If you want to get in the spirit of the season this October, you should keep your eye on IT: Welcome to Derry, HBO’s upcoming prequel series to Andy Muschietti’s IT movies, which tells the origin story of a certain murderous clown. There’s also the latest season of Ryan Murphy’s anthology Monster, which will focus on real-life convicted killer Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam. If you’re not in the mood for any of that, there are still some options for you: the second season of the Kristen Bell-Adam Brody rom-com series Nobody Wants This, the Interview with the Vampire spin-off Talamasca: The Secret Order, and the Emma Thompson-starring mystery thriller Down Cemetery Road. And when it doubt, there’s always the latest season of Abbott Elementary to cozy up with.
Our guide to the best TV and streaming movies in October is divided into three sections: the best shows to watch this month, the best shows to watch by streaming service, and a calendar of TV highlights. Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find it below.
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The best shows to watch in October
Abbott Elementary Season 5 (Oct. 1, ABC/Oct. 2, Hulu)
After that fateful visit from the Always Sunny gang, the teachers of Willard R. Abbott Elementary School deserve a break. But they’re not getting it, because school is back in session, and there are some changes in store for our favorite Philly-based educators. Janine (Quinta Brunson) is now handling a class of 40 second graders (“I, for one, am excited to see if it will break her,” says Janelle James’ Ava), Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) is moving up to teach middle schoolers, and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) is busy teaching Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) how to ride a bike. Also, the ceiling in the teachers’ lounge seems to be caving in. All in a day’s work at Abbott. –Allison Picurro [Trailer]
Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Oct. 3, Netflix)
Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology series about some of the worst killers in history is never without controversy, whether it be a general disregard for the victims, too much glorification of the murderers, or bending the truth under the guise of artistic license to create a new narrative. But it has its moments, like Season 2’s “The Hurt Man” and Cooper Koch’s Emmy-nominated performance. Season 3, called Monster: The Ed Gein Story, will focus on 1950s convicted killer Ed Gein, who will be played by Sons of Anarchy‘s Charlie Hunnam. In typical Murphy fashion, he’ll be joined by a star-studded cast that includes Laurie Metcalf, Tom Hollander, and Olivia Williams. –Tim Surette [Trailer] [Everything to know about Monster Season 3]
The Last Frontier (Oct. 10, Apple TV+)
The Blacklist creator Jon Bokenkamp is bringing his particular brand of twisty, hardened-criminals-on-the-run drama to your TVs this fall with The Last Frontier, a thriller set in the unforgiving wilderness of Alaska. Jason Clarke plays a U.S. Marshal whose day just got a whole lot busier when a transport plane carrying some of the country’s worst prisoners crashes, freeing bad dudes all over his turf. And of course, the crash may not have been an accident. (Dun dun dun!) It’s a good-looking dad show for Apple, which happily threw cash at the project to produce one of the most exciting opening scenes of the year. (Watch the teaser trailer for a preview.) Dominic Cooper and Haley Bennett also star. –Tim Surette [Teaser]
The Diplomat Season 3 (Oct. 16, Netflix)
The Diplomat gets closer to The West Wing with every season. In Season 2, the Netflix political thriller added Allison Janney as then-Vice President Grace Penn, who was revealed to have orchestrated the terrorist attack that kicked off the series. In Season 3, Janney’s fellow West Wing alum Bradley Whitford joins the cast as Grace’s husband — who becomes the country’s first gentleman as Grace ascends to the presidency. Now, Kate (Keri Russell) and Hal (Rufus Sewell) have to navigate knowing the new president’s darkest secrets, all while Hal is gunning for Kate to be made vice president. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer] [Everything to know about The Diplomat Season 3]
Nobody Wants This Season 2 (Oct. 23, Netflix)
Actually, everybody wants this. Following a buzzy first season, Kristen Bell and Adam Brody’s Netflix rom-com is back for Season 2, which follows its unlikely central couple — agnostic podcaster Joanne (Bell) and rabbi Noah (Brody) — as they enter the next stage of their relationship. Gossip Girl alum Leighton Meester, Brody’s real-life wife, guest stars as a momfluencer, and long may the Leighton Meester renaissance continue. –Kelly Connolly [Trailer]
IT: Welcome to Derry (Oct. 26, HBO)
Will Bill Skarsgård ever be freed from the Pennywise makeup? Well, not anytime soon, considering that the arrival of IT: Welcome to Derry is imminent. The series acts as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s IT films, which were in turn based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel about a malevolent clown who targets a group of kids in a small town in Maine. Set in 1962, Welcome to Derry stars Taylour Paige and Jovan Adepo as a young couple who move to Derry with their son, just as children beg in mysteriously disappearing. I’ll give you one clue as to who’s behind it. –Allison Picurro
