What’s New to Stream This Week (Sept. 25, 2026)

Streaming Guide: This Week’s Must-Watch Premieres Across Every Major Platform

Subscribers navigating the fragmented streaming landscape face an embarrassment of riches this week, with 17 fresh titles landing across Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Apple TV+, Prime Video, Shudder, Paramount+, Peacock, and the PBS app. Mashable’s weekly curation cuts through the scroll fatigue, organizing picks by genre and highlighting the standout narratives, creative teams, and viewing windows that deserve priority on your watchlist.

Documentary & Educational Spotlight: Indigenous Knowledge and NFL Legacy

PBS delivers Nova: Knowledge Keepers, a documentary centering the science and engineering practices of four Indigenous communities in North America. From ancient permaculture and celestial navigation to intricate basket weaving and energy-efficient desert dwellings, the film explores innovations honed in extreme environments ranging from Arctic tundra to arid deserts. The documentary is available now on the PBS app. On Prime Video, Go Deep: The DeSean Jackson Story offers an intimate portrait of the former NFL star through the lens of his brother Byron, who spent 35 years filming home video footage. Writer-director Mandon Lovett assembles thousands of hours of raw material tracing Jackson’s trajectory from Pop Warner through 15 NFL seasons to his current role coaching the Delaware State Hornets.

International Comedy & Romance: Hindi Coming-of-Age and STEM Rom-Com Adaptation

Prime Video adds two distinctive romantic comedies this week. Don’t Be Shy, produced by Alia Bhatt and written and directed by Sreeti Mukerji, follows college student Shyamili “Shy” Das (Aarushi Bajaj) as her meticulously planned life unravels, leaving her torn between childhood friend Dhruv (Ansh Duggal) and popular rich boy Mayank (Piyush Khati). The ensemble includes Bianca Arora, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Neha Dhupia, Anurag Basu, and Anju Alva Naik. The film debuts September 25. Meanwhile, The Love Hypothesis adapts Ali Hazelwood’s BookTok sensation, starring Lili Reinhart as Stanford PhD candidate Olive Smith and Tom Bateman as intimidating biology professor Adam Carlsen. Their fake-dating arrangement sparks genuine chemistry, though Mashable’s Belen Edwards noted in her review that the film captures “much of the sweetness of the book, even if it doesn’t quite stick the landing.” Edwards wrote: “like the elephant toothpaste you’d make in science class, it’s a bubbly blast that’ll have your insides fizzing. Yet despite this pure fun, not to mention two solid leading performances, The Love Hypothesis is missing one key ingredient that would truly make its experiment stick the landing: yearning.” The film premiered September 23 on Prime Video. The supporting cast includes Rachel Marsh, Jaboukie Young-White, Nicholas Duvernay, and Arty Froushan.

Reality Competition & Unscripted Drama: Baking, Baseball Moms, and a Chocolate Factory

Netflix serves up two major reality entries. The Great British Baking Show: Collection 14 returns with offbeat comedian Noel Fielding and affable presenter Alison Hammond hosting, while Paul Hollywood and new judge Nigella Lawson preside over 12 home bakers. The season premieres September 25. Also on Netflix, Wonka’s The Golden Ticket launches a themed competition series where 12 pairs tackle challenges inspired by the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel. The show premiered September 23 with a two-part finale scheduled for September 30, but controversy preceded its debut after Netflix revealed the production used AI to recreate the voice of deceased actor Gene Wilder, who originated the role of Willy Wonka on screen. Mashable’s S.C. remarked: “Pure Imagination” indeed.

Paramount+ enters the unscripted arena with Team Moms: Baseball, a reality series tracking parents of boys attending Legendary Prep Academy in Scottsdale, Arizona. The trailer suggests a tone reminiscent of Last Chance U meets Selling Sunset, with Sam Haysom noting the pitch likely leaned toward the latter given “the number of arguments in the trailer.” A quote from the trailer encapsulates the dynamic: “The games are intense, but the parents can also be very intense.” The series is streaming now.

