This three-part docuseries, based on WIRED senior writer Jason Parham’s 2021 cover story, recounts the most important moments and movements that helped solidify the Black Twitter community’s place as a cultural force in the world, from politics and beyond.
Under the Bridge
Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone (who earned an Emmy nomination for her work in the show) make a formidable duo as an author and a police officer, respectively, investigating the brutal murder of a 14-year-old girl in a small town in Canada. The limited series is based on Rebecca Godfrey’s award-winning 2005 book of the same name (with Keough portraying Godfrey), and is a haunting reminder of what human beings are capable of.
Shōgun
Game of Thrones fans still lamenting the loss of one of television’s great epics have found their new favorite binge-watch in Shōgun, which took home a record 18 Emmys (with 25 nods altogether) in 2024. This 10-episode series, based on James Clavell’s beloved novel (which was first adapted into a miniseries in 1980), is a brilliant and sweeping tale of political rivalry in feudal Japan where Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a powerful warrior, has a target put on his back by his political rivals in the Council of Regents. Fortunately for Toranaga, he’s got Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a talented translator and fiercely loyal samurai, by his side. Though it was originally positioned as a one-and-done limited series, FX and Hulu have already confirmed that both seasons two and three are in the works.
Such Brave Girls
Comedian/actress Kat Sadler created and stars in this deeply messy, darkly funny story of a totally dysfunctional family—mom Deb (Sherlock’s Louise Brealey) and daughters Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Lizzie Davidson, Sadler’s real-life sister)—attempting to pick up the pieces after their husband/father leaves them. It’s cringe-comedy at its finest, and the kind that will appeal to fans of Fleabag. A second season is in the works, and expected to premiere later this year.
Abbott Elementary
Quinta Brunson created and stars in this hit series, which follows the daily lives—in and out of the classroom—of a group of teachers at what is widely considered one of the worst public schools in America. Despite a lack of funding for even basic educational necessities, and school district leaders who only care about the barest minimum standards, these educators are united by their drive to surpass expectations and encourage their students to do the same. The series concluded its fourth season on April 16, with season 5 already confirmed.
Fargo
Noah Hawley’s anthology series isn’t the first attempt to adapt the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning crime-comedy to the small screen (Edie Falco starred in a previous version, which was a more straightforward adaptation of the movie), but his approach was clearly the smarter move. Fans of the Coens in general will find lots to love about the many nods to the filmmakers’ entire filmography, with each season covering a different crime and time period. Though the seasons do share connections, each one is a total one-off, and the show might boast the most talented group of actors ever assembled: Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Bob Odenkirk, Oliver Platt, Ted Danson, Patrick Wilson, Nick Offerman, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Carrie Coon, Scoot McNairy, Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Timothy Olyphant, and Ben Whishaw are just a few of the names who’ve found a home in Fargo. The fantastic fifth season—featuring Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Keery, and Lamorne Morris (who won an Emmy for his role)—continued this tradition of exceptional acting, with all episodes streaming now.
A Murder at the End of the World
Darby Hart (Emma Corrin) is a talented hacker and armchair detective who is one of eight guests invited to spend a few days at the stunning yet remote home of a mysterious billionaire (Clive Owen). When one of the guests ends up dead, Darby must work quickly to prove that it was murder—and who did it—before the bodies start piling up. Fans of twisty true crime will appreciate this limited series, which comes from the minds of Brit Marling (who costars) and Zal Batmanglij—cocreators of the equally mind-bending The OA.
Moonlighting
While Die Hard turned Bruce Willis into one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars, he was far from producers’ first choice for the role of John McClane. That’s largely because he was seen as the funny guy from Moonlighting, the Emmy-winning ’80s dramedy that centers around the Blue Moon Detective Agency and its two often-bickering owners, David Addison (Willis) and Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd). Over the course of its five seasons, the series racked up some serious critical acclaim and wasn’t afraid to experiment with the sitcom format.
