Turn off your brain and enjoy new seasons of Apple's 'Ted Lasso,' Amazon's 'Reacher,' Netflix's 'Outer Banks' and much more
Tanya Reynolds and Jason Sudeikis star in Season 4 of "Ted Lasso," premiering Aug. 5 on Apple TV.
Ahhh, summer. When it's not scorching or flooding or burning outside, it's a nice time to just turn off your brain and relax.
That's more or less what streaming services are providing in August: a bunch of shows that don't require much thinking - just sit back and enjoy. Which, honestly, is sometimes all you want in a TV show. And there are plenty on the way, like new seasons of Amazon's "Reacher," Paramount's "Lioness," Netflix's "Outer Banks" and even the return of Apple's "Ted Lasso."
But perhaps the best part about this upcoming slate of shows is that none of them are particularly essential; there's little danger of pop-culture FOMO. So with a bit of strategic churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - you can still catch the best shows while keeping your monthly streaming budget under $50. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month. And it's always worth watching out for time-sensitive deals and money-saving bundles.
Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget - rating the major services as "play," "pause" or "stop," similar to investment analysts' traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell - and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.
Here's a look at what's coming to the various streaming services in August 2026, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee:
Apple TV ($12.99 a month)
So it turns out the final season of "Ted Lasso" wasn't its final season after all. The feel-good soccer comedy, a monster hit for Apple $(AAPL)$, ran out of steam as it wrapped up its storylines (sometimes too abruptly, and often overdoing it on the saccharine) in its third season, which streamed way back in 2023. But it felt like a good time to say goodbye.
Not so fast. The extended Lasso-verse (and no doubt bucketfuls of money) proved too appealing to the show's creative team, and while star/co-creator Jason Sudeikis reportedly needed some convincing, the show is coming back for a fourth season (Aug. 5). A lot has changed, though, with the show shifting its focus to AFC Richmond's women's team, now led by, of course, Coach Lasso. While Season 4 will introduce a whole new team, expect to see many familiar faces, including team owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), new men's head coach Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), budding entrepreneur Keeley (Juno Temple) and the stoic Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt). But whatever has changed, don't expect a shift from the positive vibes. "It is infectious to play a character who sees the best in people and isn't mad at the world for all its foibles and bullies and shadows," Sudeikis recently told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's not like I'm Daniel Day-Lewis, but it was good to live in that - to have that coursing through your brain and your body all day. It still is."
Apple's also got Season 2 of "Women in Blue," aka "Las Azules," (Aug. 12), the drama about a group of groundbreaking female cops in 1970s Mexico; "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" (Aug. 21), a docuseries about Connecticut's dominant women's basketball program; and Season 2 of the alternate-universe drama "Dark Matter" (Aug. 28), starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly.
There are also new episodes of the sci-fi epic "Silo," "Sugar" (season finale Aug. 7), "Lucky" (finale Aug. 19) and the parenting comedy "Trying" (season finale Aug. 26), and you can catch up on recently completed shows like "Widow's Bay," "Star City," "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" and "Cape Fear."
Hit & miss: There were serious doubts that "Sugar" - the Colin Farrell-led thriller that's 90% stylish private-eye mystery and 10% absolute bonkers sci-fi - could pull off a coherent, watchable second season after stumbling badly at the end of its first season. But somehow, amazingly, it has (at least with a handful of episodes to go). Farrell is terrific, as always, as an empathetic gumshoe investigating a trail of crime and corruption that rings true to devotees of L.A. noir, from Raymond Chandler to "Chinatown" to Jordan Harper. It may be a longshot, based on cost (which seems high) and viewership (which seems low), but a third-season renewal is looking more and more appealing. On the flip side is the crime thriller "Lucky," starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a con artist on the run, that falls into Apple TV's biggest recurring trap - a series that should have been a movie instead. Despite a great cast (including Annette Benning, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and William Fichtner) and occasional pops of excitement, the show drags way too much, stretching a thin story far past its breaking point. Alas.
Play, pause or stop? Play. While Apple has been on a roll this year, the lineup is a bit thin this month and it remains to be seen whether "Ted Lasso" can recapture its first-season magic. Still, there are enough outstanding shows to catch up on to make a subscription worthwhile.
Disney+ ($11.99 a month with ads, $18.99 with no ads)
The months-long integration of Disney+ and Hulu appears to have reached a tipping point, with nearly everything premiering on Hulu this month also available on Disney+. It's part of a plan to unify the two apps by the end of this year (though Hulu will technically still exist as a standalone app, for the near future at least). With a Hulu-Disney+ bundle costing just $1 more ($12.99 with ads, $19.99 with no ads), that seems like the easiest, most cost-effective way to go. (This month's column will still separate the two since there's a lot to talk about for each, but going forward, they'll likely be combined.)
Anyway, "Star Wars" fans should be in for a treat with the dazzling anime series "The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 5). Born from the "Star Wars: Visions" anthology series, this eight-episode spinoff from animator Kenji Kamiyama and director Shunsuke Tada is visually stunning, and serves as a reminder that "Star Wars" works best when creators are allowed to go a little off-leash and let their imaginations run wild (see: "Andor" and "Maul: Shadow Lord").
