Big names, big budgets and big events are on tap for Marchâs streaming calendar.
However you look at it â from Kate Winsletâs steely glare to Jake Gyllenhaalâs ripped abs; from Netflixâs $160 million series â3 Body Problemâ to Appleâs $200 million movie âNapoleonâ; or from âTaylor Swift: The Eras Tourâ to March Madness â itâs a blockbuster month.
But streaming price have soared of late, making things a bit more challenging for consumers who donât want to miss out on the best stuff. Thatâs where a strategy of churning â that is, adding and dropping services month to month â comes in. It takes some planning, but pays off in monthly savings. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month.
Also read:Â Amid âstreamflation,â consumers are spending more on TV streaming than ever
Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget â rating the major services as âplay,â âpauseâ or âstop,â similar to investment analystsâ traditional ratings of buy, hold or sell â and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.
Hereâs a look at whatâs coming to the various streaming services in March 2024, and whatâs really worth the monthly subscription fee:
Netflix ($6.99 a month for basic with ads, $15.49 standard with no ads, $22.99 premium with no ads)
A hugely expensive, sprawling and fantastical story spanning continents and generations, based on a beloved book series and helmed by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss â what could go wrong?
Fans of â3 Body Problemâ (March 21), based on Liu Cixinâs acclaimed sci-fi trilogy, surely will hope for a better ending, at least, than Benioff & Weissâs last big hit â âGame of Thrones.â The good news: These books are already written, so thereâs a clear end to the story (which turned out to be the downfall of âGame of Thronesâ). The bad news: The books span galaxies and centuries â thereâs A LOT to cover. Summarizing the expansive plot is pointless, but suffice to say Earth makes contact with aliens and things donât go well. While offering thought-provoking and chilling examinations of existential crisis, the books are light on character development (thereâs much room for Benioff & Weiss to work their magic there), and the first one â which this season is based upon â is the densest and arguably the weakest of the three. Itâs wildly ambitious storytelling on an epic scale â each of its eight episodes reportedly cost about $20 million, making it one of Netflixâs most expensive series ever. I have no idea how theyâre going to pull it off. But the same was said about âGame of Thrones.â
Netflix
NFLX,
also has Season 7 of the delightful food/travel show âSomebody Feed Philâ (March 1), with stops in Kyoto, Iceland, Dubai and more; more real-estate drama with Season 2 of âBuying Beverly Hillsâ (March 22); and director Guy Ritchieâs âThe Gentlemenâ (March 7), a series sequel to his movie of the same name tells the story of a man (Theo James) who inherits an estate in the English countryside, only to discover itâs part of a huge cannabis empire as he gets sucked into the world of gangsters.
On the movie side, thereâs âSpacemanâ (March 1), a sci-fi drama starring Adam Sandler as an astronaut struggling with his marriage back on Earth who makes a new best friend in a space spider named Hanus (voice of Paul Dano); Lindsay Lohan has the Ireland-set rom-com âIrish Wishâ (March 15); Regina King stars as trailblazing Rep. Shirley Chisholm in the biopic âShirleyâ (March 21); and thereâs a French-language remake of âThe Wages of Fearâ (March 29), the classic 1953 suspense film about a group of men transporting an explosive cargo across dangerous terrain.
Sports-wise, thereâs a new season of the golf docuseries âFull Swingâ (March 6), which includes last yearâs Ryder Cup and the shocking merger of the PGA and LIV Golf, and the live exhibition âThe Tennis Slamâ (March 3), pitting the legendary Rafael Nadal against Carlos Alcaraz, currently ranked No. 2 in the world.
Netflix is also adding the first five seasons of ABCâs âRoseanneâ sequel âThe Connersâ (March 27), and all six seasons of the History Channelâs bloody historical drama âVikingsâ (March 30)
And heads up: The âJohn Wickâ movies are leaving at the end of the month, along with all six seasons of âCommunityâ and a bunch of DC movies, including âWonder Woman,â âThe Suicide Squadâ and âJustice League.â
Catch up: After languishing on Peacock for two seasons, the musical comedy âGirls5Evaâ is moving to Netflix on March 14, along with a new, six-episode third season. A nonstop joke machine in the vein of â30 Rockâ (Tina Fey produced it), the showâs about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the â90s who reunite for one last chance at stardom, starring Sara Bareilles, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Busy Phillips and Paula Pell. Itâs very funny, an easy binge and deserves a wider audience.
