Here's what's worth streaming in August 2024: 'Industry,' 'Only Murders in the Building' and much more

By Mike Murphy

Once the Olympics end, brace for a rush of new shows, including new seasons of Netflix's 'Emily in Paris,' Apple's 'Pachinko' and Amazon's 'The Rings of Power'

It's an odd month for streaming, with almost nothing of note launching until after the Summer Olympics are over.

But that doesn't mean it'll be any easier on your streaming budget, as the end of the Summer Games leads right into an all-out sprint by streaming services to recapture viewers' attention.

That will include new seasons of Max's logical successor to "Succession," Netflix's guilty-pleasure rom-com "Emily in Paris," Hulu's tentpole hit "Only Murders in the Building" and Amazon's massively expensive "Lord of the Rings" prequel that almost no one seems excited for.

How to choose where to spend your streaming dollar? That's precisely where a strategy of churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - comes in. It takes some planning, but pays off in monthly savings. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month.

Also read: Disney+, Hulu, Max launch their new streaming bundle - at a 38% discount

Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget - rating the major services as "play," "pause" or "stop," similar to investment analysts' traditional ratings of buy, hold or sell - and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.

Here's a look at what's coming to the various streaming services in August 2024, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee:

Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $16.99 with no ads, or $20.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)

The high-finance drama "Industry" (Aug. 11), one of the most underrated shows on TV, returns for a third season of sex, drugs and gleefully brutal trading-floor backstabbing. The new season finds investment bank Pierpoint on the financial ropes, and looking to pivot toward ethical investing (lol) and the IPO of a green-tech company led by the appropriately named Henry Muck (Kit Harington of "Game of Thrones" fame). Meanwhile, Yasmin (Marisa Abela) becomes the subject of a tabloid scandal, and Harper (My'hala) finds herself on the outside, teaming up with a portfolio manager played by Sarah Goldberg ("Barry") to try and profit from Pierpoint's woes. It's deliciously fun and twisty, about ambitious and objectively awful people making terrible decisions, and is a worthy successor to "Succession."

More than 20 years after the epic Brazilian movie "City of God," much of the original cast returns for the six-episode sequel series "City of God: The Fight Rages On" (Aug. 25), set once again in the violent favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where residents are caught between drug gangs and police, struggling for a better life. If it's a fraction as good as the original movie, it'll be worth a watch.

Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD) Max also has the documentary "Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes" (Aug. 4), in which the Hollywood icon narrates her own life story; the NFL docuseries "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears" (Aug. 6); and while "Rick and Morty" won't be back with a new season until 2025, there's the spinoff adaptation "Rick and Morty: The Anime" (Aug. 16).

There's also the season finale of "House of the Dragon" (Aug. 4), which has finally started to get interesting in recent episodes, new weekly episodes of the amusing "Harley Quinn" spinoff "Kite Man: Hell Yeah!" and "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," as well as MLB games every Tuesday, Mountain West college football starting Aug. 29, and a slew of movies including "Amelie," "Beetlejuice" and "Pretty Woman" (all Aug. 1).

Play, pause or stop? Play. The "House of the Dragon" finale, "Industry" and "Last Week Tonight" will make Sunday nights worth staying home.

Peacock ($7.99 a month with ads, or $13.99 with no ads)

The best thing Peacock currently has going for it, by far, is the Summer Olympics from Paris, which conclude Aug. 11. And until then, Peacock remains your one-stop shop for live coverage of every event, plus tons of analysis, studio shows and features. It's the type of drama you can't script, and you don't need to be a sports fan to get caught up in the inspiring and emotional journeys these athletes are taking.

But after the Olympics are over, don't be so quick to cancel Peacock. It's finally going to start streaming one of the most groundbreaking - and underappreciated - TV shows ever made, NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" (Aug. 19). Based on David Simon's nonfiction book and created by Paul Attanasio and Tom Fontana, the seven-season cop series premiered in 1993 to critical raves but lousy ratings. It's a shame, because "Homicide" was basically the precursor for the prestige-TV wave of the 2000s. The knockout cast includes Andre Braugher in an all-time great role, Kyle Secor, Melissa Leo, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Yaphet Kotto and Clark Johnson, and featured memorable guest performances from Robin Williams, Vincent D'Onofrio and Steve Buscemi, among many others. It's an outstanding series that deserves to be rediscovered by a new generation of viewers (and the Season 1 episode "Three Men and Adena" remains one of the greatest episodes of TV ever made).

