Don’t forget new episodes of the Seth Rogen-Rose Byrne comedy “Platonic” (season finale Oct. 1), the excellent dysfunctional-spy drama “Slow Horses” (season finale Oct. 29) and the ever-ridiculous “The Morning Show.” Also, Season 3 of “Eugene Levy: The Reluctant Traveler” quietly dropped in September. And keep an eye out for “The Savant,” the thriller series starring Jessica Chastain as an investigator who infiltrates online hate groups. It was supposed to premiere in September, but was abruptly pulled in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. It’s not known when – of even if – it’ll debut now.
Play, pause or stop? Play. Expect “Down Cemetery Road” to join “Slow Horses” as must-sees. But there are a lot of other good shows here, including recent ones like the sci-fi epic “Foundation,” Jason Momoa’s Hawaiian historical drama “Chief of War” and the Emmy-winning comedy “The Studio.”
HBO Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $16.99 with no ads, or $20.99 ‘Ultimate’ with no ads)
Tim Robinson may be the cilantro of comedy. Either you love him in everything or you’re wrong and you really, really don’t. He may have his most ambitious project yet in “The Chair Company” (Oct. 12), an eight-episode comedy(?) about an unassuming office worker who uncovers a vast criminal conspiracy after an embarrassing incident at work. Robinson’s brand of cringe was charming in “Detroiters” and meme-worthy in “I Think You Should Leave,” but “The Chair Company” could push that cringe to its limits, even more so than the tough-to-watch movie “Friendship,” which came out earlier this year. This show sounds like a great sketch; but can it really be drawn out for eight episodes? For better or worse, we’re gonna find out, and either way it’s gonna get weird.
The end of the month brings “It: Welcome to Derry” (Oct. 26), which is unfortunately not a “Derry Girls” sequel but an “It” prequel. Set in the scariest town in Maine in 1962, the horror series serves as an origin story for Pennywise, the killer clown, and will reportedly tie into the greater Stephen King expanded universe. If it can create anywhere near the buzz of the blockbuster “It” movies, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) execs will be very happy.
HBO Max also has the comedy/musical special “An Intimate Evening With Adam Pally” (Oct. 17); “The Alabama Solution” (Oct. 10), a documentary uncovering shocking abuse at a prison; the Ukraine war-journalist documentary “Armed Only With a Camera” (Oct. 21); and the rural healthcare documentary “Country Doctor” (Oct. 28). There are also a handful of new movies, including the orphan-horror flick “Bring Her Back” (Oct. 3); last year’s Oscar-nominated Hollywood horror hit “The Substance” (Oct. 10), starring Demi Moore; and the grim indie drama “Sorry, Baby” (Oct. 30).
On the sports side, Max has MLB playoffs starting Oct. 3, Big 12 college football every Saturday, NASCAR races every Sunday, NHL hockey every Thursday starting Oct. 8, AEW wrestling, Savannah Bananas, and men’s and women’s U.S. soccer.
That’s in addition to new episodes of the Emmy-winning “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” “Peacemaker” (season finale Oct. 9) and “Task” (finale Oct. 19). Of those last two, “Peacemaker” has finally stepped on the gas with a game-changing twist after a slow start to its second season, and “Task” – while dark and grim – may be the best-written and -acted show of the year, really a character study of a dozen or so people who just happen to be connected by a plot. It’s outstanding storytelling that unfolds like a good book.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. “Task” and “Peacemaker” are great, but once those are done, it’s a pretty light lineup. Though you could always catch up with shows like the Polish spy thriller “The Eastern Gate” the devastating docuseries “The Yogurt Shop Murders” (timely, as the 34-year-old cold case was apparently just solved), or finally jump on “The Pitt” bandwagon after its Emmy romp.
Amazon’s Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$2.99 to avoid ads)
It’s another skippable month for Amazon’s streaming service, though the live-sports offerings will tempt some viewers.
Amazon (AMZN) is now one of the homes of the NBA, and will tip off its coverage with a doubleheader Oct. 24, featuring Celtics vs. Knicks and Timberwolves vs. Lakers. Prime Video will have an exclusive slate of NBA games this season, typically on select Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and that’ll include the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup in-season tournament. Amazon has also built a strong broadcasting crew, including play-by-play announcers Ian Eagle and Kevin Harlan, game analyst Stan van Gundy and studio analysts like Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin and Dwayne Wade.
There are a few high-profile movies on the way too, including the heist thriller “Play Dirty” (Oct. 1), starring Mark Wahlberg and LaKeith Stanfield; the rom-com “Maintenance Required” (Oct. 8), a spin on “You’ve Got Mail” taking place at an all-female auto-repair shop, starring Madelaine Petsch (“Riverdale”); the documentary “John Candy: I Like Me” (Oct. 10), directed by Colin Hanks; and the emotional drama “Hedda” (Oct. 29), a take on the Ibsen play, starring Tessa Thompson. The John Candy bio looks good; the rest… not so much.
