The weekend is here, which means opportunities to socialize, go outside, or, if you choose, to curl up on the couch and watch TV until you forget who you are. If you’re interested in the latter option, Netflix always has new content to watch. These are some of the best bets for you and your family!
Gabby’s Dollhouse Season 14
For the kids
First up, we have the newest season of Gabby’s Dollhouse, created by Blue’s Clues veterans Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey. Each episode begins with Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kraner) in her real-life room, before she shrinks down and explores the animated world inside her dollhouse. She solves problems, interacts with colorful characters, and generally provides preschool-age audiences with fun, relatable entertainment that isn’t overstimulating.
For older kids, a new batch of episodes from the animated series Pokémon Horizons will be available to stream on Friday, September 18.
- Release Date
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January 5, 2021
- Showrunner
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Traci Paige Johnson, Jennifer Twomey
- Writers
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Traci Paige Johnson, Jennifer Twomey
When Hope Calls
This popular period drama will appear on Netflix for the first time
A spin-off of the show When Calls the Heart, When Hope Calls is a Hallmark drama about a pair of sisters, Lillian (Morgan Kohan) and Grace (Jocelyn Hudon), who open an orphanage in the Canadian frontier town of Brookfield in the 1910s. The sisters get to know the members of the community, entertain romantic advances from handsome Mounties, and generally show audiences at home a good, family-friendly time. It’s a little like Little House on the Prairie or Anne With an E, but in Canada.
The first two episodes of When Hope Calls are now on Netflix, with a third possibly coming at a later date.
- Release Date
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August 30, 2019
- Network
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Hallmark Movies Now, GAC Family
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Morgan Kohan
Lillian Bennett
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Ryan-James Hatanaka
Gabriel Clark
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Greg Hovanessian
Chuck Stewart
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Wendy Crewson
Tess Stewart
Physical 100: Mexico
I wouldn’t want to do it, but it is fun to watch
Changing gears completely, Physical: 100 is a reality series where 100 contestants in peak physical condition gather to undertake a series of grueling physical challenges, including obstacle courses, wrestling matches, collaborative tasks like building bridges, and finally elaborate tasks inspired by myths, like rolling a boulder up a hill in the style of Sisyphus. At the end of the competition, one contestant goes home with a huge cash prize.
The original Physical 100 show was set in South Korea, but Netflix has since made several spin-offs, including Physical 100: Italy and now Physical 100: Mexico. A spin-off set in the United States is on development, FYI.
The Doll
Getting literary with it
Netflix has a long history of making fantastic foreign language series, and The Doll looks like one of the best arriving in September. The six-episode series is based on The Doll by Bolesław Prus, which some consider to be the greatest novel ever written in the Polish language. The story follows a Warsaw merchant named Stanisław Wokulski (Tomasz Schuchardt) who becomes infatuated with the aristocratic Izabela Łęcka (Sandra Drzymalska). The novel explores the fall of the aristocracy, the rise of the middle class, and the particulars of Polish life under Russian rule.
This adaptation of The Doll is made has high production values, so it could be perfect if you’re looking to be swept away by an opulent period drama.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
The main event
Producer Ryan Murphy has had a lot of success reimagining some of the most infamous murders in American history as slick, stylish TV shows. The first season of Monster spotlighted cannibal killer Jeffrey Dahmer, the second spotlighted Lyle and Erik Menendez, and the third took on serial killer Ed Gein. The newest season tells the story of Lizzie Borden (Ella Beatty), who was tried and acquitted of the 1891 axe murders of her father and stepmother. The TV show will doubtlessly turn it into a grim, watchable spectacle.
You can watch all episodes of Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story now, along with the other three seasons.
- Release Date
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September 17, 2026
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Max Winkler, Sarah Adina Smith
Cast
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Vicky Krieps
Bridget Sullivan
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Ella Beatty
Lizzie Borden
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Sarah Paulson
Aileen Wuornos
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Charlie Hunnam
Andrew Borden
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Season 2
If you miss Hawkins
Stranger Things was one of the biggest shows on Netflix, and it’s left a hole in the streamer’s lineup since ending last year. Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 could help fill it. It’s an animated series set between the second and third seasons of the original show, where the characters go on new, dangerous adventures we didn’t hear about before.
Generally speaking, the tone of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 is more kid-friendly than the original series, but it’s still a fun watch.
- Release Date
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April 23, 2026
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Eric Robles
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Brooklyn Davey Norstedt
Eleven (voice)
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Jolie Hoang-Rappaport
Max (voice)
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Elisha Williams
Lucas (voice)
Best of the Best
Available Friday, September 18
Best of the Best is a feel-good coming-of-age comedy about two best friends, Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia), who join the competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team at the University of California, only to find the road to winning the U.S. championship is far more difficult than they imagined. Comedian Hasan Minhaj stars as a college professor.
- Release Date
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September 18, 2026
- Director
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Lena Khan
- Writers
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Hasan Minhaj, Prashanth Venkataramanujam
Cast
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Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
Maya
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-
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Cold as Balls Season 1
Available Sunday, September 20
The 13th season of this long-running interview show premieres this Sunday, September 20. Comedian Kevin Hart ropes in famous sports figures (and sometimes other kinds of celebrities) and then talks to them while immersed in ice baths, which makes talking very difficult. It’s basically like Hot Ones, except instead of trying to talk while their mouths are burning up thanks to weapons-grade hot sauce, the guests must try to speak intelligently while their teeth chatter fro the chill of the ice bath.
Hart’s guests this season include Serena Williams, Rob Gronkowski, Cooper Flagg, Sean O’Malley, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and IShowSpeed.
Even more Netflix
As always, there’s more new stuff coming to Netflix than we can catalog in one post. If you like stand-up specials, there are a couple of good ones coming to Netflix this week, including Jo Koy: Blue in the Face and Zakir Khan: Papa Yaar, the latter of which will be available on Friday. There are also a lot of new foreign language series to enjoy, including the Japanese drama Plastic Beauty, the Turkish drama Seni Tanıyorum, the Taiwaniese drama The Fixers, and the Korean drama The Scandal; that last one arrives Friday.
Please binge responsibly.