Disney's $(DIS)$ also got "Time and Water" (Aug. 1), a NatGeo documentary as Icelandic poet and author Andri Snær Magnason creates a cinematic time capsule as his beloved country copes with climate change; the family comedy/fantasy "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" (Aug. 5) is back for its third and final season; the Jonan Brothers revive the "Camp Rock" franchise after 18 years with the YA musical "Camp Rock 3" (Aug. 14); "The Lion King" director Jon Favreau goes the documentary route, co-producing "Lion" (Aug. 20), following a lion cub and his pride over multiple years; and there's another exclusive episode of "The Simpsons" - "Yellow Mirror" (Aug. 26), a spoof of the dystopian series "Black Mirror."
There's also a ton of programming from Hulu, ESPN, ABC and cable, including new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro," "The Shards," "Project Runway," "Adults," "A Shop for Killers," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Futurama" (see more on those under the Hulu section), the Lollapalooza livestream (July 30-Aug.- 2), WNBA, WWE, Banana Ball, the Little League World Series (championship Aug. 30) and U.S. Open tennis (starting Aug. 31). Oh, and don't forget new episodes of "X-Men '97" (season finale Aug. 12), which has already been renewed for its third and fourth seasons.
RIP: Despite a Season 2 renewal earlier this year, Disney just announced "Wonder Man" has been canceled. That's a huge bummer, it was Marvel's best show in years, drawing critical raves and an Emmy nomination for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. At least it didn't end on a huge cliffhanger - it's still worth a watch.
Play, pause or stop? Play. Disney+ is absorbing Hulu, and it's reached a point where it seems foolish to still use the standalone services as opposed to the bundle. It's a good month for Disney+ programming - add Hulu and it becomes a no-brainer.
HBO Max ($10.99 a month with ads, $18.49 with no ads, or $22.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)
In a time of superhero overload, the debut of DC's "Lanterns" (Aug. 16) would be met with extreme wariness if not for two critical factors: co-creator and writer Damon Lindelof ("Lost," "The Leftovers," "Watchmen") and co-star Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"). Both consistently elevate everything they're associated with. Add Aaron Pierre ("Rebel Ridge") and we're cooking with fire. The story of the Green Lanterns, the superheroes who keep galactic peace with the help of magic rings, can easily go awry (just ask Ryan Reynolds), but this grounded, gritty version - in which a jaded Green Lantern and his protégé investigate a murder in rural Nebraska - looks fantastic, a superhero version of "True Detective" with the dark gravitas of "Watchmen." There's no excuse for this not becoming a crossover hit.
Meanwhile, the excellent comic travelogue "Conan O'Brien Must Go" (Aug. 21) is back for its fourth season (still just four episodes though); there's a new season of the NFL inside-the-locker-room docuseries "Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Seattle Seahawks" (Aug. 4); and there's "Monsters of God" (Aug. 6), an intriguing five-part docuseries about the billion-dollar underworld of exotic-reptile smuggling.
The Warner Bros. Discovery $(WBD)$ service also has a full slate of Major League Baseball, Banana Ball, NASCAR, the slam-dunk competition "Dunkman" and AEW wrestling.
There are also the season finales of Larry David's "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" (Aug. 7) and "House of the Dragon" (Aug. 9), and weekly episodes of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."
MW Here's what's worth streaming in August 2026 on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and more
By Mike Murphy
Turn off your brain and enjoy new seasons of Apple's 'Ted Lasso,' Amazon's 'Reacher,' Netflix's 'Outer Banks' and much more
Tanya Reynolds and Jason Sudeikis star in Season 4 of "Ted Lasso," premiering Aug. 5 on Apple TV.
Ahhh, summer. When it's not scorching or flooding or burning outside, it's a nice time to just turn off your brain and relax.
That's more or less what streaming services are providing in August: a bunch of shows that don't require much thinking - just sit back and enjoy. Which, honestly, is sometimes all you want in a TV show. And there are plenty on the way, like new seasons of Amazon's "Reacher," Paramount's "Lioness," Netflix's "Outer Banks" and even the return of Apple's "Ted Lasso."
But perhaps the best part about this upcoming slate of shows is that none of them are particularly essential; there's little danger of pop-culture FOMO. So with a bit of strategic churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - you can still catch the best shows while keeping your monthly streaming budget under $50. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month. And it's always worth watching out for time-sensitive deals and money-saving bundles.
Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget - rating the major services as "play," "pause" or "stop," similar to investment analysts' traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell - and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.
Here's a look at what's coming to the various streaming services in August 2026, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee:
Apple TV ($12.99 a month)
So it turns out the final season of "Ted Lasso" wasn't its final season after all. The feel-good soccer comedy, a monster hit for Apple (AAPL), ran out of steam as it wrapped up its storylines (sometimes too abruptly, and often overdoing it on the saccharine) in its third season, which streamed way back in 2023. But it felt like a good time to say goodbye.
Not so fast. The extended Lasso-verse (and no doubt bucketfuls of money) proved too appealing to the show's creative team, and while star/co-creator Jason Sudeikis reportedly needed some convincing, the show is coming back for a fourth season (Aug. 5). A lot has changed, though, with the show shifting its focus to AFC Richmond's women's team, now led by, of course, Coach Lasso. While Season 4 will introduce a whole new team, expect to see many familiar faces, including team owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), new men's head coach Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), budding entrepreneur Keeley (Juno Temple) and the stoic Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt). But whatever has changed, don't expect a shift from the positive vibes. "It is infectious to play a character who sees the best in people and isn't mad at the world for all its foibles and bullies and shadows," Sudeikis recently told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's not like I'm Daniel Day-Lewis, but it was good to live in that - to have that coursing through your brain and your body all day. It still is."