There’s also the murder-mystery series “Harlen Coben’s Lazarus” (Oct. 22) and the sports documentaries “Saquon” (Oct. 9), about NFL running back Saquon Barkley, and “Allen Iv3rson” (Oct. 23), about the NBA Hall of Famer, and weekly episodes of the very explicit “The Boys” spinoff “Gen V” (season finale Oct. 22).
Prime Video also has NFL “Thursday Night Football” and NWSL matches every Friday.
Play, pause or stop? Pause. The lineup of shows is weak, but the addition of NBA games will tempt some viewers. It’ll be an annoying extra expense, but perhaps worth it for hardcore hoops fans.
Paramount+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $12.99 a month Premium with no ads)
Forget autumn, it’s once again Taylor Sheridan season, with new episodes of Season 3 of “Tulsa King” – arguably the lightest, most fun series in the Sheridan milieu – and the start of the fourth season of “Mayor of Kingstown” (Oct. 26), the gritty and violent crime drama starring Jeremy Renner as a power broker in a small town dominated by its prison. Edie Falco joins the cast as the prison’s new warden, and the new nemesis of Renner’s character. Stay tuned for more testosterone-fueled melodrama, as “Landman” will be back in November.
Paramount (PSKY) also has “Vicious” (Oct. 19), a horror movie starring Dakota Fanning; “Ozzy: No Escape From Now” (Oct. 7), a documentary about the late rock legend Ozzy Osbourne; and “Red Alert” (Oct. 7), a four-part dramatization of the bloody 2023 Hamas attack against Israel, based on survivors’ stories.
CBS is also kicking off its fall season, so look for premieres of hit shows like “Matlock” (Oct. 12), “Elsbeth” (Oct. 12), “Fire Country” (Oct. 17) and “Tracker” (Oct 19), along with new shows like the “Fire Country” spinoff “Sheriff Country” (Oct. 17), the “Blue Bloods” spinoff “Boston Blue” (Oct. 17), the workplace sitcom “DMV” (Oct. 13) the country music competition series “The Road” (Oct. 19), along with new episodes of “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and Comedy Central’s “South Park” (returning Oct. 15).
There’s also a full slate of live sports, with the NFL every Sunday, college football every Saturday, and a ton of soccer, including UEFA Champions League, EFL, Serie A, NWSL and Concacaf World Cup qualifying.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. This month has quantity but not necessarily quality. Feel free to skip, unless you’re a diehard football or soccer fan.
Peacock ($10.99 a month with ads, or $16.99 with no ads)
Live sports are arguably Peacock’s biggest draw, and that’ll become even more so under the NBA’s new broadcast deal, which will see a ton of games on NBC and Peacock, starting Oct. 21. It’s the first time NBC has had the NBA since 2002, and yes, John Tesh’s classic theme song “Roundball Rock” is also returning. Peacock will simulcast Comcast (CMCSA) sibling NBC’s Tuesday night games, but will have exclusive streaming games on Mondays, tipping off with a Cavaliers-Pistons and Nuggets-Timberwolves doubleheader on Oct. 27. The NBC broadcast team includes Mike Tirico and Noah Eagle on play-by-play, game analysts such as Reggie Miller, Grant Hill and Brian Scalabrine, and studio analysts including Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter and special contributor Michael Jordan.
There’s not much else on Peacock though. The best bets are the comedy/mystery movie “Honey Don’t!” (Oct 3), starring Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans, and the live-action version of “How to Train Your Dragon” (Oct. 10), along with weekly episodes of NBC and cable shows like “Chicago Fire,” “Law & Order,” “The Rainmaker,” “Real Housewives,” “Saturday Night Live” and “The Voice.” You can also catch up with “The Office” spinoff “The Paper,” though it’s pretty uninspired.
Besides the NBA, Peacock also has NFL “Sunday Night Football,” a full slate of English Premier League soccer, Big Ten and Notre Dame college football, and motorsports.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. If you can live without the live sports, there’s not much else. (And if you have to pick, Amazon has the better NBA schedule.)
Disney+ ($11.99 a month with ads, $18.99 with no ads)
Disney (DIS) is hiking prices on most of its plans by $2 to $3 a month, but there’s nothing in October to justify that.
The meager lineup includes weekly live episodes of “Dancing With the Stars”; the Dutch rom-com movie “The Balloonist” (Oct. 3); assorted kids programming like Season 2 of “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” (Oct. 8), the live-action tween comedy “Vampirina: Teenage Vampire” (Oct. 15) and “Lego Frozen: Operation Puffins” (Oct. 24); Season 3 of the anime series “Star Wars: Visions” (Oct. 29); and the anime fantasy “Twisted Wonderland: The Animation” (Oct. 29).
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