These Are the 7 Shows That Everyone Will Be Talking About in August
You've breezed through Cursed and The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix, and you're on your third viewing of Hamilton on Disney+. What's next?
July was a great month for new television across streaming platforms, and August is coming hot on its heels with an array of new shows to binge. There's an ode to erotica on Stan, a cult favourite reality series on Netflix, and a hilarious new AppleTV+ comedy, just to name a few. Here is our pick of the best shows to stream in August.
Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story
When and where to watch: now on Netflix
Dirty John is back and this season it tells a whole new twisted true crime tale. While the first season followed the real story of con man John Meehan, played by Eric Bana, the show's sophomore offering winds the clock back to the 1980s to chronicle the headline-grabbing divorce of wealthy San Diego couple Betty Broderick (Amanda Peet) and her husband Dan (Christian Slater). The anthology series sifts through falsehoods and melodrama to uncover the truth behind high profile true crimes, and this time it's the circumstances surrounding the death of Dan Broderick. Gasp inducing and oh-so-bingeworthy.
I'll Be Gone In The Dark
When and where to watch: now on HBO
Crime writer Michelle McNamara spent years trying to find the identity of the man she called the Golden State Killer, who was responsible for a chilling crime spree in the '70s and '80s that involved more than 50 home invasion rapes and 12 murders. While her husband (celebrated comedian and voice of Remy from Ratatouille, Patton Oswalt) and their young daughter slept, McNamara got to work, trawling online forums and writing about her findings.
Tragically she died in 2016, before she could see the fruits of her labour. Her book, I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, was posthumously finished by a team including her husband and true crime writer Paul Haynes and now, this HBO documentary series picks up where her work left off. I'll Be Gone In The Dark follows McNamara's investigation and fills the gaps on the hunt to solve this terrible unsolved true crime. Fans of Serial, The Staircase and Making a Murderer will want to tune in.
Hoops
When and where to watch: 21 August on Netflix
If you're a fan of foul-mouthed cartoons like Bob's Burgers or Bojack Horseman, Hoops could be the next binge watch for you. It's from the creators of Bob's Burgers and follows a down-on-his-luck basketball coach trying to motivate his team of underperforming misfits. Jake Johnson of New Girl fame – Nick Miller, we still love you – lends his comedic stylings to the voice of the coach, and Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who made 21 Jump Street and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, are executive producers.
Selling Sunset
When and where to watch: 7 August on Netflix
The Oppenheim Group is their name and selling high-end Los Angeles real estate is their game. If you've never watched Selling Sunset, the cult favourite reality series now in its third season on Netflix, boy are you in for a treat. Think all the glitz and glamour of Million Dollar Listings with an added dose of Real Housewives drama. Exquisite.
Ted Lasso
When and where to watch: 14 August on AppleTV+
Comedy actor and SNL alum Jason Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso, a college football coach in Kansas who goes across the pond to helm a soccer team in the UK – despite never having even watched a game before. The series is a classic fish-out-of-water comedy. It's got the hijinks of Miss Congeniality or The Waterboy and the heartwarming sporting triumphs of films like Bend It Like Beckham and Shaolin Soccer. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll fall in love with the bumbling antics of the titular Ted Lasso.
Love Fraud
When and where to watch: 30 August on Showtime
If the second season of Dirty John isn't enough and you need more con artists in your life, be sure to stream Love Fraud. This four-part docuseries recounts the search for Richard Scott Smith, a man who spent 20 years catfishing and scamming unsuspecting women out of their life savings, breaking their hearts and their spirits in the process. What happens when his victims band together for revenge has to be seen to be believed. Believe us when we say this is going to be the true crime series everyone is talking about in August.
Little Birds
When and where to watch: TBC
If you've ever read Anaïs Nin's writing, you'll know that the beloved French-Cuban American writer was focussed on the erotic in all of its beautiful, strange and unsettling forms. Her writing titillates, stimulates and shocks in equal measure, as does this series inspired by her stories and essays. Little Birds stars Juno Temple and Hugh Skinner as a young couple living in the Moroccan "international zone" during the mid-'50s. It's about exploring your sexuality, finding your identity and discovering yourself. Bold and unique and sexy, it's like no period series you've ever seen before. If you devoured Normal People, you'll love Little Birds.
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