The must-watch title on every major streamer this August
The must-watch title on every major streamer this August
These August releases are the easiest way to decide what to watch next on every service.
August’s streaming lineup has me pretty excited. “The Simpsons” is going dark and weird with an AI-powered tablet, “Lanterns” is turning Green Lantern into a grounded murder mystery, Robert De Niro and Adam Scott are chasing a serial-killer connection in “The Whisper Man,” and Jennifer Garner is bringing some very strong early-2000s spy nostalgia to Pluto TV with “Alias.”
But honestly, I’m most excited for the return of “Ted Lasso,” one of my favorite shows of all time, which is coming back in a completely new wrapper with Ted coaching a women’s football team. So if your watchlist is already getting out of control, here’s the one title on each major streamer I’m most excited about this August.
Top title on each streamer for the month of August 2026:
‘The Simpsons: Yellow Mirror’ | Special episode | Disney+
“The Simpsons” can still get surprisingly weird when it wants to, and “Yellow Mirror” sounds like it’s going straight into the dark, existential stuff. The Disney+ exclusive episode drops Wednesday, Aug. 26 and tells two separate stories, with one following Homer as a defective lamp forces him to question what’s real, while the other has an AI-powered tablet befriending Maggie and slowly taking control.
So yeah, apparently Springfield is doing psychological horror and evil artificial intelligence now. I’m always interested when “The Simpsons” steps outside its usual setup and plays with stranger formats, especially when the premise sounds this bleak and bizarre. Homer losing his grip on reality, Maggie getting manipulated by a tablet, and the whole family trying to find some light inside two very dark stories? This could be funny, sad, deeply unsettling, or somehow all three at once.
The Simpsons
Set in Springfield, the average American town, the show focuses on the antics and everyday adventures of the Simpson family; Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, as well as a virtual cast of thousands. Since the beginning, the series has been a pop culture icon, attracting hundreds of celebrities to guest star. The show has also made name for itself in its fearless satirical take on politics, media and American life in general.
“The Simpsons” was ranked the best sitcom of all time by Rolling Stone in 2021.
If you’ve never seen it, “The Simpsons Movie” pulled together some of the series’ best writers for a wild ride.
‘Lanterns’ | Series | HBO Max
“Lanterns” premieres Sunday, Aug. 16 on HBO Max, and I’m very into the fact that DC is treating this like a real mystery series instead of just another giant superhero spectacle. The eight-episode drama follows new recruit John Stewart, played by Aaron Pierre, and veteran Lantern Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, as they investigate a murder in the American heartland that turns out to have much bigger cosmic connections. So you’ve got two very different intergalactic cops, one strange case, and a lot of reasons for them not to get along.
The cast is stacked too, with Kelly Macdonald, Laura Linney, Garret Dillahunt, Poorna Jagannathan, Jason Ritter, Nathan Fillion, and more joining the story. Add “Ozark” showrunner Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King behind the series, plus new episodes dropping weekly, and this feels like DC taking a more grounded, character-first swing at the Green Lantern world. That sounds much more interesting to me than another two hours of glowing space explosions.
Lanterns
Two intergalactic cops, new recruit John Stewart and Lantern legend Hal Jordan, are drawn into a dark, Earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland.
‘Hollywood Crime Story: The Mob Takes Over the Movies’ | Documentary series | AMC+
I’m a sucker for any documentary that pulls back the curtain on old Hollywood, and “Hollywood Crime Story: The Mob Takes Over the Movies” sounds like it’s digging into some seriously wild stuff. The three-part series premieres Thursday, Aug. 13 on Sundance Now and AMC+ and explores how organized crime worked its way into the movie business through unions, studio relationships, financing, distribution, and the fixers quietly connecting everyone behind the scenes.
We’re talking Bugsy Siegel, Mickey Cohen, Johnny Roselli, secret power brokers, mob-funded exploitation movies, and the increasingly blurry line between movie stars and actual gangsters. Basically, Hollywood wasn’t just making mob movies. For a while, the mob may have been helping make Hollywood. Yeah, I’m absolutely watching this.
‘You, Me & Tuscany’ | Movie | Peacock
Tara and I love a good rom-com, so I’m honestly kind of annoyed we completely missed “You, Me & Tuscany” when it came out in theaters back in April. Thankfully, it premieres Friday, Aug. 7 on Peacock, and this sounds like exactly the kind of pretty, low-stress romance we’ll happily watch at home.
Halle Bailey plays Anna, an aspiring chef who heads to Italy, secretly moves into a Tuscan villa owned by a man she barely knows, and then gets mistaken for his fiancée when his family shows up. Naturally, things get even messier when she starts falling for his charming cousin, played by Regé-Jean Page. So we’ve got fake engagement chaos, beautiful Italian scenery, food, family meddling, and two extremely charming people slowly realizing they like each other. Is it probably going exactly where you think it’s going? Sure. That’s why we watch rom-coms.
You, Me & Tuscany
When a woman crashes at an empty Italian villa, posing as the owner’s fiancée, she discovers an unexpected romance that could transform her life.
‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 | Series | Apple TV
“Ted Lasso” is one of my favorite shows of all time, so seeing it come back in a completely different wrapper is very cool. Season 4 premieres Wednesday, Aug. 5 on Apple TV and brings Ted back from Kansas to Richmond, where he’s taking on a challenge that might be even harder than managing a Premier League club: coaching a second-division women’s football team.
The old men’s roster is out of the picture, so Ted is basically starting over with a new group of players, a new dynamic, and a whole lot to learn. Rebecca, Keeley, Roy Kent, Coach Beard, and Higgins are all back, with Tanya Reynolds and Faye Marsay joining the new squad. It never gets old finishing an episode of “Ted Lasso” and just feeling a little better about the world, so I’m extremely ready to jump back into Richmond, hear another deeply confusing Ted metaphor, and spend time with these characters again.
Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso, an American football coach, moves to England when he’s hired to manage a soccer team—despite having no experience. With cynical players and a doubtful town, will he get them to see the Ted Lasso Way?
‘Futurama’ | Series | Hulu
“Futurama” is right up there with “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers” when it comes to shows that instantly hit the nostalgia part of my brain, so I’m always happy when this ridiculous thing comes back. Season 14 premieres Monday, Aug. 3 on Hulu with two episodes, followed by a new one every Monday, and somehow the writers still have fresh ways to make the future look completely stupid. This season brings space pirates, lab-grown meat, sexy scams, and the return of Dr. Zoidberg’s lost love, which sounds like exactly the kind of deeply unserious chaos I want from “Futurama.”
Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio are all back as Fry, Leela, and Bender, and honestly, hearing those voices again is half the fun. This show has been canceled, revived, moved around, and brought back more times than most characters survive death on TV, yet it still feels like hanging out with the same weird crew. Two episodes on premiere night sounds like a very easy Monday watch.
Futurama
The adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J. Fry, who, after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years, finds employment at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
‘The Whisper Man’ | Movie | Netflix
I love a dark thriller as long as it doesn’t go fully into horror and make me regret turning it on, so “The Whisper Man” sounds very much in my lane when it premieres Friday, Aug. 28 on Netflix. Adam Scott plays a widowed crime writer whose eight-year-old son is abducted, forcing him to turn to his estranged father, a retired police detective played by Robert De Niro, for help. As they start digging into the disappearance, they uncover a connection to a decades-old serial-killer case involving someone known as the Whisper Man, which is already an extremely creepy name.
Michelle Monaghan also stars, and the movie comes from the Russo Brothers’ AGBO banner, so I’m expecting something tense, grounded, and built around a really ugly family history. Missing child, retired detective, old serial-killer case, Robert De Niro being deeply serious, Adam Scott looking increasingly panicked. Yeah, this sounds like exactly the kind of thriller I’ll watch while repeatedly asking Tara if she thinks it’s about to get too scary.
The Whisper Man
When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.
‘Sterling Point’ | Series | Prime Video
I’m always up for a good coming-of-age mystery, and “Sterling Point” sounds like it has a very fun setup when all of Season 1 drops Wednesday, Aug. 5 on Prime Video. Ella Rubin stars as Annie Jacobson, who finds out she and her twin brother have inherited a Canadian island from a grandfather they never even knew existed, which is obviously the kind of surprise that comes with approximately one million family secrets. As Annie starts digging into the past, she also gets pulled into new friendships, new romances, and the whole messy process of figuring out what her future is supposed to look like.
Megan Park, who directed “My Old Ass” (which Tara and I saw at a special screening at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and loved!) directs, co-runs, and executive produces the series, which immediately makes me think this could have more emotional weight than the usual glossy teen drama. Plus I always try and support Canadian content!
Sterling Point
After discovering she’s inherited a remote island in Canada from the estranged grandfather she was never allowed to meet, 17-year-old Annie Jacobson decides to investigate, pulling her into a world of buried secrets, unexpected sisterhood, and the complicated family history she was never meant to find.
‘Alias’ | Series | Pluto TV
I’m always up for a great spy show, and getting all five seasons of “Alias” free on Pluto TV starting Saturday, Aug. 1 is a pretty fantastic excuse to go back to one of the shows that helped make TV espionage feel huge and cinematic. Jennifer Garner stars as Sydney Bristow, a college student recruited into a secret organization called SD-6, only to discover she’s actually been working for a terrorist group and needs to become a double agent for the real CIA. Not exactly a relaxing extracurricular.
Created by J.J. Abrams, the series has disguises, betrayals, globe-trotting missions, deeply complicated family drama, and enough cliffhangers to keep your head spinning. Michael Vartan, Victor Garber, Ron Rifkin, and Carl Lumbly round out the cast, and with 105 episodes available, this is the kind of free binge that can take over your entire month.
Alias
Sydney Bristow, an agent who has been tricked to believe she is working for the U.S. government, is actually working for a criminal organization named the Alliance of Twelve. Upon learning this, Sydney becomes a double agent for the real CIA.