Apple's also got Season 2 of "Women in Blue," aka "Las Azules," (Aug. 12), the drama about a group of groundbreaking female cops in 1970s Mexico; "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" (Aug. 21), a docuseries about Connecticut's dominant women's basketball program; and Season 2 of the alternate-universe drama "Dark Matter" (Aug. 28), starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly.
There are also new episodes of the sci-fi epic "Silo," "Sugar" (season finale Aug. 7), "Lucky" (finale Aug. 19) and the parenting comedy "Trying" (season finale Aug. 26), and you can catch up on recently completed shows like "Widow's Bay," "Star City," "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" and "Cape Fear."
Hit & miss: There were serious doubts that "Sugar" - the Colin Farrell-led thriller that's 90% stylish private-eye mystery and 10% absolute bonkers sci-fi - could pull off a coherent, watchable second season after stumbling badly at the end of its first season. But somehow, amazingly, it has (at least with a handful of episodes to go). Farrell is terrific, as always, as an empathetic gumshoe investigating a trail of crime and corruption that rings true to devotees of L.A. noir, from Raymond Chandler to "Chinatown" to Jordan Harper. It may be a longshot, based on cost (which seems high) and viewership (which seems low), but a third-season renewal is looking more and more appealing. On the flip side is the crime thriller "Lucky," starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a con artist on the run, that falls into Apple TV's biggest recurring trap - a series that should have been a movie instead. Despite a great cast (including Annette Benning, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and William Fichtner) and occasional pops of excitement, the show drags way too much, stretching a thin story far past its breaking point. Alas.
Play, pause or stop? Play. While Apple has been on a roll this year, the lineup is a bit thin this month and it remains to be seen whether "Ted Lasso" can recapture its first-season magic. Still, there are enough outstanding shows to catch up on to make a subscription worthwhile.
Disney+ ($11.99 a month with ads, $18.99 with no ads)
The months-long integration of Disney+ and Hulu appears to have reached a tipping point, with nearly everything premiering on Hulu this month also available on Disney+. It's part of a plan to unify the two apps by the end of this year (though Hulu will technically still exist as a standalone app, for the near future at least). With a Hulu-Disney+ bundle costing just $1 more ($12.99 with ads, $19.99 with no ads), that seems like the easiest, most cost-effective way to go. (This month's column will still separate the two since there's a lot to talk about for each, but going forward, they'll likely be combined.)
Anyway, "Star Wars" fans should be in for a treat with the dazzling anime series "The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 5). Born from the "Star Wars: Visions" anthology series, this eight-episode spinoff from animator Kenji Kamiyama and director Shunsuke Tada is visually stunning, and serves as a reminder that "Star Wars" works best when creators are allowed to go a little off-leash and let their imaginations run wild (see: "Andor" and "Maul: Shadow Lord").
Disney's (DIS) also got "Time and Water" (Aug. 1), a NatGeo documentary as Icelandic poet and author Andri Snær Magnason creates a cinematic time capsule as his beloved country copes with climate change; the family comedy/fantasy "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" (Aug. 5) is back for its third and final season; the Jonan Brothers revive the "Camp Rock" franchise after 18 years with the YA musical "Camp Rock 3" (Aug. 14); "The Lion King" director Jon Favreau goes the documentary route, co-producing "Lion" (Aug. 20), following a lion cub and his pride over multiple years; and there's another exclusive episode of "The Simpsons" - "Yellow Mirror" (Aug. 26), a spoof of the dystopian series "Black Mirror."
There's also a ton of programming from Hulu, ESPN, ABC and cable, including new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro," "The Shards," "Project Runway," "Adults," "A Shop for Killers," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Futurama" (see more on those under the Hulu section), the Lollapalooza livestream (July 30-Aug.- 2), WNBA, WWE, Banana Ball, the Little League World Series (championship Aug. 30) and U.S. Open tennis (starting Aug. 31). Oh, and don't forget new episodes of "X-Men '97" (season finale Aug. 12), which has already been renewed for its third and fourth seasons.
RIP: Despite a Season 2 renewal earlier this year, Disney just announced "Wonder Man" has been canceled. That's a huge bummer, it was Marvel's best show in years, drawing critical raves and an Emmy nomination for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. At least it didn't end on a huge cliffhanger - it's still worth a watch.
Play, pause or stop? Play. Disney+ is absorbing Hulu, and it's reached a point where it seems foolish to still use the standalone services as opposed to the bundle. It's a good month for Disney+ programming - add Hulu and it becomes a no-brainer.
HBO Max ($10.99 a month with ads, $18.49 with no ads, or $22.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)
In a time of superhero overload, the debut of DC's "Lanterns" (Aug. 16) would be met with extreme wariness if not for two critical factors: co-creator and writer Damon Lindelof ("Lost," "The Leftovers," "Watchmen") and co-star Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"). Both consistently elevate everything they're associated with. Add Aaron Pierre ("Rebel Ridge") and we're cooking with fire. The story of the Green Lanterns, the superheroes who keep galactic peace with the help of magic rings, can easily go awry (just ask Ryan Reynolds), but this grounded, gritty version - in which a jaded Green Lantern and his protégé investigate a murder in rural Nebraska - looks fantastic, a superhero version of "True Detective" with the dark gravitas of "Watchmen." There's no excuse for this not becoming a crossover hit.
