Cowboys, aliens and retired propane gas salesmen – it’s just another weekend in the streaming universe.
Major streamers like Netflix, HBO Max and more have just dropped some of the summer’s hottest shows just as the weekend is about to start. At the top of Watch With Us’ binge list is Ransom Canyon, which returns for a second season filled with lovelorn cowboys and real estate drama.
If you’re craving something more out of this world, beam yourself up with Paramount+ and watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 or enter the multiverse with HBO Max’s Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.
Finally, one of the most beloved modern animated shows, King of the Hill, returns on Hulu for another rebooted season full of down-home observations about life, love and how to cook the best barbecue.
‘Ransom Canyon’ Season 2 – Netflix
What if Yellowstone had less testosterone and more romance? It would look something like Ransom Canyon. The Netflix drama debuted last summer to high ratings, so a season 2 was all but inevitable. What’s surprising about Ransom Canyon season 2 is just how good and addictive it is. It’s a show that could’ve been delivered Hallmark Channel-level cheese, but instead offers interesting characters to root for and storylines with some unexpected developments.
After Quinn (Minka Kelly) high-tailed it to New York City to make her dreams of becoming a professional pianist come true, she returns to Ransom Canyon with a surprise – new boyfriend Oliver (Beau Robson), who wants to marry her. That doesn’t sit too well with Staten (Josh Duhamel), who still loves Quinn. Complicating this love triangle is the arrival of Quinn’s mother, Claire (new cast member Patricia Clarkson), who has some secrets of her own to spill.
‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ Season 1 – HBO Max
The Big Bang Theory’s been off the air for a while now, but it feels like only yesterday Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and the gang graced our TV screens every Monday night. Spinoffs like Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage kept the franchise alive, and now they’re joined by the newest member in the TBBT family, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.
Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) still owns the best comic book shop in Pasadena, but he has one problem even Batman can’t solve: the multiverse is collapsing, and it’s all his fault. Stuart is the only one who can save existence itself, but he needs the support of longtime girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus) and best bud Bert (Brian Posehn). Blending crazy sci-fi tropes with jokes about pop culture, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is a show that Sheldon himself would enjoy watching, even if he nitpicked the science and logic behind Stuart’s dimension-hopping exploits.
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4 – Paramount+
The Star Trek franchise is at a bit of a low point right now, with the new series Starfleet Academy flopping, the animated shows not really registering on the pop culture radar and no new movie in sight. The lone bright spot is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which began streaming in 2022 and continues to deliver retro sci-fi fun.
Season 4 doesn’t change the formula too much, but it advances several key plotlines and allows its lead characters to evolve. In particular, Rebecca Romijn’s Una Chin-Riley is now a Commander, and she’s determined to work her way up the Starfleet ranks. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is already where he wants to be, but he can’t shake the feeling it will all go away someday. Trek fans know it will, but for now, enjoy kooky adventures like the Enterprise travelling 65 million years into the past to fight dinosaurs or Pike mounting a horse on a Wild West-flavored alien planet.
‘King of the Hill’ Season 15 – Hulu
Need more propane gas? Sorry, Hank Hill (Mike Judge) can’t help you – he’s retired. But that doesn’t mean he or his wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) aren’t down for some adventures in Arlen, Texas. King of the Hill is back for another season – its 15th, to be exact – and it’s just as fresh and funny as ever.
Some highlights from season 15 include Bobby (Pamela Adlon) pursuing a relationship with longtime love Connie (Lauren Tom), much to her family’s dismay, and the competitive Peggy taking up golf – and becoming obsessed with being the best. And Hank goes where no man his age and temperament dares to go – a comic book convention. 29 years after its debut, King of the Hill has lost none of its folksy humor or its subtle chronicle of America’s silent working-class citizens.
