Posted July 31, 2021 • Last updated August 29, 2021
What's new on Canadian streaming & TV in August 2021?
A look at programs newly available in Canada in August, including "The Chair", "Anne Boleyn", a new season of "The Great British Baking Show", and more.
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As promised a few days ago, it's time for our monthly summary of notable new programming coming to streaming services and TV channels in Canada. This is not intended as a complete list, but where practical we will provide links to fuller information. While we do mention a few reality and documentary shows and the like (particularly for channels without much else), our main focus is mainly on notable scripted programming.
Note that because of the lack of significant streaming rights-related news this past week outside of the monthly programming releases we've compiled below, plus the long weekend in most of Canada (including where we're based), our next This Week in WCIW newsletter will be on August 9.
Netflix
Netflix Canada posts its monthly listings on its Twitter account, and sends additional details to media outlets on its mailing list. Since we aren't on that list at present, we've cross-referenced against other posts as well as other sources.
Because of the sheer amount of content Netflix releases each month, we've decided to be considerably more judicious with the number of items listed compared to other services, so we encourage you to consult the full lists if there's a program you're waiting on.
New programs are normally released at 3:00 a.m. ET (midnight PT) on the date indicated, unless otherwise noted.
Notable original series
- Hit & Run (spy thriller drama) – Friday, August 6
- Untold (sports documentary anthology series) – Tuesdays starting August 10
- Brand New Cherry Flavor (horror limited series starring Rosa Salazar and Catherine Keener) – Friday, August 20
- The Chair (comedy-drama miniseries written by Amanda Peet and starring Sandra Oh) – Friday, August 20
- Clickbait (drama miniseries starring Zoe Kazan and Adrian Grenier) – Wednesday, August 25
- Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo (follow-up to Tidying Up) – Tuesday, August 31
Notable exclusive-distribution "original" series
- Riverdale (season 5, part 2; episodes available day after U.S. broadcast on The CW) – Thursdays starting August 12
- Good Girls (season 4, previously aired on NBC) – Tuesday, August 31
Notable original (or exclusive-distribution "original") films
- Beckett (thriller starring John David Washington) – Friday, August 13
- The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf (animated spin-off of the live-action series) – Monday, August 23
- Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal and Greed (documentary) – Wednesday, August 25
Notable licensed programming
- For Life (season 1 of the ABC/CTV legal drama, via Sony) – Sunday, August 1
- Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness – Sunday, August 1
- Joker (2019 film, via WB) – Monday, August 16
- Rocketman (2019 film, via Paramount) – Saturday, August 21
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019 Quentin Tarantino film, via Sony) – Wednesday, August 25
- Manifest (season 3) – Sunday, August 29
Disney+
Disney+ sends its Canadian monthly listings to media outlets on its mailing list. Despite our efforts, we are not yet getting these monthly listings, so we have to rely on outside posts. New programs are normally released at 3:00 a.m. ET (midnight PT) on the date indicated, unless otherwise noted.
Notable premiere or new-release films and specials
- Cruella (2021 Disney film starring Emma Stone, becoming available without Premier Access) – Friday, August 27
- Vacation Friends (streaming-exclusive 20th Century film starring John Cena and Lil Rel Howery) – Friday, August 27
Notable Disney+ original series
- What If...? (Marvel Studios animated anthology series) – Wednesdays starting August 11
- Diary of a Future President (season 2) – Wednesdays starting August 18
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: The Mysterious Benedict Society (season finale Wednesday, August 6); Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Wednesdays through August 13); Chip 'n' Dale: Park Life (Wednesdays); Monsters at Work (Wednesdays); Turner & Hooch (Wednesdays); The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse (two new shorts each Wednesday)
Notable Star original series
- American Horror Stories (FX on Hulu episodic anthology series) – premieres Wednesday, August 25 [not yet clear if episodes will debut weekly or all at once]
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: Love, Victor (Fridays through August 20)
Notable library programming
- Bless the Harts (season 2) – August 4
- Harrow (season 3 of the ABC Studios-produced, Australian Broadcasting Corp.-commissioned drama) – August 4
- Black Widow (1987 20th Century Fox drama film starring Debra Winger, not related to the Marvel character) – August 6
- Ready or Not (2019 Searchlight Pictures film, previously on Crave) – August 6
- Red Sparrow (2018 20th Century Fox film starring Jennifer Lawrence) – August 6
- Family Guy (season 19) – August 11
- The Resident (season 4) – August 11
- Various recent Nat Geo SharkFest series – August 13 and 18
- Filthy Rich (sole season of the 2020 Fox network series) – August 25
- Station 19 (season 4) – August 25
Crave
Crave's full list of arrivals for August is posted on Bell Media's press site. New programs are normally released at midnight ET on the date indicated (equivalent to 9:00 p.m. PT on the previous date), though some (including HBO Max programs) may be released at 3:00 a.m. ET, and others (including mainline HBO programs) are released simultaneously with their linear premieres at the indicated times. Starz is dealt with in a separate section below.
