Worth The Watch

Sci-fi, fantasy and eye candy galore

Here are 10 new shows to look out for in August

SF8 features stars such as Super Junior's Choi Si-won (right), singer Uee (left) and Exid's Hani. PHOTOS: APPLE TV+, GEM/NIPPON TV, HBO, HBO ASIA, NETFLIX, SBS NOW/ YOUTUBE, VIU
DREAM RAIDER: The series stars Taiwanese A-listers like (above, from left) David Wang, Vivian Hsu and Jason Wang.

With August come all genres, from science fiction and time travel to true crime and even an interactive special where audiences get to decide the fate of characters.

The Straits Times highlights 10 series to catch next month.


1 SF8

Premieres Aug 15 at 8pm on Oh!K (StarHub TV Channel 816 and Singtel TV Channel 525), also available on Viu

This South Korean science-fiction anthology series has eight episodes featuring separate stories helmed by different film-makers.

The series has been hailed as Korea's answer to the widely popular British series Black Mirror (2011-2019) and deals with themes like augmented reality and artificial intelligence. It features stars such as Super Junior's Choi Si-won, singer Uee and Exid's Hani.

2 DREAM RAIDER

Premieres Aug 16 at 9pm on HBO Go and HBO (StarHub TV Channel 601, Singtel TV Channel 420)

A Mandarin original science-fiction drama from HBO Asia, Dream Raider is set some time in the near future where detectives are investigating a case involving missing girls. The detectives come across technology that allows them to enter the dreamscapes of others as they search for the truth.

The series stars Taiwanese A-listers like David Wang, Vivian Hsu and Jason Wang.

3 UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT: KIMMY VS THE REVEREND

Premieres Aug 5 on Netflix

Missing the sitcom created by comedic powerhouse Tina Fey? Fret not, the Emmy-nominated Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-2019) is back for an interactive movie, where audiences can decide the fate of Kimmy (Ellie Kemper, above, left) three days before her wedding to Prince Frederick (Daniel Radcliffe, above, right).

When Kimmy discovers that Reverend Wayne (Jon Hamm), who held her captive in a bunker for 15 years as part of a doomsday cult, may have other victims - she sets out to free them with her friends in tow.

4 WORLD'S MOST WANTED

Premieres Aug 5 on Netflix

Netflix continues its slate of true-crime content with World's Most Wanted - a docuseries which profiles five of the world's most wanted fugitives, including Russian organised crime boss Semion Mogilevich (above), who have avoided capture despite global investigations and massive rewards.

5 LOVECRAFT COUNTRY

Premieres Aug 17 at 9am on HBO Go with same-day broadcast at 10pm on HBO (StarHub TV Channel 601, Singtel TV Channel 420)

Based on the novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, this horror series is executive produced by showrunner Misha Green and directors J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele. It follows an African-American named Atticus (Jonathan Majors, above) as he goes with his childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett, above) and his uncle on a road trip across 1950s America in search of his missing father.

Their journey becomes a struggle to survive the racism of America as well as monstrous creatures on the prowl.

6 DETECTIVE NOVICE

Premieres Aug 24 at 9pm on Gem (StarHub TV Channel 814 and Singtel TV Channel 519)

An adaptation of South Korean film Midnight Runners (2017), which starred Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul, this Japanese series similarly features two young actors whose stars are rising - Japanese idols Kento Nakajima (above, left) and Sho Hirano (above, right).

They play classmates in a police academy who become the best of partners and find themselves dragged into complex cases even before graduation.

7 ALICE

Premieres Aug 29 at 9.45pm on One (StarHub TV Channel 823/124 and Singtel TV Channel 513/604)

This South Korean series stars veteran actress Kim Hee-sun (above) and actor Joo Won. It follows a man named Park Jin-gyeom (Joo), who discovers the existence of time travel when he comes across a woman Yoon Tae-yi (Kim), whom he knows died in the past.

8 GRACEFUL FRIENDS

Premieres Aug 9 on Viu

This ensemble South Korean drama follows a group of close friends who all seem ordinary on the outside. When a death in their close-knit group takes place, it shakes them to their core - bringing to the surface a murder from 20 years ago and secrets and intrigue they have kept from one another.

9 TED LASSO

Premieres Aug 14 on Apple TV+

This Apple TV+ sports comedy series stars Jason Sudeikis (above) as the title character Ted Lasso - a small-time college American football coach from Kansas who gets hired to coach a professional soccer team in England, despite having no experience in the sport.

10 LUCIFER

Premieres Aug 21 on Netflix

Catch part one of Lucifer season five on Netflix. The urban fantasy series follows Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis, above), the Devil who abandons Hell for Los Angeles. In this new season, expect to meet Lucifer's twin brother - the archangel Michael (also played by Ellis) - who impersonates Lucifer on Earth.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 30, 2020, with the headline Sci-fi, fantasy and eye candy galore. Subscribe