The 5 New and Under-the-Radar Shows You Can’t Miss in August

I went to the mall last weekend and so many stores already have their Halloween decorations out. The shelves of CVS are stocked with those giant bags of Halloween candy (who, I ask you, is buying their Halloween candy now?!?). And you know all things pumpkin spiced are headed our way any moment now.

I say no! We still have one more month of our Hot TV Summer and I am going to savor it. Won’t you join me? This month, Paste TV will be covering the fourth season premiere of Netflix’s Emily in Paris on August 15th, the second season of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power on August 29th, and the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building on August 27th,  which will feature Eugene Levy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria playing Hollywood versions of our intrepid trio. We will also have our take on Bill Lawrence’s new Apple TV+ comedy Bad Monkey (August 14th) and Netflix’s A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder on August 1st. 

As always, we don’t want you to miss a thing. Here are the five new shows you can’t miss this month.

Batman: Caped Crusader

Stars: Hamish Linklater, Jamie Chung, Diedrich Bader, Christina Ricci, Minnie Driver, Mckenna Grace, Reid Scott, Tom Kenny, Jason Watkins, Gary Anthony Williams, David Krumholtz, and Haley Joel Osment  

Premiere Date:  All 10 episodes premiere August 1st on Prime Video

In this new animated reimagining of one of pop-culture’s most iconic superheroes, Batman (voiced by Hamish Linklater) must stop “an all-out gang war on the streets of Gotham.” The 10-episode series from executive producers  J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm (Abrams and Reeves also created a little show called Felicity) features a plethora of familiar voices including Christina Ricci as Catwoman, Jamie Chung as Harley Quinn, and Diedrich Bader as Harvey Dent. Definitely keep an ear out for Minnie Driver as the voice of Oswalda Cobblepot, better known as The Penguin. That’s right, one of Gotham’s most infamous villains is now a woman. It’s good to be bad. 

The Change

Stars: Bridget Christie, Jerome Flynn, Susan Lynch, Monica Dolan, and Paul Whitehouse  

Premiere Date:  All six episodes premiere August 1st on BritBox

Linda (Bridget Christie) has just turned 50. She’s reached her fill of doing the “invisible work” women do to manage a household. She’s also had it with her husband, who tells her “you are well fit for your age” and her children who chastise her for chewing too loudly. She takes off on her long forgotten motorcycle to put herself first for once. Christie, who created and wrote the series, is instantly relatable (who hasn’t opened a cabinet to have a bunch of mismatched plastic containers tumble out?), and the show’s humor is sly and on point. A hit in Britain when it premiered in 2023, the series has already been picked up for a second season. 

Cowboy Cartel

Premiere Date:  All four episodes premiere August 2nd on Apple TV+

When you think of the cartel, you don’t necessarily think of horse races. But rookie FBI agent Scott Lawson brought down the Treviño brothers, the leaders of a Mexican cartel known as Los Zetas, by realizing they were using the American Quarter Horse racing industry to launder millions and millions of dollars.  This docuseries comes from Eric Newman, the executive producer of Narcos and Griselda, and features never-before-seen interviews with some of the key players, including Lawson, IRS agent Steve Pennington, and New York Times journalist Ginger Thompson. The real-life stakes were incredibly high, and the taut four episodes moves at breathtaking speed. 

Dance Moms: A New Era

Stars: Glo Hampton 

Premiere Date:  All 10 episodes premiere August 7th on Hulu

In this reboot of Dance Moms (which ended its eight-season run in 2019), new coach Glo Hampton, who says she used to be a dear friend of Abby Lee Miller,  is loving and supportive of her new group of junior elite dancers. As you can tell by the trailer, I’m just kidding! A kinder, gentler dance instructor may be what you want for your own child, but it doesn’t necessarily make for good TV.  Hampton is Abby Lee Miller 2.0 as she prepares her team of dancers ranging from ages eight to 12 for competitions. “I know I can make these kids stars and I can do it without them resenting me in 10 years,” she claims in the series premiere—before ranking the girls in a pyramid with the worst dancers on the bottom and her favorite on the top. Will this new era of Dance Moms be just as addictive as their predecessors?

Mr. Throwback

Stars: Stephen Curry, Adam Pally, Ego Nwodim, and Adyen Mayeri

Premiere Date:  All six episodes premiere August 8th on Peacock

Perhaps you’ve seen this one advertised during the Olympics? Stephen Curry plays a fictionalized version of himself in this six-episode mockumentary. Adam Pally co-stars as Danny Grossman, Curry’s childhood best friend and sixth grade basketball teammate. Now a failed sports memorabilia dealer, Danny looks to connect with his old friend to help him with his financial troubles. Saturday Night Live star Ego Nwodim co-stars as Kimberly, a childhood friend of Danny and Stephen who now runs his production company. 

Amy Amatangelo, the TV Gal®, is a Boston-based freelance writer and a member of the Television Critics Association. She wasn’t allowed to watch much TV as a child and now her parents have to live with this as her career. You can follow her on Twitter (@AmyTVGal).

For all the latest TV news, reviews, lists and features, follow @Paste_TV.