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What to Watch on the New Discovery Plus Streaming Service

It offers TLC and Food Network binge-fests, nature docs and offbeat history shows


spinner image A person holding a smartphone with the Discovery Plus streaming service logo displayed on it
Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images

After a year of COVID binge-watching, you might feel as if you've seen every single show and movie on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, and Apple TV+. If so, you're in luck! January saw the launch of Discovery+, a new streaming service that brings together new and archival episodes from your favorite networks, including Discovery, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, OWN, Travel Channel and much, much more — plus original shows and documentaries created exclusively for the platform. The initial lineup includes a record-setting 55,000 episodes, which means that you can watch for years without ever having to repeat a show.

How to subscribe to Discovery+

Visit discoveryplus.com or download the app to your smartphone, tablet or smart TV, and then pick a subscription plan: $4.99 per month for an ad-supported version or $6.99 per month for commercial-free viewing. The only thing left to do: decide what to watch. Check out our handy guide to original shows, including online-only spin-offs of franchises you'll recognize, such as 90 Day Fiancé, Flip or Flop and Say Yes to the Dress. And, in a nod to the service's name, we've pointed out three things you might discover as you stream each series.

Bobby and Giada in Italy

The hosts: Chefs Bobby Flay, 56, and Giada De Laurentiis, 50

Watch it if you like: Pasta, gelato and travelogue shows, such as Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations and Somebody Feed Phil

The concept: Flay and the Rome-born De Laurentiis (granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis) spent six weeks touring Rome and Tuscany in a red convertible, dining with De Laurentiis’ family, drinking fantastic wine and cooking classic dishes like wild boar ragù. We'll admit that we're a bit jealous watching people traveling while we're stuck at home, but before you ask, the show was filmed back in 2019, before the pandemic.

Three things you'll discover: How pecorino cheese is made (it starts with milking sheep); which four pasta dishes Rome is known for; how to tell the difference between Roman and Neapolitan pizza

Frozen in Time

The hosts: The Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick, 64, and designer Dan Vickery

Watch it if you like: Classic 1970s sitcoms and retro-chic home decor

The concept: After the success of 2019's A Very Brady Renovation, Marcia Brady herself has teamed up with HGTV Design Star favorite Dan Vickery on this new home makeover show, in which they'll overhaul Southern California homes that haven't been updated in decades. Along the way, they'll swap out dated looks (think shag carpets and wood paneling) for trendy decor that references the past but brings the houses into the 21st century.

Three things you'll discover: How to source new appliances that look retro; why you should be brave and choose a statement wallpaper; which landscaping plants are drought tolerant

Mysterious Planet

The host: Friends star David Schwimmer, 54

Watch it if you like: Sweeping nature documentaries and Ross Geller

The concept: Friends’ resident paleontologist channels David Attenborough for this new wildlife docuseries, which whisks viewers off to the Ethiopian Highlands, a forgotten Brazilian rainforest, Mexico's pitch-black underwater caves and other far-flung locales to uncover the mysteries behind some of the planet's most unique creatures.

Three things you'll discover: Why flamingoes engage in synchronized dance-offs; how the Mexican blind brotula fish gets around its cave home; which monkey species is the only one in the world to graze on grass

RELATED: Quiz: How Well Do You Really Know These Friends?

90 Day Bares All

The host: Access Hollywood's Shaun Robinson, 58

Watch it if you like: The 90 Day Fiancé franchise — and never leaving the couch again

The concept: If you count yourself as one of 90 Day Fiancé's obsessive superfans, you already know that the TLC reality series follows couples who have applied for K-1 visas (available for foreign-born fiancés of Americans) and have 90 days to get married. This new companion talk show includes never-before-seen footage and uncensored cast member chats, and it marks the continuation of an expanding universe of companion series that includes Discovery+ originals like 90 Day Diaries90 Day JourneyThe Other Way Strikes Back! and 90 Day: The Single Life. Add in televised spin-offs and web series, and you just might find yourself glued to the TV for, well, 90 days.

Three things you'll discover: Why Tarik and his brother Dean haven't spoken in almost two years; why Brittany and Yazan's relationship fell apart so dramatically; which 90 Day fan favorites are now “single and ready to mingle”

Cakealikes

The host: Food Network Star winner Tregaye Fraser  

Watch it if you like: Fondant icing, pop culture and the Netflix show Nailed It!