Meanwhile, the excellent comic travelogue "Conan O'Brien Must Go" (Aug. 21) is back for its fourth season (still just four episodes though); there's a new season of the NFL inside-the-locker-room docuseries "Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Seattle Seahawks" (Aug. 4); and there's "Monsters of God" (Aug. 6), an intriguing five-part docuseries about the billion-dollar underworld of exotic-reptile smuggling.
The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) service also has a full slate of Major League Baseball, Banana Ball, NASCAR, the slam-dunk competition "Dunkman" and AEW wrestling.
There are also the season finales of Larry David's "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" (Aug. 7) and "House of the Dragon" (Aug. 9), and weekly episodes of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."
MW Here's what's worth streaming in August 2026 -2-
The slog of the dragons: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me three seasons in a row, shame on me. "House of the Dragon" continues to be disappointing, despite all hopes to the contrary. "Game of Thrones" was so great, at least in its early years, because of its deeply drawn characters - we knew them; we loved some and hated others. But at least we knew who they were, and why they acted the way they did. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," which aired earlier this year, took that lesson to heart and quickly won over viewers. It's too bad "House of the Dragon" never did - aside from perhaps Rhaenyra and Alicent, everyone's pretty one-dimensional. And its pacing problems still haven't been solved - too many plot points feel rushed, while others are drawn out to the point of tedium, even with the series' conclusion within sight. It's such a frustrating watch. One bright spot in Season 3: the addition of James Norton as new foil Ormond Hightower. Norton plays a villain so well (his chilling stint on "Happy Valley" is unforgettable), and his outsider threat adds a legitimately interesting counterweight to the squabbling Targaryens.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. There's a lot of potential in "Lanterns" and Conan is always a delight, but the rest of this month's lineup is light.
Hulu ($11.99 a month with ads, or $18.99 with no ads)
Superproducer Ryan Murphy is sure to squeeze every bit of melodrama out of his neon-lit adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel "The Shards" (Aug. 5), a thriller series set at an L.A. prep school in the 1980s, featuring sex, drugs and a serial killer. Murphy's over-the-top style makes his shows very hit or miss. But this could be the perfect trashy romp for the end of summer.
Hulu's also got a trio of solid comedies, with Season 14 of the animated "Futurama" (Aug. 3) revival, which, while not as good as the "King of the Hill" revival, is still pretty decent; Season 18(!) of FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (Aug. 17), which if you're counting by seasons is the longest-running live-action sitcom ever; and Season 2 of FX's "Adults" (Aug. 27), the sharply funny series about a group of codependent Gen Z roommates (which teased a standalone prequel episode on July 31).
There's also the visually stunning Disney+ anime series "Star Wars Visions Presents: The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 17), Season 4 of the true-crime docuseries "Betrayal: Dirty Secrets" (Aug. 4), and a livestream of the Lollapalooza music festival from Chicago (July 30-Aug. 2), featuring Lorde, Charlie XCX, Smashing Pumpkins, Geese, Turnstile and many more.
Also check out new episodes of the uber-violent Korean assassin drama "A Shop for Killers" (season finale Aug. 12), "Furious" (season finale Aug. 31), "Project Runway" and "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro" (season finale Aug. 31).
Binge-worthy: The new crime-thriller series "Furious" takes a generic cat-and-mouse setup (loosely inspired by the 1987 movie "Black Widow") but loads it with nuance and depth. Emmy Rossum ("Shameless") stars as a traumatized FBI agent, with Lola Petticrew ("Say Nothing") as a serial killer targeting men involved in a Jeffrey Epstein-esque sex-trafficking ring. Both of their characters are survivors of abuse, pursuing justice from opposite ends of the law. Aside from some darkly comic moments, it's a grim show, driven by righteous fury and at times not an easy watch. But it's also smart and compelling, and gets better with every episode. On the literal opposite end of the spectrum is "Nirvanna the Band the Show," which ran on Viceland back in 2017 and just dropped two seasons' worth of silliness. The Canadian mockumentary follows a musical duo determined to play at a Toronto rock club through various schemes that inevitably go awry. It's super weird, very meta and utterly delightful. Then check out its 2025 sequel "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie," which also just landed on Hulu. Both serve as affable brain sorbets.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. It's a good month, but as mentioned before, all the hits will also stream on Disney+. It feels like a tipping point from standalone Hulu to the Disney+ bundle, where a $1-a-month upgrade gets you significantly more for your money.
Netflix ($8.99 a month for standard with ads, $19.99 standard with no ads, $26.99 premium with no ads)
One of Netflix's $(NFLX)$ more popular and long-running dramas is wrapping up, with Season 5 of "Outer Banks" (Aug. 20). As the action shifted from North Carolina to Morocco, the series now finds the treasure-hunting Pogues picking up the pieces and out for revenge following a shocking death last season, as they seek redemption with one last adventure. The show is the epitome of Netflix's "mid" TV - it's perfectly fine eye candy, not terrible but never particularly great either.
