The 5 Best New Shows Coming to Streaming In August

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –@tvanswerman

The major streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Max, Disney+, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Paramount+, Peacock) this month will add hundreds of new titles and movies. It may seem impossible to keep up with all the additions, but we have scanned the lists and come up with the five best new shows coming to streaming in August. And here they are:
Max: Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (Season two)
The HBO original basketball drama will return for a seven-episode second season on Sunday, August 6 at 9 p.m. ET. The show will premiere on HBO and be available to stream on Max. Winning Time stars John C. Reilly as Los Angeles Lakers owner (and playboy) Jerry Buss in a delightfully over-the-top performance. But the entire cast is terrific, including Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson, Adrien Brody as Lakers coach Pat Riley, Solomon Hughes as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jason Clarke as Jerry West, Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Buss, the owner’s ambitious daughter, and DeVaughn Nixon, as his father, Lakers point guard Norm Nixon. Season two will explore the personal and professional lives of the team from 1980s through 1984, culminating in a NBA Finals rematch between the Magic Johnson-led Lakers against the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics. If you love basketball, you’ll love Winning Time. Debuts August 6.

Hulu: FX’s A Murder at the End of the World
Emma Corrin (The Crown) plays Darby Hart, an amateur detective who’s invited with eight other guests by a reclusive billionaire (Clive Owen) to participate in a retreat at an exotic location. However, one of the guests is found dead, leaving Darby to prove it was a murder. The premise may sound derivative, but with Owen and Corrin on board, A Murder at the End of the World should be lots of fun. Premieres August 29.

Netflix: Untold
Netflix’s sports documentary series, Untold, unspools another installment on August 1 with Internet bad boy and boxer Jake Paul in the hot seat. Then on August 8, the doc team takes on failed NFL quarterback (and another bad boy) Johnny Manziel. On August 15, it’s the baseball steroids scandal with Victor Conte and Florida Gator football on August 29. Netflix’s Untold series is as good as it gets. If you’re a sports fan, catch them all.

Netflix: Painkiller
Matthew Broderick stars in Netflix’s fictional retelling of how the opioid epidemic began in America. This is the streamer’s answer to Hulu’s brilliant series, Dopesick, which starred Michael Keaton. If it’s as good as the Hulu offering, it will be must viewing. Peter Berg, the creative force behind Friday Night Lights, is directing Painkiller and the cast includes former FNL star Taylor Kitsch as an addicted mechanic. Debuts August 10.

Paramount+ With Showtime: Billions, season seven.
The financial drama, which stars Paul Giamatti as a Manhattan District Attorney determined to take down a shady hedge fund manager (Damian Lewis), is back for its final season. And Lewis is back, too, after sitting out season six. It says here that Billions lost its mojo a few seasons back, but I have faith that showrunner Brian Koppelman and his team will get the show back on track for the landing. Debuts August 11.

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