Red card: Sadly, last monthâs sight-unseen endorsement of Season 3 of the soccer docuseries âSunderland âTil I Dieâ is hereby revoked. The three-episode season is shallow, disjointed and lacks a narrative, a disappointing and jarring departure from the excellent first two seasons. It felt like the producers saw the success of FXâs very similar-themed âWelcome to Wrexhamâ and haphazardly slapped together an epilogue. They would have been better off leaving well enough alone.
Whoâs Netflix for? Fans of buzzworthy original shows and movies.
Play, pause or stop? Play. When you get Netflix, youâre paying for bulk, and once again, thereâs something here for everyone.
Max ($9.99 a month with ads, $15.99 with no ads, or $19.99 âUltimateâ with no ads)
Maxâs big splash for the month is the new HBO limited series âThe Regimeâ (March 3), a six-episode political satire starring Kate Winslet as the dictator of a fictional, authoritarian European nation as she and her regime start to unravel. Hopes are high, especially as the showâs showrunner is Will Tracy, whose writing credits include âSuccession,â the culinary satire âThe Menuâ and âLast Week Tonight with John Oliver.â However, early reviews say that while Winslet is as great as usual, the show falls short of its potential.
Max also has the drama series âThe Girls on the Busâ (March 14), about four female journalists following the presidential campaign trail; the new standup comedy special âRamy Yousef: More Feelingsâ (March 16); the comedy docuseries âJerrod Carmichael Reality Showâ (March 29); and the streaming premiere of âWonkaâ (March 8), starring Timothée Chalamet. Thatâs along with new weekly episodes of âCurb Your Enthusiasm,â âTokyo Viceâ and âLast Week Tonight.â
On the sports side, Max has March Madness â aka the NCAA menâs basketball tournament â or at least the games also airing on TBS, TNT and truTV, starting March 19 (Paramount+ will stream the CBS games), as well as a full slate of NBA and NHL games.
Also of note, more than 130 classic Looney Tunes episodes (including âDuck Amukâ and âWhatâs Opera, Doc?) will be rejoining the service after getting yanked in 2022; however, 130 currently streaming Looney Tunes episodes will leave at the same time, because apparently we just canât have very many nice things. Does that make sense? Only to Warner Bros. Discovery
WBD,
CEO David Zaslavâs bottom line, apparently.
Confession time: Itâs time to admit what Iâve really been doing with my Max subscription for the past six months: slow-bingeing the early 2000s teen drama âThe O.C.â Itâs not even a guilty pleasure at this point, just pleasure, plain and simple. So far Iâve gotten through the first two seasons (27(!) and 24 episodes, respectively), skipped the terrible third season and am now diving into the fourth and final one. You know what? Itâs still fun, featuring an amazing soundtrack with needle-drops that still bring goosebumps all these years later (sorry, âTrue Detective: Night Country,â you may not use Mazzy Starâs âInto Dust,â itâs already been taken). Itâs an excellent brain sorbet for stressful times, and for anyone following my footsteps, pair a binge with Alan Sepinwallâs new-ish book âWelcome to the O.C.: The Oral History,â which is a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at how the show was made.
Whoâs Max for? HBO fans and movie lovers. And now, unscripted-TV fans too, with its slew of Discovery shows.
Play, pause or stop? Play. âCurb,â âTokyo Viceâ and âLast Week Tonightâ are all top-notch, and âThe Regimeâ looks worth a try at least. Thereâs also the recently concluded âTrue Detective: Night Country,â which proved to be surprisingly divisive, but itâs worth a binge (for the record, I very much liked it, despite some flaws).
Hulu ($7.99 a month with ads, or $17.99 with no ads)
Hulu is pretty light on new shows in March. The best of the bunch seem to be a trio of documentaries: âFreaknik: The Wildest Party Never Toldâ (March 21), about the legacy of the legendary Atlanta street parties in the â80s and â90s; âSpermworldâ (March 30), about sperm donors and prospective parents; and âThe Stones and Brian Jonesâ (March 14), about the Rolling Stonesâ founding member, along with the miniseries âWe Were The Lucky Onesâ (March 28), an adaptation of Georgia Hunterâs bestselling novel, inspired by a true story about a Jewish family separated at the start of World War II and their struggle to survive and reunite.