The Other Black Girl
Sinclair Daniel shines as Nella Rogers, an up-and-coming book editor—and the only Black employee at the publishing house where she works. While Nella is initially thrilled when another young woman of color, Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray), is hired as an assistant, she can’t help but notice that a series of bizarre events seems to follow. As Nella tries to suss out exactly what is going on, she uncovers some pretty damn disturbing skeletons in her employer’s closet. While horror-comedies are an increasingly popular movie genre, we don’t see them on the small screen quite as often—which, if this clever series is any indication, is a real shame. Also unfortunate: One season is all we’ll get of The Other Black Girl.
The Full Monty
Twenty-six years after a low-budget British comedy blew up at the box office, scored an Oscar, and introduced “the Full Monty” into the popular lexicon, the Regular Joes turned strippers from Sheffield are back to face largely the same issues they were lamenting in the original feature film (which is also streaming on Hulu). Much of the main cast reassembled for this follow-up to Peter Cattaneo’s hit 1997 movie, including two-time Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson, who passed away in late December. Stripping is involved, as are other inevitables in life, including breakups, reconciliations, and death. For fans of the original movie—or the Broadway musical and stage play that followed—it’s a fun check-in with the characters who bared it all.
The Office (UK)
Years before there was Jim and Pam and Dwight and Michael, there were Tim and Dawn and Gareth and David. For lovers of cringe, it’s hard to do better than Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s workplace comedy. David Brent (Gervais) is the original boss from hell, whose office antics will have you covering your eyes and laughing out loud at the same time. Like many British series, there are just two seasons—each consisting of a mere six episodes—plus a two-part Christmas special. Don’t be surprised if you sit down to watch a single episode and binge it all in one go.
Cheers
In the 1980s, NBC was the channel to watch on Thursday nights—in large part thanks to Cheers. The bar where everybody knows your name is where the action happens in this award-winning sitcom about a former Red Sox player (Ted Danson) and the lovable employees and patrons who treat his bar like a second home. If you can look past (or, even better, embrace) the questionable ’80s fashion and sometimes-sexist storylines that wouldn’t necessarily fly on TV today, you’ll find what is arguably one of the smartest sitcoms ever written. More than 40 years after its original premiere, the jokes still stand up and the characters are some of television’s most memorable (and beloved) for a reason.
Dopesick
Back in 2021, Hulu went where Netflix’s Painkiller went in 2023: to the late ’90s and early 2000s, aka the beginning of America’s opioid crisis. Danny Strong created this retelling of the lengths to which Richard Sackler (played here by the always excellent Michael Stuhlbarg) and Purdue Pharma would go to sell doctors on the powers of OxyContin—all with the promise of no addiction. Michael Keaton won an Emmy for his portrayal of a widowed doctor in Appalachia who buys into the lies, and eventually becomes a victim of them.
Reservation Dogs
Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo cocreated this Peabody Award–winning series, which made history as the first mainstream TV show created by, starring, and crewed by an almost entirely Indigenous American team. It tells the story of four bored teens who are desperate to escape their lives on a reservation in Oklahoma. They decide that California is where they want to be and commit to a life of mostly petty crimes in order to save up enough money to leave. The full three seasons are available to watch now, including the brilliant series sendoff.
The Great
Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult shine in this witty, fast-paced, comedic retelling (but not really) of Catherine the Great’s rise to power. Created by Tony McNamara, who earned Oscar nominations for his writing work on both The Favourite and Poor Things, The Great offers the same combination of lush costumes and scenery mixed with a biting commentary on the world, and a woman’s place in it. A story that rings as true today as it did in the 18th century, when Catherine the Great became empress of Russia and brought about the Age of Enlightenment, this show chips away at notions of class, propriety, and monarchical rule in a way few others do. If it’s historical accuracy you’re after, look elsewhere; the series’ creators describe it as decidedly “anti-historical” (which is part of the fun). All three seasons are available to stream.
Tiny Beautiful Things
The reason to watch this eight-part limited series can be summed up in two words: Kathryn Hahn. A comedic juggernaut, Hahn can switch from funny to dramatic in the same scene, if not the same sentence. This talent is on display in Tiny Beautiful Things, where she plays Claire, a writer who takes up an advice column and pours all the traumas of her life into responding to her readers. Based on Wild author Cheryl Strayed’s collection of “Dear Sugar” columns, the vignettes here may be a bit out of sorts, but Hahn pulls them together.
