--- title: "Here's what's worth streaming in August 2026 on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and more" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/294583825.md" description: "August 2026 streaming highlights include the return of 'Ted Lasso' Season 4 on Apple TV, alongside new seasons of Amazon's 'Reacher,' Paramount's 'Lioness,' and Netflix's 'Outer Banks.' The article advises viewers to strategically manage subscriptions to keep costs under $50, noting that these releases offer low-pressure entertainment. It also reviews other Apple TV+ additions like 'Women in Blue' and 'Dark Matter,' while critiquing shows like 'Sugar' and 'Lucky'." datetime: "2026-08-01T13:01:20.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/294583825.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/294583825.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/294583825.md) --- # Here's what's worth streaming in August 2026 on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and more By Mike Murphy Turn off your brain and enjoy new seasons of Apple's 'Ted Lasso,' Amazon's 'Reacher,' Netflix's 'Outer Banks' and much more Tanya Reynolds and Jason Sudeikis star in Season 4 of "Ted Lasso," premiering Aug. 5 on Apple TV. Ahhh, summer. When it's not scorching or flooding or burning outside, it's a nice time to just turn off your brain and relax. That's more or less what streaming services are providing in August: a bunch of shows that don't require much thinking - just sit back and enjoy. Which, honestly, is sometimes all you want in a TV show. And there are plenty on the way, like new seasons of Amazon's "Reacher," Paramount's "Lioness," Netflix's "Outer Banks" and even the return of Apple's "Ted Lasso." But perhaps the best part about this upcoming slate of shows is that none of them are particularly essential; there's little danger of pop-culture FOMO. So with a bit of strategic churning - that is, adding and dropping services month to month - you can still catch the best shows while keeping your monthly streaming budget under $50. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month. And it's always worth watching out for time-sensitive deals and money-saving bundles. 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 and 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 2026, and what's really worth the monthly subscription fee: Apple TV ($12.99 a month) So it turns out the final season of "Ted Lasso" wasn't its final season after all. The feel-good soccer comedy, a monster hit for Apple (AAPL), ran out of steam as it wrapped up its storylines (sometimes too abruptly, and often overdoing it on the saccharine) in its third season, which streamed way back in 2023. But it felt like a good time to say goodbye. Not so fast. The extended Lasso-verse (and no doubt bucketfuls of money) proved too appealing to the show's creative team, and while star/co-creator Jason Sudeikis reportedly needed some convincing, the show is coming back for a fourth season (Aug. 5). A lot has changed, though, with the show shifting its focus to AFC Richmond's women's team, now led by, of course, Coach Lasso. While Season 4 will introduce a whole new team, expect to see many familiar faces, including team owner Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham), new men's head coach Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein), budding entrepreneur Keeley (Juno Temple) and the stoic Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt). But whatever has changed, don't expect a shift from the positive vibes. "It is infectious to play a character who sees the best in people and isn't mad at the world for all its foibles and bullies and shadows," Sudeikis recently told the Hollywood Reporter. "It's not like I'm Daniel Day-Lewis, but it was good to live in that - to have that coursing through your brain and your body all day. It still is." Apple's also got Season 2 of "Women in Blue," aka "Las Azules," (Aug. 12), the drama about a group of groundbreaking female cops in 1970s Mexico; "The Dynasty: UConn Huskies" (Aug. 21), a docuseries about Connecticut's dominant women's basketball program; and Season 2 of the alternate-universe drama "Dark Matter" (Aug. 28), starring Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. There are also new episodes of the sci-fi epic "Silo," "Sugar" (season finale Aug. 7), "Lucky" (finale Aug. 19) and the parenting comedy "Trying" (season finale Aug. 26), and you can catch up on recently completed shows like "Widow's Bay," "Star City," "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed" and "Cape Fear." Hit & miss: There were serious doubts that "Sugar" - the Colin Farrell-led thriller that's 90% stylish private-eye mystery and 10% absolute bonkers sci-fi - could pull off a coherent, watchable second season after stumbling badly at the end of its first season. But somehow, amazingly, it has (at least with a handful of episodes to go). Farrell is terrific, as always, as an empathetic gumshoe investigating a trail of crime and corruption that rings true to devotees of L.A. noir, from Raymond Chandler to "Chinatown" to Jordan Harper. It may be a longshot, based on cost (which seems high) and viewership (which seems low), but a third-season renewal is looking more and more appealing. On the flip side is the crime thriller "Lucky," starring Anya Taylor-Joy as a con artist on the run, that falls into Apple TV's biggest recurring