What to watch this weekend.
Credit: Hulu / HBO / Apple
Post updated 08/08/26. See updates below.
Twisted serial killers out for revenge. Rivals for the throne finally clashing arms in an epic battle for the future of the kingdom. England’s favorite American football coach, taking a new team under his wing. These and many other TV shows and movies await your viewing pleasure this weekend, and this list has them all.
I’ve had a weirdly busy week and haven’t done a ton of TV or movie watching, though I did catch up on the new Hulu series, Furious (see below) and I believe I’m all caught up on the crime drama, Westies. I watched the first episode of Sugar’s second season, which was quite good, and now that the finale is out I can watch the whole thing.
I also wrote a few pieces worth linking to, like this one about how Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s post-credits scene was a mistake and this newsletter piece on how Mel Gibson’s The Odyssey might differ from Christopher Nolan’s. I also published a new video discussion of The Odyssey on my YouTube channel. You can follow me on this blog, at my Substack newsletter, Diabolical, and on YouTube, by the way. I’m all over the place!
As per usual, I’ve searched high and low for the best TV shows and movies streaming on Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+ for you to watch this weekend. If you have any recommendations, tips or other thoughts feel free to shoot me a note. Let me know what you’re watching these days, or if you’ve enjoyed any of my recommendations, on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Be sure to also check out last weekend’s streaming guide below:
Shall we proceed, my droogies?
New TV Shows To Watch This Weekend
Update: The Shards (Hulu)
What It’s About: Ryan Murphy (Glee, The Politician, etc) adapts the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name for FX/Hulu. Set in Los Angeles in 1981, The Shards follows a 17-year-old fictionalized Bret Easton Ellis (Igby Rigney) through his senior year at the elite Buckley prep school, where the arrival of enigmatic transfer student Robert Mallory (Homer Gere) coincides with the killings of a serial murderer known as The Trawler.
Why You Should Watch: I’m not really sure, if we’re being honest. The promo images of young people in the 80s in swimsuits make this look like a show for young people and I’m not a young man anymore. The reviews aren’t great (55% / 35% audience and critic scores) and I suppose I’m not really a big Bret Easton Ellis guy. I mean, I enjoyed the movie American Psycho, but I never read the book! Maybe I should do that instead of watching this show.
Furious (Hulu)
What It’s About: An eight-episode crime drama created by Elizabeth Meriwether, loosely inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow. FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) hunts a calculating female serial killer played by Lola Petticrew (who I first saw in Say Nothing, I believe). As their paths converge the line between justice and revenge gets blurry. Scoot McNairy, Quincy Tyler Bernstine and Jake Lacy also star.
Why You Should Watch: I’ve watched the first four episodes of Furious, which actually debuted last week but I missed it somehow and that’s why it’s front and center in this weekend’s streaming guide. I like it but don’t love it so far. It’s watchable and I’m curious to see where it goes but it feels very cliched in a lot of ways and a little heavy-handed and while Rossum and Petticrew are both great, and I’m thrilled to see Rossum in something again after her long run on Shameless, I just don’t like any of the characters very much at all. Still, cat-and-mouse serial killer detective shows are my guilty pleasure so I’ll be watching this on Monday nights. The finale drops on August 31.
Ted Lasso – Season 4 (Apple TV)
What It’s About: Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) returns to Richmond to coach a second-division women’s football team in this reboot of the popular Apple TV sports comedy series. Jack Burditt (30 Rock, Modern Family) takes over as showrunner for this new, more estrogen-charged spin on the fish-out-of-water TV show.
Why You Should Watch: Honestly, the reason that Ted Lasso worked so well in the first season was precisely because it was a fish-out-of-water comedy. But a fish can only stay out of water for so long before, well, RIP fish. Ted was an adorable lead and head coach and despite his lack of experience or knowledge of soccer, his remarkable way with people took everyone off guard, including viewers. That affable, mustachioed man was the epitome of “I am rubber and you are glue” and nothing stuck to him. He made you want to believe (like Fox Mulder did back int he day, only about aliens and whatnot).
That rarest work of optimism and hope in a sea of cynicism was perfect in its first season. But it should have been a one-and-done series because it ran out of steam in Season 2 and I didn’t return for Season 3. I have no interest in Season 4, but if you do, the first episode came out this Wednesday (Tuesday evening for Apple TV) with ten episodes running through October 7.
Monsters of God (HBO Max)
What It’s About: A five-part HBO documentary series directed by Eric Goode (Tiger King, Chimp Crazy), produced by Goode Films, A24, and Central Pictures. Goode dives into the underworld of exotic animal smuggling, a billion-dollar criminal enterprise driven by obsession over rare species. The docuseries is inspired by and draws from the 2008 nonfiction book, The Lizard King, by Bryan Christy (oddly, not about The Doors frontman, Jim Morrison).
