Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to their libraries. Here are our picks for some of December’s most promising new titles. (Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our Watching newsletter here.)
New to Amazon Prime Video
‘Pop Culture Jeopardy!’ Season 1
Starts streaming: Dec. 4
The “Saturday Night Live” stalwart Colin Jost hosts this “Jeopardy!” spinoff, which follows the basic format of the original quiz show, with a few twists. Rather than three individual contestants, each game features three, three-person teams, competing. The teams tackle clues that largely avoid history, geography and high art, instead dealing with memes, movies, TV, sports and modern pop songs. In addition to the Daily Doubles, each round includes a Triple Play with three answers — one for each team member. Also, the season is one big tournament, giving viewers a chance to root for their favorites as they advance toward the finals.
‘The Sticky’
Starts streaming: Dec. 6
Based very loosely on a notorious Canadian maple syrup heist, this crime comedy mini-series stars Margo Martindale as Ruth, a farmer’s wife, who takes over the syrup-tapping business when her husband is hospitalized, and runs afoul of the powerful trade organization that runs the industry. To save her land and get revenge, Ruth teams up with a not-quite-reformed mobster (Chris Diamantopoulos) and a warehouse security guard (Guillaume Cyr) to steal barrels from the national syrup reserve. Created by Brian Donovan and Ed Herro, “The Sticky” finds the dark humor in this crazy scheme; but it’s also a low-key portrait of a rural Canada populated by eccentrics and petty bureaucrats.
‘Secret Level’ Season 1
Starts streaming: Dec. 10
Each episode of this animation anthology was inspired by a different video game, taking inspiration from concepts and characters in titles like “Pac-Man,” “Armored Core,” “Spelunky,” “Warhammer 40,000” and more. Created by Tim Miller — who has some experience with this kind of thing, having previously created the Netflix anthology “Love, Death & Robots” — “Secret Level” features an all-star voice cast, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keanu Reeves, Temuera Morrison, Kevin Hart and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. While each installment is different in approach, the series’ supervising director, Dave Wilson, gives them all a similar C.G.I. sheen, aiming more for a look more photorealistic than cartoony.
Also arriving:
Dec. 3
“Jack in Time for Christmas”
Dec. 5
“Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story”
“The Red Virgin”
Dec. 23
“Chiefsaholic: A Wolf in Chief’s Clothing”
New to AMC+
‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point’
Starts streaming: Dec. 6
For those who want the vibe of a warm holiday movie without all the Hollywood/Hallmark schmaltz, the writer-director Tyler Thomas Taormina’s “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” could hit the spot. Set on the night of a large Italian American family’s annual party, the film weaves through one house, catching up with the different generations: the small children excited to play with cousins and get presents; the teenagers playing video games and plotting to duck out on their own later; and the parents expressing their worries about their kids and their aging matriarch. There’s very little plot, aside from a running conversation about whether this might be the last year grandma can host the party. Instead, on a relatively low budget — but with a fine cast of accomplished character actors and young talent — Taormina invites viewers to spend a couple of hours with some nice people, sharing their joys and woes.
Also arriving:
Dec. 1
“Coming Home in the Dark”
“A Creature Was Stirring”
“The Haunted Season: To Fire You Come at Last”
Dec. 2
“Dalgliesh” Season 3
Dec. 5
“White Lies”
Dec. 12
“Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness & the Hare Krishnas”
Dec. 19
“The Newsreader”
Dec. 20
“Last Straw”
Dec. 30
“Darby & Joan” Season 2
Dec. 31
“Horror’s Greatest” Season 2
New to Disney+
‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ Season 1
Starts streaming: Dec. 2
Set in the same post-“Return of the Jedi” time period as “The Mandalorian” — and inspired by 1980s kids’ movies like “E.T.” and “The Goonies” — the latest “Star Wars” TV series eschews the heavy lore and world-building of the other shows in this universe and instead aims for something that both longtime fans and young newcomers can enjoy. Jude Law plays Jod Na Nawood, a Force-sensitive outlaw who finds himself looking after four coddled suburban preteens after they find a secret fortress in the woods and end up getting transported far from home. Created by the writer-director Jon Watts (best-known for “Cop Car” and the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies), “Skeleton Crew” leans into the fun side of “Star Wars,” with lots of droids, starships, rogues, cool-looking alien creatures and death-defying capers.