There's also Season 2 of Leanne Morgan's popular sitcom "Leanne" (Aug. 27) and Season 3 of Shane Gillis' sitcom "Tires" (Aug. 13), along with Season 2 of the Colombian series "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Aug. 5); Season 3 of the romantic drama "My Life with the Walter Boys" (Aug. 6); "Alley Cats" (Aug. 7), an adult animated comedy about feral cats from Ricky Gervais; "Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy" (Aug. 5), as British comedian Mo Galligan tries a Morgan Spurlock-esque 28-day chicken diet; the dating reality show "Let's Marry Harry" (Aug. 5); the standup comedy specials "Rory Scovel: Show Must Go On" (Aug. 11) and "Kelsey Cook: Happy Hour" (Aug. 18); the true-crime doc "Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes" (Aug. 12); "Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing" (Aug. 19), a documentary investigation into Boeing's safety problems; Season 3 of "Love Is Blind UK" (Aug. 19); the fringe-comedy variety show "Stamptown" (Aug. 25); and the creepy reality show "Mom Knows Best" (Aug. 26), where mothers secretly observe their adult children and bet on the choices they make.
The big movie of the month is "The Whisper Man" (Aug. 28), based on the Alex North novel about a widowed crime writer who turns to his estranged ex-cop father when his son goes missing, starring Robert De Niro, Adam Scott and Michelle Monaghan. That's joined by "The Last House" (Aug. 7), a horror movie about a family trapped in a terrifying house, starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee; and "Don't Say Good Luck" (Aug. 14), a high-school musical family drama starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield.
Netflix also has the MLB "Field of Dreams" game (Aug. 13), with the Phillies playing the Twins in an Iowa cornfield; all seven seasons of CBS's "SEAL Team" (Aug. 18); and all three seasons of HBO Max's "The Sex Lives of College Girls" (Aug. 31).
Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Outer Banks" is aggressively meh, and there's not much else that screams to be watched this month.
Paramount+ ($8.99 a month with ads, $13.99 a month Premium with no ads)
Taylor Sheridan's thriller series "Lioness" (Aug. 2) is back for its third season. Zoe Saldana stars as the leader of a CIA special-ops team, joined by a stellar cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Michael Kelly and Morgan Freeman. While the first two seasons were set largely overseas, it looks like the danger hits home in Season 3, with drone strikes, shootouts and explosions aplenty. Like most Sheridan shows, it may not be particularly good, but it's still highly entertaining. And while the action sequences are top-notch, it really is better to turn off the ol' brain and not think too hard about the show's geopolitical messages.
Accompanying "Lioness" is "Special Ops: True" (Aug. 4), a docuseries about real special-ops missions, like the Bin Laden raid. There's also Season 2 of the comedy/drama crime thriller "Average Joe" (Aug. 19), with the action shifting from Pittsburgh to South Africa, and a new season of the reality competition "The Challenge: Cutthroat" (Aug. 5). There's also the concert film "Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft" (Aug. 6), and weekly episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," "Big Brother" and the critically praised but still under-the-radar comedy/mystery "Diarra From Detroit."
Paramount's $(PSKY)$ also got UFC, golf, WNBA, soccer (including UEFA Super Cup and a new season of the EFL Championship, aka Wrexham's league) and NFL exhibition football (Bengals-Eagles on Aug. 28).
Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Lioness" can be binged later, and soccer and football won't really kick into gear until September.
Amazon's Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$4.99 to avoid ads)
The hit action series "Reacher" (Aug. 12) is back for its fourth season, starring Alan Ritchson as a very large man who punches people (and occasionally objects) very hard. No, really, that's about all the plot you need to know, and it's kinda awesome. The new season has Reacher traveling to Philadelphia, where he uncovers a conspiracy and beats up a lot of bad guys. As far as dumb-but-fun TV shows go, this one is hard to beat.
Amazon (AMZN) also has a new YA drama series, "Sterling Point" (Aug. 5), about a teenage girl (Ella Rubin) who inherits her mysterious grandfather's island in Canada, where she finds new friends, romance and family secrets; "The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls" (Aug. 9), as the British adventurer blends spirituality and survivalism with the cast of Amazon's biblical drama "The Chosen"; and "The Last Sunrise" (Aug. 26), a movie based on the best-selling novel about a young woman with a chronic illness who spends a summer living life to the fullest while her condition worsens, starring Maia Reficco and Eva Longoria.
There are also New York Yankees games every Wednesday night for viewers in the NYC metro area, a full slate of WNBA games and NWSL matches every Thursday.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Reacher" actually works better as a skull-cracking binge than a weekly show, so wait a month or so. Nothing else looks particularly compelling.
Peacock ($10.99 a month with ads, or $16.99 with no ads)
MW Here's what's worth streaming in August 2026 on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and more
By Mike Murphy
Turn off your brain and enjoy new seasons of Apple's 'Ted Lasso,' Amazon's 'Reacher,' Netflix's 'Outer Banks' and much more
Tanya Reynolds and Jason Sudeikis star in Season 4 of "Ted Lasso," premiering Aug. 5 on Apple TV.
Ahhh, summer. When it's not scorching or flooding or burning outside, it's a nice time to just turn off your brain and relax.
That's more or less what streaming services are providing in August: a bunch of shows that don't require much thinking - just sit back and enjoy. Which, honestly, is sometimes all you want in a TV show. And there are plenty on the way, like new seasons of Amazon's "Reacher," Paramount's "Lioness," Netflix's "Outer Banks" and even the return of Apple's "Ted Lasso."
But perhaps the best part about this upcoming slate of shows is that none of them are particularly essential; there's little danger of pop-culture FOMO. So with a bit of strategic churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - you can still catch the best shows while keeping your monthly streaming budget under $50. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month. And it's always worth watching out for time-sensitive deals and money-saving bundles.
Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget - rating the major services as "play," "pause" or "stop," similar to investment analysts' traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell - and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.
Here's a look at what's coming to the various streaming services in August 2026, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee:
Apple TV ($12.99 a month)
So it turns out the final season of "Ted Lasso" wasn't its final season after all. The feel-good soccer comedy, a monster hit for Apple (AAPL), ran out of steam as it wrapped up its storylines (sometimes too abruptly, and often overdoing it on the saccharine) in its third season, which streamed way back in 2023. But it felt like a good time to say goodbye.
Not so fast. The extended Lasso-verse (and no doubt bucketfuls of money) proved too appealing to the show's creative team, and while star/co-creator Jason Sudeikis reportedly needed some convincing, the show is coming back for a fourth season (Aug. 5). A lot has changed, though, with the show shifting its focus to AFC Richmond's women's team, now led by, of course, Coach Lasso. While Season 4 will introduce a whole new team, expect to see many familiar faces, including team owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), new men's head coach Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), budding entrepreneur Keeley (Juno Temple) and the stoic Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt). But whatever has changed, don't expect a shift from the positive vibes. "It is infectious to play a character who sees the best in people and isn't mad at the world for all its foibles and bullies and shadows," Sudeikis recently told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's not like I'm Daniel Day-Lewis, but it was good to live in that - to have that coursing through your brain and your body all day. It still is."
Apple's also got Season 2 of "Women in Blue," aka "Las Azules," (Aug. 12), the drama about a group of groundbreaking female cops in 1970s Mexico; "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" (Aug. 21), a docuseries about Connecticut's dominant women's basketball program; and Season 2 of the alternate-universe drama "Dark Matter" (Aug. 28), starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly.
There are also new episodes of the sci-fi epic "Silo," "Sugar" (season finale Aug. 7), "Lucky" (finale Aug. 19) and the parenting comedy "Trying" (season finale Aug. 26), and you can catch up on recently completed shows like "Widow's Bay," "Star City," "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" and "Cape Fear."
Hit & miss: There were serious doubts that "Sugar" - the Colin Farrell-led thriller that's 90% stylish private-eye mystery and 10% absolute bonkers sci-fi - could pull off a coherent, watchable second season after stumbling badly at the end of its first season. But somehow, amazingly, it has (at least with a handful of episodes to go). Farrell is terrific, as always, as an empathetic gumshoe investigating a trail of crime and corruption that rings true to devotees of L.A. noir, from Raymond Chandler to "Chinatown" to Jordan Harper. It may be a longshot, based on cost (which seems high) and viewership (which seems low), but a third-season renewal is looking more and more appealing. On the flip side is the crime thriller "Lucky," starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a con artist on the run, that falls into Apple TV's biggest recurring trap - a series that should have been a movie instead. Despite a great cast (including Annette Benning, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and William Fichtner) and occasional pops of excitement, the show drags way too much, stretching a thin story far past its breaking point. Alas.
Play, pause or stop? Play. While Apple has been on a roll this year, the lineup is a bit thin this month and it remains to be seen whether "Ted Lasso" can recapture its first-season magic. Still, there are enough outstanding shows to catch up on to make a subscription worthwhile.
Disney+ ($11.99 a month with ads, $18.99 with no ads)
The months-long integration of Disney+ and Hulu appears to have reached a tipping point, with nearly everything premiering on Hulu this month also available on Disney+. It's part of a plan to unify the two apps by the end of this year (though Hulu will technically still exist as a standalone app, for the near future at least). With a Hulu-Disney+ bundle costing just $1 more ($12.99 with ads, $19.99 with no ads), that seems like the easiest, most cost-effective way to go. (This month's column will still separate the two since there's a lot to talk about for each, but going forward, they'll likely be combined.)
Anyway, "Star Wars" fans should be in for a treat with the dazzling anime series "The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 5). Born from the "Star Wars: Visions" anthology series, this eight-episode spinoff from animator Kenji Kamiyama and director Shunsuke Tada is visually stunning, and serves as a reminder that "Star Wars" works best when creators are allowed to go a little off-leash and let their imaginations run wild (see: "Andor" and "Maul: Shadow Lord").
Disney's (DIS) also got "Time and Water" (Aug. 1), a NatGeo documentary as Icelandic poet and author Andri Snær Magnason creates a cinematic time capsule as his beloved country copes with climate change; the family comedy/fantasy "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" (Aug. 5) is back for its third and final season; the Jonan Brothers revive the "Camp Rock" franchise after 18 years with the YA musical "Camp Rock 3" (Aug. 14); "The Lion King" director Jon Favreau goes the documentary route, co-producing "Lion" (Aug. 20), following a lion cub and his pride over multiple years; and there's another exclusive episode of "The Simpsons" - "Yellow Mirror" (Aug. 26), a spoof of the dystopian series "Black Mirror."
There's also a ton of programming from Hulu, ESPN, ABC and cable, including new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro," "The Shards," "Project Runway," "Adults," "A Shop for Killers," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Futurama" (see more on those under the Hulu section), the Lollapalooza livestream (July 30-Aug.- 2), WNBA, WWE, Banana Ball, the Little League World Series (championship Aug. 30) and U.S. Open tennis (starting Aug. 31). Oh, and don't forget new episodes of "X-Men '97" (season finale Aug. 12), which has already been renewed for its third and fourth seasons.