The concept: Teams of bakers are tasked with making massive cakes that look like celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and the Rock. To win the $10,000 prize, they’ll have to impress cake sculptor Natalie Sideserf and YouTube star Kalen Allen, who you might recognize from his energetic segments on Ellen.

Three things you’ll discover: How to create more realistic looking hair; why time-management is the most important part of any cake-making competition; what structural supports you should use to keep your cakes from collapsing

RELATED: 11 Food and Cooking Shows to Stream Right Now

Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines

The host: Fixer Upper's Joanna Gaines

Watch it if you like: Southern comfort classics and relatable hosts

The concept: Fans fell hard for Joanna and Chip Gaines on their HGTV show Fixer Upper, and this year, the Waco-based home renovators are relaunching the DIY Network as the Magnolia Network. Before the channel hits your TVs, Discovery+ will preview new original programming, including this cozy cooking show, where Joanna teaches easy-to-follow recipes from a gorgeous kitchen in a renovated 1800s gristmill.

Three things you'll discover: Why you should use ice-cold butter to make the fluffiest biscuits; how to turn cranberries into a simple holiday gift; how to speed up the process of making homemade whipped cream

Six Degrees with Mike Rowe

The host: Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe, 58

Watch it if you like: Historical reenactments and that old parlor game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”

The concept: In his quest to prove that everything in the world is connected, Rowe created this unique history show, in which he makes bold claims, such as “a horseshoe can help you find your soulmate” and then methodically backs up his theory with a centuries-spanning narrative. In the case of the horseshoe, a blacksmith melted a bunch down to create an iron plow, which was then used by Australian outlaw Ned Kelly to create a makeshift suit of armor, which inspired the first feature-length silent film, which — well, we won't spoil the end for you, but the chain involves Hedy Lamarr, Nazis, Hawaii and online dating.

Three things you'll discover: How excess sheep intestines impacted the history of football; which Hollywood monster movie inspired the invention of the pacemaker; why a chance encounter among three industrialists in a Western Pennsylvania inn saved whales from extinction

spinner image Christina Anstead and Tarek El Moussa
Christina Anstead (left) and Tarek El Moussa
HGTV (2)

Tarek's Flip Side and Christina: Stronger by Design

The hosts: Flip or Flop stars Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead

Watch it if you like: Flipping houses and new beginnings

The concept: After their divorce in 2018, the real-estate and renovation gurus continued jointly hosting Flip or Flop, but the launch of Discovery+ has given them a unique opportunity to create their own individual shows. El Moussa's series follows his engagement to Selling Sunset star Heather Rae Young and his relationship with his daughter Taylor; Anstead's is about her new health and wellness goals and her own home redesign project.

Three things you'll discover: How El Moussa's mom whips up a vegan version of the Crunchwrap Supreme; why Anstead swears by acupuncture; how they manage coparenting

Auto Biography

The hosts: Various

Watch it if you like: History and fast cars

The concept: Start your engines! This high-octane docuseries takes an inside look at some of the most famous figures in the automotive world, including racing icon Mario Andretti (80), NASCAR legend Junior Johnson and Bob Chandler (79), who created the world's first monster truck. Expect pulse-quickening archival footage and insight from talking heads who were there to experience these races and milestones firsthand.

Three things you'll discover: How Andretti's time in a postwar refugee camp introduced him to auto racing; why the first monster truck earned the name “Bigfoot"; who discovered the revolutionary drafting technique in stock car racing

Say Yes to the Dress: In Sickness and In Health

The hosts: Fashion designers Randy Fenoli, 57, and Hayley Paige

Watch it if you like: Shopping, wedding gowns and hand sanitizer

The concept: Chances are you might know someone who had to cancel or downsize a wedding during the past year. In this pandemic-era spinoff of the TLC hit, you'll see how New York City's Kleinfeld Bridal pulls off safe fittings (mandatory masks, plexiglass dividers and temperature checks), as our fashion experts help brides-to-be remotely using — what else! — video-chat software.

Three things you'll discover: How the shop sanitizes dresses after fittings; which pop singer-songwriter performs (virtually) during one of the couples’ first dances; how the boutique is accommodating essential workers.

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