There are also a handful of new Fox and ABC shows, like âThe Cleaning Ladyâ (March 6), âThe Masked Singerâ and âAnimal Controlâ (both March 7), and âGreyâs Anatomyâ and â9-1-1â (both March 15).
Get current: The best reason to watch Hulu this month is for FXâs epic miniseries âShÅgun,â which dropped its first episodes at the end of February and concludes in April. Itâs a sumptuous adaptation of the 1975 James Clavell novel, with gorgeous cinematography and a more well-rounded approach than the 1980 TV miniseries, especially when it comes to the perspective of its Japanese characters. Hiroyuki Sanada oozes gravitas as a powerful warlord surrounded by enemies, Anna Sawai is striking as a Catholic convert and translator, toeing a fine line between two cultures, while Cosmo Jarvis plays an boorish shipwrecked English sailor whose idea of civilization becomes turned upside down by the new world he encounters. Itâs a gripping tale, reminiscent of early âGame of Thronesâ at its scheming, dialogue-heavy best. Iâll mention my favorite show of this year (so far) a little further down, but âShÅgunâ could easily claim that title by the time all is said and done. Itâs very, very good.
Whoâs Hulu for? TV lovers. Thereâs a deep library for those who want older TV series and next-day streaming of many current network and cable shows.
Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. Thereâs a case to be made that âShÅgunâ and âAbbott Elementaryâ are worth a subscription by themselves, but there arenât many new shows that are worth paying for. Still, if you do, the cheaper, ad-supported plan is the way to go. Hulu has a lot of good stuff, but not $18-a-month worth of goodness.
Apple TV+ ($9.99 a month)
It seems a rarity when Apple
AAPL,
doesnât have a new sci-fi series, but March is all about the past, starting with the streaming premiere of Ridley Scottâs action spectacle âNapoleonâ (March 1), starring Joaquin Phoenix, which hit theaters last November to mixed reviews.
âManhuntâ (March 15), tells the surprisingly little-known true story about the desperate search for Abraham Lincolnâs assassin, John Wilkes Booth (Anthony Boyle). Based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson, the long-simmering adaptation stars Tobias Menzies as Edwin Stanton, Lincolnâs secretary of war, who led the manhunt. Apple has another throwback series with âPalm Royaleâ (March 20), a dramedy starring Kristen Wiig, Laura Dern and Ricky Martin about a woman trying to break into Palm Beach high society in 1969.
Thereâs also a new season of the off-the-beaten-path travel show âThe Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levyâ (March 8); the new historical comedy series âThe Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpinâ (March 1), starring Noel Fielding (âThe Great British Baking Showâ) as a bumbling 18th-century highwayman; and the second season of the rebooted kids show âFraggle Rock: Back to the Rockâ (March 29).
And there are new episodes every week of the WWII drama âMasters of the Airâ (finale March 15), the sci-fi thriller âConstellationâ (finale March 27) and the historical fashion drama âThe New Lookâ (finale April 3).
Whoâs Apple TV+ for? It offers a little something for everyone, but not necessarily enough for anyone â although itâs getting there.
Play, pause or stop? Pause. While good but not great, âMasters of the Airâ is still worth a watch, âConstellationâ has gotten mostly good reviews, and âManhunt,â âPalm Royaleâ and âDick Turpinâ have potential â but is that enough to justify a subscription?
Disney+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $13.99 with no ads)
Disneyâs
DIS,
hands-down highlight of the month is the streaming premiere of the blockbuster concert movie âTaylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylorâs Version)â (March 15), with five songs not included in the original theatrical release. If you have a Swiftie in your house, then yeah, youâll be watching this a few times.
