Here’s what’s worth streaming in December 2025 on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and more

That also makes it easier to save a little money in December with a bit of strategic churning — that is, adding and dropping services month to month — in order to watch the best of the best while keeping your monthly streaming budget less than $50. Keep in mind that a billing cycle starts when you sign up, not necessarily at the beginning of the month. It’s always worth watching out for time-sensitive deals and money-saving bundles, too — and you can find plenty of bargains right now with Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts for streaming subscriptions.

Each month, this column offers tips on how to maximize your streaming and your budget — rating the major services as “play,” “pause” or “stop,” similar to investment analysts’ traditional ratings of buy, hold and sell — and picks the best shows to help you make your monthly decisions.

Here’s a look at what’s coming to the various streaming services in December 2025, and what’s really worth the monthly subscription fee:

Netflix ($7.99 a month for standard with ads, $17.99 standard with no ads, $24.99 premium with no ads)

It takes a month like this to really appreciate just how much more stuff Netflix is putting out there. While most of its rivals have only a handful of December premieres, Netflix is once again spraying its fire hose, and proving it continues to be the industry’s volume leader.

The biggest addition, of course, is the conclusion of the smash hit sci-fi thriller “Stranger Things.” The first four episodes of Season 5 dropped before Thanksgiving, and the next three drop at 8 p.m. Eastern on Christmas Day, with the two-hour series finale coming at 8 p.m. Eastern on New Year’s Eve. The latest episodes are, like the later seasons, more bloated, less charming and too reliant on CGI, but there’s still a fun story in there at its core, though it can sometimes be hard to find. And almost every episode this season is an hour-plus, so set aside some free time. “It’s definitely a long season,” co-star Finn Wolfhard told Collider earlier this year, with some episodes “film-length.” It’s unfortunate that the final season seems more of a chore than a holiday treat for loyal viewers, but by this point, “Stranger Things” appears bulletproof, regardless of quality.

Read more: ‘Stranger Things’ has made at least $1 billion for Netflix already. Now Season 5 could deliver another $200 million.

In non-“Stranger Things” programming, there’s “The Abandons” (Dec. 4), a Western series from creator Kurt Sutter (“Sons of Anarchy”) about two very different family matriarchs (Lena Headley and Gillian Anderson) battling for control of land in the 1850s Oregon frontier; Season 5 of the frilly, escapist rom-com “Emily in Paris” (Dec. 18), which will split its time between Paris and Rome, where Emily (Lily Collins) has a new amore; and the Barcelona-set murder-mystery series “City of Shadows” (Dec. 12).

Benoit Blanc is back in the latest of writer-director Rian Johnson’s series of mystery movies, “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (Dec. 12), starring Daniel Craig as the Southern gentleman detective, this time investigating a seemingly perfect crime at a small-town church. There’s also “Jay Kelly” (Dec. 5), the new movie from director Noah Baumbach starring George Clooney as a handsome actor dealing with fame (such a stretch), and “Goodbye June” (Dec. 24), a tearjerker from director Kate Winslet about a family’s farewell to their dying mother, starring Helen Mirren and Toni Colette.

Netflix also has a new installment of “My Next Guest with David Letterman” (Dec. 1), featuring Adam Sandler; the Meghan Markle special “With Love, Meghan — Holiday Celebration” (Dec. 3); Season 2 of the real-estate reality series “Owning Manhattan” (Dec. 5); “Simon Cowell: The Next Act” (Dec. 10), a docuseries as the superproducer searches for the next boy band; Season 2 of the Korean hit cooking competition “Culinary Class Wars” (Dec. 16); the game show “What’s in the Box?” (Dec. 17), hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (and hopefully without any severed heads); the live Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua fight from Miami (Dec. 19); the standup-comedy special “Tom Segura: Teacher” (Dec. 24); and “Members Only: Palm Beach” (Dec. 26), a reality series about Florida socialites.

Oh and there’s also a pair of Christmas Day NFL games, kicking off with the Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders at 1 p.m. Eastern and then the Detroit Lions-Minnesota Vikings at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.

Whew.

Coming and going: Once-popular CW shows “Supernatural,” “The 100” and “Arrow” are leaving (all Dec. 18), along with all seasons of “How I Met Your Mother” (leaving Dec. 3) and “Evil” (leaving Dec. 31). On the flip side, Netflix is adding all seasons of “The West Wing” (Dec. 8) and “The Closer” (Dec. 22).