Showtime original programming
- UFO (four-part miniseries from executive producer J.J. Abrams) – all parts available to stream Sunday, August 8; airs on Crave 1 linear Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET from August 8 to 29
- The L Word: Generation Q (season 2) – Sundays at 10:00 p.m. ET starting August 8; season may be available to stream in full on August 8
- Work in Progress (season 2) – Sundays at 11:00 p.m. ET (two episodes weekly) starting August 22; season may be available to stream in full on August 22
- Gossip (docuseries about New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams) – Sundays at 8:00 p.m. ET starting August 22
- Season finales on Sunday, August 1: The Chi (9:00 p.m. ET), Black Monday (10:00 p.m. ET), Flatbush Misdemeanors (10:30 p.m. ET)
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: The End (Sundays at 8:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. ET [two episodes weekly] through August 15); Desus & Mero (Sundays and Thursdays at 11:00 p.m. ET, on summer hiatus after August 19)
Other notable licensed programming in base tier
- Anne Boleyn (2021 Channel 5 [UK] miniseries starring Jodie Turner-Smith, via Sony) – all three parts available Friday, August 6
- Star Trek: Lower Decks (season 2 of the animated series) – Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. ET starting August 12; also on CTV Sci-Fi
- Sister, Sister (1994–99 ABC/The WB sitcom, via CBS Studios) – all six seasons available Friday, August 27
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: Love Island (Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays through August 16, with some episodes categorized separately as Love Island: Uncensored); RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars (Thursdays)
New / recent release movies (in Movies + HBO tier)
- Monkey Beach (2020 Canadian drama directed by Loretta Todd, via Reunion Pacific?) – Sunday, August 1
- Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021 documentary directed by Marilyn Agrelo, via LevelFilm) – Monday, August 2
- Death of a Ladies' Man (2021 Canadian-Irish comedy-drama starring Gabriel Byrne and Jessica Paré, via Mongrel) – Wednesday, August 4
- Let Him Go (2020 neo-Western drama starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, via Universal) – Friday, August 6
- Like a House on Fire (2021 Canadian drama starring Sarah Sutherland, via Entract / Elevation) – Wednesday, August 11
- Nomadland (2021 film directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Frances McDormand, via Searchlight; previously available on Disney+) – Friday, August 13
- Percy (2020 Canadian-American-Indian drama about Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser, starring Christopher Walken, via Mongrel) – Friday, August 13
- The Short History of the Long Road (2019 drama starring Sabrina Carpenter, via FilmRise?) – Friday, August 13
- Godzilla vs. Kong (2021 "MonsterVerse" film starring Alexander Skarsgård and Millie Bobby Brown, via Warner Bros.) – Friday, August 20
- The World to Come (2020 drama starring Katherine Waterson and Vanessa Kirby, via LevelFilm) – Friday, August 20
- All My Life (2020 romantic drama starring Jessica Rothe and Harry Shum Jr., via Universal) – Friday, August 27
Notable library movies (in Movies + HBO tier)
- Godzilla [aka Gojira] (original 1954 Japanese film), Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974) (all presumably via Toho and/or Criterion?) – Friday, August 20
HBO original programming (in Movies + HBO tier)
- Small Town News: KPVM Pahrump (docuseries from World of Wonder about a local Nevada TV station) – Mondays at 9:00 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. ET (two episodes weekly) from August 2 to August 16
- Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union (three-part docuseries directed by Peter Kunhardt) – all parts streaming Tuesday, August 3 at 9:00 p.m. ET; airs on HBO Canada linear August 3-5 at 9:00 p.m. ET/MT
- In the Same Breath (documentary from Nanfu Wang about different countries' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic) – Wednesday, August 18 at 9:00 p.m. ET
- NYC Epicenters 9/11 → 2021½ (docuseries from Spike Lee documenting New York over the 20 years since the September 11 attacks) – Sundays at 9:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. ET (two episodes weekly) starting August 22
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: The White Lotus (Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET until August 15), 100 Foot Wave (Sundays at 10:00 p.m. ET until August 22)
- Weekly topical programming (new episodes air "live" on the HBO linear channel and are posted on-demand the next day): Real Time with Bill Maher (Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET); Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Sundays at 11:00 p.m. ET – no new episode August 29)
HBO Max original programming (in Movies + HBO tier)
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: Gossip Girl (Thursdays through August 12 – season 1 continues later this year); FBoy Island (Thursdays through August 12 – multiple episodes each week)
Notable departing programming not moving elsewhere shortly
All James Bond films (Dr. No through Spectre) – August 9 (We noticed on August 29 that these films remain available on Crave; the reason for this change is not immediately clear.)
Starz
Starz Canada arrivals are including in the Crave listings, but we list them separately here since it's also possible to subscribe to Starz separately from Crave, including through Amazon and Apple.
Starz original series
- Heels (behind-the-scenes wrestling drama starring Stephen Amell) – Sundays starting August 15
- Ongoing, new episodes weekly: Blindspotting (Sundays through August 8); Power Book Ⅲ: Raising Kanan (Sundays)
Notable library programming
- All Saw franchise films from Saw Ⅱ through Jigsaw (the original Saw is already available) – August 6
Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video's full August listings for Canada were emailed to us, among other media outlets, on July 29.
Original (or exclusive Canadian distribution) programming
- Val (documentary about Val Kilmer) – Friday, August 6
- S.O.Z. Soldados o Zombies [Soliders or Zombies] (Mexican horror series) – Friday, August 6
- DC's Stargirl (season 2; available day after U.S. broadcast on The CW) – Wednesdays starting August 11
- Modern Love (season 2) – Friday, August 13
- Annette (musical starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard) – Friday, August 20
- Nine Perfect Strangers (limited series based on the book by Liane Moriarty, starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy; commissioned by Hulu but distributed by Endeavor Content) – Fridays starting August 20
New-release films
- Gully (2021 drama starring Jacob Latimore, via Verical / Paramount) – Sunday, August 1
- The Marksman (2021 action thriller starring Liam Neeson, via Elevation) – Thursday, August 12
- Our Friend (2021-released comedy-drama starring Jason Segal, Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck) – Thursday, August 19
- The Courier (2020 historical spy film starring Benedict Cumberbatch) – Friday, August 27
Notable licensed programming
- Fear the Walking Dead (season 6) – Tuesday, August 3
- Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy (all four films) – Friday, August 13
- The Missing (season 2 of the British drama series) – Tuesday, August 31
CBC Gem
CBC Gem's August listings are posted in full on the CBC's media website. Other than programs marked as "original" or "premiere", programs may have aired previously in Canada on other services.
Notable Canadian programming
- Black Stories Collection: FreeUp! Emancipation Day 2021 (original arts special), John Ware Reclaimed (documentary), Kenbe LA: Until We Win (documentary) – Sunday, August 1
- Faits divers (season 2 of the Radio-Canada drama series) – Friday, August 13
- The Bravest Knight (animated kids series, with voice actors including T.R. Knight, Wanda Sykes, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, and RuPaul; Canadian premiere – produced in Canada but previously released in the U.S. on Hulu) – Saturday, August 14
Notable premiere international programmg
- The Great British Baking Show (season 11, aired in the UK in 2020) – Friday, August 6
- Eden (Australian drama limited series) – Friday, August 20
Other notable international programming
- Anne+ (season 2 of the Dutch drama) – Friday, August 20
Notable new programming on other channels and services
We're also highlighting a couple of shows currently on-air that we neglected to mention in past months.
- Citytv / NBC: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (8th and final season, Thursdays starting August 12)
- The CW (no known Canadian broadcaster): Wellington Paranormal [spinoff series of the original What We Do in the Shadows film] (seasons 1-2 currently airing Sundays at 9:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET, began July 11)
- Adult Swim Canada: Archer (season 12, Wednesdays starting August 25)
- CTV Sci-Fi: Chapelwaite (Sundays starting August 22)
- Much: Awkwafina is Nora from Queens (season 2, Wednesdays starting August 18)
- Super Channel: Chesapeake Shores (season 5, Sundays starting August 15)
- T+E: Encounter: UFO (Tuesdays starting August 10)
- AMC: The Walking Dead (season 11, Sundays starting August 22)
- Apple TV+: Truth Be Told (season 2, Fridays starting August 20) [and we completely forgot last month to mention Schmigadoon! and season 2 of Ted Lasso, which are currently ongoing with new episodes on Fridays]
- BritBox: McDonald & Dodds (season 2, starting August 3); Time (2021 three-part BBC drama, August 17)
- Multiple Canadian and American networks: Stand Up to Cancer 2021 (Saturday, August 21 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT)
Canadian broadcasts not yet confirmed
- Reservation Dogs (new series, airing in the U.S. via FX on Hulu, produced by FXP, premieres August 9) – Not on the FX or FXX Canada schedules or the Disney+ / Star lineup. Potentially could be made available on Disney+ at a later date, similar to AHStories.
- The Other Two (season 2, HBO Max, MTV Entertainment Studios, August 26) – Previous season aired on Comedy Central (U.S.) and CTV Comedy (Canada). Given that it wasn't listed on Crave's monthly listings, it's likely to continue airing first on CTV Comedy in Canada, but there has not yet been an announcement to that effect.
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We'll see you again with our next regular This Week in WCIW newsletter on August 9.
Significant revisions
- August 3, 2021 – noted McDonald & Dodds season 2 premiere date on BritBox is today, August 3; added a notable movie to Crave's listings (Let Him Go) that we initially missed