trap - a series that should have been a movie instead. Despite a great cast (including Annette Benning, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and William Fichtner) and occasional pops of excitement, the show drags way too much, stretching a thin story far past its breaking point. Alas. Play, pause or stop? Play. While Apple has been on a roll this year, the lineup is a bit thin this month and it remains to be seen whether "Ted Lasso" can recapture its first-season magic. Still, there are enough outstanding shows to catch up on to make a subscription worthwhile. Disney+ ($11.99 a month with ads, $18.99 with no ads) The months-long integration of Disney+ and Hulu appears to have reached a tipping point, with nearly everything premiering on Hulu this month also available on Disney+. It's part of a plan to unify the two apps by the end of this year (though Hulu will technically still exist as a standalone app, for the near future at least). With a Hulu-Disney+ bundle costing just $1 more ($12.99 with ads, $19.99 with no ads), that seems like the easiest, most cost-effective way to go. (This month's column will still separate the two since there's a lot to talk about for each, but going forward, they'll likely be combined.) Anyway, "Star Wars" fans should be in for a treat with the dazzling anime series "The Ninth Jedi" (Aug. 5). Born from the "Star Wars: Visions" anthology series, this eight-episode spinoff from animator Kenji Kamiyama and director Shunsuke Tada is visually stunning, and serves as a reminder that "Star Wars" works best when creators are allowed to go a little off-leash and let their imaginations run wild (see: "Andor" and "Maul: Shadow Lord"). Disney's (DIS) also got "Time and Water" (Aug. 1), a NatGeo documentary as Icelandic poet and author Andri Snær Magnason creates a cinematic time capsule as his beloved country copes with climate change; the family comedy/fantasy "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" (Aug. 5) is back for its third and final season; the Jonan Brothers revive the "Camp Rock" franchise after 18 years with the YA musical "Camp Rock 3" (Aug. 14); "The Lion King" director Jon Favreau goes the documentary route, co-producing "Lion" (Aug. 20), following a lion cub and his pride over multiple years; and there's another exclusive episode of "The Simpsons" - "Yellow Mirror" (Aug. 26), a spoof of the dystopian series "Black Mirror." There's also a ton of programming from Hulu, ESPN, ABC and cable, including new episodes of "Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro," "The Shards," "Project Runway," "Adults," "A Shop for Killers," "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," "Futurama" (see more on those under the Hulu section), the Lollapalooza livestream (July 30-Aug.- 2), WNBA, WWE, Banana Ball, the Little League World Series (championship Aug. 30) and U.S. Open tennis (starting Aug. 31). Oh, and don't forget new episodes of "X-Men '97" (season finale Aug. 12), which has already been renewed for its third and fourth seasons. RIP: Despite a Season 2 renewal earlier this year, Disney just announced "Wonder Man" has been canceled. That's a huge bummer, it was Marvel's best show in years, drawing critical raves and an Emmy nomination for Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. At least it didn't end on a huge cliffhanger - it's still worth a watch. Play, pause or stop? Play. Disney+ is absorbing Hulu, and it's reached a point where it seems foolish to still use the standalone services as opposed to the bundle. It's a good month for Disney+ programming - add Hulu and it becomes a no-brainer. HBO Max ($10.99 a month with ads, $18.49 with no ads, or $22.99 'Ultimate' with no ads) In a time of superhero overload, the debut of DC's "Lanterns" (Aug. 16) would be met with extreme wariness if not for two critical factors: co-creator and writer Damon Lindelof ("Lost," "The Leftovers," "Watchmen") and co-star Kyle Chandler ("Friday Night Lights"). Both consistently elevate everything they're associated with. Add Aaron Pierre ("Rebel Ridge") and we're cooking with fire. The story of the Green Lanterns, the superheroes who keep galactic peace with the help of magic rings, can easily go awry (just ask Ryan Reynolds), but this grounded, gritty version - in which a jaded Green Lantern and his protégé investigate a murder in rural Nebraska - looks fantastic, a superhero version of "True Detective" with the dark gravitas of "Watchmen." There's no excuse for this not becoming a crossover hit. Meanwhile, the excellent comic travelogue "Conan O'Brien Must Go" (Aug. 21) is back for its fourth season (still just four episodes though); there's a new season of the NFL inside-the-locker-room docuseries "Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the Seattle Seahawks" (Aug. 4); and there's "Monsters of God" (Aug. 6), an intriguing five-part docuseries about the billion-dollar underworld of exotic-reptile smuggling. The Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) service also has a full slate of Major League Baseball, Banana Ball, NASCAR, the slam-dunk competition "Dunkman" and AEW wrestling. There are also the season finales of Larry David's "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Unhappiness" (Aug. 7) and "House of the Dragon" (Aug. 9), and weekly episodes of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver." 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