Just as the holiday rush begins its peak, there comes that time of the month when we point out the next must-see series and where to watch them. The good news is that streaming platforms and TV networks may be saving their best shows for the last weeks of 2024.
From thrillers to dramas and comedies, December’s schedule has some big projects in store and it doesn’t look like it will disappoint. Among the most talked about choices on the TV schedule are: Black Doves, the riveting Netflix-produced espionage thriller starring Keira Knightley; Disney’s fast-paced intergalactic adventure Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; and the long-awaited return of survival horror thriller Squid Game, which still holds the record for being the most-watched Netflix show in the platform’s history.
Other notable series in the coming weeks include: The Sticky, Prime Video’s irreverent black comedy; the gory prequel to Dexter, titled Dexter: Original Sin produced by Paramount+ With Showtime; and Netflix’s latest Colombian project, Cien años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude), an adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s novel of the same name.
Here’s our pick of the most interesting new releases for December 2024.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew
Disney+ | Season Premiere | Release date: Tuesday, December 3
Created by Jon Watts and Christopher Ford for the Disney+ streaming service, Skeleton Crew is part of the Star Wars franchise and takes place in the same timeframe as The Mandalorian series and its interconnected spin-offs. The series’ directors include Lee Isaac Chung (Twisters), Davie Lowery (Pete’s Dragon) and the Daniels (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
Here is the official synopsis for Skeleton Crew:
“Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home – and meeting unlikely allies and enemies – will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.”
Jude Law leads the cast as Jod Na Nawood, a Force user with a special gift for getting out of all sorts of entanglements.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is scheduled to premiere on December 3, 2024, with its first two episodes, and will consist of eight episodes.
Black Doves
Netflix | Season Premiere | Release date: Thursday, December 5
Black Doves is an action spy thriller from Netflix that features stars Keira Knightley, Sarah Lancashire and Ben Whishaw at the helm of the cast. Set in London over the Christmas period, the six-part series is written by Joe Barton, the man behind The Lazarus Project, so we can expect surprises, humor and a rollercoaster of emotions.
The show follows Helen Webb (Knightley), a dedicated wife and mother who has been operating undercover as a spy for a decade. She works for a shadowy organization called Black Doves, to which she has been passing on her politician husband’s secrets.
But, everything is derailed when Jason, Helen’s lover, is murdered. From that moment on Helen will risk everything, including her undercover assignment, and her own life, to get revenge. It’s certainly great to see Knightley in a leading role again, which promises to showcase her underrated talent as a dramatic actress.
Most interesting of all, Black Doves has already been renewed for season two.
The Sticky
Prime Video | Season Premiere | Release date: Friday, December 6
Directed by Ed Herro and Brian Donovan, and produced by Hollywood star Jamie Lee Curtis, The Sticky is a black comedy about a multi-million dollar heist of Quebec’s surplus maple syrup.
The six-episode series is inspired by the true story of the so-called “Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist,” which made international headlines in 2012 when it was revealed that more than $17 million (CAD) worth of maple syrup had been stolen from Quebec’s national reserve.
According to Prime Video’s official description:
The Sticky “follows Ruth Landry (Martindale), a tough, middle-aged maple syrup farmer who turns to crime when the bureaucratic authorities threaten to take away everything she loves. She teams up with the hot-tempered Bostonian mobster (Diamantopoulos), and a mild-mannered French-Canadian security guard (Cyr) to carry out a multi-million dollar heist on Quebec’s maple syrup surplus.”
All six episodes will air at the same time.
Cien años de Soledad
Netflix | Season Premiere | Release date: Wednesday, December 11
Based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, Cien años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) is a Colombian magical realism series that follows several generations of the Buendía family.
Cien años de Soledad is the story of both the mythical Colombian town of Macondo and its founders, the unforgettable and incestuous Buendía clan. The plot follows seven generations of the family as they contemplate the rise and fall of all they know.
“Married against their parents’ wishes, cousins José Arcadio Buendía and Úrsula Iguarán leave their village behind and embark on a long journey in search of a new home. Accompanied by friends and adventurers, their journey culminates with the founding of a Utopian town on the banks of a river of prehistoric stones that they baptize Macondo,” states the official synopsis.
To address the century-long history of the Buendía clan, the series employs a total of 16 chapters, divided into two seasons of eight episodes each. On December 11, Netflix will premiere the first season of one of the most ambitious audiovisual projects in Latin American history.
According to the show’s creators, the adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s novel is intended as a tribute to Colombia’s history, which is tinged with magic and violence.
Dexter: Original Sin
Paramount+ With Showtime | Season Premiere | Release date: Friday, December 13
Are you ready to go back to the beginning?
Dexter: Original Sin is the highly anticipated prequel to the serial killer show Dexter, originally starring Michael C. Hall.
For those who need a brief recap: Dexter premiered on Showtime in 2006 and follows the titular character, who uses his forensic skills to dispatch criminals he believes have not been properly punished by the legal system. Based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, Dexter would go on to become a cult series.
Now, British star Patrick Gibson will take the reins of the story, playing the troubled Dexter Morgan in his younger years. Set in Miami in 1991, this 10-episode prequel follows the title character as he transitions from student to serial killer.
According to the official synopsis:
“Dexter: Original Sin follows Dexter (Gibson) as he transitions from student to avenging serial killer. When his bloodthirsty urges can’t be ignored any longer, Dexter must learn to channel his inner darkness. With the guidance of his father, Harry (Christian Slater), he adopts a Code designed to help him find and kill people who deserve to be eliminated from society without getting on law enforcement’s radar. This is a particular challenge for young Dexter as he begins a forensics internship at the Miami Metro Police Department.”
Emmy nominee Clyde Phillips (Dexter, Nurse Jackie) will return as showrunner and executive producer.
Squid Game
Netflix | Season: 2 | Release date: Thursday, December 26th
If you watched Netflix’s popular horror-thriller series Squid Game in 2021 and are still suffering from nightmares, get ready for more sleepless nights.
In September 2021, Squid Game became Netflix’s number one show in 90 countries and the platform’s most successful non-English speaking show. With more than 100 million plays in its first 28 days of streaming, Squid Game revolutionized all streamer records and earned a legion of diehard fans around the world.
The first season of the South Korean series centered on a group of humble people who participate in a deadly competition for money. Needless to say, fans are eagerly waiting for the next chapter.
According to the streamer, the second season picks up three years after Seong Gi-hun won the previous contest. “Player 456 gave up going to the States and comes back with a new resolution in his mind,” reads the official description. “Gi-hun once again dives into the mysterious survival game, starting another life-or-death game with new participants gathered to win the prize of 45.6 billion won.”
However, this time, Gi-hun doesn’t want the prize money. Instead, he wants revenge, as he plans to confront the Front Man and end the game once and for all. In this season, viewers will get a closer look at Gi-hun’s transformation, who is no longer the naive gambler of the first season, but a predator.
Director Hwang Dong-hyuk has promised that the second season will dive even deeper into the dark world of survival games, introducing new characters, intense plot twists and the return of familiar faces.
It is to add that Netflix has confirmed that there will be a third season of Squid Game. And unlike the previous season, there will not be a three-year gap. The third season will arrive in 2025. The only bad news is that the series will come to an end at that time.