Talamasca: The Secret Order (Oct. 26, AMC and AMC+)
If it wasn’t already obvious, AMC is very much in the Anne Rice business. Talamasca: The Secret Order is the latest addition to the Immortal Universe and follows up on the groundwork laid in Interview with the Vampire Season 2. The series focuses on the titular secret organization that tracks supernatural creatures across the globe, and stars Nicholas Denton as an aspiring lawyer who suddenly finds himself becoming the Talamasca’s new recruit. It all sounds a bit Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but at least my friend and yours, Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian), is confirmed to be making a crossover appearance in the new show. –Allison Picurro [Trailer]
Down Cemetery Road (Oct. 29, Apple TV+)
Here’s another mystery thriller for your watchlist: Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson star in Down Cemetery Road, Slow Horses writer Morwenna Banks’ adaptation of Mick Herron’s novel. Set in a quiet suburb in Oxford, the series picks up after a house explodes and a local girl subsequently goes missing. Wilson plays Sarah Tucker, a concerned neighbor who becomes obsessed with the disappearance, and Thompson plays Zoë Boehm, the private investigator Sarah enlists to help her. As the two dig deeper into the case, they find themselves at the center of a vast conspiracy. –Allison Picurro [Trailer]
What’s on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video, and more in October
Netflix’s best new shows and movies in October
Aside from the third season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster, which is both appropriately named and appropriately creepy for Halloween, Netflix isn’t having a particularly spooky October, but it is having an intense October in other ways. The month’s biggest Netflix premieres include two political thrillers (Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite and the third season of The Diplomat) and a psychological thriller (the Keira Knightley-led The Woman in Cabin 10), not to mention another psychological thriller joining the streamer’s library (the third season of AMC’s great Dark Winds, which, it’s worth noting, was executive produced by the late Robert Redford). When you need to unwind from all that stress, watch Season 2 of the Emmy-nominated rom-com Nobody Wants This. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on Netflix in October, plus everything coming to and leaving Netflix in October.
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HBO Max’s best new shows and movies in October
If you’re the kind of person who likes to watch Andy Muschietti’s IT movies every October, we have just the show for you. Premiering on HBO just in time for Halloween is the IT prequel series Welcome to Derry, which is set in the early ’60s and tells the story of just how this little town in Maine came to be haunted by a demon clown alien. If Halloween is just another day for you, you can check out the singular Tim Robinson’s new comedy series, The Chair Company, which premieres on HBO this month as well. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on HBO Max in September, plus everything coming to HBO Max in October.
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Hulu’s best new shows and movies in October
For many, October means Huluween, so why not scare yourself with a new show that sheds light on some real-life horror? Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke star in the platform’s latest true crime adaptation, Murdaugh: Death in the Family, which is based on Mandy Matney’s Murdaugh Murders Podcast and digs into the case of a wealthy South Carolina family hiding very dark secrets. Murdaugh: Death in the Family premieres on Hulu on Oct. 15. Earlier in September, Abbott Elementary returns for Season 5, which will stream new episodes on Hulu the day after airing on ABC. And if none of that is for you, all the Twilight movies hit Hulu this month. As we all know, Twilight is the great uniter. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on Hulu in October, plus everything coming to Hulu in October.
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Amazon Prime Video’s best new shows and movies in October
You are going to be all over Amazon Prime in October, but mostly because of the upcoming Prime Day. As for Prime Video? Well, did we mention Prime Day? The new TV shows and movies on Prime Video in October are lacking following a pretty busy September. To start the month, Mark Wahlberg headlines the action film Play Dirty, a bombastic heist film directed by The Nice Guys‘ Shane Black. And the latest from author Harlan Coben, whose work has been ubiquitous on streamers over the last several years, is Harlan Coben’s Lazarus, which comes out in the second half of the month. Here’s our list of the best shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video in October, plus everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in October.
