Best New Shows to Watch on Netflix, (HBO) Max, Hulu, Prime Video and More

One of the best comedies around is Hacks, HBO’s hit series about the combative relationship between a veteran comedian and her Gen Z writer. Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) has been a successful stand-up for decades, but her jokes have become too routine and irrelevant. Enter Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), who has a quick wit and her pulse on the zeitgeist. The two women don’t really like each other, but they need to team up to succeed in a business that’s often cruel and unforgiving.

Season 3 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger with Ava blackmailing Deborah to land the head writer job that her boss had promised her. The fragile friendship the two forged all last season is now destroyed, so what happens when they have to work together to make Deborah’s new late show a hit? Hacks Season 4, which begins streaming its 10-episode season on April 10 through May 29, promises new developments in that complicated relationship, plus appearances by Jimmy Kimmel and Carol Burnett as themselves.

Since its debut in 2011, the sci-fi series Black Mirror has captured the imaginations of millions of Netflix subscribers. It’s also haunted them with its bleak and sometimes prophetic look at humanity’s near future. The rise of AI, the increasing dominance of social media in pop culture, the possibility of a digital afterlife — Black Mirror usually did it first or, if not, covered those topics better than any show around.

Season 7 promises more of the same, with two of its seven episodes sequels to earlier stories in its run: “USS Callister: Into Infinity,” which is a follow-up to Season 4’s much-acclaimed “USS Callister,” and “Plaything,” which features Will Poulter’s Cameron from the show’s only full-length movie, Bandersnatch. Other episodes feature Paul Giamatti, Issa Rae, Awkwafina, Rashida Jones and Emma Corrin. All episodes are now available to stream.

Who knew the zombie genre had some life left in it? After years of mediocre Walking Dead sequels, spinoffs and ripoffs, TV audiences fell back in love with the undead, or in this case, “the infected,” in early 2023 with The Last of Us. The first season was a fairly faithful adaptation of the 2013 Naughty Dog game, telling the story of outbreak survivors Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they cross a postapocalyptic United States.

Season 2 appears to be adapting only part of The Last of Us Part II, with Ellie now in her late teens and Joel still as world-weary as ever. Some major new characters this season include Isabela Merced as Ellie’s love interest Dina, Catherine O’Hara as Joel’s therapist and Kaitlyn Dever as the soldier Abby. The latter plays a pretty big role in the game, and it will be interesting to see how the series interprets the divisive character. Season 2 starts streaming April 13, with weekly episodes every Sunday until May 25.

Amazon Prime Video is home to dad shows like Jack Ryan and Reacher, and they are about to add one more show to pop’s must-watch queue with The Bondsman. Kevin Bacon stars as Hub Halloran, a bounty hunter who has messed up a lot in his life.

When he finds himself unexpectedly brought back from the dead by the Devil himself, he realizes he has another chance to right the wrongs in his life, which include neglecting his teenage son Cade (Maxwell Jenkins). But first, he must hunt down demons for his new boss or else he might find himself dead again — and spending eternity in Hell.

Molly (Michelle Williams) is stuck in a boring marriage with Steven (Jay Duplass), who won’t have sex with her. When Molly finds out she has terminal breast cancer, she kicks Steven out and moves in with her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate). She has one simple goal before she dies — to explore her sexuality and sleep with as many people as possible.

This premise sounds absurd, but it’s based on a popular podcast, also called “Dying for Sex,” which documented creator/author Molly Kochan’s sexual journey after her cancer diagnosis. The Hulu adaptation is largely faithful to the podcast’s playful black humor, and Williams showcases an adventurous spirit as the liberated Molly.

Dying for Sex is a dark comedy that’s equal parts bitter and sweet, but it’s often very funny and graphic without being raunchy.

One of the best shows of 2025 is The Pitt, Max’s intense medical show starring ER vet Noah Wyle. That show is great, but it’s also incredibly anxiety-inducing. If you’re craving a medical drama that’s a little more chill and closer in spirit to Grey’s Anatomy, then check in to Netflix’s new series Pulse.