RIP: Despite a Season 2 renewal earlier this year, Disney just announced "Wonder Man" has been canceled. That's a huge bummer, it was Marvel's best show in years, drawing critical raves and an Emmy nomination for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. At least it didn't end on a huge cliffhanger - it's still worth a watch.
Play, pause or stop? Play. Disney+ is absorbing Hulu, and it's reached a point where it seems foolish to still use the standalone services as opposed to the bundle. It's a good month for Disney+ programming - add Hulu and it becomes a no-brainer.
HBO Max ($10.99 a month with ads, $18.49 with no ads, or $22.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)
In a time of superhero overload, the debut of DC's "Lanterns" (Aug. 16) would be met with extreme wariness if not for two critical factors: co-creator and writer Damon Lindelof ("Lost," "The Leftovers," "Watchmen") and co-star Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"). Both consistently elevate everything they're associated with. Add Aaron Pierre ("Rebel Ridge") and we're cooking with fire. The story of the Green Lanterns, the superheroes who keep galactic peace with the help of magic rings, can easily go awry (just ask Ryan Reynolds), but this grounded, gritty version - in which a jaded Green Lantern and his protégé investigate a murder in rural Nebraska - looks fantastic, a superhero version of "True Detective" with the dark gravitas of "Watchmen." There's no excuse for this not becoming a crossover hit.
Meanwhile, the excellent comic travelogue "Conan O'Brien Must Go" (Aug. 21) is back for its fourth season (still just four episodes though); there's a new season of the NFL inside-the-locker-room docuseries "Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Seattle Seahawks" (Aug. 4); and there's "Monsters of God" (Aug. 6), an intriguing five-part docuseries about the billion-dollar underworld of exotic-reptile smuggling.
The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) service also has a full slate of Major League Baseball, Banana Ball, NASCAR, the slam-dunk competition "Dunkman" and AEW wrestling.
There are also the season finales of Larry David's "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" (Aug. 7) and "House of the Dragon" (Aug. 9), and weekly episodes of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver."
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The slog of the dragons: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me three seasons in a row, shame on me. "House of the Dragon" continues to be disappointing, despite all hopes to the contrary. "Game of Thrones" was so great, at least in its early years, because of its deeply drawn characters - we knew them; we loved some and hated others. But at least we knew who they were, and why they acted the way they did. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," which aired earlier this year, took that lesson to heart and quickly won over viewers. It's too bad "House of the Dragon" never did - aside from perhaps Rhaenyra and Alicent, everyone's pretty one-dimensional. And its pacing problems still haven't been solved - too many plot points feel rushed, while others are drawn out to the point of tedium, even with the series' conclusion within sight. It's such a frustrating watch. One bright spot in Season 3: the addition of James Norton as new foil Ormond Hightower. Norton plays a villain so well (his chilling stint on "Happy Valley" is unforgettable), and his outsider threat adds a legitimately interesting counterweight to the squabbling Targaryens.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. There's a lot of potential in "Lanterns" and Conan is always a delight, but the rest of this month's lineup is light.
Hulu ($11.99 a month with ads, or $18.99 with no ads)
Superproducer Ryan Murphy is sure to squeeze every bit of melodrama out of his neon-lit adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel "The Shards" (Aug. 5), a thriller series set at an L.A. prep school in the 1980s, featuring sex, drugs and a serial killer. Murphy's over-the-top style makes his shows very hit or miss. But this could be the perfect trashy romp for the end of summer.
Hulu's also got a trio of solid comedies, with Season 14 of the animated "Futurama" (Aug. 3) revival, which, while not as good as the "King of the Hill" revival, is still pretty decent; Season 18(!) of FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (Aug. 17), which if you're counting by seasons is the longest-running live-action sitcom ever; and Season 2 of FX's "Adults" (Aug. 27), the sharply funny series about a group of codependent Gen Z roommates (which teased a standalone prequel episode on July 31).
There's also the visually stunning Disney+ anime series "Star Wars Visions Presents: The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 17), Season 4 of the true-crime docuseries "Betrayal: Dirty Secrets" (Aug. 4), and a livestream of the Lollapalooza music festival from Chicago (July 30-Aug. 2), featuring Lorde, Charlie XCX, Smashing Pumpkins, Geese, Turnstile and many more.
Also check out new episodes of the uber-violent Korean assassin drama "A Shop for Killers" (season finale Aug. 12), "Furious" (season finale Aug. 31), "Project Runway" and "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro" (season finale Aug. 31).
Binge-worthy: The new crime-thriller series "Furious" takes a generic cat-and-mouse setup (loosely inspired by the 1987 movie "Black Widow") but loads it with nuance and depth. Emmy Rossum ("Shameless") stars as a traumatized FBI agent, with Lola Petticrew ("Say Nothing") as a serial killer targeting men involved in a Jeffrey Epstein-esque sex-trafficking ring. Both of their characters are survivors of abuse, pursuing justice from opposite ends of the law. Aside from some darkly comic moments, it's a grim show, driven by righteous fury and at times not an easy watch. But it's also smart and compelling, and gets better with every episode. On the literal opposite end of the spectrum is "Nirvanna the Band the Show," which ran on Viceland back in 2017 and just dropped two seasons' worth of silliness. The Canadian mockumentary follows a musical duo determined to play at a Toronto rock club through various schemes that inevitably go awry. It's super weird, very meta and utterly delightful. Then check out its 2025 sequel "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie," which also just landed on Hulu. Both serve as affable brain sorbets.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. It's a good month, but as mentioned before, all the hits will also stream on Disney+. It feels like a tipping point from standalone Hulu to the Disney+ bundle, where a $1-a-month upgrade gets you significantly more for your money.
