The 11 Best New Shows on Netflix in August
Ah, August. We’re almost there, people. If we can just get through another four weeks of blazing temperatures, surging electricity bills, and sweating through more outfits than your coolest Olympian, then… well, then we’ll probably have four more weeks of the same wretched heat. But maybe not! September, while still typically quite warm, is still historically milder than July and August, which means there’s hope for a few precious days of 70-degree, maybe even 68-degree weather. And when you’re melting into your bed each night, hope means everything.
Hope is also present in the best new shows on Netflix this month. While the streamer is reserving its most anticipated releases for the traditional start of TV season in September — a rom-com series with Kristen Bell and Adam Brody! a family murder-mystery starring Nicole Kidman! a new movie from “The Leftovers’” own Carrie Coon! — the August Netflix calendar is actually pretty stacked. So stacked, in fact, I had to expand my list of top picks from the standard seven shows to a whopping 11.
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But before you start singing “Happy Days Are Here Again,” let me throw the tiniest bucket of ice water on your burning anticipation: Most of these shows aren’t Netflix originals. Sure, there’s the holy curiosity inherent to Jeff Goldblum playing a god in “Kaos” and the nostalgic pang to see a good “Terminator” story (even without the O.G. Terminatah), but the reason August TV titles are so robust has less to do with what Netflix has made and more to do with what Netflix has bought: In other words, a huge swath of the AMC library is hitting Netflix.
That may not mean much if you’re a devout TV fan willing to sample various streaming services in order to watch the best shows available. Then, you’d have already seen “Interview with the Vampire,” “The Terror” (Season 1), and “Dark Winds.” But if you’re only subscribed to Netflix, well, this is your lucky day. In addition to the top-tier titles I just mentioned, there’s also “Kevin Can F*** Himself,” “Monsieur Spade,” “Into the Badlands,” and “Preacher,” plus more from the Anne Rice and “Walking Dead” catalogues (if that’s your thing).
Could you simply use your AMC+ free trial and get all this and more? Sure you could! But you haven’t yet, so why not discover a few new favorites and then sign up when “IWTV” or “The Terror” returns? What’s here should be more than enough to get you through August. Come September, maybe you’ll be able to spend some time outside.
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