Action and comedy are the genres of choice this weekend among the best new shows to stream. And if you want the former, then Prime Video’s Like a Dragon: Yakuza is going to be the series to watch. For comedy lovers, Hulu is the exclusive streaming home for FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, which is back for its sixth and final season. Similarly, Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated sci-fi comedy, is also wrapping up with its fifth season.
Drama lovers can still catch up on Apple TV+ dramedy Shrinkingand Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer, and there’s no shortage of new shows to binge as we head into the final weekend of October.
You can find all of the rest of the best new shows to stream below. Remember to check back next week, as we update this list every Friday to give you the top choices for your next TV night.
Related
- The best new shows to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Max (HBO), and more
- The best British TV shows on Netflix
- The 50 best shows on Netflix in October 2024
When you’re done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best new shows on Max, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and the best shows on Disney+.
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Apple TV+ all have one thing in common: They’re more expensive than they used to be! We can live with higher rates as long as new shows keep coming, but it’s always a good idea to consider signing up for the ad-supported tiers, which are worth it if you can sit through a few commercials.
New TV shows to watch at a glance
Like a Dragon: Yakuza
tv-142024
What We Do in the Shadows
tv-ma2019
Star Trek: Lower Decks
tv-142020
Shrinking
tv-ma2023
The Lincoln Lawyer
tv-ma2022
Teacup
tv-ma2024
Amazon Prime Video
Like a Dragon: Yakuza (2024)
48%
6.5/10
tv-14
1Season
Genre
Action & Adventure, Crime, Drama
Stars
Ryoma Takeuchi, Kento Kaku, Yuumi Kawai
You don’t need to have played any of Sega’s Like a Dragonvideo games to follow the story of Like a Dragon: Yakuza. That’s because this is a crime and action series, first and foremost. The series unfolds in two timeframes. In the past, Kazuma Kiryu (Ryoma Takeuchi) pulled off a heist against a Yakuza-controlled arcade with potentially deadly consequences.
In the present, Kiryu has been released from prison after a 10-year sentence, and he’s left the life of a Yakuza member behind him. Or so he thinks. In his absence, his best friend, Akira Nishikiyama (Kento Kaku), has risen to crime boss, and Kiryu will soon be drawn back to his old life, whether he wants it or not.
Citadel: Diana (2024)
5.8/10
tv-14
1Season
Genre
Drama
Stars
Matilda De Angelis, Lorenzo Cervasio, Maurizio Lombardi
Created by
Alessandro Fabbri
Do you remember Citadel, the Russo brothers-produced spy action series that was incredibly expensive? Despite the primary series’ failure to get much traction, Prime Video’s first spinoff, Citadel: Diana, has arrived.
Matilda De Angelis stars as Diana Cavalieri, an emotionally vulnerable Citadel agent trapped in an impossible situation. Diana is an undercover agent who managed to infiltrate Manticore, the organization that crippled Citadel years earlier. That left Diana without any options to escape from her assignment without blowing her cover and endangering her family. Now, Diana is looking for a way out, and she may have just found it through an unconventional ally inside of Manticore itself.
Hulu
What We Do in the Shadows (2019)
79%
8.6/10
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou
Created by
Jemaine Clement
Ten years after the movie that inspired the show, What We Do in the Shadows is coming to an end after the current sixth season. This is a comedy mockumentary series about four vampires — Nandor (Kayvan Novak), Laszlo (Matt Berry), Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), and Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch) — who live together in Staten Island with Nandor’s familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén).
This season, the “fifth” vampire roommate returns, and the other vampires clash over a newly empty room, among other conflicts. The real question is whether the series will end with the vamps still together or if they’re destined to go their separate ways.
Grotesquerie (2024)
50%
6.5/10
tv-ma
1Season
Genre
Drama, Crime, Mystery
Stars
Niecy Nash-Betts, Courtney B. Vance, Nicholas Alexander Chavez
Created by
Ryan Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz, Joe Baken
Grotesquerie is Ryan Murphy’s True Detectivemeets Cagney and Lacey … if Lacey was a nun with an eye toward religious and occult symbolism. Niecy Nash stars as Detective Lois Tryon, who works in a small town while fruitlessly trying to hold on to her comatose husband, Marshall (Courtney B. Vance), and their daughter, Merritt (Raven Goodwin).
Lois’ world is shaken by a disturbing murder scene that’s unlike anything she’s ever seen before. But Sister Megan (Micaela Diamond) is more than familiar with the symbols utilized by the killer, and she offers her help to Lois to find whoever is responsible. Things are only getting stranger for her, and the killer is far from finished leaving bodies in their wake.
Paramount+
Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020)
64%
7.7/10
tv-14
5Seasons
Genre
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Animation, Comedy
Stars
Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells
Created by
Mike McMahan
Star Trek’s one and only animated comedy series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, is back for its fifth and final season. Although this show is intentionally ridiculous, it does tend to have story arcs for the season. As a result of last season’s story, Tendi (Noël Wells) had to go back to her people, the Orions, and become a pirate queen. But don’t bet against her rejoining her former crew at some point in the season.
The remaining Lower Decks cast — Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) — are still on the U.S.S. Cerritos and getting into wild misadventures as usual. But they may all end up on the command staff by the time this show is over.
Apple TV+
Shrinking (2023)
75%
8.0/10
tv-ma
2Seasons
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Jason Segel, Jessica Williams, Luke Tennie
Created by
Brett Goldstein, Jason Segel, Bill Lawrence
Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence is back on Apple TV+ for the second season of Shrinking, which features Jason Segel as Jimmy Laird, a therapist who is far from over the death of his wife. Harrison Ford plays his mentor, Paul Rhoades (Harrison Ford).
Jimmy’s idea for dealing with his grief was to become more involved with his patients’ lives and more freewheeling with his advice. That came back to bite him when his friend and colleague, Gaby (Jessica Williams), kind of tried to kill her abusive husband in the first season finale. The repercussions for that action come back to haunt Gaby and Jimmy in season 2, but the show quickly gets back on course for more laughs and pathos. It’s a surprisingly poignant combination.
Netflix
The Lincoln Lawyer (2022)
60%
7.7/10
tv-ma
3Seasons
Genre
Drama, Crime
Stars
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Becki Newton, Yaya DaCosta
Created by
David E. Kelley
Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), the title character of The Lincoln Lawyer, is no stranger to legal quagmires. But things are really hitting home for him in the third season of the Netflix legal drama. Mickey is defending Julian La Cosse (Devon Graye) against charges that he murdered their mutual friend, Glory Days (Fiona Rene).
Things really don’t look good for Julian, as he’s the only viable suspect that the police have and all roads seem to go back to him. This forces Mickey to wonder if he’s defending an innocent man or the killer who murdered one of his best friends.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (2024)
65%
6.3/10
tv-14
1Season
Genre
Action & Adventure, Animation
Stars
Hayley Atwell, Allen Maldonado, Earl Baylon
Can any medium outside of video games give Lara Croft the depth of character that she deserves? Netflix’s animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croftgets off to a good start by casting Hayley Atwell in the title role. Normally, Lara is the one who goes around stealing objects from tombs. This time, someone has dared to break into Lara’s home and steal from her.
Lara tracks the thief all over the globe, and what she finds is something bigger in scope than she expected. But this is Lara Croft we’re talking about. The unexpected is something she’s had a lot of experience with.
Peacock
Teacup (2024)
53%
7.1/10
tv-ma
1Season
Genre
Mystery, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama
Stars
Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman, Chaske Spencer
Created by
Ian McCulloch
What’s going on with the new James Wan-produced horror series Teacup? Peacock has been very protective about the particular plot details so far. What we do know is that Maggie Chenoweth (Yvonne Strahovski), her husband, James Chenoweth (Scott Speedman), their children, and a few of their neighbors find themselves trapped on their rural property. Strange things are happening with their livestock even before a killer in a gas mask shows up. Now, there’s no place to run, and there may be more than one murderer walking around under that mask.
Max (formerly HBO and HBO Max)
The Franchise (2024)
66%
tv-ma
1Season
Genre
Comedy
Stars
Himesh Patel, Aya Cash, Jessica Hynes
Created by
Sam Mendes, Armando Iannucci
There are so many superhero movies that it was inevitable that someone would use that as a premise for a comedy TV series. The Franchise is exactly that. It’s a biting critique of Marvel and DC superhero flicks, but more so the former than the latter. The show invents its own superhero, Tecto, as played by Adam (Billy Magnussen), an actor who has put all of his hopes and dreams into the idea that this flick will make his career.
Daniel (Himesh Patel), the film’s assistant director, has the unenviable job of trying to placate Adam and the other stars, as well as his director, Eric (as played by the MCU’s Daniel Brühl). The Boys‘ Aya Cash also stars as Anita, Daniel’s ex-girlfriend who suddenly finds herself overseeing the Tecto film. But there may be no stopping this disaster-in-the-making from lurching its way into theaters in an unwatchable state.
