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March 15th, 2024

Welcome to Stream On, the weekly newsletter from Consequence that attempts to help you answer that eternally confounding question: What films and TV shows should you be watching?

We're looking at all the new and recent releases scattered across Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, Max and more for recommendation ideas — not to mention a Blast From the Past and customized recommendations for one lucky Stream On reader!

- Liz Shannon Miller, Senior Entertainment Editor

This Week's Picks

Girls5eva Season 3 (TV)

Created by: Meredith Scardino
Cast: Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Paula Pell, Renée Elise Goldsberry
Streaming on: Netflix

We've got a classic streamer switcharoo here, as the Tina Fey and Robert Carlock-produced musical showbiz satire (with some of the catchiest songs on TV) arrives at its new home with a brand new third season! If you didn't have Peacock but do have Netflix, then (as our own Paolo Ragusa wrote this week), this is seriously your lucky day — fingers crossed that the show's reception on the larger platform leads to it getting enough heat for a Season 4 and beyond.

Extraordinary Season 2 (TV)

Created by: Emma Moran
Cast: Máiréad Tyers, Sofia Oxenham, Bilal Hasna, Luke Rollason
Streaming on:Hulu

Every once in a while I forget how long I've been writing this newsletter, and then I get the chance to mention the second season of a show I recommended here when it premiered! (Issue 20, if you're curious.) If you never saw Season 1 of Extraordinary, know it's a quick binge (eight 30-minute episodes), with Season 2 picking right back up with this story of a world where everyone's got some sort of superpower — except the hapless Jen (Máiréad Tyers). It's funny, sweet, and wildly imaginative stuff.

Little Wing (Film)

Directed by: Dean Israelite
Cast: Brooklynn Prince, Che Tafari, Kelly Reilly, Brian Cox
Streaming on: Paramount+

Most family films don't feature Brian Cox threatening to make a tweenager's life a living hell. (And they should.) Also, the main character (played by a now-slightly-more-grown-up Brooklyn Decker of The Florida Project) is really into Bikini Kill. Also also, she wears overalls and a choker for a good portion of the movie, which pleases my '90s kid heart. If none of those reasons inspire you to check out the brand new Little Wing, know that it's a movie about pigeon racing that's got a little more edge than you'd expect (TW: suicidal ideation) but a very sweet ending.

Three Little Birds (TV)

Written by: Sir Lenny Henry
Cast: Rochelle Neil, Yazmin Belo, Saffron Coomber, Javone Prince, Bobby Gordon
Streaming on: Britbox

Based on true events, Three Little Birds focuses on three Jamaican women who immigrate to Britain in the 1950s; it's a character-driven look at a period and place I for one didn't know much about, but found fascinating to discover. Also, there's more than one Doctor Who connection here — past and current Who showrunner Russell T. Davies is an executive producer, and Arthur Darvill (dear ol' Rory) plays a less-than-nice employer of one of the women.

Blast From the Past

The home screens of streaming services are always packed with the latest new releases, but we don't spend enough time appreciating how much good library content is streaming across all of these platforms.

Each week, Stream On will spotlight one less-than-new favorite (must pre-date the founding of Consequence, so 15 years or older) that deserves attention from modern-day eyes.

Spooks/MI-5 (TV)

Created by: David Wolstencroft
Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth
Streaming on:Prime Video

I first mentioned Spooks a couple of weeks ago as part of a reader recommendation, but now having had the chance to explore it properly... Boy had I forgotten how good this show is! This is one of the great spy dramas of the 21st century, with early seasons featuring Matthew Macfadyen (yes, from Succession), David Oyelowo (yes, from Selma), and Keeley Hawes (yes, from more great British TV than I can list here). A relatively episodic structure (every week, a new enemy of the state to bring down) leads to some gripping cases. But there's an almost equal emphasis on the personal lives of spies working so secretly that even the ones they love the most don't know who they really are.

Ask Liz What to Watch!

Every person has different tastes and more importantly — different streaming services. So each week, Stream On will be offering tailored recommendations for individual subscribers! To request your own personalized film and TV picks, just fill out this Google form.

This Week: Lena!
Streaming Services: Netflix, Hulu, Max, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+, Prime Video
Recent Favorites: Stranger Things, Shadow and Bone, They Cloned Tyrone, Chevalier, Catherine the Great

Lena, what a really fun selection of picks! Are you as hyped as I am for Shadow and Bone's Kit Young appearing in Noah Hawley's Alien series? Maybe, maybe not! But let's dig into some suggestions either way.

Almost at random, I'm going to start by looking at Peacock for picks — which reminds me that Mrs. Davis remains a real achievement in the annals of Weird But Truly Great TV, plus the great British superhero series Misfits, and both the original and new versions of Quantum Leap! (The original is of course a classic for a reason, but while the new one is a little wobbly, I confess to being charmed by it from week to week. Its intentions are just so good.) Peacock's also where you'll find the exceptionally weird but compelling Emerald City, a re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz with Adria Arjona as Dorothy and Vincent D'Onofrio as the Wizard. (Sorta.)

Here are more series recommendations, beyond Peacock, from the realm of strangeness occupied by Stranger Things and Shadow and Bone: The Wheel of Time (Prime Video), The Sandman (Netflix), Carnival Row (Prime Video), Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix), His Dark Materials (Max), and The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (Netflix).

And finally, let me call out some great period dramas featuring people of color in the cast, starting with a movie that's so up your alley that I apologize if you've already seen it: the very charming Jane Austen riff Mr. Malcolm's List (Paramount+), featuring a largely-POC cast wearing some truly beautiful gowns. I also really loved The Personal History of David Copperfield (Hulu), with Dev Patel in the titular role, and Belle (Hulu), with Gugu Mbatha-Raw playing real life gentlewoman Dido Elizabeth Belle.

Series-wise, there's Call the Midwife (Netflix) as well. Also, I'm not going to give the Netflix Persuasion my strongest recommendation, but Henry Golding proves to be quite capable as a quintessential Austen fuckboi.

We'll be back next week with more picks — in the meantime, stay safe out there, or better yet stay inside, where it’s definitely safe, and there’s so much film and TV to watch.