Here's what's worth streaming in October 2024: -2-

Disney+ also added the Pixar blockbuster "Inside Out 2" in late September; has live episodes of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" every Tuesday; "Bluey Minisodes" (Oct. 7), another collection of 1-3 minute animated shorts; and the magical comedy spinoff "Wizards Beyond Waverly Place" (Oct. 30).

It'll also try appealing to the adults out there with the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony (Oct. 7), with inductees including Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, Kool & the Gang and A Tribe Called Quest, and the concert documentary "Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band" (Oct. 25), which will also stream on Hulu.

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. "Agatha All Along" is fun, but not necessarily worth a subscription by itself. But add "Inside Out 2," a Springsteen doc and Disney's library (which includes every "Simpsons" ever)? Eh, that makes it worth considering.

Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $16.99 with no ads, or $20.99 'Ultimate' with no ads)

Max will help get the spooky season started with a movie adaptation of Stephen King's classic 1975 horror novel "Salem's Lot" (Oct. 3). Lewis Pullman and Alfre Woodard star in the story of a writer who returns to his New England hometown only to discover that its residents are becoming vampires. Early reviews have not been kind, but horror fans will likely be undeterred. Speaking of horror, there's also Ti West's slasher movie "MaXXXine" (Oct. 18), about an aspiring actress who gets her big break as a serial killer terrorizes 1980s L.A., starring Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Halsey and Lily Collins.

Armando Iannucci ("Veep," "The Thick of It," "Avenue 5") is back with another acerbic comedy series, "The Franchise" (Oct. 6), about the behind-the-scenes chaos in the making of a blockbuster superhero movie (which may be a bit spot-on, considering Warner Bros.' (WBD) track record of superhero movies). It's got some major talent behind it, including executive producers Iannucci and Sam Mendes ("1917") and a cast that includes Himesh Patel ("Station Eleven"), Aya Cash ("You're the Worst"), Jessica Hynes ("Spaced") and Billy Magnussen ("Game Night").

Meanwhile, Bridget Everett is back for the third and final season of "Somebody Somewhere" (Oct. 7), the hilarious and touching Peabody Award-winning dramedy about a woman adjusting to small-town life and finding community with a chosen family of outsiders.

Max will also start streaming CNN's new weekly comedy news show, "Have I Got News for You" (Oct. 6), with Roy Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black, along with a new standup special from Seth Meyers (date TBA).

There are also new episodes of "The Penguin" every Sunday, "My Beautiful Friend" every Monday, and a solid lineup of live sports, including the MLB playoffs starting Oct. 5, NHL games starting Oct. 9, NBA games starting Oct. 22, college football and U.S. men's and women's soccer.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. With "Industry" done, "Somebody Somewhere" becomes Max's only must-see show, with a very big question mark around "The Franchise."

Peacock ($7.99 a month with ads, or $13.99 with no ads)

Peacock's got a relatively busy month, with a handful of high-profile originals.

Yvonne Strahovski ("The Handmaid's Tale") and Scott Speedman ("Felicity") star in the horror series "Teacup" (Oct. 10), a mystery-box thriller about a group of strangers in rural Georgia who must unite to fight a mysterious threat. Then there's the horror series "Hysteria!" (Oct. 18), featuring Julie Bowen ("Modern Family") and Bruce Campbell ("Evil Dead"), about how a high school heavy-metal band's plan to cash in on a Satanic panic in a small town backfires. There's also "Blackwater Lane" (Oct. 4), a serial-killer thriller movie starring Minka Kelly ("Friday Night Lights"), Maggie Grace ("Lost") and Dermot Mulroney ("Chicago Fire"); and "Anatomy of Lies" (Oct. 15), a three-episodes documentary about the rise and fall of a "Grey's Anatomy" writer whose lies fooled Hollywood for years.

Comcast's (CMCSA) streaming service also has the finale of Kevin Hart's Atlanta crime drama "Fight Night" (Oct. 10); the streaming premiere of "Despicable Me 4" (Oct. 31); the return of NBC shows like "Saturday Night Live," "Law & Order" and "Chicago Fire"; and "Face Your Fears," a collection of hundreds of Halloween-themed TV episodes and movies.

On the sports side, there's NFL Sunday Night Football every week, Big Ten and Notre Dame college football, and a full slate of English Premier League soccer.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. Unless you desperately need football or soccer, there's nothing else particularly compelling.

Paramount+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $12.99 a month with Showtime and no ads)

Taylor Sheridan's covert-action drama "Lioness" (Oct. 27) returns for its second season, starring Zoe Saldaña ("Avatar") as a CIA operative infiltrating a terrorist group. Nicole Kidman, who's seemingly starring in a streaming show every month, returns as her handler. Like most of Sheridan's shows, it's nothing particularly new and leans heavily on tropes - but tropes exist for a reason, and when done well, can be perfectly entertaining if you don't think too hard.

Paramount (PARA) also has the fifth and final season of the animated "Star Trek: Lower Decks" (Oct. 24), fresh episodes every week of "Frasier" and "Tulsa King," and CBS hits such as "Survivor," "Matlock," "Elsbeth" and "Tracker."

And don't sleep on "Peak Screaming," a massive collection of Halloween-favorite scary movies and TV episodes, including "A Quiet Place: Day One" "Scream VI" and "Smile."

On the sports side, there's NFL football every Sunday, Big Ten football every Saturday, and a full slate of UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Serie A and NWSL soccer matches.

Play, pause or stop? Stop. Its football lineup is tempting, but there's not much else that's must-see.

Amazon's Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$2.99 to avoid ads)

Prime Video has another skippable month.

The underwhelming "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" wraps up its second season Oct. 2, managing to have almost entirely avoided being part of the pop-culture conversation - not easy for a production that reportedly has cost north of $1 billion.

Amazon (AMZN) does have a smattering of lackluster-looking originals, including the Blumhouse horror movie "House of Spoils" (Oct. 3), starring Ariana DuBose ("West Side Story") as a haunted chef; "Brothers" (Oct. 17), a comedy movie starring Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage as twin brothers who carry out a heist; the adult animated fantasy series "The Legend of Vox Machina" (Oct. 3); "Citadel: Diana" (Oct. 10), an Italian sequel to the 2023 action series you've already forgotten about; the game show "Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity?" (Oct. 16) hosted by NFL star (and Taylor Swift's boyfriend) Travis Kelce; and the Australian version of "The Office" (Oct. 18).

On the sports side, Prime will at have NFL Thursday Night Football and NWSL soccer, and the behind-the-scenes hockey docuseries "Faceoff: Inside the NHL" (Oct. 4).

Play, pause or stop? Stop. What's going on with Amazon?

Need more? Catch up on previous months' picks at What's Worth Streaming.

-Mike Murphy

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09-30-24 2022ET

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