Disney+ also has âX-Men â97â (March 20), an animated revival featuring the iconic band of mutants and picking up where the much-loved 1990s âX-Men: The Animated Seriesâ left off; new episodes of the animated âStar Warsâ spinoff âThe Bad Batchâ; âNHL Big City Greens Classicâ (March 9), a Nickelodeon alt-broadcast of the hockey game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins; the historical adventure series âRenegade Nellâ (March 29); and the documentary âMaduâ (March 29), about a Nigerian teen dancer.
Whoâs Disney+ for? Families with kids, hardcore âStar Warsâ and Marvel fans. For people not in those groups, Disneyâs library can be lacking.
Play, pause or stop? Pause, and it completely depends on your householdâs level of love for Taylor Swift. Sure, itâs absolutely worth a subscription for that, especially if you kid will watch it like 47 times. But for those not on the Tay-Tay Train, thereâs not much there.
Peacock ($5.99 a month with ads, or $11.99 with no ads)
Peacock has an intriguing new miniseries, âApples Never Fallâ (March 14), based on the best-selling mystery novel by Lianne Moriarty (âBig Little Liesâ). Annette Benning stars as the newly retired matriarch of a family who suddenly goes missing, leaving her children to re-examine what they thought was her perfect life. Thereâs an impressive lineup behind the show, including co-stars Sam Neill, Jake Lacy and Alison Brie, and showrunner Melanie Marnich (who produced and wrote a number of episodes of âA Murder at the End of the Worldâ and âThe Affair,â among others).
âTop Chefâ (March 21) returns for its 21st season, with episodes streaming a day after they first air on Bravo. Former winner Kristen Kish is the new host, replacing Padma Lakshmi, and Wisconsin is the setting for the most elite kitchen competition on TV. While largely maintaining its longtime format, the series has really reinvigorated itself in recent years, focusing less on classic cooking techniques and cutthroat rivalries and more on diversity of cuisines and feel-good, âfood is loveâ vibes. Itâs nice, in the best possible way, and remains a must-watch.
Thereâs also âStormyâ (March 18), a documentary about the life and times of porn star Stormy Daniels, the docuseries âThe McBee Dynasty: Real American Cowboysâ (March 28) and the streaming premiere of the hit kids musical movie âTrolls Band Togetherâ (March 15).
Peacock is also regaining temporary custody of the âHarry Potterâ movies (they bounce between Peacock and Max for complicated reasons), and has new episodes of network and cable favorites like âSaturday Night Live,â âBelow Deckâ and âNight Courtâ a day after they air, and the conclusion of the buzzy reality competition âThe Traitorsâ (season finale March 14).
On the sports side, thereâs plenty of golf, English Premier League soccer, Big Ten college basketball, winter sports and auto racing to keep fans happy.
Maybe donât go deeper: Peacock beat its rival to the punch and quietly added âThree-Bodyâ a month ahead of Netflixâs premiere of â3 Body Problem.â This is the Chinese adaptation that aired overseas last year and was created by Tencent, and itâs a whopping 30 episodes, so as one might imagine, it goes into much more detail and closely follows the first book in the series, âThe Three Body Problem.â Unfortunately, itâs dense and dry, with cheesy-looking special effects and poor subtitling. Itâs skippable for all but the most die-hard fans.
Whoâs Peacock for? Live sports and next-day shows from Comcastâs
CMCSA,
NBCUniversal are the main draw, but thereâs a good library of shows and movies. Also, if youâre a Comcast cable subscriber, look into its Xfinity Rewards program â you may qualify for a free Peacock subscription.
Play, pause or stop? Pause. Peacock is one of those streamers you really only need to bother watching a handful times a year, to binge through a few things. Thanks largely to âTop Chef,â this may one of those times (along with the Summer Olympics from Paris this summer). That said, it may be more economical to wait a month or two and binge âTop Chefâ when it has more episodes already banked.