The Penguin (2024)
72%
8.8/10
tv-ma
1Season
Genre
Crime, Drama
Stars
Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Created by
Lauren LeFranc
If you’ve seen The Batman, then the world of The Penguin should be very familiar. The city’s top crime boss, Carmine Falcone (Mark Strong), is gone. The title character, Oswald “Oz” Cobb (Colin Farrell), has grand designs about taking his place and becoming Gotham City’s new kingpin.
Oz doesn’t have a lot of friends among the criminal underworld, besides his new driver/enforcer, Victor “Vic” Aguilar (Rhenzy Feliz). But the biggest threat to the Penguin’s potential reign is Carmine’s daughter, Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti). Sofia wants her father’s empire for herself, and she’s just crazy enough that she might be able to steal it out from under Oz.
Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos (2024)
The Sopranos arguably set the tone for the past 25 years of TV dramas by daring the audience to side with and sympathize with mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show, HBO and Max are debuting the two-part documentary series Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos.
While this series will dive into the creation of HBO’s most iconic show and its continuing influence on TV, it’s also taking a look back at the life of series creator David Chase. The documentary traces Chase’s history in the entertainment business before he makes some history of his own with The Sopranos.
Disney+
Agatha All Along (2024)
66%
6.8/10
tv-14
1Season
Genre
Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Mystery, Action & Adventure
Stars
Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata
Created by
Jac Schaeffer
Marvel Studios’ first show, WandaVision, finally gets its sequel with Agatha All Along. But don’t expect to see any movie stars in this series.Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness is taking the spotlight, even though she spends part of the episode trapped in a distinct parody of HBO’s True Detective and Mare of Easttown.
The only ones who can pull Agatha out of her personal hell are an old enemy, Rio Vidal (Aubrey Plaza), and Teen (Joe Locke), a young man who is under some kind of hex to hide his true identity. Neither Rio nor Teen have warm feelings for Agatha, but they all need each other if they’re going to claim power from the Witches’ Road trials alongside a new coven.
OceanXplorers (2024)
7%
tv-pg
1Season
Genre
Documentary
Stars
Asha de Vos, Zoleka Filander, Eric Stackpole
Created by
Brian Catalina
OceanXplorer may have a title that sounds like it escaped from the ’90s, but since it’s the actual name of an oceanic research vessel, we’re going to let that slide. James Cameron is lending his voice to this National Geographic miniseries, and producing the show is another example of his passion for the sea and what lies beneath.
Each episode follows the explorers and scientists on the OceanXplorer as they head to some of the most remote locations on the seven seas in the name of scientific research. They’re also equipped with some of the most cutting-edge technology available, which offers a unique opportunity to learn more about the creatures and the ecosystems that live beneath the waves beyond our view.
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Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek Monthly, SYFY Wire, Superhero Hype, Collider, DC Universe, and the official sites for Star Trek and Marvel. He also lends his pop culture expertise to Digital Trends on a variety of TV, movie, and streaming features.
Jason Struss joined Digital Trends in 2022 and has never lived to regret it. He is the current Section Editor of the Entertainment vertical and heads a team of over a dozen writers, editors, coordinators, and assorted hangers-on. When he’s not busy editing and writing, you can find him tending to his meticulously planned content schedule or dreaming up new ways to get more eyeballs to the site.
Jason’s love for cinema started when he was 10 years old. Saddled with a nasty cold, he was forced to stay home from school for a full week. To pass the time, he watched a marathon of classic Alfred Hitchcock films on Cinemax and the rest is history. He furthered his film education by raiding used bookstores to read dusty old film criticism volumes and salacious movie star biographies. His real education included studying at Whitman College and then Syracuse University, where he won a student Emmy for producing a truly terrible television series.
His career began at Marvel Entertainment, where he worked in the Digital Products department, and then DC Comics, where he worked in publishing and content strategy. He then worked at Warner Bros. and Screen Rant.
Jason currently resides in Seattle but has yet to appear in a Cameron Crowe movie. He loves hot coffee with cream and sugar, video games, bread, napping, and movies (duh), but not necessarily in that order. His favorite movies are The Thing, All About Eve, The Ice Storm, Rear Window, Heat, The Cranes are Flying, Belle de Jour, Showgirls, and Clue. He thinks Mad Men is genius, still watches Seinfeld twice a week, and likes listening to shoegaze music, podcasts, and Lana Del Rey. If you see him on the street, please, for the love of God, do not engage in conversation with him.