The 2024 Golden Globes nominees have been announced and, as far as TV goes, it’s going to be tough to pick the winners. So many excellent performances—doubly for Rachel Weisz in Dead Ringers—but why is Trevor Noah’s Where Was I Netflix standup special in there? It hasn’t even premiered yet, Hollyweird.
This week’s What to Watch picks include new Mark Wahlberg action comedy The Family Plan, the finale of Archer, the streaming premiere of Barbie, the returns of Reacher and Chicken Run, and Ring of Honor pro-wrestling action. If you can dream it, you can stream it!
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What’s premiering this week
The Family Plan | Apple TV+ | Action, comedy
Movie premiere, Friday, December 15: Car salesman Dan (Mark Wahlberg) lives a quiet suburban life with his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and three kids, but he has a secret past. No, not as a rapper with a Funky Bunch—he was an assassin. When his cover is blown and his old enemies come for him, Dan takes the fam on a road trip to Las Vegas, where hella action and dad jokes ensue. The Family Plan is a tried-and-true setup, but Wahlberg and Monaghan sell it like pros … just don’t think too hard.
Ring of Honor Final Battle | ROH Honor Club | Sports, wrestling
Coverage begins Friday, December 15, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT: Live from the Curtis Cullwell Center in Garland, Texas, it’s Ring of Honor Final Battle 2023 (apparently, last year’s Final Battle wasn’t really all that final). On the card: Athena vs. Billie Starkz, Keith Lee vs. Shane Taylor, Tony Nese vs. Ethan Page, Wheeler Yuta & Bryan Danielson vs. FTR & Mark Briscoe, and Dalton Castle vs. Komander vs. Kyle Fletcher vs. Lee Johnson vs. Lee Moriarty. Catch all the rasslin’ action at WatchROH.com.
What to watch on Netflix this week
Carol & The End of the World | Netflix | Animation, comedy
Series premiere, Friday, December 25: On a crash course with another planet, Earth is headed for oblivion (finally!), but Carol (voiced by Martha Kelly) hasn’t found meaning in her life yet—clock’s ticking, Carol. According to series creator Dan Guteman, Carol & The End of the World is “a love letter to routine. A show about the comforts of monotony. An animated and existential comedy about the daily rituals that make up the gaps that make up a life.” Deep, but is it funny? Yes, apocalyptically so.
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget | Netflix | Animation, comedy
Movie premiere, Friday, December 15: Twenty-three years after escaping Mrs. Tweedy’s farm, chickens Ginger (voiced by Thandwie Newton), Rocky (Zachary Levi), and daughter Molly (Bella Ramsey) are living their best life on an island bird sanctuary. Back on the mainland, however, Mrs. Tweedy is bent on revenge, posing an eggs-istential threat to all chickenkind, and it’s up to Ginger and her coop comrades to stop her. Why’d it take so long to follow-up the hit 2000 movie Chicken Run? Who the cluck knows?
What to watch on Peacock this week
Special premiere, Monday, December 11: Music icon Barry Manilow has countless TV appearances over his 60-year(!) career, but he’s never had his own holiday special until now with Barry Manilow’s A Very Barry Christmas. Besides his own hits like “Copacabana,” “Mandy,” “I Write the Songs,” and “Looks Like We Made It,” Manilow will also croon Christmas classics from a casino at the North Pole (actually, Las Vegas). There are no guest stars dropping in because this is A Very Barry Christmas, understood?
Special premiere, Thursday, December 14: It’s a given that old standbys like “Schweddy Balls,” “I Wish It Was Christmas Today,” and Adam Sandler’s “Chanukah Song” will be in this year’s A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special, but how about some newer material? Like “Christmas Miracle” (with Kate McKinnon as an alien abductee), “Holiday Baking Championship” (starring Eddie Murphy), or “The Christmas Candle” (featuring the cast and Emma Stone vamping it up ‘80s-style)? Shake it up, SNL.
What to watch on Prime Video this week
Los Farad | Prime Video | Action, drama
Series premiere, Tuesday, December 12: Set in the Spanish city of Marbella in the 1980s, Los Farad follows young Oskar (Miguel Herrán), a trainer with the dream of opening his own gym who gets caught up in the glam Costa del Sol world of rich jet setters, geopolitical players, and arms traffickers. Of course, he’s been lured into this sexy-dangerous life by a sexy-dangerous woman, Sara Farad (Susana Abaitua). Los Farad is an eye-popping mix of scenery and action, and all eight episodes stream on December 12.
Reacher | Prime Video | Action, drama
Season 2 premiere, Friday, December 15: Former military police investigator Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is reunited with his 110th MP Special Investigations U.S. Army unit, but it’s not a happy occasion: they’re all being targeted by a mysterious assassin. This story arc is pulled from Bad Luck and Trouble, the 11th book in Lee Child’s bestselling Reacher series, and returning stars Ritchson and Maria Sten will be joined by newcomers Serinda Swan, Shaun Sipos, Ferdinand Kingsley, and villainous vet Robert Patrick.
W2W wildcards of the week
Barbie | Max | Comedy, fantasy
Movie streaming premiere, Friday, December 15: It made over $1 billion in theaters this year, but there are still some homebodies who haven’t experienced Barbie yet—get ready to have your normie minds blown. When Barbie (Margo Robbie) begins having an existential crisis in idyllic Barbieland, she and Ken (Ryan Gosling) infiltrate the real world for answers. What follows is a hilarious treatise on The Patriarchy that many a conservative news media snowflake just couldn’t handle. Prepare to feel all the feels.
Series finale, Sunday, December 17: If it seemed like the 14th and final season of animated spy comedy Archer ended abruptly and unceremoniously back in October, it’s because it ain’t over yet. Archer: Into the Cold is really just the last three episodes stitched together as a movie event—a holiday miracle! Archer (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) and the team must work together one last time in order to save the world (again). The end of Archer is sad, but at least Benjamin can save his voice for Bob’s Burgers now.
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