Why You Should Watch: I really think Lizard King would have been a better name for this series, since it would so quickly evoke Goode’s hit Tiger King, but maybe that name was taken or maybe they worried about the link to The Doors. Either way, with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score (based on just 10 reviews) this one might be worth checkikng out.
New Movies To Watch This Weekend
Update: The Gates (Prime Video)
What It’s About: Three Black college students — Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers) — take an ill-advised shortcut through a remote gated community on a road trip and get trapped behind the walls after witnessing a murder. Over one night they’re blamed, hunted, and driven apart by their differing belief systems, while the killer, Jacob (James Van Der Beek), the community’s charismatic pastor and de facto patriarch, closes in.
Why You Should Watch: At 48% on RT don’t expect the greatest thriller ever, but this sounds like a good edge-of-your-seat suspense film. It’s also Van Der Beek’s final role. The Dawson’s Creek star passed away on February 11, 2026 at the age of 48 after a battle with cancer.
Update: Michael (Starz – on Monday)
What It’s About: The huge box office finally comes to streaming just after this weekend is over, but I figured I should sneak it in. A biopic of Michael Jackson (Jaafar Jackson, the singer’s nephew and Jermaine’s son, in his teen and adult years; Juliano Valdi as a 10-year-old), tracing his life from the Jackson 5 through the 1988 Bad tour. Colman Domingo and Nia Long play Joe and Katherine Jackson.
Why You Should Watch: The film was one of the most striking divisions between critics and audiences this year, with the former giving the biopic just 38% on RT against a 97% audience score. I haven’t seen this one yet (I haven’t even seen Elvis from a few years ago yet) but I generally enjoy biopics of big musical stars and I’ll be checking this one out on Starz for sure. One of these days.
The Last House (Netflix)
What It’s About: A family of four is suddenly sealed inside their home with no way out and must survive both dwindling resources and the mysterious force keeping them trapped. Wagner Moura (Narcos, The Secret Agent) plays Jason and Greta Lee (Past Lives, Russian Doll, A House of Dynamite) plays Ann, parents of Ruth and Graham (whose actors shift as the film apparently spans years).
Why You Should Watch: With a 35% score this falls right into the average for critical reception of Netflix Original films, sadly. While the premise is spooky and tense, I just don’t think this one is going onto my own personal backlog.
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour Live in 3D (Paramount+)
What It’s About: 3D concert film co-directed and produced by James Cameron and Eilish, capturing her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour. It’s her third concert film after Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021) and Live at the O2 (2023). Two separate Eilish performances were filmed in Manchester, England and Phoenix, Arizona, using virtual reality 3D technology in partnership with Meta and Cameron’s Lightstorm Vision.
Why You Should Watch: If you’re a Billie Eilish fan, this is a no-brainer. The film did pretty good at the box office, though not compared to Cameron’s major releases, and if you have a 3D TV laying around somewhere, well, that’ll be neat!
New Movies In Theaters This Weekend
Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey are both still playing in theaters and I highly recommend both films as movies to watch on the big screen. There are some new theatrical release as well, however. I can’t honestly recommend this one, since I only found about the first fifteen minutes of the first one funny but here’s the trailer:
Super Troopers 3
TV Shows Currently Streaming Weekly
House of the Dragon – Season 3 Finale (HBO Max)
House of the Dragon
Credit: HBO
What It’s About: HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, follows the Westerosi civil war known as the Dance of Dragons and the struggle for the Iron Throne between Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy) and her supporters (Team Black) and her half-brother, King Aegon II (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his supporters (Team Green). It’s adapted from George R.R. Martin’s fake “history” of Westeros, Fire & Blood (which has a very nice illustrated companion book, Rise of the Dragon, as well).
Why You Should Watch: While Season 2 was a bit of a dreary affair, and not much happened over the course of its eight episodes, Season 3 has been much more compelling television. It’s far from perfect, far too bleak and there hasn’t been as much battle and bloodshed so far as I would have liked, but the pacing and writing and overall production just feels much stronger this season. The finale airs this Sunday. Read my review of Episode 7 right here.
New episodes drop weekly with the season finale airing on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, August 9.
The Walking Dead: Dead City – Season 3 (AMC+)
What It’s About: The Walking Dead: Dead City returns with an eight-episode season 3, with Lauren Cohan as Maggie Rhee and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan returning, now working alongside Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles) to build a “functioning” community in post-apocalyptic Manhattan. The fragile alliance is tested by newcomer Renata (Aimee Garcia), her doctor brother Luis (Raúl Castillo), and loner Dillard (Jimmi Simpson of Westworld fame). New showrunner Seth Hoffman, a Walking Dead veteran writer and former co-executive producer on the original series, is taking over this season. New episodes drop Sundays, running through September 13.