Amazonâs Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$2.99 to avoid ads)
Amazon
AMZN,
has found itself at the center of a Hollywood donnybrook, thanks to its treatment of âRoad Houseâ (March 21), the remake of Patrick Swayzeâs so-bad-itâs-great 1989 cult classic. A super-jacked Jake Gyllenhaal stars this time around as a UFC fighter/bouncer in the Florida Keys who gets into a brawl or two, yadda yadda yadda. But director Doug Liman (âThe Bourne Identity,â âMr. & Mrs. Smithâ) is angrily boycotting the movieâs premiere at SXSW, due to Amazonâs decision to make it a streaming exclusive rather than give it a theatrical release, and wrote a scathing open letter published by Deadline. âI signed up to make a theatrical motion picture for MGM. Amazon bought MGM. Amazon said make a great film and we will see what happens. I made a great film,â Liman said. âThey turned around and are using âRoad Houseâ to sell plumbing fixtures.â (Pain donât hurt, but that line should.) Liman has a good point, and itâs a curious decision by Amazon, especially with a fairly light schedule of theatrical releases through the spring, aside from âDune: Part Two.â In the vein of âBarbenheimer,â why not âDuneHouseâ?
BTW, if you feel like comparing the two, the original âRoad Houseâ will start streaming on Prime Video on March 1.
Amazonâs streaming service also has the second half of Season 2 of âInvincibleâ (March 14), after weirdly dropping the first four episodes way back in November. The super-violent, animated superhero story, starring the voices of Steven Yeun and J.K. Simmons, will drop new eps once a week through April 4. Itâs worth watching, but maybe wait until later and watch all eight eps at once.
Thereâs also a new season of the small-town drama âAmerican Rustâ (March 28), starring Jeff Daniels and Maura Tierney; Peter Farrellyâs imaginary-friend comedy âRicky Stanickyâ (March 7), starring Zac Efron and Jon Cena; recent movies including âFive Nights at Freddyâsâ (March 5), Neil Jordanâs private-eye drama âMarloweâ (March 7), the rom-com sequel âMy Big Fat Greek Wedding 3â (March 12) and and the illustrated documentary âFridaâ (March 14), about artist Frida Kahlo. Prime also now has NWSL soccer, with a schedule of 27 total matches starting March 15.
Catch up: The reboot of âMr. and Mrs. Smith,â which dropped in February and shares little in common with the 2005 Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie movie other than its name, is the best series of year (so far), with Donald Glover and Maya Erskine giving electric performances as spies/assassins thrown together in a marriage that starts out as a cover but evolves into something much deeper. The first few episodes are wildly fun, with spectacular action scenes (the Lake Como episode isâ¦wow), while the latter eps turn much more uncomfortable and darker, before a jaw-dropping finale. Highly recommended.
Whoâs Prime Video for? Movie lovers, TV-series fans who value quality over quantity.
Play, pause or stop? Stop, for now at least. âMr. & Mrs. Smithâ is worth a watch at some point, âRoad Houseâ will likely be dumb fun but not necessarily essential viewing, while âInvincibleâ can wait another month until all its eps drop.
Paramount+ ($5.99 a month with ads, $11.99 a month with Showtime and no ads)
Sports are the big draw for Paramount+ this month.
Following a jam-packed slate of regular-season and conference tournament games, the NCAA menâs basketball tournament â aka March Madness â tips off on March 21. Paramount+ with Showtime wonât have all the games, just the ones broadcast on CBS (while Max will stream games that are shown on TBS, TNT and truTV).
And for soccer fans, the UEFA Champions League kicks off its round of 16, starting March 5, along with womenâs Concacaf Gold Cup matches (final March 10) and menâs Concacaf Nations League matches (final March 24).
Meanwhile, thereâs the Showtime series âA Gentleman in Moscowâ (March 29), based on the best-selling novel by Amor Towles. Ewan McGregor stars as a Russian aristocrat in post-revolution Russia whoâs sentenced to house arrest in a fancy Moscow hotel.
Thereâs also âLittle Wingâ (March 13), a movie about a teen (Brooklynn Prince) who turns to pigeon racing in hopes of solving her familyâs financial woes; CBS shows such as âThe Good Wifeâ spinoff âElsbethâ (Feb. 29) and a new season of âThe Amazing Raceâ (March 13); and the addition of all nine seasons of âThe King of Queensâ (March 25).
Whoâs Paramount+ for? Gen X cord-cutters who miss live sports and familiar Paramount GlobalÂ
PARA,
 broadcast and cable shows.
Play, pause or stop? Stop. Thereâs nothing essential that you canât also watch in a sports bar.
Need more? Catch up on previous monthsâ picks at Whatâs Worth Streaming.