Streaming in September: Impeachment, Sex Education, Scenes from a Marriage and more
What to watch this month, from returning favourites to blockbuster new releases, such as the Monica Lewinsky miniseries American Crime Story: Impeachment.
If any month is going to be declared the month of television, then it surely must be September. This is the month when the Emmys — the small screen’s most prestigious awards — are doled out, a time when the best comedies, dramas and miniseries from the past 12 months are celebrated.
This year, the Emmys will be held on September 19 in the US, or the morning of September 20 in Australia, and promise to be a star-studded ceremony with a mix of virtual and in-person nominees. Hot favourites to win key awards including The Crown — watch out for a four category acting sweep for Emma Corrin, Josh O’Connor, Gillian Anderson and Tobias Menzies, as well as Netflix’s best opportunity yet to win the prestigious, and thus far elusive to them prize of Best Drama Series — and Ted Lasso. In the miniseries category, it’s going to be a brutal death match between Kate Winslet’s Mare of Easttown and Anya Taylor-Joy’s The Queen’s Gambit. Get your popcorn now.
But what about new shows? Well, September will also bring plenty of those. While the fresh releases might be thinner on the ground this month than in August, a stacked month of new series, what September lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. Whether we’re talking returning favourites or brand new binge watches based on real events — Clive Owen and Beanie Feldstein as Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, anybody? — here is our pick of the best shows to stream this month.
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What We Do In The Shadows season 3
This American iteration of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s what-if-vampires-were-just-flatmates comedy series is back for a third season. Set in Staten Island, this show is a very enjoyable and extremely bingeable comedic take on the world of the undead. Yes, all the characters in What We Do In The Shadows are vampires. But they’re also just a group of friends trying to make sense of life, and love, and how to be (vampires) in the world today. A fourth season has already been commissioned of this beloved show — if you’re not already watching it, what are you waiting for? From September 3 on Binge
On The Verge
Netflix continues to attract top tier talent to their platform, including Before Midnight star Julie Delpy, who has both created and will headline this limited series about four women who are working their way through midlife crises. On The Verge will also star Elisabeth Shue and Sarah Jones. From September 7 on Netflix
American Crime Story: Impeachment
Coming to Binge in September is this Ryan Murphy-produced miniseries about the affair that stopped a nation: Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton. Booksmart actor Beanie Feldstein is fantastic as the White House intern while Clive Owen (!) will play the president, Arkansas brogue and all. Sarah Paulson anchors the series as Linda Tripp, Lewinsky’s supposed confidante who leaks their private conversations and kickstarts the impeachment process. This series couldn’t be buzzier, and given that it is produced by Lewinsky herself, promises to paint a particularly detailed picture of the events of the time. From September 8 on Binge
Scenes From A Marriage
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac star in this five part HBO miniseries, based on the iconic Ingmar Bergman Swedish television series of the same name. This is Chastain’s first small screen role in her career, and boy is it a good one: she plays Mira, a tech exec whose marriage to Jonathan (Isaac) is falling apart, despite all of his best attempts to keep them together. Sometimes, all you want from a television show is to be blown away by the acting prowess of two of our best thespians. Scenes from A Marriage is all that — and more. From September 13 on Foxtel’s Showcase and Binge
Sex Education season three
Fans of Sex Education, rejoice! The beloved Netflix series, created by English Australian writer Laurie Nunn returns this month for a third season. Everything you love about Sex Education is back in this new season: frank conversations about sex, gender and race, great performances by some of the best young actors in television, including stars Emma Mackey and Aimee Lou Wood, and, of course, Gillian Anderson — as sex therapist Jean, mother to Asa Butterfield’s Otis — in a roster of embroidered silk kimonos. Season three also adds Girl’s Jemima Kirke to the cast as the new headmistress of Moordale High School. From September 17 on Netflix
Morning Wars season 2
Jennifer Aniston. Reese Witherspoon. Steve Carrell. Bel Powley. Billy Crudup. Mark Duplass. When it comes to television shows, it really doesn’t get more star-studded than AppleTV+’s hero production Morning Wars. The first season, which followed the burgeoning relationship between anchors Alex (Aniston) and Bradley (Witherspoon), was a critical and popular hit, ending on an absolute cracker of a season finale, which raised more questions than it answered. This new season will start exactly where it left off — no spoilers, in case anyone hasn’t watched it yet — and continues with Alex and Bradley’s journey in the world of news. Oh, and in case Morning Wars wasn’t starry enough for you, season two adds Julianna Marguiles, Greta Lee, Hasan Minhaj and Holland Taylor to the cast. From September 17 on AppleTV+
Back to the Rafters
One of Amazon Prime Video’s big local content wins was securing the rights to the Packed to the Rafters reboot in 2019. The series is finally here, with original cast members including Rebecca Gibney, Erik Thomson and Hugh Sheridan reuniting, along with some new faces, to take us all back into the lives of the beloved Rafter family. If you were a fan of the original, you’ll find plenty of nostalgia value here. From September 17 on Amazon Prime Video
The Pembrokeshire Murders
John Cooper was one of the most notorious and terrifying serial killers in Welsh History; this three part miniseries, created by the team behind Line of Duty, is the story of how he was finally caught. Starring Luke Evans — fresh from his turn in Amazon Prime Video’s Nine Perfect Strangers — as a relentless detective assigned to Cooper’s case, this chilling true crime series was watched by more than 11 million people when it debuted in the UK earlier this year. From September 23 on BritBox
The Lost Symbol
Have you ever wondered what Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code series would look like if Robert Langdon was young and hot? Well, even if you haven’t, the creators of The Lost Symbol, a new series coming to Paramount+ have. That’s the premise of their show, which is a portrait of the symbology professor as a young — and attractive! — man. Australian actor Ashley Zukerman, who you might recognise from Succession — he plays Shiv’s bit on the side Nate — will play the professor in his youth. This show isn’t going to win awards, but it’s an enjoyable enough watch for fans of mysteries and, um, religious symbols. In September on Paramount+