Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
When the list of new releases on Netflix comes out every month, it sometimes feels like the leading streamer has opened up a firehose of content of all types: scripted, unscripted, international, and more. With everyone’s limited time, it’s hard to figure out which shows you want to sit down and binge.
The crew at Decider know how tough it is to figure what to watch… and we do this for a living. So let us be your guide. Below are quick previews of what we think the ten hottest, most intriguing series to debut on the service in December will be. They aren’t all Netflix Originals (though most are because of that firehose); just shows we know people will want to watch. Which shows will make it into the Netflix Top 10? Only time will tell!
'The Holiday Movies That Made Us'
PREMIERE DATE: December 1
CAST: Various people involved in Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas
RATING: TV-PG
DESCRIPTION: A holiday version of The Movies That Make Us explores two popular holiday films: Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Interviews with people in front of and behind the camera are included in each episode, which tends to examine how the film was developed, cast and shot, and then talks about the reasons for the film’s enduring appeal. Hopefully we’ll see Bob Newhart interviewed in the Elf episode, because, well, it’s Bob Newhart.
'Alien Worlds'
PREMIERE DATE: December 2
CAST: Sophie Okonedo (narrator)
RATING: TV-PG
DESCRIPTION: This weird-sounding — but intriguing! — docuseries imagines what life would be like on other planets using a combination of science fiction and fact. So, maybe a tree sloth on earth is similar to some fictional sloth-like creature on a far-off planet. That’s the kind of thing the producers of this series will explore. Will we see alien worms? Humanoid civilizations? Robot maids? No, wait, that last one was Rosie on The Jetsons.
'Big Mouth' Season 4
PREMIERE DATE: December 4
CAST: Nick Kroll, Maya Rudolph, Jenny Slate, Jessi Klein, John Mulaney, Zach Galifanakis, Ayo Edebiri
RATING: TV-MA
DESCRIPTION: In season 4 of Nick Kroll’s tale of teenage horniness and other puberty-related discomforts, Jessi (Klein), Nick (Kroll) and their Hormone Monsters navigate summer camp and eighth grade. Missy explores her Blackness, including an episode about code-switching (Ironically, with Missy voiced by Slate before she gave up the role shortly after the murder of George Floyd; Edebiri voices Missy starting in the next-to-last episode).
'Selena: The Series'
PREMIERE DATE: December 4
CAST: Christian Serratos, Gabriel Chavarria, Ricardo Chavira, Noemi Gonzalez, Seidy Lopez
RATING: TV-PG
DESCRIPTION: If you think Selena: The Series will be a salacious story about fame, obsession and murder, think again. This is a feel-good series about how Selena Quintanilla (Serratos) became the Queen of Tejano Music, and the sacrifices the Quintanilla family had to make along the way. Expect a lot of singing, family conflicts and togetherness, and all that other stuff.
'The Surgeon's Cut'
PREMIERE DATE: December 9
CAST: N/A
RATING: TV-14
DESCRIPTION: Four surgeons, in the fields of fetal medicine, neurosurgery, transplant surgery and cardiology, talk about their personal stories and journeys that led them to their field and the innovations that they’ve pioneered. Part inspirational, part scientific, these surgeons discuss amazing techniques that reinvent how people see the human body.
'Tiny Pretty Things'
PREMIERE DATE: December 14
CAST: Lauren Holly, Kylie Jefferson, Casimere Jollette
RATING: TV-MA
DESCRIPTION: Based on the young adult novel by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton, Tiny Pretty Things is about the students at an elite ballet academy in Chicago. The students are from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and for a number of them, ballet is their way out of bad situations. Many are from other cities and towns, and their lives in the crucible of the academy are explored.
'Song Exploder' Volume 2
PREMIERE DATE: December 18
CAST: Hrishikesh Hirway, Dua Lipa, Nine Inch Nails, The Killers, Natalia Lafourcade
RATING: TV-MA
DESCRIPTION: Four new episodes of Song Exploder, based on Hirway’s popular podcast, explore how bands and solo acts wrote and recorded meaningful songs in their careers. In Season 2, Dua Lipa discusses “Love Again”, NIN talks about “Hurt”, The Killers discuss “When You Were Young” and Lafourcade discusses “Hasta la Raiz”.
'Jeopardy' Tournaments And Champion Runs
PREMIERE DATE: December 18
CAST: Alex Trebek
RATING: TV-G
DESCRIPTION: Once the run of the late Alex Trebek’s Jeopardy! episodes end, you can always turn to Netflix to watch the legend at work. The existing episodes on the service will be disappearing in December, to be replaced by two new championship runs, plus the most recent Teacher’s Tournament, College Championship and Tournament of Champions.
'Bridgerton'
PREMIERE DATE: December 25
CAST: Phoebe Dynevor, Julie Andrews, Regé-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey, Golda Rosheuvel
RATING: TV-MA
DESCRIPTION: Shonda Rhimes’ first series under her Netflix deal to debut, Bridgerton was created by Chris Van Dusen based on Julia Quinn’s novels. It follows Daphne Bridgerton (Dynevor) as she enters the “marriage market” of the high society environment of Regency London. All sorts of 19th century sexual hijinks ensue as Daphne and her seven siblings make their way through the scene while being randy as all heck. Andrews voices the character of Lady Whistledown.
'Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina' Season 4
PREMIERE DATE: December 31
CAST: Kiernan Shipka, Miranda Otto, Ross Lynch, Lucy Davis, Michelle Gomez
RATING: TV-MA
DESCRIPTION: The final season of the show based on the comic series sees Sabrina (Shipka), her fellow witches and The Fright Club fight the Eldritch Terrors one by one. How will it end? We hear there’s something called “The Void,” which sounds pretty foreboding. But if anyone can defeat the “End of All Things,” it’s Sabrina.