Dave
Dave Burd is a comedian and rapper who goes by the stage name Lil Dicky. In Dave, Burd plays a rapper who goes by the stage name Lil Dicky and is attempting to raise his profile and make a much bigger name for himself. If only his many neuroses didn’t keep getting in the way. While Dave could have easily turned into some mediocre experiment in meta storytelling, Burd—who cocreated the series, stars in it, and has written several episodes—grapples with some surprisingly touchy topics, including mental illness. And he does it all with a level of sensitivity and honesty that you might not expect from a guy named Lil Dicky. Despite the show’s popularity and critical acclaim, the three seasons currently streaming may be all we get of Dave. In early 2024, Burd announced that he’d be pressing “pause” on the series in order to explore other creative ventures. (But never say never.)
Atlanta
Donald Glover proved himself to be a quadruple threat of an actor, writer, musician, and comedian with this highly acclaimed FX series about Earnest “Earn” Marks (Glover), an aspiring music manager who is trying to help his cousin Alfred Miles, aka Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), kick off his musical career. They’re surrounded by a supportive crew of friends, including Alfred’s BFF, Darius (LaKeith Stanfield), and Van (Zazie Beetz), Earn’s close friend and the mother of his child. This makes it all sound like a fairly straightforward buddy comedy, but Atlanta is so much more. Even better: It’s weird. Glover is not afraid to experiment with storytelling, which is part of what makes the show so compelling.
Baskets
Zach Galifianakis stars alongside Zach Galifianakis as twin brothers Chip and Dale Baskets in this unexpectedly moving family comedy about an aspiring clown (Chip) who fails to graduate from a fancy clowning school in Paris and is forced to return home to Bakersfield, California, where he lives with his mother (the late Louie Anderson) and is constantly belittled by his higher-achieving brother (Dale). Between the dual role for Galifianakis and Anderson as the mom, it may sound like a cheap bit of stunt casting that can’t sustain more than an episode, let alone multiple character arcs. But if you’re a fan of absurdist comedy, Baskets truly ranks among the best of them. And Anderson, who won his first and only Emmy for his role as Costco-loving Christine, is absolutely transcendent. While it received a fair amount of critical acclaim, Baskets could rightly be considered one of the most underseen and underappreciated series in recent memory.
The Dropout
Amanda Seyfried won a much deserved Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy for her portrayal of the notorious Stanford dropout turned health care technology maven Elizabeth Holmes, who tricked some of the world’s savviest business minds into investing in her company, Theranos. While Holmes’ goal was altruistic enough—making health care more accessible to the masses via a device that could detect any number of diseases with little more than a single finger prick of blood—the technology wasn’t able to catch up. Rather than admit defeat, she kept pushing, making business deals and promises she could never fulfill.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
If you thought the characters on Seinfeld were terrible people, wait until you meet the gang from Paddy’s Pub. For nearly 20 years, Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Robert McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) have unapologetically plotted against each other and total strangers in a series of completely self-centered schemes with absolutely no regard for the rules of civility. The show follows the “no hugging and no learning” rule Larry David established for Seinfeld, but elevates it to a new level of sociopathy. “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare,” “Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack,” “How Mac Got Fat,” “Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender,” “The Gang Turns Black,” and “The Gang Goes to a Water Park” are just some of the offbeat adventures awaiting viewers. In 2021, Sunny became the longest-running live-action sitcom in the history of television, and it shows no signs of slowing down—or taking it easy on its characters. It also happens to be one of the easiest shows to binge: Pop an episode on and, without even realizing it, you’ll be on to another season. Its 16th (!!) wrapped up in 2023—but there are at least two more on the way, with the next one set to arrive in June.
Letterkenny
What began as a web series is now a Hulu original that wrapped up its eleventh season in December. The show is a portrait of small-town Canada (the fictional Letterkenny of the title) and focuses on siblings Wayne (cocreator Jared Keeso) and Katy (Michelle Mylett), who run a produce stand with help from friends Daryl (Nathan Dales) and Squirrely Dan (K. Trevor Wilson). As is often the case in small-town series, many of the residents fall into specific categories—in Letterkenny, you could be a gym rat, a hick, a skid (their word for a drug addict), or a “native” (a member of the nearby First Nation reservation). But in contrast to many small-town series, these groups—and the individuals who comprise them—aren’t reduced to meaningless stereotypes.