Binge-worthy? Of course, not all — or even most — of Netflix’s shows are must-sees. In fact, it specializes in “mid,” or “gourmet cheeseburger,” TV, shows that look sharp, have a great cast, a killer setup…yet still leave you wanting just a bit more. Recent examples include the Danish crime thriller “The Asset” (which was entirely formulaic, but it’s a good formula), the presidential-assassination historical drama “Death By Lightning” (great cast, even better facial hair, but ultimately a bit shallow and rushed — it could have used a couple of more episodes), and the psychological thriller “The Beast in Me” (great cast, tense cliffhanger episodes but marred by an eye-rolling ending). The common thread? They’re all… fine. Which, like a cheeseburger that’s just OK, is a disappointment when you know that they could have been so much better.

Top picks 0f 2025: A quick list of my favorite shows from 2025, in no particular order: “Mo,” “Asura,” “Adolescence,” “Dept. Q,” “Too Much,” “The Eternaut,” “Fisk,” “Nobody Wants This,” “The Diplomat.”

Play, pause or stop? Play. You can easily survive the month on Netflix alone. There’s a ton of stuff on the way, and a lot of it looks good.

Apple TV ($12.99 a month)

Apple will finally stream its hit summer blockbuster “F1: The Movie” (Dec. 12), the high-octane racing drama starring Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Damson Idris. It’s a decent enough film (cars go zoom-zoom-crash!), though its effects will be diminished a bit on the small screen (just turn up the volume high enough to annoy your neighbors).

The only other premieres are the kids holiday special “The First Snow of Fraggle Rock” (Dec. 5) and “Born to Be Wild” (Dec. 19), a nature docuseries about cute baby animals.

But the real reason to get Apple in December will be new episodes of the captivating dark comedy/sci-fi thriller “Pluribus” (season finale Dec. 26); along with the Maya Rudolph comedy “Loot” (season finale Dec. 10); the Alaska-set action series “The Last Frontier” (season finale Dec. 5); “Down Cemetery Road” (season finale Dec. 10), the British mystery that started strong but oddly veered off the road, becoming an entirely different show; and the Kristen Wiig high-society dramedy “Palm Royale,” which runs through January.

On hold: Apple has yanked the French-language thriller “The Hunt,” which was scheduled to premiere Dec. 3, amid allegations of plagiarism. Reports say major plot points were similar to a novel that was published in 1973, and the show’s French production company is investigating. No word on whether the series will ever see the light of day now, which is still the case for “The Savant” — the Jessica Chastain-led thriller about a woman infiltrating online hate groups that was pulled after Charlie Kirk’s killing.

Play, pause or stop? Pause and think it over. There’s a convincing argument that a subscription is worth the money for “Pluribus,” if nothing else. A slow-burn mystery that’s part “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” part “Last Man on Earth,” the plot of “Pluribus” can go seemingly anywhere at any time, which is what makes it such a thrill to watch, and star Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”) is giving an Emmy-worthy performance (again).

Top picks of 2025: “Severance,” “The Studio,” “Platonic,” “Slow Horses,” “Pluribus.”

Amazon’s Prime Video ($14.99 a month with ads, $8.99 without Prime membership, both +$2.99 to avoid ads)

“Fallout” (Dec. 17), Prime Video’s most critically acclaimed current show, returns for its second season. The rare successful adaptation of a popular videogame will see Lucy (Ella Prunell) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) journey across a violent desert wasteland to the postapocalyptic outpost of New Vegas. Season 1 was surprisingly great — a gory but smart, richly developed retro-futuristic reflection of class conflict — and wound up being one of Prime Video’s most-watched shows ever. It’s well worth checking out.

There are also a pair of original Christmas movies: the documentary “The Merchants of Joy” (Dec. 1), about five New York City families who hustle to sell sidewalk Christmas trees every year, and “Oh What Fun” (Dec. 2), a family comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer as a frazzled mom who gets “Home Alone”-ed and sets out on her own Christmas adventure. The loaded cast also includes Felicity Jones, Chloë Grace Moretz and Denis Leary. Meanwhile, Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox star in “Merv” (Dec. 7), a rom-com movie about a broken-up couple still connected by their dog.

Amazon’s streaming service is also adding some big-name films, including “A Minecraft Movie” (Dec. 22), “Sinners” (Dec. 26) and “The Naked Gun” (Dec. 29). On the sports front, there’s NFL Thursday Night Football, including a Christmas Night matchup between the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs (5:15 Eastern on Dec. 25), and a full slate of NBA games.

