Here's what's worth streaming in August 2026 -2-

The slog of the dragons: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me three seasons in a row, shame on me. "House of the Dragon" continues to be disappointing, despite all hopes to the contrary. "Game of Thrones" was so great, at least in its early years, because of its deeply drawn characters - we knew them; we loved some and hated others. But at least we knew who they were, and why they acted the way they did. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," which aired earlier this year, took that lesson to heart and quickly won over viewers. It's too bad "House of the Dragon" never did - aside from perhaps Rhaenyra and Alicent, everyone's pretty one-dimensional. And its pacing problems still haven't been solved - too many plot points feel rushed, while others are drawn out to the point of tedium, even with the series' conclusion within sight. It's such a frustrating watch. One bright spot in Season 3: the addition of James Norton as new foil Ormond Hightower. Norton plays a villain so well (his chilling stint on "Happy Valley" is unforgettable), and his outsider threat adds a legitimately interesting counterweight to the squabbling Targaryens.

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. There's a lot of potential in "Lanterns" and Conan is always a delight, but the rest of this month's lineup is light.

Hulu ($11.99 a month with ads, or $18.99 with no ads)

Superproducer Ryan Murphy is sure to squeeze every bit of melodrama out of his neon-lit adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel "The Shards" (Aug. 5), a thriller series set at an L.A. prep school in the 1980s, featuring sex, drugs and a serial killer. Murphy's over-the-top style makes his shows very hit or miss. But this could be the perfect trashy romp for the end of summer.

Hulu's also got a trio of solid comedies, with Season 14 of the animated "Futurama" (Aug. 3) revival, which, while not as good as the "King of the Hill" revival, is still pretty decent; Season 18(!) of FX's "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" (Aug. 17), which if you're counting by seasons is the longest-running live-action sitcom ever; and Season 2 of FX's "Adults" (Aug. 27), the sharply funny series about a group of codependent Gen Z roommates (which teased a standalone prequel episode on July 31).

There's also the visually stunning Disney+ anime series "Star Wars Visions Presents: The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 17), Season 4 of the true-crime docuseries "Betrayal: Dirty Secrets" (Aug. 4), and a livestream of the Lollapalooza music festival from Chicago (July 30-Aug. 2), featuring Lorde, Charlie XCX, Smashing Pumpkins, Geese, Turnstile and many more.

Also check out new episodes of the uber-violent Korean assassin drama "A Shop for Killers" (season finale Aug. 12), "Furious" (season finale Aug. 31), "Project Runway" and "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro" (season finale Aug. 31).

Binge-worthy: The new crime-thriller series "Furious" takes a generic cat-and-mouse setup (loosely inspired by the 1987 movie "Black Widow") but loads it with nuance and depth. Emmy Rossum ("Shameless") stars as a traumatized FBI agent, with Lola Petticrew ("Say Nothing") as a serial killer targeting men involved in a Jeffrey Epstein-esque sex-trafficking ring. Both of their characters are survivors of abuse, pursuing justice from opposite ends of the law. Aside from some darkly comic moments, it's a grim show, driven by righteous fury and at times not an easy watch. But it's also smart and compelling, and gets better with every episode. On the literal opposite end of the spectrum is "Nirvanna the Band the Show," which ran on Viceland back in 2017 and just dropped two seasons' worth of silliness. The Canadian mockumentary follows a musical duo determined to play at a Toronto rock club through various schemes that inevitably go awry. It's super weird, very meta and utterly delightful. Then check out its 2025 sequel "Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie," which also just landed on Hulu. Both serve as affable brain sorbets.

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. It's a good month, but as mentioned before, all the hits will also stream on Disney+. It feels like a tipping point from standalone Hulu to the Disney+ bundle, where a $1-a-month upgrade gets you significantly more for your money.

Netflix ($8.99 a month for standard with ads, $19.99 standard with no ads, $26.99 premium with no ads)

One of Netflix's (NFLX) more popular and long-running dramas is wrapping up, with Season 5 of "Outer Banks" (Aug. 20). As the action shifted from North Carolina to Morocco, the series now finds the treasure-hunting Pogues picking up the pieces and out for revenge following a shocking death last season, as they seek redemption with one last adventure. The show is the epitome of Netflix's "mid" TV - it's perfectly fine eye candy, not terrible but never particularly great either.

