What’s everyone watching on TV this week?
The sheer volume of new and returning streaming series makes picking your latest binge sometimes feel like plucking a needle out of a haystack, with the whole thing made even more complicated by the number of recommendations you’re likely receive from friends and social media on any given day.
So, where to start? Well it’s not necessarily a measurement of quality, but it might helpful to at least know what most people have been tuning into. We’ve used streaming aggregator Reel Good, which pulls viewing figures from streaming services in the U.S. and UK, to narrow down the top 10.
Starting with the triumphant return of Better Call Saul, here are the most popular TV shows this week. Let’s go…
1. Better Call Saul
Credit: GREG LEWIS / AMC / SONY PICTURES TELEVISION
It’s been two years since we last got to spend time with everyone’s favourite sketchy lawyer, but now Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s Breaking Bad prequel Better Call Saul is back for its sixth and final season. The always-brilliant Bob Odenkirk returns as Saul Goodman, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, and Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut.
What we thought: For several key players, the stakes have never been higher. Reputations, relationships, and lives are on the line, and mounting tension in the first two episodes alone exposes seldom-seen sides of characters we thought we had all figured out. — Nicole Gallucci, Senior Editor
How to Watch: Better Call Saul is available to stream now on Netflix.
2. Moon Knight
Credit: Disney / Marvel Studios
Just because a superhero is less well-known, doesn’t mean he’s any less popular. Starring Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, Moon Knight follows Steven Grant, a museum gift shop worker who’s forced to share a body with anti-hero Marc Spector, who is in turn controlled by a mean Egyptian moon God intent on using Spector as a kind of Earth-bound, justice-serving pawn. Chaos!
‘Moon Knight’s’ end credits may hint at a huge finale twist
What we thought: Despite (and because of) its lack of tethering to the greater MCU, Moon Knight stands out as an original and entertaining TV show that could equally delight hardcore fans and those who just want to know what TV show everyone’s going to be talking about. Moon Knight has elements of Fight Club, Indiana Jones, James Bond, and Doctor Who, all rolled up into a sleek and beautifully shot package that’s all but guaranteed to become social media’s newest obsession. — Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Moon Knight is now streaming on Disney+.
3. Outer Range
Credit: Richard Foreman / Amazon Studios
Seemingly Yellowstone with a sci-fi twist, it’s no real surprise that Prime Video’s biggest new show has made its way into this week’s most-streamed list. Brian Watkins’ neo-Western stars Josh Brolin as a Wyoming Rancher who one day discovers a mysterious black hole in his pasture. Throw in the arrival of a strange drifter (Imogen Poots), a family member’s disappearance, and the ongoing trouble with a rival ranching family and there’s plenty here to catch people’s attention.
How to watch: Outer Range is streaming now on Prime Video.
4. Anatomy of a Scandal
Credit: Ana Cristina Blumenkron
Based on Sarah Vaughan’s novel of the same name, Anatomy of a Scandal tells the story of Sophie Whitehouse (Sienna Miller), the wife of a Conservative politician (Rupert Friend) who is accused of sexual assault by an aide (Naomi Scott) he’d been having an affair with. People have clearly been binging this six episode mini-series, but tread carefully: the reviews are a mixed bag.
How to watch: Anatomy of a Scandal is streaming now on Netflix.
5. Halo
Credit: Paramount+
Yep, you already know Halo. Bungie’s popular Xbox video game series finally made it to the small screen this year, adapted by Steven Kane and Kyle Killen, and starring Pablo Schreiber, Yerin Ha, and Natascha McElhone. Set in the 26th century, the story follows genetically engineered soldier Master Chief as he goes up against invading alien species The Covenant.
What we thought: The first two hours of Halo do exactly what a brand new TV show should do: They introduce the world, the key characters, and the dominant themes. They give us some hooks to hang our interest on. They’re revealing in all sorts of ways, but they leave plenty of questions dangling, too. It feels surreal to say this, and to feel it in my bones, but it’s true: Halo is good TV. — Adam Rosenberg, Senior Entertainment Reporter/Weekend Editor
How to watch: Halo is currently streaming on Paramount Plus.
6. Severance
Credit: Apple TV+
Channeling some serious Black Mirror energy, Apple TV+’s Severance sees Adam Scott as Mark, a man who opts for an implant that allows his work memories to be completely cut off from memories of his home life. John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette make up the impressive supporting cast.
What we thought: Severance is a visually fascinating work of art, an enthralling mystery, and an anticapitalist takedown of toxic labor practices; it’s the first must-watch Apple TV+ show of the year. — A.N.
How to watch: Severance is now streaming on Apple TV+.
7. Barry
Credit: Merrick Morton / HBO
Bill Hader and Alec Berg’s dark comedy about a relocating hitman is back for its third season, following on from a tense cliffhanger at the end of Season 2. Hader returns as the titular hero, starring alongside Sarah Goldberg, Anthony Carrigan and Michael Irby in this well-written dramedy.
What we thought: From the show’s premiere in 2018, Barry’s underlying moral dilemma was whether or not the eponymous antihero is a good man. He knows for a fact that he wants to be, but time and again Barry lashes out, kills someone, or torpedoes his own life while trying to stay the course. Season 3 pushes this further, confronting the Barry we’ve come to know with the man he was before Los Angeles and an increasingly blank, threatening space where his envisioned future used to be. We’re still rooting for him, but we can’t guarantee he’ll be okay. — Proma Khosla, Senior Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Barry is streaming now on HBO.
8. Russian Doll
Credit: Netflix
After a long wait, Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler’s trippy, Groundhog Day-style comedy-drama about a woman dying on the same day over and over again is back for another twisty season. It’s been three years since the show’s first outing, so you might want to read a recap before you dive into a second season.
How to watch: Russian Doll is streaming now on Netflix.
9. The Flight Attendant
Credit: HBO
Steve Yockey’s dark comedy thriller is back for a second outing, following Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) a year after the messy events of show’s first season which saw her waking up in a hotel room with a dead man she may or may not have murdered. The story this time is completely new (you don’t even necessarily need to have seen Season 1) but the show’s impressive silliness is back in full force.
What we thought: If The Flight Attendant is getting its priorities across, the show only works if you accept that Cassie Bowden is the single most important being (and only blond) on the planet. Multiple people are after her, someone out there is deliberately framing her, and she constantly finds herself in the wrong place for legal absolution but the right place to fuel rampant main character syndrome. Her alcoholism and recovery are clumsily handled between the Cassie-clone gimmick, an unwieldy mother-daughter backstory, and multiple characters who clock her erratic behavior but either enable or antagonize her out of what appears to be pure malice. — Proma Khosla, Senior Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: The Flight Attendant is streaming now on HBO Max.
10. Gaslit
If you’ve seen that viral clip of actor Dan Stevens spectacularly burning UK prime minister Boris Johnson, you’ll already know what Gaslit is about. Starring Julia Roberts and Sean Penn alongside Stevens, Robbie Pickering’s series follows the events of the 1970s Watergate Scandal. If the writing is anywhere near as sharp as Stevens’ appearance on that BBC talk show, it should be a winner.
How to watch: Gaslit is currently streaming on Hulu.
