What to Watch This Week: Relax With Top 9 TV & Movie Picks (August 12–18)

New on TV this week

Late-night talk show fans rejoice! The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart are all back and live this week. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver returned over the weekend, but don’t watch that episode unless you want your next Hawaiian vacation ruined.

This week’s What to Watch picks include the premiere of Vince Vaughn’s Bad Monkey, new seasons of Emily in Paris and Wisting, Awkwafina action comedy Jackpot, the new Rick & Morty: The Anime, and Premier League soccer action. Where’s the remote?

New on Apple TV+ this week

Bad Monkey | Apple TV+ | Comedy, drama

Series premiere, Wednesday, August 14: Bill Lawrence, the guy who brought you Scrubs, Ted Lasso, and Shrinking, is now in the TV comedy business with … Vince Vaughn? OK, let’s go with this: Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a former Miami police detective now working as a restaurant inspector, stumbles into a case of environmental corruption when a fishing tourist reels in someone’s severed arm. Bad Monkey is based on Carl Hiaasen’s 2013 novel of the same name, and two of 10 episodes stream on August 14.  Watch trailer

New on Discovery this week

Expedition Bigfoot | Discovery | Reality, paranormal

Season 5 premiere, Wednesday, August 14: Since 2020, Dr. Mireya Mayor and her “elite team of Sasquatch specialists” have been spelunking in the wildernesses of North America to find Bigfoot. You’ll probably be shocked to learn that they haven’t, thus necessitating another season of Warner Bros. Discovery-funded research. As season 5 opens, Expedition Bigfoot is back in Northern California, which begs the question: Do all of the Bigfoot-hunting reality shows coordinate their schedules and locales?  Watch trailer

New on Netflix this week

Emily in Paris | Netflix | Comedy, drama

Season 4 premiere, Thursday, August 15: In the fourth season of Darren Star’s breezy Emily in Paris, Emily (Lily Collins) will actually be out of Paris. “Emily finds herself with a busy travel schedule,” Star tells Netflix’s Tudum. “From the French Alps to piazzas of Rome, viewers will vicariously experience amazing new locations through Emily’s eyes.” Emily can run, but she can’t escape the romantic tension between her and Chef Gabriel (Lucas Bravo), who’s expecting a baby with her friend (Camille Razat). Drams!  Watch trailer

New on Prime Video this week

Jackpot | Prime Video | Action, comedy

Movie premiere, Thursday, August 15: In the not-too-distant future of 2030, the California lottery has a fun new twist: If you can catch and kill the winning ticket holder before sundown, you can collect the multi-billion-dollar jackpot yourself. Katie (Awkwafina) is the latest (un)lucky winner, so she hires amateur “lottery protection agent” Noel (John Cena) to protect her from would-be assassins (including Simi Liu, Seann William Scott, and … Machine Gun Kelly). Paul Feig directed Jackpot (originally titled Grand Theft Lotto), so it’s a comedy.  Watch trailer

Want more new TV shows?

New on Adult Swim this week

Rick & Morty: The Anime | Adult Swim, Max | Animation, comedy

Series premiere, Thursday, August 15: An alternate-universe anime Rick & Morty is just what this ridiculous year needed right about now. Written and directed by Takashi Sano (Tower of God), Rick & Morty: The Anime features the same characters as the Adult Swim original but with different storylines, voice actors, and, of course, animation style. And don’t worry, anime diehards: This Rick & Morty will be available in both dubbed and subbed form (IYKYK). New episodes will air weekly into October.  Watch trailer

New on Sundance Now this week

Wisting | Sundance Now | Drama, thriller

Season 4 premiere, Thursday, August 15: During the pandemic lockdown, “Nordic noir” crime dramas set against the snowy backdrops of Scandinavia and other Nordic countries were all the rage. One that slipped by most of us was Wisting, a Norway-set drama centered on Larvik police detective William Wisting (Sven Nordin). Season 4’s case involves a kidnapped six-year-old boy being held for ransom, but clues suggest that it’s only a part of a larger revenge plot. All four episodes stream on August 15.  Watch trailer

Live on Peacock this weekend

Premier League | NBCUniversal Networks | Sports, soccer

Coverage begins Friday, August 16, 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT: The 2024–2025 Premier League season kicks off with Fulham at Manchester United on USA Network and Universo on Friday, followed by six matches on USA, Universo, and Peacock on Saturday, and two matches on NBC, USA, Telemundo, and Peacock on Sunday; the season ends with Championship Sunday on May 25, 2025. Read our Watch the Premier League in the U.S. guide for everything you need to know about this season.

New on Netflix this weekend

The Union | Netflix | Action, comedy

Movie premiere, Friday, August 16: New Jersey construction worker Mike (Mark Wahlberg) is kidnapped and recruited by his long-lost high school flame Roxanne (Halle Berry) for a high-stakes espionage mission in Europe. Why? Maybe she saw Wahlberg in last year’s secret-spy comedy The Family Plan, who knows? Besides Wahlberg and Berry, the rest of The Union’s big-star cast also burns through that Netflix money: J.K. Simmons, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, and Jackie Earle Haley.  Watch trailer

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

Twisters (2024)

The Year of Glen Powell continues with Twisters, a sort-of sequel to 1996’s hit Twister. Five years after an EF5 tornado killed most of her storm-chaser crew, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is talked back into the game by Javi (Anthony Ramos), who’s tracking a massive, potentially deadly tornado in Oklahoma. Once there, they run across Tyler “The Tornado Wrangler” Owens (Powell), a YouTube celebrity looking for content to build his rep. But the real draw of Twisters is, well, twisters, and this popcorn epic has ‘em in CGI spades.  Watch trailer

• Ingress (August 13)
• It Came From Aquarius Records (August 13)
• June Zero (August 13)
• Mothers’ Instinct (August 13)
• My First Horror Film (August 13)
• Surprise! (August 13)
• Trust In Love (August 13)
• Twisters (August 13)
• Watchmen Chapter 1 (August 13)
• Consumed (August 16)
• Crescent City (August 16)
• Dance First (August 16)
• Gunner (August 16)
• In the Rearview (August 16)
• The King Tide (August 16)
• The Midnight Gag (August 16)