Here at Sneak Peak, we don’t just write about the shows and movies you can stream on Paramount+, we watch the shows and movies you can stream on Paramount+. We find that this M.O. not only makes our jobs easier, it makes our lives richer! Literally! We get paid to watch Mob Wives! It is indeed a sweet gig. And with this privilege comes responsibility – a responsibility to give back, to tell you, our dear readers, about all the coof stuff we’re watching. In this way, we hope we’ll make your lives richer, too – albeit, not literally.
So, what is it we’re watching this month? Oh, what aren’t we watching? After reading our list, featuring recommendations from your Sneak Peak writers and editors, you’ll wonder how we have time to do anything besides watch Paramount+. We wonder that, too. But it’s a good problem to have. On with the picks!
Survivor 50
The thrill of watching Survivor 50 is not difficult to describe. You know when there’s something you really love, and then it gets even better? That, friends, is Survivor 50.
So far, we’ve just seen the CBS reality-competition show’s season premiere, but what a premiere “Epic Party” is. Ozzy and Coach settling an old beef – and then starting a new one! Gen Xer Colby (and his one good ear) bonding with Gen Rizo! Cirie working her magic! It’s like Survivor fan fiction come to life. Can’t wait for the next chapter. — Joal Ryan, Editor
WATCH NOW: Survivor
[Programming note: New episodes of Survivor 50 air Wednesdays at 8 PM/ET, on CBS, and stream live on Paramount+ with an active subscription to the Paramount+ Premium plan, and/or they can be streamed on demand on the day after they air on Paramount+ with any plan. For more info, get our guide to everything you need to know about Survivor 50.]
School Spirits
I’m not a gal who’s usually into supernatural series or teen dramas, but this show’s got me completely under its spell. Peyton List plays Maddie, a high-schooler who mysteriously ends up in a limbo state between the lands of the living and the dead. Stuck on her school’s grounds with others who have died there, she collaborates with her fellow ghosts, as well as her corporeal pals, to figure out what’s happened to her. As the seasons progress – the series has just wrapped Season 3 with a jaw-dropping finale – Maddie learns more and more about the tragedies that have occurred at Split River High, and what’s caused so many to perish on the property. The mystery is compelling from the start, and manages to stay that way through, well, now. (I’m quite literally gnawing at my fingernails in anticipation of the next ep.) And as someone who grew up on TV shows where the teens looked 25, School Spirits gives us characters that play as real, awkward high-school students – albeit slightly better-looking, and armed with sharper quips than the average 17-year-old. – Joan Kubicek, Staff Writer
WATCH NOW: School Spirits
Mob Wives
At a time when other shows following the lives of wives dipped a toe into the world of organized crime families, Mob Wives dove into the deep end. It’s hard not to love watching one-of-a-kind characters like Drita and Big Ang, and even if you love to hate them, you will respect them. The tests of loyalty, the emotional phone calls, the outlandish Staten Island fashions of the early 2010s and more are all on full display in the VH1 reality series’ six seasons, all streaming on Paramount+. — Doriean Stevenson, Contributor
WATCH NOW: Mob Wives
The Cut
I love when a movie pulls the rug out from under me. The Cut looks to be your typical underdog story: A has-been Irish boxer (Orlando Bloom) emerges from retirement for a second chance at glory. He’s got the requisite support system for this genre of film – that is, the love interest ambivalent about her man’s return to the sport that maimed him, and the coach with the unconventional training methods (Caitríona Balfe and Jon Turturro, respectively). Eye on the prize, the boxer starts the regimen necessary to qualify for the championship fight. And just when you think you’re in for one kind of viewing experience, you realize why the flick is categorized as a thriller …
Need a little more than that to go on? I’ll just say that the road to the ring is far more punishing than the usual program of diet and exercise, and Bloom’s boxer pulls out every possible stop to make it to the finish line. If this athlete wants his big redemption moment in the spotlight, boy howdy, is it going to cost him. — Joan Kubicek, Staff Writer
WATCH NOW: The Cut (Paramount+ Premium plan only)
The Good Wife
When her husband, Peter (Chris Noth), is sent to prison after he’s caught in a very public scandal, Alicia Florrick (Juliana Margulies) faces scrutiny (and embarrassment) as she rebuilds her family’s life. The Good Wife is an enthralling, Emmy®-winning drama that tugs at every emotion as Alicia pulls herself out of her husband’s shadow, revives her own legal career, and shines brighter than he ever could. Marguilies is supported by an incredible cast of characters, both starring and recurring guests, who dazzle each time they grace the screen.
Husband-and-wife creative team Robert and Michelle King (Evil) found success with this show, as well as its electric spinoff, The Good Fight, which sees Christine Baranski’s Diane Lockhart fall from grace into a world of racism and scandal that she must fight her way through. The Good Wife also introduces Elsbeth Tascioni (played by Carrie Preston. who won an Emmy® for her work), the quirky attorney who also appears in The Good Fight, and now has her own spinoff, the CBS hit Elsbeth. The Good Wife, The Good Fight and Elsbeth all stream on Paramount+. — Doriean Stevenson, Contributor
WATCH NOW: The Good Wife
The Godfather trilogy
Writer-director Francis Ford Coppola redefined American filmmaking with 1972’s The Godfather, the immaculately shot, perfectly cast, sharp adaptation of a young man (Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone) who yearns for a life outside his crime family only to find himself at its head when tragedy strikes. One of Hollywood’s first modern blockbusters, the film won the Oscar® for best picture, earned Marlon Brando his second career statuette for best actor, scored Coppola an adapted-screenplay honor (shared with novelist Mario Puzo), and rated nominations for its then-next generation stars: Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton. 1974’s The Godfather Part II, also a hit at the box office and the Oscars®, continues Michael’s story, cross-cutting it with that of his father’s rise to power (with the young Vito Corleone played by the young Robert De Niro). 1990’s The Godfather Part III – or its definitive cut, The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone – concludes the saga, as Michael tries to go legit and save what’s left of his soul. Add them all up, and The Godfather trilogy is moviemaking, and movie-watching, at its finest. — Joe McCabe, Contributor
WATCH NOW: The Godfather
WATCH NOW: The Godfather Part II
WATCH NOW: The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone
Availability of titles is subject to change.