Set at a trauma center in Miami, Pulse follows third-year resident Dr. Danielle Simms (Willa Fitzgerald) as she receives a promotion following the suspension of her boss — and secret lover — Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell). Now in a position of power for the first time in her career, Danielle must deal with hospital bureaucracy, her messy personal life and a hurricane that could threaten everyone in the hospital.

How do you top perfection? Season 2 of The White Lotus gave us Aubrey Plaza peaking at Theo James’ prosthetic package, Meghann Fahy giving a masterclass in silent acting, and Jennifer Coolidge proclaiming the gays were out to get her. (She was right.) But have faith in Mike White, the genius behind HBO’s hit show — he knows what he’s doing.

For Season 3 of The White Lotus, he assembled another eclectic cast featuring returning member Natasha Rothwell as Belinda Lindsey, ‘90s indie queen Parker Posey as a lobotomized mom, and Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon and Michelle Monaghan as a trio of catty best friends. Throw in a Schwarzenegger kid (Patrick), a Harry Potter alum (Jason Isaacs), and Blackpink’s Lisa, and you’ve got a cast that almost makes up for the absence of Coolidge (RIP Tanya).

They are all staying at a luxury resort in Thailand, and as usual with The White Lotus, there’s more going on than just spa sessions. As with past seasons, the show begins with a flash-forward and a dead body, weaving an intricate narrative that reveals who it is and how it ended up that way.    

What do you get when you mix ER with 24? It might look something like The Pitt. Created by ER alum R. Scott Gemmill and executive produced by John Wells, Max’s breakout show of 2025 is a medical drama set in a fictional Pittsburgh hospital’s emergency room. The twist? Each episode takes place in real time, and the entire season takes place in 15 hours. The result is a show that feels authentic and incredibly tense with little to no breathing room for its characters … or for you. That’s a good thing.

Noah Wyle, who rose to fame as ER’s fresh-faced doc John Carter in the 1990s, is outstanding as Michael Robinavitch (a.k.a. Dr. Robby), a veteran doctor who has to deal with his own personal demons while treating his patients. The rest of the cast is populated by relative unknowns, but they are just as good as Wyle, making The Pitt one of the best-acted shows of 2025 so far. Don’t miss it. 

Peak TV is dominated by narratives featuring pretty people doing very bad things, and Apple Cider Vinegar picks up what other shows like The Dropout and Inventing Anna have put down. The Last of Us Season 2 star Kaitlyn Dever stars as Belle Gibson, a real-life influencer and wellness guru who gained worldwide success after launching The Whole Pantry, a mobile app designed to promote alternative medicines and recipes. Belle claimed to be a cancer survivor and asserted that her path to healing was helped by the lifestyle she was now promoting.

The only problem? Belle never had cancer. She’s lied about a lot of things: her age, her charitable donations, even her family. What makes Apple Cider Vinegar so fascinating to watch is how it tracks Belle’s rapid fall from social media grace in almost excruciatingly slow motion. Belle is a hypnotic dumpster fire, and the show is never less than fascinating to watch. 

Yellowstone may be over, but its many spinoffs live on and add to the sprawling Dutton family saga. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren star as Jacob and Cara Dutton, a devoted married couple trying to survive the dangers of the American West in the early 1920s while raising adopted sons John (James Badge Dale) and Spencer (Brendon Sklenar).

In 1923 Season 2, hard times have fallen on the Duttons, and they may lose their beloved ranch to pay off debts. Spencer is traveling back to America from his adventures abroad, while his wife Alexandra’s pregnancy compels her to make some life-altering choices. And that’s just the first episode! 

Judging from the trailer, the remaining episodes will feature more gunfights, some long-buried secrets revealed, and coyotes … lots and lots of coyotes. It’s worth a watch for many reasons, but it’s Mirren who is the primary draw here.

