‘The Gilded Age,’ ‘Our Flag Means Death,’ ‘Frasier’ & More Must-Stream Titles to Watch in October
Costume dramas, period comedies, horror stories: these are just some of the fantastical intrigues awaiting audiences on streaming services this October.
HBO‘s The Gilded Age Season 2 makes the top of our list of the top 25 shows to stream in October 2023. Julian Fellowes‘ Manhattan-set followup to Downton Abbey finally returns at the end of the month (streaming on Max).
For rom-com lovers, Rhys Darby, Taika Waititi, and the rest of the crew of the Revenge will delight with Our Flag Means Death Season 2, returning with its first three episodes on October 5. And joining American Horror Story: Delicate is the third season of American Horror Stories. Plus, Frasier returns!
You won’t find Loki below, as the God of Mischief is the cover star of TV Insider Magazine’s October 2023 issue. Tom Hiddleston comes hurtling back into the TVA with Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino, and new cast member Ke Huy Quan on October 5 on Disney+. Check out our deep dive into the new season here.
Scroll through TV Insider’s Top 25 streaming titles for October below to find a mix of new shows, plus titles you may not have known were recently made available on streaming.
This is an excerpt from TV Insider‘s October issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage devoted to streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the issue, currently on newsstands, or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.
1. The Gilded Age
Sunday, October 29, 9/8c, Max
The lush period piece finally returns for Season 2 with more highbrow antics and soapy twists for Oscar (Blake Ritson, with Nicole Brydon Bloom) and the rest of New York’s high society.
2. Frasier
Thursday, October 12, Paramount+
Pass the tossed salads and scrambled eggs! Kelsey Grammer is back in a revival sitcom that sends his uptight shrink back to Boston (cheers to that!) to join a college psych department.
3. Totally Killer
Friday, October 6, Prime Video
Party like it’s 1987 when a modern-day teen (Kiernan Shipka) goes back in time to stop a serial killer targeting her mom’s besties in a horror-com that’s a total scream.
4. Upload
Friday, October 20, Prime Video
Streaming’s best sci-fi comedy boots up Season 3 with Nathan (Robbie Amell) and Nora (Andy Allo) finally getting physical now that he’s escaped the digital afterlife…but for how long?
5. Pain Hustlers
Friday, October 27, Netflix
Emily Blunt and Chris Evans headline this timely and gripping new drama film. She plays a single mom who gets in way over her head after she joins a drug-sales rep in peddling pills that eventually feed a national epidemic and cause untold pain.
6. Our Flag Means Death
Thursday, October 5, Max
Ahoy, Minnie! In Season 2 of the swashbuckler comedy, Minnie Driver comes aboard as real-life pirate Anne Bonny.
7. Lupin
Thursday, October 5, Netflix
Quelle surprise! The gentleman thief Assane (Omar Sy) learns that you probably shouldn’t go home again when he returns to Paris for an ill-advised family reunion in Part 3 of the masterful, suspenseful heist thriller.
8. Long Way Up
Available now, Apple TV+
They’re on the road again! Motorcycling friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman saddle up for a 13,000-mile trek through 13 countries. How did you spend your summer vacay?
9. Cassandro
Recently available, Prime Video
The real-life tale of flamboyant gay wrestler Saúl Armendáriz (Gael García Bernal) hits the mat with heart.
10. Virgin River
Recently available, Netflix
Things heat up for Mel and Jack (Alexandra Breckenridge and Martin Henderson) in Season 5.
11. Hard Knocks: Training Camp With the New York Jets
Available now, Max
A new season hits for Aaron Rodgers.
12. Found
Tuesday, October 3, Peacock
The search is on! In this procedural, Shanola Hampton stars as a crisis-management expert who bucks the system to find missing people nobody else is looking for.
13. Explorer: Lake of Fire
Friday, October 27, Disney+
Braving brutal conditions, scientists and mountaineers explore a volcano that could contain an active lava lake.
14. The Fall of the House of Usher
Thursday, October 12, Netflix
Edgar Allan Poe’s short story inspired the latest creepshow from Midnight Mass auteur Mike Flanagan. Rahul Kohli costars.
15. Trying
Available now, Apple TV+
Find out why we heart this lovely U.K. dramedy about a British couple (Esther Smith and Rafe Spall) navigating the bumpy road to adoption (and getting a little help from their oddball loved ones).
16. Rachael Ray’s Rebuild
Monday, October 23, Hulu
Having lost a home to a disaster herself, daytime’s foodie queen teams up with Kitchen Cousins’ hottie contractor Anthony Carrino to help families who have lost their homes to wild weather and other catastrophes.
17. Slings & Arrows
Available now, Acorn TV
This 2003-06 dark comedy follows a wildly dramatic Canadian theater troupe (the hilarious cast includes Don McKellar and Mark McKinney).
18. Austin City Limits Music Festival
October 6-8, Hulu
Shania Twain, Maggie Rogers, the Foo Fighters and Kendrick Lamar are just some of the acts on tap this year at the always rockin’ event. Parts of the two-weekend showcase will be livestreamed.
19. American Horror Stories
Thursday, October 26, Hulu
Wanna see something really scary? The anthology spinoff from FX’s AHS serves up a new season of self-contained tales of dread. Don’t say you haven’t been warned.
20. Fast X
Recently available, Peacock
The high-octane franchise’s star-studded 10th installment was turned up to 11! That’s thanks to Jason Momoa’s unhinged turn as a drug kingpin’s son out to dismantle Dom (Vin Diesel) and his family.
21. Predators
Recently available, Netflix
Sure, they look cute…
22. 30 Coins
October, Max
Paul Giamatti joins in Season 2 of this horror-tinged Spanish series where characters battle demons both real and imagined.
23. The Little Mermaid Live!
Available now, Disney+
Queen Latifah’s Ursula is what we live for in the 2019 mashup, mixing live-action musical performances with clips from the animated classic about a sea-dwelling lass with a fishy plan to land a prince.
24. Billy the Kid
Sunday, October 15, MGM+
Tom Blyth always hits his target as the legendary gunslinger.
25. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Recently available, MGM+
Before ChatGPT, there was Steven Spielberg’s 2001 take on Pinocchio about a robot (Haley Joel Osment) longing for humanity. Ashley Scott and Jude Law star.