Netflix ($8.99 a month for standard with ads, $19.99 standard with no ads, $26.99 premium with no ads)
One of Netflix's (NFLX) more popular and long-running dramas is wrapping up, with Season 5 of "Outer Banks" (Aug. 20). As the action shifted from North Carolina to Morocco, the series now finds the treasure-hunting Pogues picking up the pieces and out for revenge following a shocking death last season, as they seek redemption with one last adventure. The show is the epitome of Netflix's "mid" TV - it's perfectly fine eye candy, not terrible but never particularly great either.
There's also Season 2 of Leanne Morgan's popular sitcom "Leanne" (Aug. 27) and Season 3 of Shane Gillis' sitcom "Tires" (Aug. 13), along with Season 2 of the Colombian series "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Aug. 5); Season 3 of the romantic drama "My Life with the Walter Boys" (Aug. 6); "Alley Cats" (Aug. 7), an adult animated comedy about feral cats from Ricky Gervais; "Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy" (Aug. 5), as British comedian Mo Galligan tries a Morgan Spurlock-esque 28-day chicken diet; the dating reality show "Let's Marry Harry" (Aug. 5); the standup comedy specials "Rory Scovel: Show Must Go On" (Aug. 11) and "Kelsey Cook: Happy Hour" (Aug. 18); the true-crime doc "Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes" (Aug. 12); "Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing" (Aug. 19), a documentary investigation into Boeing's safety problems; Season 3 of "Love Is Blind UK" (Aug. 19); the fringe-comedy variety show "Stamptown" (Aug. 25); and the creepy reality show "Mom Knows Best" (Aug. 26), where mothers secretly observe their adult children and bet on the choices they make.
The big movie of the month is "The Whisper Man" (Aug. 28), based on the Alex North novel about a widowed crime writer who turns to his estranged ex-cop father when his son goes missing, starring Robert De Niro, Adam Scott and Michelle Monaghan. That's joined by "The Last House" (Aug. 7), a horror movie about a family trapped in a terrifying house, starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee; and "Don't Say Good Luck" (Aug. 14), a high-school musical family drama starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield.
Netflix also has the MLB "Field of Dreams" game (Aug. 13), with the Phillies playing the Twins in an Iowa cornfield; all seven seasons of CBS's "SEAL Team" (Aug. 18); and all three seasons of HBO Max's "The Sex Lives of College Girls" (Aug. 31).
Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Outer Banks" is aggressively meh, and there's not much else that screams to be watched this month.
Paramount+ ($8.99 a month with ads, $13.99 a month Premium with no ads)
Taylor Sheridan's thriller series "Lioness" (Aug. 2) is back for its third season. Zoe Saldana stars as the leader of a CIA special-ops team, joined by a stellar cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Michael Kelly and Morgan Freeman. While the first two seasons were set largely overseas, it looks like the danger hits home in Season 3, with drone strikes, shootouts and explosions aplenty. Like most Sheridan shows, it may not be particularly good, but it's still highly entertaining. And while the action sequences are top-notch, it really is better to turn off the ol' brain and not think too hard about the show's geopolitical messages.
Accompanying "Lioness" is "Special Ops: True" (Aug. 4), a docuseries about real special-ops missions, like the Bin Laden raid. There's also Season 2 of the comedy/drama crime thriller "Average Joe" (Aug. 19), with the action shifting from Pittsburgh to South Africa, and a new season of the reality competition "The Challenge: Cutthroat" (Aug. 5). There's also the concert film "Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft" (Aug. 6), and weekly episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," "Big Brother" and the critically praised but still under-the-radar comedy/mystery "Diarra From Detroit."
Paramount's (PSKY) also got UFC, golf, WNBA, soccer (including UEFA Super Cup and a new season of the EFL Championship, aka Wrexham's league) and NFL exhibition football (Bengals-Eagles on Aug. 28).
Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Lioness" can be binged later, and soccer and football won't really kick into gear until September.
Amazon's Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$4.99 to avoid ads)
The hit action series "Reacher" (Aug. 12) is back for its fourth season, starring Alan Ritchson as a very large man who punches people (and occasionally objects) very hard. No, really, that's about all the plot you need to know, and it's kinda awesome. The new season has Reacher traveling to Philadelphia, where he uncovers a conspiracy and beats up a lot of bad guys. As far as dumb-but-fun TV shows go, this one is hard to beat.
Amazon (AMZN) also has a new YA drama series, "Sterling Point" (Aug. 5), about a teenage girl (Ella Rubin) who inherits her mysterious grandfather's island in Canada, where she finds new friends, romance and family secrets; "The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls" (Aug. 9), as the British adventurer blends spirituality and survivalism with the cast of Amazon's biblical drama "The Chosen"; and "The Last Sunrise" (Aug. 26), a movie based on the best-selling novel about a young woman with a chronic illness who spends a summer living life to the fullest while her condition worsens, starring Maia Reficco and Eva Longoria.
There are also New York Yankees games every Wednesday night for viewers in the NYC metro area, a full slate of WNBA games and NWSL matches every Thursday.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Reacher" actually works better as a skull-cracking binge than a weekly show, so wait a month or so. Nothing else looks particularly compelling.
Peacock
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