Remember Wildcats, that cheesy ‘80s comedy with Goldie Hawn as a woman who takes over a sports team that doesn’t want her? You probably don’t, but her also-very-famous daughter, Kate Hudson, certainly does, as she’s essentially remade that movie as the 10-episode Netflix series Running Point. Good for her.

Hudson stars as Isla Gordon, who takes over a fictional basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves, after her brother is forced to resign in disgrace. Out of her comfort zone, Isla is determined to succeed when everyone thinks she will fail. Assisting Hudson both on and off the court is a game cast that includes The Other Two’s Drew Tarver, New Girl’s Max Greenfield, and Insecure’s Jay Ellis. The show doesn’t tread new ground, but it’s a good reminder of Hudson’s bubbly charisma, and Goldie’s good genes.

Steven Knight loves his yesteryear crime yarns. You can’t blame the guy; Peaky Blinders was a huge success, and why fix what isn’t broken? The British writer’s new series, A Thousand Blows, is set in the 1880s and deals with the clash between two immovable forces: Henry “Sugar” Goodson (Stephen Graham), the ringleader of London’s illegal bare-knuckle boxing underbelly, and Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the leader of a real-life band of all-female thieves called the Forty Elephants.

The show’s six episodes center around the clash between Henry and Mary and how their mutual desire to control London’s underworld affects those around them. With its brutal scenes in the boxing ring and the bars and brothels of lower-class London, A Thousand Blows showcases the dirtier, bloodier side of Victorian England you won’t ever see in a Merchant Ivory film.

Paradise has a can’t-miss premise: the President of the United States (James Marsden) has been murdered, and only one man, Secret Service agent Xander Collins (Sterling K. Brown), can solve it. Yet what makes Paradise more intriguing than your average conspiracy thriller series is that it has an unexpected, and welcome, sci-fi edge to it. It’s set in an underground bunker in Colorado due to a mysterious doomsday event that happened three years before the show begins.

What caused the event that forced everyone to take shelter? Who killed the President? And what’s up with Xander’s dead wife, who may not be dead after all? Paradise is a surprisingly twisty show that feels more like Lost and Silo with each subsequent episode. Brown continues to be one of the best actors on TV, while Marsden makes you wish he was actually running for office.

Who knew that A Beautiful Mind would make a great spy show? That’s the high concept behind Prime Target, the latest Apple TV+ series to be really damn good. Fresh from his stay in The White Lotus and being the object of Renee Zellweger’s affections in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Leo Woodall stars as Edward Brooks, an unusually gifted student at Cambridge University who stumbles on a math formula that could change the world.

It seems Edward’s research could be used to create a digital key that could unlock any password and encrypted message in the world. In the wrong hands, this could be used to create chaos and bring down entire governments. On the run from bad guys who want his research at any cost, Edward must team up with a rogue NSA agent (Quintessa Swindell) to prevent this from happening and save his own life.

The concept is out there, but the writing by Steve Thompson (Sherlock, Doctor Who) is clever enough to sell it. Woodall makes for an unusual spy story hero, one that’s both dashing and brainy—he’s James Bond’s dorky, awkward little brother. The show is slick enough to make you wish you could binge it all at once, which you can now that the first season is over.

In 2023, Suits, the long-dormant USA cable series about a law firm in New York City, became one of the most-streamed shows of the year. The series, which starred Patrick J. Adams, Gabriel Macht, and a pre-Prince Harry Meghan Markle, was so successful that it sparked talk of a new spinoff, which resulted in the creation of Suits LA.

While it doesn’t feature any of the original show’s stars beyond Macht’s Harvey Specter, Suits LA does have its own lineup of cocky lawyers trying to do good in a big, bad city. Stephen Amell is the resident bad-boy legal eagle, while Bryan Greenberg, Lex Scott Davis, and Josh McDermitt fill out the cast. The show is still finding its voice, but for fans of the original USA series or law shows in general, Suits LA is guilty as charged of being entertaining enough to hang in there for a few more episodes.