Top picks of 2025: “Reacher,” “Ballard,” “Upload.”

Play, pause or stop? Pause. “Fallout” is better than it needs to be, and the movie and sports lineup is decent this month. On the minus side, the ads are really, really annoying, and Prime Video remains mostly a perk for customers who sign up for the shopping and shipping deals.

Disney+ ($11.99 a month with ads, $18.99 with no ads)

After loading up on The Beatles in November, Disney+ is leaning into Swifties in December. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour — The Final Show” (Dec. 12) is a concert film of the final Vancouver performance from her epic 2024 tour. It’ll be accompanied by the concert-tour docuseries “The End of an Era” (Dec. 12), dropping two episodes a week until its finale Dec. 26.

There’s also Season 2 of the K-Pop travel series “Are You Sure?” (Dec. 3), starring Jimin and Jung Kook of BTS as they hit the road before heading out for military service; “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw” (Dec. 5), the third animated movie installment based on the popular kids’ book series; Season 3 of the animated “Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures” (Dec. 8); and Season 2 of the mythological tween adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” (Dec. 10).

Disney’s also got a smattering of ABC, Hulu and cable offerings, including Hulu’s boxing competition “I Am Boxer” (Dec. 2); the “Dancing With the Stars” special “Dancing With the Holidays” (Dec. 2); the musical special “A CMA Country Christmas” (Dec. 3); a new season of “The Great Christmas Light Fight” (Dec. 5); “Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas” (Dec. 10); and a Christmas Day NBA matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks (Dec. 25).

Top picks of 2025: “Andor,” “Tucci in Italy.”

Play, pause or stop? Pause. The weather’s getting lousy and the kids need something to watch, so…why not? Plus, if there’s a Taylor Swift fan in your house, a subscription is a lot cheaper than a concert ticket.

Hulu ($11.99 a month with ads, or $18.99 with no ads)

It’s another weak month for Hulu, with Season 2 of the Disney+ YA adventure series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” (Dec. 10), the standup comedy special “Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts” (Dec. 19) and the 1970s-set Korean political thriller series “Made in Korea” (Dec. 24).

December also has weekly episodes of the critically savaged yet apparently very popular glam legal drama “All’s Fair” (season finale Dec. 9), which just got renewed for a second season, and network shows like “Abbot Elementary,” “9-1-1 Nashville,” “Shark Tank,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers.”

There’s also holiday fare such as “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” ”Home Alone” and “The Santa Clause” (all Dec. 1), the musical special “A CMA Country Christmas” (Dec. 3), a new season of “The Great Christmas Light Fight” (Dec. 5) and ”Kevin Costner Presents: The First Christmas” (Dec. 10).

Top picks of 2025: “Paradise,” “Shoresy,” “Deli Boys,” “Dying for Sex,” “The Bear,” “Such Brave Girls,” “Alien: Earth,” “The Lowdown.”

Play, pause or stop? Stop. The library is good, but there’s nothing must-see in December.

HBO Max ($10.99 a month with ads, $18.49 with no ads, or $22.99 ‘Ultimate’ with no ads)

It’s a slow month for HBO Max, too, with little aside from weekly episodes of Stephen King’s “It: Welcome to Derry” (season finale Dec. 14) and the Gen Z comedy “I Love LA” (season finale Dec. 21). Neither are worth a subscription on their own.

The buzziest new addition may be “The Family McMullen” (Dec. 5), a sequel to the 1995 indie film “The Brothers McMullen.” Edward Burns returns as the writer, director and co-star, catching up with the working-class Irish family and their romantic obstacles 30 years later. Connie Britton co-stars as Burns’s character’s widowed sister-in-law, along with Tracee Ellis Ross and Mike McGlone.

There’s also a comedy special from ”SNL” co-star Sarah Sherman, “Sarah Squirm: Live + In the Flesh” (Dec. 12), featuring her unique brand of surreal body horror/comedy; the musical documentaries “Paul Anka: His Way” (Dec. 1), “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” (Dec. 4) and “Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?” (Dec. 18); and Rob Reiner’s mockumentary sequel “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” (Dec. 12), as the bandmates (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) grudgingly agree to reunite for one last concert. And don’t sleep on “Ne Zha 2” (Dec. 24), a blockbuster animated action film based on Chinese mythology. It just happens to be the biggest global box-office hit of this year, earning around $2 billion — mostly in China.