Pen15
Mining the awkwardness of one’s middle school years is hardly a new comedy concept. But being in your early thirties and playing yourself as a junior high school student and then surrounding yourself with age-appropriate actors who are actually going through that hellish rite of passage brings a whole new layer of cringe and humor. This is exactly what cocreators/stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle did for Pen15.
There’s an understandable and undeniable pall hanging over The Last of Us after last week’s shocker. And it’s the calm before the storm that’ll make up the rest of the season: Ellie and Dina’s trip to Seattle to track down Joel’s killers. But amid the sadness of that loss and the frustration of Ellie not getting the support of the town in her revenge plan is the absolute delight of seeing more of Ellie and Dina together.
They were probably the highlight of the first episode — their chemistry didn’t immediately hit Joel and Ellie levels, but Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced were doing great work together right off the bat. Here, we get to see a lot more of them together, and Dina’s combination of playfulness and planning is a solid counter to Ellie’s dry humor and impulsive nature.
A great example is their trip to Seattle on horseback, as Dina challenges Ellie to name the best band she can think of for every letter of the alphabet, something Ellie eventually has quite enough of. Dina says she can come up with another game, and Ellie immediately quips they could just travel in silence, something Dina ignores and makes Ellie tell her about the first person she had to kill. Just the kind of lighthearted road trip companion Ellie needs right now.
Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO
Dina is at her best in this episode when she barges in on Ellie planning for a midnight escape from the city to bring Abby to justice on her own. Earlier in the episode, the Jackson town council votes down her proposal to assemble a large crew to go after the WLF group — primarily because the town was so ravaged by the Infected horde the same day Joel was killed that they can’t spare the people. Naturally, Ellie is ready to go rogue and go on her own, but she’s not really ready. Dina shows up at her place, teases her for not planning to bring anything but guns, and lays out exactly what they need and what they don’t. Oh, and she already has it all ready to go. It’s a little too mean to say Ellie is not the brains of the operation, but she’d almost certainly be in trouble without Dina.
Beyond her practical skills, Dina flirts with Ellie constantly throughout the episode, asking Ellie to rate their kiss at the New Year’s Eve dance, teasing her about wanting to wear her Converse on a lengthy journey, whispering in Ellie’s ear that she is a badass after Ellie makes a dorky, action movie-style proclamation. But perhaps the most telling comment she makes is after they very briefly discuss that NYE kiss — Ellie says Dina was high, Dina says Ellie was drunk, and they both agree it didn’t really mean anything. They then turn off the light in their tent, and Dina can’t help but say she wasn’t that high. Ramsey and Merced’s version of “will they, won’t they” brings some much-needed levity to their situation.
Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO
And to be clear, levity is much needed. Even though there isn’t much real action, the fallout from Joel’s death and the Infected siege is all over this episode. It starts with Tommy slowly cleaning Joel’s body before the camera pulls out and shows a whole room of bodies covered with sheets. That’s followed by Ellie awakening in a hospital with a tube coming out of her chest; she then screams bloody murder at remembering what happened to her. That’s not to mention the sunrise visit to Joel’s grave where Ellie briefly smiles as she puts some coffee beans by his side, or her walk through his empty house where she finds his signature watch, revolver and jacket. Keep the tissues handy.
While Ramsey’s Ellie is at her best when partnered with Dina, she also does some great work on her own — the aforementioned hospital scene is chilling, but my favorite Ellie moments in this episode are when she’s trying (and failing) to convince people she’s okay. Her speech to the town assembly encouraging them to go after the WLF is not the off-the-cuff anger that Jesse encouraged her to avoid, but you can tell Ellie is just trying to placate the masses instead of saying what she really wants. The same goes for her conversation with Gail the therapist when she leaves the hospital, though Ellie doesn’t even try to hide her therapy platitudes behind a veneer of belief.
Photograph by Liane Hentscher/HBO
Oddly enough, it’s Seth (the bigot who got bowled over by Joel in episode one) who says what Ellie is really feeling, interrupting the meeting when someone objects to the plan to go to Seattle. Seth is enraged by what happened to a member of his community and thinks they should pursue justice at any cost. It’s far from the most measured take, but it certainly feels like the most honest.
Thus it’s not a huge surprise when he’s ready to help Ellie and Dina as they slip out of town, offering them a load of supplies and insisting Ellie take his better rifle. He says he’d go with them except for catching some friendly fire during the Infected battle, to which Ellie replies “are you sure it was friendly?” She’s clearly not ready to forgive him for his words, but a better gun, some supplies and a shared desire for revenge gets her close enough. She shakes his offered hand as they ride out of town.
Infected Score: 0/10
The showrunners say season two will have more Infected than season one — let’s see if they’re sticking to their word.
No Infected to be seen here, aside from some charred corpses around Jackson. That’s just fine with me after last week’s showdown.
A live-action Pacific Rim TV series is in-development at Amazon, according to Variety. News of the project was first shared in 2024, when Variety reported that Arrival screenwriter Eric Heisserer was attached to develop and write the show.
The new series will apparently be a prequel to Guillermo Del Toro’s original Pacific Rim, a movie about Kaiju-fighting giant mechs and the humans that pilot them. Legendary, which produced Pacific Rim, is also backing the series alongside Amazon MGM. The studio appears to be using the same strategy with Pacific Rim that worked with its Godzilla-and-King-Kong-starring “MonsterVerse” franchise. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters streamed on Apple TV+ in 2023, and acted as both a prequel and sequel to the “MonsterVerse” films.
Heisserer has plenty of experience adapting existing material. His Arrival script converted an experimental second-person short story into a (relatively) thoughtful blockbuster, and his work on Netflix’s Shadow and Bone found a clever way to interweave the first book in Leigh Bardugo’s series with characters from a later duology. Pacific Rim seems a lot more straightforward in comparison.
There’s yet to be an official announcement from Amazon, or any dates for when we can expect the series to be available, but there has been quite a bit of new Pacific Rim material since the first film came out in 2013. The live-action sequel Pacific Rim Uprisingwas released in 2018 and Netflix put out its anime sequel, Pacific Rim: The Black, in 2021.
Worried about the uncertain ending of Daredevil: Born Again, and wondering when, if ever, the show will return for a second season? With seven years between the final installment of Netflix’s Daredevil and this year’s Daredevil: Born Again, nobody would blame you for assuming the wait will be a long one.
Fortunately, Disney Plus’ more MCU-integrated Daredevil series will return almost unbelievably soon, as far as the realm of comic book TV shows goes. And… there’s maybe even a season 3 on the way?
Daredevil: Born Again season 2: When will it come out?
Photo: Giovanni Rufino/Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios announced they were already planning a Daredevil: Born Again season 2 in August 2024 — not particularly surprising, as the show was initially conceived as a finite 18-episode series. While production was paused for the 2023 Hollywood strikes, Marvel execs made the decision to overhaul the show and rewrite and reshoot some of what had already been shot.
Speaking to The Reel Roundup in February, Marvel Studios head of streaming Brad Winderbaum said that shooting for Born Again season 2’s eight episodes would begin in the first week of March, with a plan to release the season in a year — placing the season premiere in early 2026.
“Hopefully,” Winderbaum concluded, “we’ll be able to expect a new Daredevil season annually.” Marvel Studios hasn’t made any official announcements about a Born Again season 3, however. Though it has announced that it’s working on a solo TV special for Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, also set to air in 2026, at least according to The Hollywood Reporter.
What will Daredevil: Born Again season 2 be about?
We can’t say for certain, but Charlie Cox (Daredevil), Vincent D’Onofrio (Kingpin), Deborah Ann Woll (Karen), Wilson Bethel (Bullseye), Clark Johnson (Cherry), Genneya Walton (BB Urich), and Michael Gandolfini (Fisk’s smarmy little Yes Man, Daniel) are all confirmed to return, so expect their plotlines to continue.
Also confirmed to return? Elden Henson (Foggy), despite his character’s death, curiously enough. Could be a flashback, could be a Catholic-guilt-laden dream or hallucination — heck, in the wide world of Marvel Comics Daredevil stories, it wouldn’t be unheard of for Matt to make a trip to literal hell to get Foggy back. We’ll have to wait and see.
[Ed. note: The rest of this piece contains spoilers for the end of Daredevil: Born Again season 1.]
How does Fisk leave office in the comics?
Photo: Giovanni Rufino/Disney Plus
That’s the million-dollar question asked at the end of Daredevil: Born Again: How can Matt Murdock prevail against a man with criminal and institutional power? Not alone, the finale episode implies, but with the united front of all his allies, vigilantes and civilians alike.
But it’s likely left you wondering how this all turned out in the comics. Daredevil: Born Again is heavily influenced by writer Charles Soule’s 2015 run on Daredevil, in which Wilson Fisk became mayor and a mysterious serial killer/graffiti artist called Muse went on a killing spree. But when Soule left the book in 2018, Fisk was still in power!
In the comics, Wilson Fisk didn’t actually lose the mayoral seat until the Devil’s Reign story arc, from writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Marco Checchetto, in which a city attorney witnesses him beating Matt Murdock to death (it wasn’t actually Matt, it was a guy who looked just like him, but don’t worry about that). It doesn’t seem like Born Again is headed in exactly that direction, but a reputable and righteous witness to one of his acts of brutality would be one way Born Again could get him out of Gracie Mansion.
But if we go back to Soule’s Daredevil, there may be another answer. Fisk does not leave office during Soule’s work, but Matt is still able to use his resources as a district attorney and as Daredevil to dissuade Fisk from enacting his anti-superhuman registration act, eking out at least that win. That could be one direction that Born Again’s writers choose to go in, with Daredevil torpedoing Fisk’s plans to make Red Hook a haven from the law but in a way that leaves the Kingpin’s mayoralty intact.
There are more Doctor Who companions than there have ever been Doctors, and while they’re all unique in their own ways, there’s still a familiar pattern: The Doctor as the mysterious alien with the keys to all of time and space, and the companion as the eager adventurer, ready to be whisked away to a life of glorious discovery and thrilling peril.
But this weekend’s premiere episode of the show’s newest season gives the usual formula a deliberate flip. To showrunner Russell T. Davies, it’s all about expanding the emotional range of Doctor Who. And for the actors playing the Doctor and his new companion Belinda Chandra, it was about partnership on screen and off.
[Ed. Note: This piece contains mild spoilers for the first episode of Doctor Who season 2 on Disney Plus, also known as Doctor Who series 15.]
In “The Robot Revolution,” Belinda is kidnapped by robots, wrapped up in an alien revolution, and between her own smarts and the Doctor’s, saves the day — and makes her position on it all very clear at the end of the episode. She’d like the Doctor to take her home. Now, please. She is not about this very dangerous life, and she has responsibilities at home.
That’s a surprising enough swerve on the usual Doctor/companion dynamic that we decided to ask Doctor Who’s stars and showrunner about it. Speaking Polygon via video chat, Davies said that the idea behind Belinda was absolutely to present a different kind of companion.
Image: BBC/Disney Plus
“I think Belinda simply has an awful lot of common sense,” he said. “That’s why she’s older than Ruby. I wanted to extend the range of the show; in extending the range of the show, you extend the range of the Doctor as well, which is always crucial.” Davies raised the example of last season’s companion character (who will return for season 2 in a smaller role), Ruby Sunday, a 18-year-old foster child played by then-18-year-old actress Millie Gibson, who was very much on board with the adventure of it all.
“It’s great to swing the program around and say, ‘What if you’re not so enchanted? What if you’re Belinda?’ Belinda is right in looking at this man and sort of saying, You live a mad life, and a dangerous life.” Davies cited several of the dangers Belinda and the Doctor faced in “The Robot Revolution” and will face soon in the new season.
