15 of the Best New Things to Stream in August 2022
Reading Time: 5 minutesFrom A League of Their Own, to Beavis and Butthead, to a Game of Thrones prequel, reboot culture is alive and well.
The name of the game for streaming in August: Reboots. Reboots, remakes, and reimaginings. As excited as I get to see beloved classics in a new light, I can’t help but be skeptical. Why mess with perfection, whether that ‘perfection’ means the uplifting history in A League of Their Own (coming to Prime Video Aug. 12) or the meathead comedy of Beavis and Butt-Head (coming to Paramount+ Aug. 4)? For now, I’m letting myself feel hopeful that these returns and remakes won’t let me down. (On the plus side, the launch of Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon on HBO Max on Aug. 21 can’t do much to hurt the franchise’s reputation at this point.)
Ultimately, August is looking like a strong month for streaming services. Plant yourself in front of the AC and binge your way through the heat wave, since every platform looks like it’ll have a little something for everyone. Here are all of the best movies, series premieres, or new seasons of returning favorites that will be available to stream in August. Titles are arranged chronologically by premiere date.
The pack is back. From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs was something of a sleeper hit, so hopefully season two makes it the mainstream comedy favorite it deserves to be. The series follows four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma who steal and save cash in order to escape to mystical California.
In addition to being clever and hilarious, the show showcases Indigenous storylines that you probably haven’t seen a million times before. Don’t get me wrong, I love a run-of-the-mill workplace comedy—but Reservation Dogs is actually telling stories that haven’t been told on a network show before. It’s irreverent and wholesome, too. What more could you need?
It’s been over a decade since the brash, beautiful Beavis and Butt-Head graced our screens. Now, OG creator Mike Judge is bringing the meathead duo back again. They’re both perpetually teens, but now we’ll get to see them as teens in 2022. This means that in addition to obsessing over their favorite music, they’ll also have some things to say about YouTubers and TikToks. If you’re worried about the show losing its aura of edginess, you can at least take comfort that one thing will stay the same: At San Diego Comic-Con last week, Judge assured fans that the titular duo will be as dimwitted as ever.
If you’re catching up on Best Original Screenplay winners, now you can stream the film that took home the award this past year. A deeply personal project for writer-director Kenneth Branagh, this film is a sweet coming-of-age drama-comedy that somewhat sugarcoats the tumult of the late 1960sin the Northern Ireland capital. It’s a fine film, but here’s the thing: my first choice for a period piece about the Troubles in Northern Ireland is always going to be Derry Girls.
More Indigenous American representation coming to streaming in August! Spearheaded by a Comanche producer and Sioux lead, the latest installment in the iconic Predator franchise is also a period piece. Prey takes place in 1719—you know, just a few years before all the Arnold Schwarzenegger action—as the first Predator comes to Earth in search of tricky, uh, prey. The trailer is promising in terms of genuine fear factor (a metric by which many other Predator installments have fallen short).
The Outlaws is one of the most underrated ensemble comedies right now. The British series follows a group of strangers all brought together through community service for various petty crimes. (Anyone else miss Misfits?)
So far, it looks like the highlight of season two is Christopher Walken destroying a very real piece of Banksy artwork. I’m not letting the fact that the artist made this piece specifically for the series take away from my joy.
As we’ve previously noted, one of the most obviously anticipated August releases is the big-budget, star-studded adaption of Neil Gaiman’s seminal comic The Sandman. The cast features Tom Sturridge, Jenna Coleman, Gwendoline Christie, and Taron Egerton, and in the role I’m most excited to see come to life, Kirby Howell-Baptiste playing Death. If done well, The Sandman could be a huge, much-needed hit for Netflix in these post-Stranger Things doldrums. And we have good reason to keep our expectations high, considering Gaiman was closely involved in the process of adapting his story for the streamer.
Every reboot of a cherished classic elicits two responses. The first is doubt the rebooters can pull it off, and that the original is going to be tarnished by this attempt at recreating the magic. The second is a glimmer of hope.
I adore the original A League of Their Own. This mean there’s a high bar for how damn good this TV series needs to be. Luckily, I already adore much of the cast of this film-to-TV remake (namely Broad City‘s Abbi Jacobson and The Good Place‘s D’Arcy Carden).
Plus, there are no doubt some worthwhile angles to retelling of rise of all-women baseball leagues during World War II. Compared to the 1992 film, this series will include storylines of Black players. It also looks like they’ll be some queer romance, which should make all fans of the original movie go ‘duh.’ For now, my feelings of hope are beating out any doubt I’m harboring.
Day Shift is a vehicle for Jamie Foxx to star as a blue collar dad by day and vampire slayer by night. If that’s not for you, I don’t know what to tell you.
Never Have I Ever is sure to be the defining coming-of-age show for many a Gen Z-er. Season three is all about the drama that ensues once Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is actually coupled up. For two seasons so far, Mindy Kaling has given us a heartwarming and sharp comedy, one that I’m particularly glad to see renewed at a time when Netflix seems all-too-quick quick to send beloved but aging shows to the chopping block.
The Lakers have weathered their fair share of drama off the court over the past few decades. This 10-part docu-series explores the rise and fall of that storied sports franchise, and alleges to chronicle the extraordinary story from the inside—told only by the people who lived it. Interviews include exclusive access to the Buss Family, who purchased the the team in a wildly risky business deal, as well as players past and present. Even if you aren’t a sports fan, this documentary looks like it will be about universal themes of family, business, and power.
I have one review right away: MAKE SHE-HULK BIGGER. Orphan Black‘s Tatiana Maslany stars as the titular Big Green Lady (aka Jennifer Walters) (an attorney) (at law), but I want her to be bigger. However you feel about the special effects, as MediaDownloader deputy editor Joel Cunningham has pointed out, what matters here is that this show looks like it will uphold the comic’s rom-com spirit.
Look. You know I was one of the many bitter fans who turned my back on Game of Thrones after that finale. However, hearing one of GoT‘s signature musical motifs in the House of the Dragon trailer, I was forced to remember how much I once loved that damn show.
This new series is a prequel that promises to intimately explore the lives and sibling loves of some early Targaryen ancestors. Here’s the kicker: House of the Dragon is created by a different team of writers and showrunners than the bastards who betrayed us in the final season of GoT, so perhaps we don’t need to turn our backs on the Thrones universe just yet.
Hulu is leaning into sports documentaries this month, huh? Mike is an eight-episode deep dive into the complicated, scandal-strewn career of disgraced boxer Mike Tyson. The series is helmed by the team behind I, Tonya, and likewise, this narrative clearly aims to explore a controversial figure as a fully dimensional, if flawed, human being.
Strap in for a bold, bonkers heist. Lower Decks has been called ‘secretly the second-best show of the current Trek renaissance’ by MediaDownloader deputy editor Joel Cunningham, who I routinely defer to on all Trek-related matters. Going by the trailer, our Starfleet crew will be prioritizing a number of things in season three: Antics, shenanigans, and wack adventures (just to name a few).
Who am I to say no to Steve Carell in a dramatic role? Carell plays a grieving therapist being held hostage by a disturbed patient, played by Domhnall Gleeson. Hey, as far as serial killers go, at least he’s trying to curb his homicidal tendencies, right? Meanwhile, some people refuse to try therapy at all. I guess what I’m trying to say here is this: Good for him.
This post was updated after publication to reflect the delayed premiere of Star Wars: Andor from Aug. 31 to Sept. 21.