Why You Should Watch: I don’t think this show should exist, quite frankly, and after watching the Season 3 premiere, I not only wrote a scathing review, I made a scathing video to go with it, which you can watch above. It’s not good, folks, but I genuinely hope that it gets better because there are other ways I could be spending my Sunday evenings.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Season 4 (Paramount+)
Strange New Worlds
Credit: Paramount
What It’s About: The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is back for another round of adventures as Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) continues leading his crew across the final frontier. Season 4 picks up after last season’s cliffhanger and sends Pike, Spock, Number One, and the rest of the Enterprise crew on a series of dangerous new missions, from mysterious alien encounters to impossible scientific mysteries, while continuing to build toward the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. The new season is comprised of 10 episodes airing Sundays through September 24
Why You Should Watch: I actually gave up on New Star Trek some time ago, having doggedly tried my best with the JJ Abrams films, Discovery and Picard. And while I’d heard some very positive things about Strange New Worlds, I just couldn’t find the energy to catch up. Maybe someday. I do really like the casting in this series, and Anson Mount is the perfect Pike (though I thought he looked more handsome in the very first episode before he shaved and cut his hair). However, it should be noted that Season 4 has a stellar 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than any previous season. If there is a show that could lure me back to Star Trek, it’s this one.
Sugar – Season 2 Finale (Apple TV)
What It’s About: Colin Farrell returns as private investigator John Sugar for a new season of Apple’s stylish neo-noir mystery. This time, Sugar is hired to track down the missing older brother of a rising young boxer, but the case quickly spirals into a much larger conspiracy as he continues searching for his own missing sister. New cast members include Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, Sasha Calle, and Shea Whigham, with Sam Catlin taking over as showrunner from series creator Mark Protosevich. Like the first season, Sugar blends classic detective storytelling with unexpected twists—but if you somehow avoided learning that Season 1 reveal, it’s best to keep it that way.
Why You Should Watch: I can think of very few shows with a more shocking twist than Apple TV’s Sugar. It’s such a shocking twist that I won’t spoil it here. I’m very excited to start Season 2, which I’ve been hoarding so I can binge a few episodes at once, but now I realize that I’ve hoarded too many and the show is almost over. There’s just too many shows on right now! A total of eight episodes comprise Season 2, with new episodes landing Thursday evenings and the season finale dropping this week.
Silo – Season 3 (Apple TV)
What It’s About: Set in a dystopian future, 10,000 people live in a massive, self-sustaining underground “Silo” comprising 144 levels. Residents are strictly governed by regulations and believe the outside world is toxic, but the protagonist, an engineer named Juliette Nichols, begins to uncover secrets about the Silo’s history and the truth behind their world.
Why You Should Watch: I thought the first season was a bit slow but ended up being a really compelling mystery. For whatever reason, I couldn’t get into Season 2 and still need to catch up. I keep looking at this and Sugar and thinking, I need to watch these shows! But then something else is out that I have to watch. Time is my enemy, and yet the only thing that can defeat my enemy is more of it, which I cannot get. What a conundrum! Season 3 airs weekly on Thursday evenings for a total of 10 episodes, with the finale dropping on September 4.
The Westies – Season 1 (MGM+)
What It’s About: Set in the 1980s, this new MGM+ drama centers on the New York City Irish gang of the same name and the construction of the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the gang’s home turf in Hell’s Kitchen. The Westies have to contend not only with the NYPD and the FBI but also the Italian mafia, which has them outnumbered, outgunned but not necessarily outwitted. The cast is, as the kids say, “stacked” including Titus Welliver, J.K. Simmons, Tom Brittney, Sarah Bolger, Jessica Frances Dukes, Alan Leech and many more.
Why You Should Watch: I’ve seen the first three episodes and keep meaning to write up a proper review, but so far it’s like if Martin Scorsese directed a TV show (with a TV show budget) and I’m enjoying it quite a bit, warts and all. New episodes drop Sundays with the finale airing August 23.
Lioness – Season 3 (Paramount+)
What It’s About: Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness returns for a third season with Zoe Saldaña back as CIA operative Joe McNamara, who finds herself caught up in her most dangerous mission yet. As a sprawling conspiracy threatens both national security and the people she cares about most, Joe is forced to balance her loyalty to the mission with her responsibilities at home. Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kelly, Laysla De Oliveira, Genesis Rodriguez, and Dave Annable all return for another season of high-stakes espionage and military action.
Why You Should Watch: You know, I thought the first season of Lioness was pretty excellent military spy thriller fare, and I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff. I’m okay with shows that make Islamic radical terrorists and South American cartels the bad guys and I’m okay with shows that point out that often the bad guys can be right here in the West, too. Taylor Sheridan is a bit more “red-blooded” than a lot of contemporary Hollywood and that’s fine, but I just got kind of sick of the characters in Season 2, so I’m behind. New episodes drop Sundays with the finale landing on September 20.