Also, “Mad Men” (Dec. 1), which has had limited streaming availability in recent years, is being added to HBO Max’s library, with all seven seasons streaming in 4K for the first time. It’s a full-circle moment for HBO, which famously passed on Matthew Weiner’s Emmy-winning series almost two decades ago.

HBO Max also has a pair of College Football Playoff matchups (Dec. 20), the U.S. men’s soccer team vs. Italy (Dec. 1), and a full slate of NHL and college basketball games.

Business time: Meanwhile, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is looking to sell all or parts of itself by year’s end, which could bring seismic changes to the industry. Paramount, Comcast and Netflix have already submitted bids, according to the Wall Street Journal. Stay tuned.

Top picks of 2025: “The Pitt,” “The White Lotus,” “Hacks,” “The Rehearsal,” “Common Side Effects,” “100 Foot Wave,” “Duster,” “Peacemaker,” “Task.”

Play, pause or stop? Stop. The first season of the weirdly compelling “The Chair Company” is over (and it’s already been renewed for a second season), and so is the latest season of “Last Week Tonight.” What’s left just isn’t terribly interesting, though it’d be nice to dig into a “Mad Men” rewatch at some point.

Paramount+ ($7.99 a month with ads, $12.99 a month Premium with no ads)

Paramount+ is raising prices in the new year, but isn’t offering a very impressive lineup to close out 2025.

As far as new stuff, there’s the psychological thriller series “Little Disasters” (Dec. 11), about a family torn apart after a baby is injured, starring Diane Kruger and Jo Joyner, and based on the Sarah Vaughn novel; “Guns Up” (Dec. 1), an action-comedy movie about a man on the run from the mob, starring Kevin James and Christina Ricci; and “5-Star” (Dec. 2), a docuseries tracking four elite freshman college-football recruits.

Paramount also has a selection of popular holiday movies, including “Scrooged,” “A Christmas Carol” and “Miracle on 34th Street”; a full slate of sports, including NFL football every Sunday, college football, college basketball and UEFA Champions League soccer; and new episodes of CBS shows like “DMV,” “Elsbeth,” “Ghosts” and “Matlock.”

Don’t forget new weekly episodes of “The Mayor of Kingstown” (season finale Dec. 28) and “Landman,” which remains the most ridiculously eye-rolling yet somehow watchable series this side of Apple’s “The Morning Show.”

Top picks of 2025: “Yellowjackets,” “Dexter: Resurrection,” “Star Trek Strange New Worlds.”

Play, pause or stop? Stop. Aside from the live sports, there’s not much that’s compelling. Catch up on “Landman” in a binge some other time.

Peacock ($10.99 a month with ads, or $16.99 with no ads)

The cupboard is even emptier at Comcast’s Peacock, which has “The Copenhagen Test” (Dec. 22), a thriller series starring Simu Liu as an intelligence analyst whose brain gets hacked, and not a lot else — that being the “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (Dec. 3) live holiday special and Season 2 of the Notre Dame football docuseries “Here Come the Irish” (Dec. 8).

There are a ton of holiday movies, though, like “Love Actually,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Jingle All the Way” and “Die Hard,” and new eps of NBC and cable shows including “Jeopardy,” “Law & Order,” “Saturday Night Live,” “St. Denis Medical,” “Real Housewives,” “Vanderpump Rules” and “The Voice,” along with the conclusion of “Bel-Air” (series finale Dec. 8). And all 15 seasons of “Supernatural” (Dec. 22) are moving over from Netflix.

Peacock’s also got NFL Sunday Night Football, and a full slate of NBA, college basketball, Premier League soccer and winter sports.

Speaking of ‘meh’: Netflix is far from the only purveyor of ”mid” TV, with Peacock’s recent missing-child thriller series “All Her Fault” another prime example. A great cast (Sarah Snook, Jake Lacy, Dakota Fanning, Michael Pena) elevates a clichéd plot…yet at the end it’s entirely unsatisfying due to shallow storytelling and ridiculous twists. It should’ve been better.

Top picks of 2025: “The Traitors,” “Poker Face.”

Play, pause or stop? Stop. There’s a decent lineup of live sports, but not a lot else that’s particularly worthwhile.

Need more? Catch up on previous months’ picks at What’s Worth Streaming.