Netflix, Hulu, Amazon & Max to Add 51 New Titles This Weekend – Here’s the 4 to Watch

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

The 2024 Summer Olympics are over so it’s time to get back to the real American pastime — watching television. Netflix, Peacock, Hulu, Max and Amazon this weekend (August 15-18, 2024) plans to add 54 new TV shows and movies. Here’s the four most interesting, in my humble opinion.

Jackpot! (2024) – Amazon’s Prime Video
In the not too distant future, Katie (Awkwafina) is a lottery winner who must avoid being killed before sundown to cash in her winning ticket. John Cena plays a ‘lottery protector agent’ she hires to keep her safe. Directed by veteran comedy hand Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat), the original Amazon comedy film has potential despite the strange plotline. Debuts on Amazon’s Prime Video on August 15 so you can judge for yourself. 

Emily in Paris – Season 4: Part 1 (Netflix Original)
Lily Collins is back as Emily Cooper, the American ingenue who moves to Paris to teach a Parisian marketing firm a few things about American ingenuity. Or so she thinks. Along the way, she encounters irresistible Parisian men, confounding language barriers and other obstacles that only Emily could find. The Netflix original comedy is a feel-good delight with Collins a revelation in the title role; her performance is a throwback to those classic comedic turns from the 60s/1970s (Mary Tyler Moore in The Mary Tyler Moore Show; Marlo Thomas in That Girl, etc.) In season four, part one, Collins’ Emily will set her sights on Gabriel now that he’s single while making a side trip to another confusing land. Five episodes of season four debuts Thursday, August 15. The second half of season four will premiere on September 12.

The Union (Netflix Original Film)
Mark Wahlberg stars as a New Jersey construction worker when a former girlfriend and now government agent (Halle Berry) inexplicably asks him to participate in a dangerous covert operation. The plot is predictable (not to mention a bit farfetched, even by movie trope standards) but it’s an action and comedy film and Wahlberg and Berry are well trained to handle those genres. Should be fun if you don’t take it too seriously. Debuts Friday, August 16.

Pearl An X-traordinary Origin Story (2022) — Netflix
In this prequel to X, Mia Goth stars as an unhinged young woman whose unrelenting ambition to become a movie star leads to a bloodbath on a Texas farm in 1918. Director Ti West takes a decidedly different turn with Pearl, bathing the film with modern splashy (pun intended) colors despite the trip back in time. The result is an unsettling but riveting portrait of a psyche spiraling out of control as it seeks purpose. Pearl may be the superior film in the X trilogy (Maxxine, the third in the trilogy, is now playing in theaters.) with Goth delivering one of the best (and hypnotic) performances of the decade. (Martin Scorsese calls Pearl “mesmerizing” and, as usual, he is right.) Debuts Friday, August 16.

Complete List of New Titles Coming This Weekend to Netflix, Hulu, Max, Amazon’s Prime Video and Peacock:

Hulu
Thursday, August 15
Accused: Guilty or Innocent?: Complete Season 5
Bakers vs. Fakers: Complete Season 2
Build It Bigger: Complete Season 1
Cake Boss: Complete Season 16 TLC
Cake Wars: Complete Season 2

Cooks vs. Cons: Complete Season 5
Curb Appeal: Complete Season 26 HGTV
Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Seasons 14 and 15
Deadly Women: Complete Seasons 12 and 13 ID
Dr. Pimple Popper: Complete Seasons 6 and 7 TLC

Family by the Ton: Complete Season 1 TLC
Man vs. Wild: Complete Seasons 4 and 6
My 600-lb Life: Complete Season 8 TLC
My Strange Addiction: Complete Season 4 TLC
NASA’s Unexplained Files: Complete Season 5

Tanked: Complete Seasons 11 and 12
The Last Alaskans: Complete Seasons 1 and 2
Tia Mowry at Home: Complete Season 1
Unusual Suspects: Complete Seasons 6 and 7 ID
Vigilante: Complete Season 1 (DUBBED) Hulu Original
WWE Smack Talk: Complete Season 1

WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures: Complete Season 2
Boy in the Walls (2023)
Smile (2022)

Friday, August 16
Accidental Texan (2023)
Beta Male (Kumail Nanjiani) (2013)
Comedy Central Presents Half Hour Special (Andrew Santino) (1987)
Comedy Central Presents Half Hour Special (Donald Glover) (2010)
Immaculate (2024)
Thank You Very Cool (Nick Kroll) (2011)
Tongue Untied (Wanda Sykes) (2003)

Netflix
Thursday, August 15
Average Joe – Season 1
Backyard Wilderness
Emily in Paris – Season 4: Part 1

Friday, August 16
I can’t live without you
Pearl
The Union

Saturday, August 17
Love Next Door

Max
Thursday, August 15
Hop, Season 1B (Max Original)
House Hunters: Volume 9 Season 217 (HGTV)

Friday, August 16
Gold Rush: Mine Rescue with Freddy and Juan, Season 4 (Discovery)
Rick and Morty: The Anime (Adult Swim)
Where We Call Home, Season 3 (Magnolia Network)

Sunday, August 18
BBQ High, Season 1 (Magnolia Network)
Chimp Crazy (HBO Original)
Impractical Jokers (Eps + Specials) (2024)
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Amazon’s Prime Video
Thursday, August 15
JACKPOT! (2024)
Paddington (2015)
WNBA on Prime Video (2024)

Peacock
Thursday, August 15
Bel-Air, season 3 premiere (3 episodes)

Friday, August 16
Polite Society

Sunday, August 18
A Costa Rican Wedding

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.