Comcast's (CMCSA) Peacock also has "Mr. Throwback" (Aug. 18), a mockumentary about a down-on-his-luck guy (Adam Pally) who thinks he can turn his life around by reuniting with his middle-school basketball teammate, Steph Curry (playing himself); "The Killer" (Aug. 23), director John Woo's remake of his classic Hong Kong film about an assassin on the run, starring Nathalie Emmanuel ("Game of Thrones"), Omar Sy ("Lupin") and, no doubt, doves flying in slow motion; Season 3 of the "Fresh Prince" dramatic reimagining "Bel-Air" (Aug. 15); and "Love Island USA Reunion" (Aug. 19).

There's also the streaming debuts of "The Fall Guy" (Aug. 30), the rare action rom-com movie that's legitimately action-packed, romantic and comedic (plus you'll end up singing the theme song to yourself for days after); the '50s-set, Tom Hardy/Austin Butler biker-gang drama "The Bikeriders" (Aug. 9); and a live sports lineup that includes golf, motorsports, cycling and the kickoff of a new season of English Premier League soccer (Aug. 16).

Olympic viewing tip: Those with short attention spans or FOMO need to check out Peacock's "Gold Zone" whip-around highlight show. Inspired by the popular "NFL RedZone" that shows viewers every touchdown as it happens, "Gold Zone" provides split-screen action of every live Olympic event, zooming in and out to whatever is a must-watch at that given moment.

Play, pause or stop? Play. The Summer Games are great, and so is "Homicide" - and it's worth sticking around post-Olympics to explore Peacock's library (like "Poker Face," "We Are Lady Parts" and "Vigil," for starters).

Apple TV+ ($9.99 a month)

Three years after it was first announced, we're finally getting the series adaptation of Carl Hiaasen's hilarious crime novel "Bad Monkey" (Aug. 14). Vince Vaughn stars as a motormouthed, disgraced cop-turned-health inspector in the Florida Keys who hopes to win back his old job by proving a mysterious human arm is evidence of a murder. There's a lot of potential here, from a role almost custom-made for Vaughn, to Hiaasen's trademark zaniness, to the presence of showrunner Bill Lawrence ("Ted Lasso") to a loaded cast that includes Michelle Monaghan, Natalie Martinez, Zack Braff and John Ortiz. It should be worth a watch.

Apple (AAPL) also has Season 2 of the outstanding multigenerational drama "Pachinko" (Aug. 23), promising more love and loss, hardship and survival, and probably the best opening-credits sequence on TV; "The Instigators" (Aug. 9), a caper movie about two robbers on the run (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck), from director Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity"); the true-crime docuseries "Cowboy Cartel" (Aug. 2); and "K-Pop Idols" (Aug. 30), following pop stars Jessi, Cravity and Blackswan.

There are also new episodes of the disappointing mystery series "Lady in the Lake" (finale Aug. 23), which is frustratingly simplistic and unsubtle, missing the mark at translating the gender, racial and social dynamics of Laura Lippman's 2019 novel. The intriguing sci-fi mystery "Sunny," which runs until September, is more successful with its twists, and with roughly half-hour runtimes, the episodes don't overstay their welcome. Meanwhile, the reboot of "Time Bandits" (finale Aug. 21) is family-friendly fun, though it lacks depth and the chaotic vibe of the original. And, of course, you can also catch up on what's become the surprise streaming hit of the summer, the recently concluded legal thriller "Presumed Innocent," which is well done but often feels stretched out, and would probably have worked better as a tight, two-hour movie rather than an eight-episode series.

Play, pause or stop? Play. Apple's got a good thing going right now, with more to come (a new season of "Slow Horses" in September).

Netflix ($6.99 a month for standard with ads, $15.49 standard with no ads, $22.99 premium with no ads)

Netflix obviously doesn't have the Olympics, but it will be cashing in on the Paris love-fest with Season 4 of the popular rom-com "Emily in Paris" (Aug. 15), as the will-they-or-won't-they relationship between Emily (Lily Collins) and Gabriel (Lucas Bravo) comes to a head. Unfortunately, Netflix continues its most annoying trend by splitting the new season in two, with five episodes on the 15th and the remaining five dropping in September.

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08-01-24 1925ET

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