Also arriving:
Dec. 3
“Jung Kook: I Am Still — The Original” Season 1
Dec. 9
“The Simpsons Funday Football”
Dec. 11
“Dream Productions” Season 1
Dec. 13
“Elton John: Never Too Late”
“Invisible”
Dec. 16
“Morphie and the Magic Pets” Season 1
Dec. 17
“The Simpsons: O C’mon All Ye Faithful”
Dec. 22
“What If…?” Season 3
Dec. 23
“Me & Winnie the Pooh” Season 2
Dec. 25
“Doctor Who: Joy to the World”
New to Hulu
‘Sugarcane’
Starts streaming: Dec. 10
A prizewinner at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, this somber and startling documentary covers recently unearthed evidence of abuse and abandonment at the Indian residential schools run by the Catholic Church in Canada in the late 20th century. The directors, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, document the investigation prompted by the 2021 discovery of unmarked graves near the old schools, while also focusing closely on some of the survivors of those institutions. Still bitter about how their complaints were ignored at the time, some of these former students are eager for justice to be served, while others struggle with revisiting their childhood trauma.
Also arriving:
Dec. 4
“Light Shop”
Dec. 5
“Wild Crime” Season 4
Dec. 16
“Law & Order” Seasons 1-20
Dec. 17
“Blink”
“Cuckoo”
Dec. 20
“Ilana Glazer: Human Magic”
New to Max
‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’
Starts streaming: Dec. 7
The slash between “Super” and “Man” in this biographical documentary reflects the way the directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui approach their subject, cutting back and forth between the life of the actor Christopher Reeve when he was starring in Superman movies and his life after he suffered an accident that left him paralyzed. With the help of home movie footage and audio of Reeve reading from his memoirs, the touching and revealing “Super/Man” takes an intimate look at a Hollywood hero who sometimes struggled with success, but who found a new purpose in life after he thought he’d lost everything.
‘Juror #2’
Starts streaming: Dec. 20
In this ingenious legal drama, Nicholas Hoult plays the title character, Justin Kemp, who gets drafted into a jury for a murder trial in which the victim is a woman that he himself accidentally — and secretly — killed while driving distractedly. “Juror #2” was directed by the nonagenarian Clint Eastwood, and while it’s not a timeless classic like his Oscar-winning “Unforgiven,” it is crisp, gripping and well-told, with an outstanding supporting cast that includes J.K. Simmons as a suspicious juror, Toni Collette as the ambitious prosecuting attorney, and Chris Messina as a public defender who has a stronger case than he realizes. The story goes through several twists, with an outcome that remains in doubt until the final shot.
Also arriving:
Dec. 3
“Hard Knocks: In Season With the A.F.C. North”
Dec. 5
“Creature Commandos” Season 1
Dec. 10
“Nature of the Crime”
Dec. 12
“Bookie” Season 2
Dec. 19
“Fast Friends”
“Rose Matafeo: On and On and On”
New to Paramount+
‘Dexter: Original Sin’
Starts streaming: Dec. 13
Dexter Morgan, the serial killer with a conscience who fascinated Showtime viewers in the hit drama “Dexter” from 2006 to 2013, was shot and pronounced dead at the end of the recent sequel mini-series “Dexter: New Blood.” But since fans of the character can’t seem to get enough, the new series “Original Sin” brings the man back — by venturing into his past. Patrick Gibson plays the young Dexter in the early 1990s, recently graduated from college and struggling not just with what he wants to do with his life but how to handle his homicidal compulsions. Christian Slater plays Harry Morgan, Dexter’s father, who recognized early that this boy was plagued with dark thoughts and tries to steer him in the right direction.
Also arriving:
Dec. 1
“Hell on Wheels” Seasons 1-5
“Longmire” Seasons 1-6
Dec. 2
“SpongeBob & Sandy’s Country Christmas”
Dec. 11
“First Wives Club” Seasons 1-3
Dec. 15
“An Evening With Dua Lipa”
Dec. 19
“Nate Bargatze Nashville Christmas”
Dec. 20
“Josh Groban & Friends Go Home for the Holidays”
Dec. 22
“The 47th Kennedy Center Honors”
Dec. 27
“Grammy Greats: The Stories Behind the Songs”
Dec. 29
“Grammy Greats: The Most Memorable Moments”
New to Peacock
‘Laid’ Season 1
Starts streaming: Dec. 19
Based on an Australian series, this dark comedy stars Stephanie Hsu as Ruby, a woman who discovers that her past sexual partners are dying under strange circumstances. With the help of her best friend, AJ (Zosia Mamet), Ruby retraces her entire romantic history, so she can try to warn everyone she ever slept with that they’re in danger. In the process, Ruby finds she has to work out a lot of her past issues with relationships and commitment, and to reckon with all the people she’s hurt. In “Laid,” the showrunners Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna (who previously collaborated on the sitcom “Don’t Trust the B–––– in Apartment 23”) balance cringe humor with genuine empathy for single people who are still struggling with adult responsibility.
Also arriving:
Dec. 3
“Girls Gone Wild: The Untold Story”
Dec. 6
“Speak No Evil”
Dec. 10
“Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker Tapes”
Dec. 12
“Paris & Nicole: The Encore”
The post The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Disney+, Amazon, Apple TV+ and More in December appeared first on New York Times.