Horror & Thriller: Cult Tennis Academy and Viral Backrooms Adaptation

Shudder premieres Bloody Tennis on September 25, a cult-meets-body-horror film from director Nikias Chryssos. Despite what Mashable’s S.H. calls an “incredibly silly, have-they-finally-run-out-of-ideas title,” the trailer promises OTT fun following a tennis prodigy (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) who enrolls in a European academy with sinister undertones, complete with brutal initiation rituals, leeches, and instructors who may not have her best interests at heart. Elina Löwensohn and Tracy Gotoas co-star.

HBO Max welcomes Backrooms on September 25, the feature-length adaptation of Kane Parsons’ viral short horror film series that originated from a 4chan post. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a bitter furniture shop owner who discovers a doorway to another world in his basement, with Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell rounding out the cast. Mashable’s S.H. reviewed the film positively despite third-act reservations: “Despite this, Backrooms is still well worth a watch. The ending isn’t enough to spoil what came before. If anything, Parsons has managed to prove himself as an incredibly talented emerging filmmaker while also establishing the first chapter in what will surely end up becoming a brand-new horror franchise.”

Franchise Returns & Legacy Sequels: American Horror Story, Toy Story, A Different World, and Jackass

FX and Hulu debut American Horror Story: 13 on September 24 at 9 p.m. ET, an all-star anniversary season resurrecting beloved actors and characters across the anthology’s 12-season history. Franchise heavyweights Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, and Evan Peters return pulling “quadruple duty (or more)” as they revive prior roles including Lange’s Constance Langdon and Fiona Goode. The epic ensemble also features Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Gabourey Sidibe, Leslie Grossman, Joey Pollari, Avantika, Jamie Brewer, Elle Chapman, Berto Colon, Alex Consani, Frances Conroy, Mat Fraser, Seth Gabel, Orlando Jones, Paul Anthony Kelly, John Carroll Lynch, Tig Notaro, Madelaine Petsch, Fedor Steer, Mena Suvari, Zach Villa, and John Waters. Belen Edwards highlighted the comfort of seeing Lange return: “No matter what scares Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk dream up, it’ll almost feel comforting to see Lange as Constance Langdon and Fiona Goode again. As long as there’s no knotty pine, of course!”

Disney+ streams Toy Story 5, where Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) return but the narrative spotlight shifts to Jessie the Cowgirl (Joan Cusack), now sheriff of Bonnie’s room. A digital tablet named Lilypad (Greta Lee) threatens to change playtime forever. Mashable’s K.P. praised Cusack’s performance in their review: “Whether she is cheering for her friends or condemning her foes, Jessie is exhilarating, funny, and riveting. Cusack’s performance is bolstered by a top-tier animation team who created a beautiful and gleefully alive cowgirl, and who have continued that careful illustration to a broader cast of characters. Perhaps predictably, Toy Story 5 is an unabashed crowd-pleaser.” The voice cast also includes Blake Clark, John Ratzenberger, Ernie Hudson, Tony Hale, Conan O’Brien, and Melissa Villaseñor.

Netflix reboots A Different World, the historic Cosby Show spinoff that ran 1987–1993 at Hillman College. The new series follows the next generation of students, including Dwayne and Whitley’s youngest daughter Deborah (Maleah Joi Moon). Original cast members Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell, Charnele Brown, Cree Summer, Dawnn Lewis, Glynn Turman, Ajai Sanders, Jada Pinkett, and Karen Malina White return alongside new co-eds, with a noted tonal shift from sitcom to grounded streaming aesthetic. The series streams now.

Paramount+ delivers Jackass: Best and Last, where Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Wee Man, Dave England, Danger Ehren, Preston Lacy, Poopies, Zach Holmes, Jasper, Rachel Wolfson, and Dark Shark claim to deliver one final round of bonkers stunts—including fresh thrills like “messing with a robot named Larry.” K.P. observed: “The guys claim this is the last film. We hope that’s not true. But they do say goodbyes hit hard, and this movie definitely does—in the feels, and the nuts. Repeatedly.”

