March seems like a good time to catch up or reduce streaming.
Since there aren’t many launches this month, consumers on a tight budget may be able to cancel a few streaming services. Or to binge something you’ve missed and take advantage of the little pause in action.
The upcoming months will be crowded with what should be the best shows of the year because Emmy season is getting underway, with the eligibility cutoff being at the end of May. It’s not too early to start planning your approach; perhaps you should pick up Peacock and Disney+ for the next seasons of “Poker Face” and “Andor” while abandoning Max and Apple after “The White Lotus” and “Severance” are finished?
However, it is also feasible to keep your streaming spend around $30 this month with a little bit of smart churning, which involves adding and removing services on a monthly basis. Remember that a billing cycle doesn’t always begin at the beginning of the month; it can begin when you join up.
This column, which rates the major streaming services as “play,” “pause,” or “stop,” according to the conventional ratings of buy, hold, and sell given by investment analysts, provides advice on how to optimize your streaming experience and budget each month. It also selects the top shows to assist you in making monthly decisions.
Here’s what the different streaming services will offer in March 2025 and what makes the monthly subscription fee worthwhile:
Maximum ($9.99 with advertisements, $16.99 without, or $20.99 ‘Ultimate’ without)
With Eli (John Goodman) in retirement and his foolish offspring Jesse (Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson), and Kelvin (Adam Devine) fighting for control of the family megachurch, “The Righteous Gemstones” (March 9) is back for its fourth and final season. A holy mess is to be expected.
Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) Max features movies like the horror-comedy “The Parenting” (March 13), the prison-theater drama “Sing Sing” (March 23), and the streaming premiere of last year’s horror hit “Heretic” (March 7), which stars Hugh Grant in a fantastically twisted role. “When No One Sees Us” (March 7) is a Spanish-language series about two female investigators investigating a series of crimes that seem connected; one from a remote town in southern Spain, the other from a nearby U.S. military base.
Even while March Madness isn’t as strong as it once was (just think of a men’s college basketball player who isn’t Cooper Flagg), it’s still worth watching, if only to support odd underdogs while losing $10 in your office pool. This year’s men’s NCAA tournament will be streamed by Max and Paramount+ together (the women’s tournament will be on multiple ESPN networks). Max coverage will begin on March 18 with the First Four and end on March 29 with the Elite 8. In addition, there is a full schedule of NBA and NHL games, NASCAR races every Sunday, and “Celtics City” (March 3), a documentary series about Boston’s legendary NBA team from Bill Simmons of The Ringer.
The latest season of the excellent social satire “The White Lotus,” the indispensable news companion “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” the raunchy and razor-sharp animated supervillain series “Harley Quinn” (season finale March 20), and the excellent E.R. drama “The Pitt” all have new episodes every week. Additionally, you may watch “Eyes on the Prize III,” the most recent episode of the civil rights documentary that seems especially relevant.
Stop, pause, or play? Have fun. “The White Lotus” and “The Pitt” are currently two of the greatest TV shows, and “The Righteous Gemstones” may soon be one of them.
Apple TV+ (monthly price: $9.99)
“Dope Thief” (March 14), an action-packed crime-drama series starring Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura as lifelong friends and small-time criminals who pose as DEA agents to rob drug dealers only to fall into something far bigger and more dangerous than they had anticipated, is the first in Apple’s (AAPL) modest but intriguing March lineup. It looks amazing.
Then there’s “The Studio” (March 26), an inside-Hollywood comedy series that stars Seth Rogen as a stressed-out studio executive. Ike Barinholz, Catherine O’Hara, and Kathryn Hahn co-star, and there are appearances from superstars like Charlize Theron, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, and Brian Cranston. There is a significant chance that this will be nothing more than a self-indulgent navel-gazing exercise. However, the cast is excellent, and wonderful things could happen if all goes according to plan.
The four-episode “expansion pack”/anthology miniseries “Side Quest” (March 26) follows the release of the most recent season of the fantastic videogame-workplace comedy “Mythic Quest.” It tells the experiences of players, staff, and fans who are affected by the game. It’s an odd idea, unless you consider that the three best “MQ” episodes have been the stand-alone ones without the main cast (which may sound like a jab, but it’s not).