“I think Belinda’s right,” he said, to want to go home right away. “And I think the more you acknowledge that, the more you open the emotional range of the show, and then the more people can join in. There must be people at home sitting, going, ‘That man’s mad! I wouldn’t join up with him!’ I’d like to think I’d be Ruby Sunday. I suspect I’d actually be Belinda Chandra Going ‘Get me home right now!’”
Image: BBC/Disney Plus
In a separate video interview, Belinda’s actress, Varada Sethu, told Polygon that she found Belinda and the Doctor’s dynamic to be “really, really interesting,” because “it puts this friction that enriched the evolution of [their] whole relationship. There was this equal push element, back to the Doctor. The Doctor saying, ‘No, come on this adventure.’ She’s like, ‘No, I have my adventure. I want to go back to mine, not yours.’ The whole season is their relationship, basically, and the love and the trust and the deep friendship that they have, in learning to love and respect each other and wanting to get her home because that’s what she wants. It lends itself really easily to a good story and a good team when there’s just as much… What am I trying to say?”
“Power, I feel,” the Doctor actor Ncuti Gatwa supplied, with Sethu agreeing: “They’re real equals.”
Sethu said that she and Gatwa discovered that dynamic in last season’s episode, “Boom,” in which she guest starred as the futuristic Anglican Marine soldier Mundy Flynn.
“Even just in the three weeks that we were filming on ‘Boom,’” Sethu told Polygon, “I felt like we found our rhythm. Because Mundy and the Doctor have a similar kind of… antagonist…”
“Trajectory,” Gatwa suggested.
“Push pull kind of thing,” she agreed. “We found that rhythm. We had had that already.”
Gatwa said that the Doctor and Belinda’s equal narrative footing in the season was very reflective of he and Sethu’s working relationship and vice versa. “Everything bleeds into one another,” he said. “What happens on set bleeds into life, in life bleeds into the set. And so it just felt like we were partners throughout the whole thing, which was very cool.”
Doctor Who series 15 is currently airing on BBC One and, as season 2, on Disney Plus.
According to, Humans writers Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent are working on an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1953 novella, The Variable Man. The show is being produced by Motive Pictures in a partnership with Electric Shepherd Productions, which is run by the late author’s daughter, Isa Dick Hackett. The Variable Man follows a tinkerer turned accidental time traveler named Thomas Cole, who is transported from 1913 into the future and suddenly finds himself a reluctant player in an interplanetary conflict.
It’s being written for a UK broadcaster, according to Deadline, but there may be hope for a US release. “When you’ve got Sam and John doing what they did so brilliantly with Humans and exploring the modern world through a genre lens, it is something that can absolutely attract broadcasters in the US,” Motive CEO Simon Maxwell told the publication. I really enjoyed The Variable Man back when I read it and I’ll give any PKD adaptation a chance, so here’s hoping we get another good one in this series.
Oh, you think that’s hyperbolic? Well I’m just getting started. Foundation (season 2) has one of Lee Pace’s best performances, has the best space ship designs this side of Villeneuve’s Dune, has the best romantic scoundrel Han Solo-type since Empire Strikes Back, and has the most bombastic television finale since the Red Wedding. It’s all backed up with an inexplicably lush costume, set, and CGI budget that can’t be explained as anything other than a nine figure tax write off. And you don’t need to have seen a single episode of the first season or read a page of the book to enjoy any of it!
Here’s the thing about Isaac Asimov’s Foundation: it’s a strange choice for a television series, one that requires a lot of modifications to function as episodic storytelling. There were clearly some kinks to work out, and it seems to have taken one mediocre season to iron out all those wrinkles. Luckily, the series also sort of functions like an anthology, with a cast of mostly new characters for the second (and upcoming third) season. All you need to know from the first season is that (spoiler warning) immortal clone emperor Lee Pace is big mad about a group of nerds (led by Ed Harris and his protege Lou Llobell) who keep saying his galactic empire is going to collapse (and they’re totally right, because math). There, I summarized the mediocre first season and now you’re ready for a prestige sci fi drama full of pulpy adventures, palace intrigue, steamy love stories (gay and not), and some really good explosions.
Still not convinced? Well there is that naked Lee Pace ninja fight in the season 2 premiere.
Now hurry up, you’ve got 10 incredible episodes to watch, you can thank me later!