Drama, Action & Star Vehicles: Brothers, Line of Fire, Tuner, and Idiots

Apple TV+ premieres Brothers, a meta-comedy casting longtime friends and True Detective co-stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as fictionalized versions of themselves who discover they might actually be siblings. Holland Taylor plays possibly both their mothers—a premise Mashable’s S.C. called “worth watching the series for in itself.” The cast includes Natalie Martinez, Brittany Ishibashi, Oona Yaffe, Highdee Kuan, Nolan Almeida, Ella Grace Helton, and Noah Carganilla. The series streams now.

Peacock launches Line of Fire, a soapy crime procedural from Gossip Girl and Quantico creator Joshua Safran. The series follows the Hollingsworth family of law enforcement agents spanning the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Justice, and U.S. Marshals, who become targets of an assassin. Notably, Today host and journalist Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George W. Bush, serves as executive producer. The cast includes Peter Krause, Hope Davis, Kat Cunning, Tommy O’Brien, and Taylor Bloom. The series streams now.

Paramount+ adds Tuner, a heist thriller co-written and directed by Daniel Roher starring Leo Woodall as a piano tuner whose acute hearing doubles as a safe-cracking skill. Motivated by a good cause, he navigates morally grey territory in what K.P. describes as “a life-affirming movie that’s way sweeter than the setup suggests.” The supporting cast features Havana Rose Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, and Jean Reno. The film streams now.

Prime Video offers Idiots (formerly titled The Shitheads at Sundance) from writer-director Macon Blair. Dave Franco and O’Shea Jackson Jr. play co-workers escorting a reckless teenager (Mason Thames) to rehab, triggering a chaotic road trip looping in unlikely allies and unhinged foes. Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, and Peter Dinklage round out the ensemble. K.P. compared the humor to Role Models and Superbad, noting critics cheered its “outrageous brand of humor” at Sundance. The film is available to rent or purchase.

Why This Matters

This week’s slate illustrates the intensifying content arms race across streaming platforms, where legacy franchises (American Horror Story, Toy Story, Jackass, A Different World) coexist with risky original concepts (Backrooms from viral shorts, Wonka’s The Golden Ticket with AI voice recreation) and international acquisitions (Don’t Be Shy, Bloody Tennis). The concentration of premieres around September 23–25 suggests coordinated launch strategies heading into the fall television season. Notably, the use of AI to replicate Gene Wilder’s voice in Wonka’s The Golden Ticket signals a growing industry flashpoint around synthetic performance rights. Meanwhile, Line of Fire‘s attachment of Jenna Bush Hager as executive producer highlights the continued crossover between political-media dynasties and entertainment production. For viewers, the fragmentation across nine distinct services underscores the persistent challenge of content discovery—precisely the problem curated guides aim to solve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which new releases are available to stream immediately versus those with specific premiere dates?

Available now: Nova: Knowledge Keepers (PBS app), Go Deep: The DeSean Jackson Story (Prime Video), Team Moms: Baseball (Paramount+), Line of Fire (Peacock), Brothers (Apple TV+), Tuner (Paramount+), Jackass: Best and Last (Paramount+), A Different World (Netflix), and Toy Story 5 (Disney+). Premiering September 23: The Love Hypothesis (Prime Video), Wonka’s The Golden Ticket (Netflix). Premiering September 24: American Horror Story: 13 (FX/Hulu, 9 p.m. ET). Premiering September 25: Don’t Be Shy (Prime Video), The Great British Baking Show: Collection 14 (Netflix), Bloody Tennis (Shudder), Backrooms (HBO Max). Idiots is available to rent or purchase on Prime Video.

What is the controversy surrounding Wonka’s The Golden Ticket?

Netflix revealed the competition series used AI to recreate the voice of Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 film and died in 2016. The decision sparked debate about the ethics of synthetic performance replication for deceased actors.

Which titles feature notable behind-the-scenes creative connections?

Brothers reunites True Detective co-stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Line of Fire is executive produced by Jenna Bush Hager. Go Deep: The DeSean Jackson Story is directed by Mandon Lovett using 35 years of footage shot by the subject’s brother Byron. Backrooms adapts Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube horror series that began from a 4chan post. The Love Hypothesis adapts Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling STEM romance novel. Idiots is written and directed by Macon Blair (Green Room, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore).