AARP’s Favorite Streaming Shows of 2024 (So Far)

Ewan McGregor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Beau Gadsdon in "A Gentleman in Moscow."

Ben Blackall/Paramount+/Showtime

A Gentleman in Moscow (Showtime/Paramount+)

Ewan McGregor, 53, shines as a Russian count who’s spared death after the Bolshevik Revolution despite his dandyish hauteur because he wrote a poem beloved by young revolutionaries. After many of his friends and relatives either fled Russia or were shot dead, he’s confined to a kind of purgatory in the attic of the four-star Metropol hotel, where he charms a young film actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and maintains a kind of come-what-may equanimity that allows him to carry on. The show, based on a novel by Amor Towles, offers a leisurely tour through a bygone era that shifts nimbly between humor and tragedy.

Where to watch A Gentleman in Moscow

Jean Smart in "Hacks."

Jake Giles Netter/Max

Hacks (Max)

Jean Smart, 72, is back and sassy as ever. This sharp-tongued comedy ups the ante in its third season with Smart’s character, Deborah Vance, on a career upswing thanks to her Gen Z writer (Hannah Einbinder). 

Their codependency — and love for the generation gap between Boomer and Gen Z — gives an authentic edge to the punchlines as each proves willing to blow up personal and romantic relationships to pursue professional goals. The comeback success of Vance allows her to maneuver for a plum job she’s long coveted: host of a late-night talk show. Who said Hollywood is ageist? Smart has one of the best roles on TV.

Where to watch Hacks

Adrian Rawlins, Amelia Gething and Tom Victor in "Mary & George."

Courtesy STARZ

Mary & George (Starz)

This miniseries unearths a particularly randy period in Jacobean England when King James I (Tony Curran, 54) snubbed the ladies of his court to seek out the company of men. In steps a minor gentleman’s crafty widow (Julianne Moore, 63), who conspires to thrust her hunky second son, George (Nicholas Galitzine), into the king’s bedchamber. Of course, the upstarts make a series of missteps in their quest for power and love. This is more than just a sexy romp. Like the 2018 Oscar-winning The Favourite, Mary & George maintains a firm grasp on history even as it jolts our image of it.

Where to watch Mary & George

Nate Mann and Austin Butler in "Masters of the Air."

Apple TV+

Masters of the Air (Apple TV+)

Masters of the Air, the latest World War II miniseries from Tom Hanks, 67, and Steven Spielberg, 77, follows the path blazed by Band of Brothers and The Pacific. This is old-fashioned visual storytelling, and the aerial combat sequences are easily the best part of the show. Back on the ground, we get some fine performances from Austin Butler and Callum Turner as pilots with contrasting personalities who end up in a POW camp.

Where to watch Masters of the Air

Essie Davis and Leo Woodall in "One Day."

Netflix

One Day (Netflix)

This may be the best British rom-com since Notting Hill. David Nicholls’ best-selling novel One Day inspired a meh 2011 film with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, but the series’ pacing seems better in half-hour episodes that suit the plot. Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod sparkle as a couple who meet on the night of their college graduation in 1988 but never quite follow through on their obvious attraction. The pattern repeats as we check in on them on the same summer day over the course of 20 years, producing scenes that are compulsively bingeable without overstaying their welcome.

Where to watch One Day

Andrew Scott in "Ripley."

Philippe Antonello/NETFLIX

Ripley (Netflix)

Andrew Scott is a sly and reserved presence as Tom Ripley, the sociopathic antihero of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, who connives and kills his way into luxe living in 1960s Italy — filmed in pristine black and white by There Will Be Blood cinematographer Robert Elswit, 74. Steven Zaillian, 71, an Oscar winner for his Schindler’s List screenplay, wrote and directed all eight episodes of this adaptation, and his attention to detail shines in every frame. Dakota Fanning makes a memorable impression as the expat girlfriend of Tom’s first victim who comes this close to being a target herself.

Where to watch Ripley

Hoa Xuande and Robert Downey Jr. in "The Sympathizer."

Hopper Stone/HBO

The Sympathizer (Max)

Could newly minted Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr., 59, add an Emmy to his mantel this year? The Oppenheimer star turns in not one showy performance but four in this miniseries set during the 1975 fall of Saigon and the period just afterward. The hero is a half-Vietnamese, half-French double agent (played by the dynamic Hoa Xuande) whose divided loyalties compound his feelings of alienation both in the U.S. and back home in Vietnam. The first three episodes are directed with cinematic flair by showrunner Park Chan-wook, 60, giving the series a stylish look to match its intriguing story.

Where to watch The Sympathizer

Lior Ashkenazi and Robin Weigert in "We Were the Lucky Ones."

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu

We Were the Lucky Ones (Hulu)

Joey King, a young actress best known for The Kissing Booth trilogy of teenage rom-coms, is astonishing in this grim but gripping miniseries about a Jewish family in Poland whom we meet in 1937. The Nazis and the onset of war scatter the five siblings as far as South America, Africa, Western Europe and the Soviet Union. Each episode is named for a different destination of a sibling, following their tenacious efforts to survive and find nuggets of hope in a world consumed in darkness.

Where to watch We Were the Lucky Ones