What to Watch This Week: Unwind With Top 9 TV & Movie Picks (September 9–15)

New on TV this week

The second, and likely last, presidential debate of the 2024 election season will go down Tuesday, September 10, on ABC and several simulcast networks. Or it won’t. In any case, best check out our How To Watch the 2024 Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump Presidential Debate guide.

This week’s What to Watch picks include the returns of The Old Man and Tulsa King, the premieres of How to Die Alone and Three Women, current-events-and-comedy show Have I Got News for You, dystopian sci-fi movie Uglies, and FOX College Football Friday gridiron action. TV goggles on!

New on Hulu this week

The Old Man | FX, Hulu | Drama

Season 2 premiere, Thursday, September 12: One of 2022’s buzziest shows is finally back for another season of septuagenarian spy thrills and kills—The Old Man won Best Series and Best Actor (Jeff Bridges) in the 2023 AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, after all. Ex-CIA operative Dan Chase (Bridges) spent season 1 on the run from assassins and FBI agent Harold Harper (John Lithgow); now, Dan and Harold are teaming up for a personal rescue mission in Afghanistan. Who says you can’t make new friends later in life?  Watch trailer

Live on FOX this weekend

FOX College Football Friday | FOX | Sports, football

Series premiere, Friday, September 13: Now that WWE Friday Night SmackDown has moved on to USA Network ahead of WWE Monday Night Raw’s relocation from USA to Netflix next January (yes, it’s a lot), what’s to become of FOX Fridays? Pro wrestling is out; college football is in. FOX College Football Friday will feature games from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Mountain West conferences every Friday night into December, kicking off with Arizona at K-State. That’s two Wildcats teams, BTW.

New on Hulu this weekend

How to Die Alone | Hulu | Comedy

Series premiere, Friday, September 13: After a brush with death at work, JFK airport employee Mel (Natasha Rothwell) decides to finally get her life together and really live. How to Die Alone was also created by Rothwell, who’s been working on this story since 2016 but has been (successfully) sidetracked by roles in The White Lotus and Insecure, as well as a writing gig on Saturday Night Live. “This had to be born and see the light of day,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m glad I didn’t give up.”  Watch trailer

New on STARZ this weekend

Three Women | STARZ | Drama

Series premiere, Friday, September 13: Three Women, based on the Lisa Taddeo book, was originally destined for SHOWTIME in 2019, but the Great Paramount-ization led the completed series to be sold off to STARZ. The story follows newly-nomadic writer Gia (Shailene Woodley, sporting the biggest hair of her career) as she interviews three women (Betty Gilpin, DeWanda Wise, and Gabrielle Creevy) about the different ways they dramatically upended their lives. Have the tissues handy.  Watch trailer

Want more new TV shows?

New on Netflix this weekend

Uglies | Netflix | Drama, sci-fi

Movie premiere, Friday, September 13: In a futuristic society, everyone is forced to go under the plastic surgery knife to look beautiful and conform to the accepted aesthetic—you know, like Coachella, or a Netflix movie. Based on Scott Westerfield’s 2005 novel and directed by McG, the flashy Uglies is a dystopian thriller with comic undertones and a none-too-subtle message about body image and individuality. Bonus: If you’re getting a Hunger Games vibe, imagine Laverne Cox as Effie Trinket.  Watch trailer

New on CNN this weekend

Have I Got News for You | CNN, Max | News, comedy

Series premiere, Saturday, September 14: The Daily Show has rebounded nicely after Trevor Noah’s departure in 2022 with a rotating cast of anchors (including returning host Jon Stewart). But Comedy Central lost the hilariously talented Roy Wood Jr. in the process, and now CNN has him. Have I Got News for You is an Americanized take on a BBC hit, with Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin, and Michael Ian Black hosting a news-of-the-week quiz show with celebrity guests. As CNN ideas go, this one might actually work.

Looking for your next binge-watch?

Live on ABC this weekend

76th Primetime Emmy Awards | ABC | Awards

Coverage begins Sunday, September 15, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT: Schitt’s Creek stars Eugene and Dan Levy are the first father-and-son team to ever host the Emmys as far as anyone knows (where would you even look up something like that?). Most eyes are on the Outstanding Comedy Series category this year, which pits trad network sitcom Abbott Elementary against drama-heavy streamers like Hacks and The Bear. Meanwhile, the oft-funny Fallout has a Drama nod. Good luck with all of that, Eugene and Dan.  Watch trailer

New on Paramount+ this weekend

Tulsa King | Paramount+ | Drama

Season 2 premiere, Sunday, September 15: The debut season of Tulsa King introduced Dwight “The General“ Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone), a fresh-out-of-prison New York mob capo shipped off to set up criminal operations in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He immediately muscled his way into the local legal weed business, caught the attention of the FBI, ticked off a biker gang, and opened a casino—not bad for nine episodes’ work. Season 2 promises more trouble and sharp, snarky writing from Terrence Winter.  Watch trailer

New movie releases available to rent/buy on VOD this week

Subservience (2024)

It’s a sexed-up psychodrama and a cautionary tale about the dangers of AI—if it were a Lifetime movie, Subservience would be titled My Android Maid Seduced My Husband and Took My Baby. When his wife Maggie (Madeline Zima) falls ill, Nick (Michele Monroe) buys android assistant Alice (Megan Fox) to help with the household. No sooner than you can say “Best Buy return policy,” Alice becomes obsessed with Nick, their child, and replacing Maggie. Is it a diss to say that Fox plays an inhuman being convincingly?  Watch trailer

• American Trash (September 10)
• Bo Nan Za (September 10)
• The Grab (September 10)
• Happy Campers (September 10)
• Last Summer (September 10)
• Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory (September 10)
• Stinky Summer (September 10)
• Wineville (September 10)
• Believer (September 13)
• Booger (September 13)
• Dead Money (September 13)
• Here After (September 13)
• Subservience (September 13)
• Trilogy: New Wave (September 13)
• Winner (September 13)