If you’re looking for something new to binge-watch, you can usually count on Netflix to deliver a healthy roster of shows every month — from new originals to old favorites that just joined the library, and September is no different. From the return of Netflix’s most-watched show to a slew of new originals that include a charming animated series that’s just right for Spooky Season, a new historical drama from the creator of “Peaky Blinders” and a surprising follow-up from “Feel Good” creator and star Mae Martin. Here are nine new shows to binge-watch on Netflix this month.
“Wednesday” Season 2 Part 2
Netflix megahit “Wednesday” returned with the final four episodes of its second season to kick off September. After Part 1 wrapped up the mystery of the Avian killer and Willow Hill Psychiatric Hospital, Part 2 focuses on some familiar faces, digging into another buried Addams Family secret at Nevermore — with surprising ties to Season 1 mystery monster and former Wednesday flame, Tyler Gilpin. It’s peak binge-watching for Spooky Season with an obvious amount of budget and artistry poured into huge, immersive sets, costumes and creature effects.
“Nashville”
If you’re looking for a long-running show you can really sink your teeth into for a binge-watch, Netflix just added “Nashville.” The series debuted on ABC in 2012 and aired there for four years before hopping over to CMT for its final two seasons, leaving a 124-episode binge-watch to settle into. A soapy drama set in the world of Nashville’s country music superstardom, “Nashville” stars Connie Britton as a country legend whose career is on the decline and Hayden Panetierre as the young, rising star selling one pop country hit after another. It’s a big-budget, starry nighttime Network soap with some impressive pedigree behind the series’ music, including Elvis Costello and a pre-superstardom Kacey Musgraves.
“Next Gen Chef”
“Top Chef” fans who are finding the wait for Season 23 a bit too long would do well to check out Netflix’s new cooking competition “Next Gen Chef,” which has “Top Chef” producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz on board, and settles into a similar format, with a twist. As the title suggests, the competitors aren’t leading figures in the industry, but young upstarts eager to make a name for themselves at the start of their career, and set at the Culinary Institute of America, aka the CIA (which actually predates the other CIA by a year, funnily enough), where instructors observe and guide them in the kitchen. The series takes a minute to find its footing, with the spectacularly brutal first episode eliminating half of the contestants, but once it does, it delivers the drama, inspiration and deep-rooted appreciation of the culinary arts that has made “Top Chef” such a hit.
“Black Rabbit”
One of the year’s very best new shows, “Black Rabbit” — created by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman — follows two brothers. Jake (Jude Law) is a divorced dad who is running a hip bar and restaurant in New York (the titular Black Rabbit), while Vince (Jason Bateman) is a perpetual screw-up who crashes back into Jake’s life and threatens everything that Jake worked so hard for. This is a suspenseful (at times almost unbearably so), thoughtful and emotional story about the bonds of brotherhood and how past trauma informs how we live our lives today, with Bateman directing two episodes himself as he often did on “Ozark.” It never feels like just a crime show or your everyday thriller, there’s something more nuanced and textured to “Black Rabbit.” Just be warned: it is highly, compulsively binge-able. — Drew Taylor
“Billionaires’ Bunker”
Looking for something a little more soapy and playful? The new Spanish-language series “Billionaires’ Bunker” is exactly what it sounds like, following a group of the ultra-elite into an apocalyptic bunker, where they expect to find the paradise they paid for, only to realize they’re no longer the ones pulling the strings. The series hails from “Money Heist’s” Álex Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato, and as long as you know what you’re getting into, you should have a pretty good time with it. Which is to say, don’t expect prestige TV here. “Billionaires’ Bunker” is knowingly, cheekily more in line with a telenovela, playful, sexy and a little bit silly.
“Haunted Hotel”
Another great, not-too-scary watch for Spooky Season, Netflix’s new animated series “Haunted Hotel” comes from “Rick & Morty” vet Matt Roller and follows a single mother (voiced by Eliza Coupe) who runs a hotel full of ghosts, monsters, demons and other creatures that go bump in the night. Fortunately, she’s got a little help from her brother (Will Forte), who happens to be one of the ghosts that call the Undervale Hotel home. It’s cute, light-hearted “adult” animation (really more in the TV-14 zone), full of quirky characters and creatures, with inventive “monster of the week” style episodes. I’d check in for another stay anytime, so it’s great news that the series has already been renewed for Season 2.
“Doc”
What happens when a talented surgeon gets in a car accident and loses eight years of her memory and medical expertise? “Doc” explores just that wild premise with a stellar cast and plenty of soapy drama to boot. Molly Parker (“Lost in Space”) stars in the medical drama as Dr. Amy Larsen, who has to rebuild her life after the accident, including reuniting with the husband she can’t remember divorcing and mourning the loss of her son once again. The ten-episode first season follows as Amy grapples with all the changes in her personal life, as well as with learning the skills in the medical field she has lost after her brain injury. And once you’ve made it through the binge, Season 2 is already airing new episodes Tuesdays on Fox and streaming the next day on Hulu, with Felicity Huffman joining the cast as a new hospital leader with an intriguing connection to Amy. — Jose Bastidas
“House of Guinness”
The latest series from “Peaky Blinders” creator Stephen Knight, “House of Guinness” takes viewers to a highly fictionalized 1860s Ireland where the patriarch of the Guinness beer empire just died, leaving the future of his estate in the hands of his four far-flung children. There’s a lot of familiar DNA with Knight’s signature storytelling — a period piece with flexible historical accuracy, flowing machismo, a jam-packed soundtrack of anachronistic bangers, lots of fight scenes, and a bit of sex for good measure — with the added intrigue of the semi-true tale of the Guinness family business.
“Wayward”
Mae Martin’s “Feel Good” follow-up couldn’t be any less expected. Set in the world of the troubled teen industry, “Wayward” takes viewers inside the Tall Pines Academy, where the school’s chilling head, Evelyn Wade (Toni Collette), keeps secrets buried deep as she “cures” these wayward teens with her cruel and unusual practices. The troubled teen industry has a long history of questionable methods and extracting massive profits from desperate parents, and “Wayward” explores that turf with a flourish of mystery and oddity, and the gift of yet another excellent performance from Collette.