There's also Season 2 of Leanne Morgan's popular sitcom "Leanne" (Aug. 27) and Season 3 of Shane Gillis' sitcom "Tires" (Aug. 13), along with Season 2 of the Colombian series "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Aug. 5); Season 3 of the romantic drama "My Life with the Walter Boys" (Aug. 6); "Alley Cats" (Aug. 7), an adult animated comedy about feral cats from Ricky Gervais; "Big Chicken: A Fast Food Conspiracy" (Aug. 5), as British comedian Mo Galligan tries a Morgan Spurlock-esque 28-day chicken diet; the dating reality show "Let's Marry Harry" (Aug. 5); the standup comedy specials "Rory Scovel: Show Must Go On" (Aug. 11) and "Kelsey Cook: Happy Hour" (Aug. 18); the true-crime doc "Conversations with a Killer: The Charles Manson Tapes" (Aug. 12); "Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing" (Aug. 19), a documentary investigation into Boeing's safety problems; Season 3 of "Love Is Blind UK" (Aug. 19); the fringe-comedy variety show "Stamptown" (Aug. 25); and the creepy reality show "Mom Knows Best" (Aug. 26), where mothers secretly observe their adult children and bet on the choices they make.

The big movie of the month is "The Whisper Man" (Aug. 28), based on the Alex North novel about a widowed crime writer who turns to his estranged ex-cop father when his son goes missing, starring Robert De Niro, Adam Scott and Michelle Monaghan. That's joined by "The Last House" (Aug. 7), a horror movie about a family trapped in a terrifying house, starring Wagner Moura and Greta Lee; and "Don't Say Good Luck" (Aug. 14), a high-school musical family drama starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield.

Netflix also has the MLB "Field of Dreams" game (Aug. 13), with the Phillies playing the Twins in an Iowa cornfield; all seven seasons of CBS's "SEAL Team" (Aug. 18); and all three seasons of HBO Max's "The Sex Lives of College Girls" (Aug. 31).

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Outer Banks" is aggressively meh, and there's not much else that screams to be watched this month.

Paramount+ ($8.99 a month with ads, $13.99 a month Premium with no ads)

Taylor Sheridan's thriller series "Lioness" (Aug. 2) is back for its third season. Zoe Saldana stars as the leader of a CIA special-ops team, joined by a stellar cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Michael Kelly and Morgan Freeman. While the first two seasons were set largely overseas, it looks like the danger hits home in Season 3, with drone strikes, shootouts and explosions aplenty. Like most Sheridan shows, it may not be particularly good, but it's still highly entertaining. And while the action sequences are top-notch, it really is better to turn off the ol' brain and not think too hard about the show's geopolitical messages.

Accompanying "Lioness" is "Special Ops: True" (Aug. 4), a docuseries about real special-ops missions, like the Bin Laden raid. There's also Season 2 of the comedy/drama crime thriller "Average Joe" (Aug. 19), with the action shifting from Pittsburgh to South Africa, and a new season of the reality competition "The Challenge: Cutthroat" (Aug. 5). There's also the concert film "Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft" (Aug. 6), and weekly episodes of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," "Big Brother" and the critically praised but still under-the-radar comedy/mystery "Diarra From Detroit."

Paramount's (PSKY) also got UFC, golf, WNBA, soccer (including UEFA Super Cup and a new season of the EFL Championship, aka Wrexham's league) and NFL exhibition football (Bengals-Eagles on Aug. 28).

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Lioness" can be binged later, and soccer and football won't really kick into gear until September.

Amazon's Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$4.99 to avoid ads)

The hit action series "Reacher" (Aug. 12) is back for its fourth season, starring Alan Ritchson as a very large man who punches people (and occasionally objects) very hard. No, really, that's about all the plot you need to know, and it's kinda awesome. The new season has Reacher traveling to Philadelphia, where he uncovers a conspiracy and beats up a lot of bad guys. As far as dumb-but-fun TV shows go, this one is hard to beat.

Amazon (AMZN) also has a new YA drama series, "Sterling Point" (Aug. 5), about a teenage girl (Ella Rubin) who inherits her mysterious grandfather's island in Canada, where she finds new friends, romance and family secrets; "The Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls" (Aug. 9), as the British adventurer blends spirituality and survivalism with the cast of Amazon's biblical drama "The Chosen"; and "The Last Sunrise" (Aug. 26), a movie based on the best-selling novel about a young woman with a chronic illness who spends a summer living life to the fullest while her condition worsens, starring Maia Reficco and Eva Longoria.

There are also New York Yankees games every Wednesday night for viewers in the NYC metro area, a full slate of WNBA games and NWSL matches every Thursday.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. "Reacher" actually works better as a skull-cracking binge than a weekly show, so wait a month or so. Nothing else looks particularly compelling.

Peacock ($10.99 a month with ads, or $16.99 with no ads)

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08-02-26 1119ET

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