X-Men ’97 – Season 2 (Disney+)
X-Men 97
Screenshot: Erik Kain
What It’s About: This animated series follows the X-Men as they continue to face new challenges and threats in a world that fears and hates them. Season 2 released earlier this week and consists of nine episodes and picks up following the events of the first season. The first three episodes are out now, though Episode 3 is only the first part of a two-episode double feature.
Why You Should Watch: I actually started Season 1 and then got sidetracked, so I’ll have to pick this back up. It got solid reviews, though there was some controversy surrounding its lead writer, Beau DeMayo, who left the series. New episodes drop Wednesdays, with the season finale airing on August 12.
Ghost in the Shell (Prime Video)
Ghost in the Shell
Credit: Prime Video
What It’s About: Ghost in the Shell has been around forever, but it’s always fun to see a new take on an old classic. The new series, which debuted on Prime Video this past Tuesday, was created by Science Saru (aka Science Monkey), the studio behind the hit Devilman Crybaby and Danadan. The new series is based on the 1989-91 manage of the same name and takes place in the distant future (well, 2029) in a futuristic Japan replete with elite cyborgs, tactical anti-terrorism forces and mysterious hackers. You can also watch the old 1995 movie on Prime Video. A total of 10 episodes will comprise the first season, with the finale airing on September 8.
Why You Should Watch: If you like this anime series, or you’re just into anime in general, this is probably your thing. I found that even though I’ve seen the movie, I was totally lost and confused after the first episode and so I haven’t continued. Maybe someday.
Gone (BritBox)
What It’s About: Headmaster Michael Polly (David Morrissey) becomes the prime suspect in his wife Sarah’s disappearance, drawing him into a tense game of cat and mouse with Detective Annie Cassidy (Eve Myles) as she fights to uncover the truth. The six-part British crime drama is partly inspired by the true crime book “To Hunt A Killer,” detailing a real 1984 murder investigation that wasn’t solved until 2016.
Why You Should Watch: First of all, David Morrissey is always great. He was fantastic as the Governor in The Walking Dead and I recently watched him as the lead detective in the UK crime show, Sherwood. With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and critics using phrases like “an absorbing crime thriller” and satisfying “slow burn” this is directly up my alley. My alley is very much UK crime thrillers, after all. I did start this show but it was on the same night I’d had anesthesia earlier in the day and, well, I fell asleep. Not the show’s fault! It could have been the loudest, most action-packed show you’ve ever seen and my lights would have been out. I will go back to it and watch as it seemed pretty damn good!
Cape Fear – Season 1 Finale (Apple TV)
Cape Fear
Credit: Apple TV
The finale of Cape Fear is here at last. Javier Bardem and Amy Adams star in this television series based on the novel The Executioners and its two film adaptations (1962 and 1991) both of which were also called Cape Fear. The story follows vicious ex-con, Max Cady (Bardem) and his revenge plot against married couple Tom (Patrick Wilson) and Anna Bowden (Adams). The series holds a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lucky (Apple TV)
What It’s About: Lucky is a seven-episode crime thriller based on Marissa Stapley’s bestselling novel, starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a former con artist named Lucky, forced back into the criminal underworld after a multimillion-dollar heist goes disastrously wrong and Lucky is betrayed by someone she trusted.
Why You Should Watch: I’ve watched the first episode and enjoyed it quite a bit, though so far it’s not one of those shows I’m telling everyone I know to watch (like Widow’s Bay, for instance). A pretty standard crime thriller so far, but Anya Taylor-Joy is really good so far and I’ll watch just about anything with Timothy Olyphant – even something really bad like Alien: Earth.
The first two episodes are out now with new episodes dropping on Tuesday evenings on Apple TV and the finale airing August 18.
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe (HBO Max)
What It’s About: Stuart Fails to Save the Universe stars Kevin Sussman, reprising his Big Bang Theory role as Stuart. Comic book store owner Stuart Bloom is tasked with restoring reality after he breaks a device built by Sheldon and Leonard, accidentally bringing about a multiverse Armageddon — and as the title implies, things don’t go well. Along the way he meets alternate-universe versions of familiar Big Bang Theory faces.
Why You Should Watch: First, a confession: I have never watched even a single episode of Big Bang Theory. Sure, I’ve seen the odd clip here or there, but I really couldn’t even tell you what it’s about. And yet, this show sounds like a really clever spinoff. It takes the sitcom into an entirely new genre, and even though I’m sick of multiverse stuff, this sounds really fun. It has a 71%/78% critic/audience split on RT. New episodes land Thursdays and the finale drops on September 24.
Check out the week before last’s streaming guide below:
What are you watching these days? Let me know on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.