📺 What We Watched in August | VIBE USA

The Shards | Key art courtesy of FX / The Walt Disney Company

It’s officially September, but before we jump into a new month, we wanted to look back at a little of what we watched and enjoyed in August.

August brought us a little bit of everything—some mysteries, a few thrillers, true crime, comedy, superheroes, a little nostalgia and even a couple of game shows we’ve gotten hooked on.

We bounced around quite a bit this month, and these are the movies, shows, documentaries and other things that kept us watching in August.

◆ The Shards – Season 1 | FX

One of the shows we got into this month was The Shards, Ryan Murphy's adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel. Set in Los Angeles in 1981, it follows a group of wealthy high-school friends whose seemingly glamorous world starts getting much darker when a mysterious new student arrives at the same time a serial killer is terrorizing the city.

We especially love the whole early-'80s atmosphere of this one—the clothes, cars, houses and everything else bring back some serious nostalgia.

Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, plays Susan, while Igby Rigney plays a teenage Bret Easton Ellis and Homer Gere, (the son of Richard Gere) plays mysterious newcomer Robert Mallory. Wes Bentley and Evan Rachel Wood also appear. It's stylish, strange, dark and definitely has that Ryan Murphy feel.

◆ Sterling Point – Season 1 | Prime Video

Sterling Point was an easy one to get wrapped up in. It follows 17-year-old Annie after she unexpectedly inherits a remote Canadian island from the grandfather she was never allowed to meet. Naturally, she goes looking for answers and discovers family secrets, new friendships, romance and plenty of mystery along the way.

Ella Rubin leads the cast, with Amélie Hoeferle and Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, and there are some familiar faces here too—including Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Missi Pyle and Jay Duplass.

It has that summer escape feeling mixed with a family mystery, which made it a fun August watch.

◆ The Last House | Netflix

We also watched The Last House, a sci-fi thriller starring Greta Lee and Wagner Moura. A family's own home suddenly becomes a place they can't escape from, turning what should be their safe space into a survival situation.

It's one of those movies where you're trying to figure out exactly what is happening right along with the characters.

◆ Michael | Starz

Michael takes us through the extraordinary rise of Michael Jackson, from his childhood as a musical prodigy to becoming one of the biggest entertainers in the world.

Michael's real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson plays him, alongside Colman Domingo, Nia Long and Miles Teller.

Whether you grew up with Michael Jackson's music or simply know how enormous his impact on pop culture became, there is obviously a LOT of history packed into this story.

◆ Betrayal: Dirty Secrets – Season 4 | Hulu

We cannot resist a wild, true story.

Season 4 of Betrayal, titled Dirty Secrets, follows Karoline Borega and the disturbing secrets she discovered about her husband, Colorado Springs police officer Joel Kern.

What initially looked like one life from the outside begins unraveling into lies, misconduct and betrayal—and this is exactly the kind of real-life story that tends to suck us in.

◆ Ted Lasso – Season 4 | Apple TV

Yes, Ted is back!

Jason Sudeikis returns as Ted Lasso, along with familiar favorites Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt and Jeremy Swift, plus some new faces this season.

At this point, Ted Lasso is one of those shows where it almost feels like you're checking back in with people you already know. Funny, heartfelt and very easy to watch.

◆ Busboys | Hulu

For something completely different, we watched Busboys, starring David Spade and Theo Von as two down-on-their-luck guys who leave their septic-pumping jobs behind and head to Mexico with dreams of becoming waiters.

Yes...that's the premise.

It's ridiculous, raunchy and definitely made us laugh.

◆ Don't Say Good Luck | Netflix

Sunny Sandler—Adam Sandler's daughter—takes the lead in this coming-of-age dramedy about a high-school girl who lands the lead in her school musical just as her life at home becomes much more complicated.

She has a really great supporting cast too, including Melanie Lynskey, Max Greenfield, Steve Buscemi and Bebe Neuwirth.

This one is much more heartfelt than the title might make you expect, mixing high-school and theater life with some much heavier family emotions.

◆ Normal | HBO Max

Bob Odenkirk plays an interim sheriff who arrives in a quiet little Minnesota town called Normal...only to discover that there isn't much that's normal about it.

A bank robbery starts exposing some very big secrets hiding underneath this seemingly ordinary small town, and things get increasingly crazy from there.

Henry Winkler and Lena Headey also star. It's action, crime and dark comedy all rolled together—and a fun choice when you want something that doesn't take itself too seriously.

◆ Deep Water | MGM+

This survival thriller stars Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley and starts with an already terrifying scenario: a flight from Los Angeles to Shanghai crashes into the Pacific Ocean.

The survivors then discover that surviving the crash was only the beginning.

Sometimes you just need a good survival movie where everything that possibly could go wrong does.

◆ Lanterns – Season 1 | HBO Max

We jumped into the DC universe this month with Lanterns.

Kyle Chandler plays veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan alongside Aaron Pierre as John Stewart as the two investigate a disturbing mystery in Nebraska that turns out to have much bigger implications.

Kelly Macdonald also stars as the local sheriff.

It has superheroes, but there's also a darker detective-story feel to it, which makes this one a little different from the typical superhero series.

◆ Kelsey Cook: Happy Hour | Netflix

We mixed in some stand-up this month too with Kelsey Cook: Happy Hour.

Cook gets into everything from dating and "hangxiety" to one very unfortunate airplane-bathroom experience. It's personal and an easy change of pace when you don't feel like committing to another movie or series.

◆ The Whisper Man | Netflix

The Whisper Man is a dark psychological crime thriller based on Alex North's bestselling novel. When a young boy is abducted, his father begins uncovering disturbing connections to a serial killer case from years earlier.

And check out this cast: Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton.

It has that old-school serial-killer thriller feeling—the kind of dark mystery where you keep trying to put the pieces together yourself. Definitely one of the more interesting casts we watched this month.

◆ A Killer Among Friends – Season 2 | HBO Max

And because apparently we didn't get enough murder and betrayal this month...

We watched Season 2 of A Killer Among Friends, narrated and executive produced by Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Each story begins with a murder that tears apart a group of friends—and the unsettling realization that the killer may have been someone within that circle all along.

Friends, secrets, suspicion, betrayal and true crime all rolled into one show.

🎮 The Game Shows We're Watching

We also have a couple of game shows in the rotation right now.

The 1% Club | Hulu – Hosted by Joel McHale, this isn't really about how many random facts you know. The questions are based more on logic and how your brain works, with contestants trying to reach a question that supposedly only 1% of people can answer. It's fun trying to figure these out from home—and occasionally humbling when something that looks ridiculously easy somehow isn't.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | ABC + Hulu – An old favorite that is still fun to play along with. Jimmy Kimmel hosts this version, with celebrity pairs playing together to try to win $1 million for charity. August brought some really fun pairings too, including Jesse Eisenberg & Paul Giamatti and Awkwafina & Paul Feig.

🎬 That's What We Watched in August!

So that was our August—a little true crime, a little nostalgia, superheroes, family drama, serial killers, comedy, game shows and Ted Lasso thrown into the middle of it all.

Not a bad variety.

Now as we head into September, we are ready to see what the streaming world gives us next.

What did YOU watch in August?

Did you find something we completely missed? Let us know what you loved because we're always looking for something else to add to the watchlist.

Whatever you’re watching, we hope you find something this month that makes you laugh, think, feel or simply enjoy the moment.