The aforementioned “Mythic Quest” (season finale March 26), the amnesia thriller “Surface,” the hectic German hospital drama “Berlin ER,” and the mind-blowing puzzle-box mystery “Severance” (season finale March 21) are also available on a weekly basis.
Stop, pause, or play? Have fun. Apple seems prepared to step in swiftly as the seasons of two fantastic shows come to an end.
Netflix ($7.99 for ad-supported standard, $17.99 for ad-free standard, and $24.99 for ad-free premium)
The anarchic weeklong special “Everybody’s in L.A.” garnered critical acclaim last year, and comedian John Mulaney will attempt to recreate that magic with “Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney” (March 12), a live chat show that will stream every Wednesday night for 12 weeks. This version is less focused on Los Angeles, but it will still have musical performances, embarrassing call-ins, odd guests (the more random the better), and little to no organization. “This is a really fun experiment,” Mulaney recently told reporters. “Not since Harry and Meghan has Netflix given more money to someone without a specific plan.”
In relation to that, the Duchess of Sussex will attempt to mimic Martha Stewart in the next lifestyle series “With Love, Meghan” (which premieres on March 3), which is the result of a $100 million agreement between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and Netflix in 2020.
In addition, Netflix (NFLX) features the eagerly awaited Italian historical drama “The Leopard” (March 5); Season 7 of the intense racing documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” (March 7); another reboot of the dating reality show “Temptation Island” (March 12); the Russo Brothers’ sci-fi/comedy film “The Electric State” (March 14), which stars Chris Pratt, Millie Bobbie Brown, and a ton of special effects; the White House murder-mystery series “The Residence” (March 20), which stars Uzo Aduba, Giancarlo Esposito, and Randall Park; the standup comedy special “Chelsea Handler: The Feeling” (March 25); and “Million Dollar Secret” (March 26), a parody of Peacock’s well-liked “The Traitors,” which features 12 contestants competing against one another in “a game of wit, cunning, and deception” to win $1 million.
Pay attention to this, not that: As Netflix struggles with well-known series like the awful “Zero Day,” two of its greatest series this year have gone unnoticed. In contrast to Netflix’s current “gourmet cheeseburger” mass-appeal strategy, both of these shows feel like a return to the company’s earlier days when it dared to trust auteur filmmakers to produce highly specialized but very personal productions. Palestinian-American comedian Mo Amer’s show “Mo” (the second and last season premiered in January) is a loosely autobiographical account of his life as an illegal refugee in Houston. It is a poignant ode to the experience of contemporary immigrants and their fortitude in the face of… well, everything. It is occasionally depressing, occasionally humorous, but always sincere. However, acclaimed writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Japanese family drama “Asura” (also released in January) centers on four adult sisters in 1979 who learn that their father has been having a long-term affair and the resulting familial fault lines. The fully developed individuals in this subdued slice of life confront the limits of cultural standards and family dynamics. You will remember these programs for a long time since they are profoundly sympathetic and thought-provoking.
Stop, pause, or play? Take a moment to consider it. It’s a rare off month for Netflix. There are plenty of things to catch up on, though.
Hulu ($9.99 with advertisements or $18.99 without)
Hollywood’s biggest night, the 2025 Oscars, will be livestreamed by Hulu for the first time on March 2. Conan O’Brien will host the event, and you may check in early to watch the red carpet.
Additionally, Hulu has “Deli Boys” (March 6), a comedy-thriller series about two pampered Pakistani-American boys who are thrust into underworld drama after learning that their father, whom they had assumed to be a straightforward convenience store owner, was actually a criminal leader. It sounds suspiciously similar to “The Brothers Sun,” a Netflix series, but it might be entertaining.
“Good American Family” (March 19), a miniseries starring Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass as parents who adopt a kid with dwarfism and later think she is not who she claims to be, is an adaptation of the strange real-life story of Natalia Grace.
In addition, there’s the retro sitcom “Mid-Century Modern” (March 28), which is essentially a parody of “The Golden Girls,” in which three “gay gentlemen of a certain age”—Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and Nathan Lee Graham—decide to live together in Palm Springs in their later years. One of them resides with his mother (Linda Lavin, in her last role before passing away).