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Peacock’s new shows and movies in October
If you’re looking for something terrifying to watch on Peacock this October, you can’t find anything much more horrifying than the story of John Wayne Gacy, the infamous serial killer who tortured, raped, and took the lives of nearly three dozen young men and boys in the 1970s. Peacock’s true crime series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy stars Severance‘s Michael Chernus as Gacy, and shows how Gacy used his unassuming presence and charm to enact a quiet reign of terror. Peacock’s other October highlights include the streaming premieres of the live-action adaptation of How to Train Your Dragon and Ethan Coen’s dark comedy Honey Don’t!, starring Margaret Qualley as a small-town private investigator. And don’t forget about fall TV premieres; Peacock will also be the streaming home of broadcast favorites like Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Saturday Night Live. Here’s our list of everything coming to Peacock in October.
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Paramount+’s new shows and movies in October
The new shows and movies coming to Paramount+ in October are wide-ranging, but as usual, it all starts with something from the Taylor Sheridan universe. Mayor of Kingstown and Jeremy Renner’s Mike McLusky are back for a fourth term, but he’ll have to run things with new enemies trying to fill the power vacuum after the eradication of the Russian mob in Season 3. Joining the cast this season are Edie Falco, Lennie James, Laura Benanti, and Clayton Cardenas. A few other options are catching our attention this month. The four-part scripted series Red Alert draws from survivors’ accounts to depict the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, the documentary Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now looks at the last chapter of the famed Black Sabbath frontman’s career, and Don’t Date Brandon is a true-crime series about an online romance scammer and the women he duped. Here’s our list of everything coming to Paramount+ in October.
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Tubi’s new shows and movies in October
October is the month of frights, and what is more frightening than a faulty Crock-Pot? The NBC hit drama This Is Us — and its destructive kitchen appliance — headlines the new movies and shows coming to Tubi in October. But that’s not the only thing. Tubi is also debuting the original docuseries Always, Lady London, a three-episode series following the American rapper on a worldwide tour following the release of the album To Whom It May Concern. There are some wonderful library movies coming too, including Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, Darren Aronofsky’s Pi, Zack Snyder’s Watchmen, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, and more. Here’s our list of everything coming to Tubi in October.
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October TV calendar highlights
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Abbott Elementary (Season 5, ABC)
Love Is Blind (Season 9, Netflix)
Play Dirty (Film, Prime Video)
Friday, Oct. 3
The Lost Bus (Film, Apple TV+)
Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Limited Series, Netflix)
Steve (Film, Netflix)
V/H/S/HALLOWEEN (Film, Shudder)
Sunday, Oct. 5
Brian and Maggie (Limited Series, PBS)
The Gold (Season 1, PBS)
Tuesday, Oct. 7
Ozzy: No Escape From Now (Documentary, Paramount+)
Friday, Oct. 10
The Last Frontier (Limited Series, Apple TV+)
The Woman in Cabin 10 (Film, Netflix)
Sunday, Oct. 12
The Chair Company (Season 1, HBO)
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Loot (Season 3, Apple TV+)
Murdaugh: Death in the Family (Limited Series, Hulu)
Thursday, Oct. 16
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (Limited Series, Peacock)
The Diplomat (Season 3, Netflix)
Ghosts (Season 5, CBS)
Friday, Oct. 17
Mr. Scorsese (Documentary Series, Apple TV+)
Wednesday, Oct. 22
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (Film, Hulu)
Lazarus (Limited Series, Prime Video)
Thursday, Oct. 23
Nobody Wants This (Season 2, Netflix)
Friday, Oct. 24
A House of Dynamite (Film, Netflix)
Sunday, Oct. 26
IT: Welcome to Derry (Season 1, HBO Max)
Mayor of Kingstown (Season 4, Paramount+)
Talamasca: The Secret Order (Season 1, AMC)
Wednesday, Oct. 29
Down Cemetery Road (Limited Series, Apple TV+)
Hedda (Film, Prime Video)
Thursday, Oct. 30
The Witcher (Season 4, Netflix)
