Your Guide To All The Best TV And Movies Streaming In The New Year
Summer is the perfect time to close the blinds and watch TV.
Ah, summer in Australia. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the beach is calling. It’s a perfect time to close the blinds, lay on the couch and start streaming some good TV.
2017 was an incredible year for film and TV. If you haven’t already, check out Junkee’s guide to the best TV of the year here, and our top 10 films here. But if you’ve watched everything already, there’s a whole bunch of great new stuff premiering over the next few weeks, and some old classics finally making their way to our streaming services.
So put your comfy pants on, switch your phone to Do Not Disturb and open your streaming service of choice.
Here’s What’s Streaming Over The Holiday Period
RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 3
The only thing better than RuPaul’s Drag Race is RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. A bunch of our series favourites are returning for the third instalment of All Stars. Some standout beauties making a comeback include Trixie Mattel, Chi Chi Devayne, Thorgy Thor, Kennedy Davenport, BenDeLaCreme, Milk and the queen the show can’t seem to shake: Shangela.
Where you can watch it: Stan.
When you can watch it: New episodes are being fast-tracked from the US every Friday from January 26.
Riverdale
Your problematic fave is back from its mid-season break in mid-January. If you’ve given up on Riverdale, we don’t blame you, but if you’re sticking it out, good on you. Maybe streaming’s best bad show can redeem itself before the end of season 2.
Where you can watch it: Netflix.
When you can watch it: January 18.
Romper Stomper
Hoo boy. I am very nervous about how this turns out. A show highlighting the inner workings of far-right racism and its impact on Australian society, what could go wrong? But the original 1992 film is more relevant than ever, and the Stan reboot has a killer cast, including Lachy Hulme in the lead, and he’s never let us down before.
Where you can watch it: Stan
When you can watch it: All six episodes are available from New Years Day.
Will & Grace
Look, the Will & Grace reboot has been pretty hit and miss since it returned to our screens a few months back. But when it’s been good, there have been some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. The show was recently nominated for two Golden Globes, including for best musical or comedy.
Will & Grace went on a break in November, but it’s back in January. Hopefully the writers have gotten all of the housekeeping out of their systems by wrapping up some of our favourite characters’ stories (did we really need to know what happened to Leo?), and we can just get on with some solid jokes now.
Where you can watch it: Stan
When you can watch it: Weekly from January 5 — same day as the US.
The X Files
Yes, The X Files is back for an 11th (and final?) season. Again, the results from this reboot were mixed, but another season will hopefully give us some answers from that season 10 cliffhanger, and wrap everything up in a neat little bow so that this classic show can get the finale it deserves.
Where you can watch it: Foxtel On Demand.
When you can watch it: The first episode airs at 8.30 on January 4.
The Office (US Version)
Every. Episode. Ever.
Where you can watch it: Stan
When you can watch it: January 25.
Lovesick
If you missed the first two seasons of Lovesick, you’re not alone. The smart, funny, and a bit-too-real romcom has been criminally under-appreciated in Australia. But that’s about to change. Each episode is a perfectly bingeable 25 minutes long, so you can catch up before the third season begins in January.
Where you can watch it: Netflix
When you can watch it: January 1.
What Else Is On?
But hey, that’s not all. The big streaming services also have a heap of movies and TV shows coming to their services over the next few weeks. Here’s what else is coming up:
Netflix: Season 4 of Grace & Frankie (Jan 4), Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery (weekly from Jan 8), and season 1 the extremely trashy Dynasty (Jan 18). Netflix also has a bunch of films arriving in January, including some classic faves — Groundhog Day and Hook — on New Year’s Day, which is the most popular streaming day of the year.
Also arriving in January is Guardians of The Galaxy: Volume 2 (Jan 21), Don Jon (Jan 1), Mad Max (Jan 26), American Hustle (Jan 21) and The Wolf Of Wall Street (Jan 28).
Stan: There are a few more goodies coming to Stan in January, including the final season of Adventure Time (streaming now!) and the premiere of another Stan original, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.
The ABC: Our favourite new satirical news show, Tonightly, returns on January 8, while the very best of original comedy series Fresh Blood will be presented by Wil Anderson at the end of the month. You can catch up on all of Fresh Blood now in iView.
Foxtel On Demand: Don’t forget, The Real Housewives Of Melbourne is continuing over on Foxtel. Meanwhile new series of Great Australian Bake Off and Grand Designs Australia are also beginning in January.