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Tom Hanks, Miss Piggy, Diana, the boys from Outlander AND Rick and Morty? You’re spoiled for choice this February.
Tom Hanks, Miss Piggy, Diana, the boys from Outlander AND Rick and Morty? You’re spoiled for choice this February.

Pop CultureFebruary 1, 2021

What’s new to Netflix NZ, Neon and other streaming services in February

Tom Hanks, Miss Piggy, Diana, the boys from Outlander AND Rick and Morty? You’re spoiled for choice this February.
Tom Hanks, Miss Piggy, Diana, the boys from Outlander AND Rick and Morty? You’re spoiled for choice this February.

What are you going to be watching in February? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon, Acorn and TVNZ OnDemand.

The biggies

Men in Kilts (docu-series on Neon from February 15)

Outlander fans, rejoice. Two stars from the popular time-travelling drama – Sam Heughan and Graeme McTavish – take a lively road trip in this travel documentary series, throwing themselves into a variety of adventures in their quest to discover what it really means to be Scottish. They’re the tour guides every Outlander fan dreams of, with the two mates exploring the history and culture of Scotland and delivering plenty of gorgeous scenery and matey hijinks along the way. / Tara Ward

Firefly Lane (binge on Netflix from February 3)

Grab your tissues and your closest mates and happy-sob your way through Firefly Lane, Netflix’s sentimental new drama about the unbreakable bond between two best friends. Katherine Heigl (Grey’s, Suits) and Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) play Tully and Kate, two women whose platonic love story has lasted 30 years and survived many questionable life choices. Based on the novel by Kristen Hannah, Firefly Lane is a celebration of female friendship that is sure to fill the Virgin River/Sweet Magnolia-shaped hole in your heart. / TW

We Are Who We Are (binge on TVNZ on Demand from February 20)

Do you love Call Me By Your Name, but feel weird about the age gap and also the fact that it stars an (alleged) cannibal fetishist? Look no further than the new series from that film’s director, Luca Guadagnino. This series follows two American teenagers as they explore their ‘true identities’ while living on a military base in the seaside of Chioggia, Italy. Expect the sweaty, dew-dropped romanticism of Guadagnino with the heightened realism of Euphoria, but set in Italy. What better way to relive your teenage angst? / Sam Brooks

Search Party (season four on Neon from February 3)

Search Party is one of the most singular shows around right now – part mystery, part thriller, part acutely observed satire of shiftless and over-educated 30-something New Yorkers. It stars Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat as Dory Sief, who is PA to a wealthy and horrible housewife and perhaps the only vaguely sympathetic character on the show. When an acquaintance of Sief’s goes missing, she throws herself into finding her, dragging her annoying and hilarious friends along with her. It’s very funny and has neck-snapping twists and is exactly the kind of series that has one brilliant season then vanishes into cult status. Thankfully it hasn’t happened, and emerges for a fourth season this month. / Duncan Greive

The notables

Diana: The Interview that Shocked the World (documentary on Neon from February 7)

Think you’ve had enough of Princess Diana? Think again. This 90-minute documentary looks at the impact of Diana’s infamous 1995 Panorama interview, where she dropped the truth bombs that there were three people in her marriage and that she’d never be queen. It was a big deal at the time, but what made Diana speak so candidly, and how do we view the interview 25 years later? Also, what made interviewer Martin Bashir want to do Celebrity X-Factor? We’ll never know the truth to the last question, but the others will be chewed over by royal insiders like Paul Burrell and Jennie Bond until the end of days. / TW

Rick and Morty (on TVNZ on Demand from February 1)

You have to be of a certain level of intelligence to really appreciate Rick and Morty. It’s a cartoon about one man with chronic belching disease, Rick, and his weirdly sexually active grandson, Morty, putting themselves in mortal peril over and over again until their family notices them. If you’re not in Mensa you probably won’t grasp the grief and beauty in showrunner Dan Harmon’s nihilistic, self-excoriating attempts at gaining incels’ pity, and will instead get only joy and laughter out of watching it. How horrible it must be to be well-adjusted. The best character is Jerry, and at long last the taxpayer has free access to him. / Josie Adams

Nadiya Bakes (docuseries on Netflix from February 12)

2021 is hereby the year of comfort food, and Nadiya Hussein’s new baking show is sure to feed the soul all the way through to 2022. The Great British Bake Off winner is hugely popular in the UK, thanks to her easy charm and sense of fun, and the eight-episode Nadiya Bakes is filled with more of her simple recipes and tasty treats. Pies! Cakes! Puddings! It’s all here, a true treat for both the eyes and the stomach, and a little bit of joy when we need it most. / TW

The Muppet Show (classic series on Disney+ from February 19)

You know what that is. It’s the Muppet Show, and it’s the classic series. None of this half-baked remake crap! So yes, you can finally watch this amazing sketch featuring Rita Moreno and Animal in HD. You’re welcome. / SB

The movies

Malcolm & Marie (on Netflix from February 5)

Oof, this film has had an interesting trajectory. It first hit headlines as the first “major film” to be shot during quarantine, coming from “visionary” Euphoria creator Sam Levinson, starring Zendaya and John David Washington. The first responses were kind and rapturous, although notably from influencers and fan types, but when the critic’s reviews came, they were savage. The concept – a film director who hates his critics, and his long-suffering wife who hates her husband just as much – hasn’t gone down well. The gist seems to be: come for Zendaya, leave the rest of the film at home. And honestly? I’m fine with that. / SB

News of the World (on Netflix from February 10)

Tom Hanks loves playing a bloke in a pickle. He’s been stuck on a ship, he’s been stuck on an island, and in Netflix’s new movie News of the World, he’s stuck in 1870s Texas, charged with the task of returning a young girl to the care of her aunt and uncle against her will. Hanks plays a travelling storyteller who shares the news from around the globe to small-town Americans, until he agrees to take 10-year-old Johanna across an unforgiving wilderness. They’re both looking for that elusive place called “home”, and if you thought 2020 was a shitter of a year, Tom Hanks is about to prove that 1870 wasn’t that crash hot either. / TW

I Care A Lot (on Amazon Prime Video from February 19)

Rosamund Pike is what happens when a benevolent goddess brings an English rose to life, and it’s been a delight to see her pivot into straight-up villainy in the past few years. She takes that pivot and absolutely twirls on it in her latest role, playing a court-appointed guardian who regularly screws over her elderly wards. However, her latest ward, played by two-time Academy Award-winning titan Diane Wiest, might be nowhere near as innocent as her usual targets. Peter Dinklage also stars, and I frankly can’t wait to see Pike dig her (perfect) teeth into a meaty role like this. / SB

The rest

Netflix

February 1

Parks and Recreation: Seasons 1-7

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Longest Yard

February 2

Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready: Season 2

Kid Cosmic

Mighty Express: Season 2

February 3

Firefly Lane

Black Beach

February 5

Hache: Season 2

Invisible City

The Last Paradiso

Little Big Women

Malcolm & Marie

Space Sweepers

Strip Down, Rise Up

February 10

News of the World

The Misadventures of Hedi and Cokeman

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel

February 11

Capitani

Layla Majnun

Red Dot

Squared Love

February 12

Nadiya Bakes

Buried by the Bernards

To All The Boys: Always and Forever

Hate by Dani Rovira

Xico’s Journey

February 15

The Crew

February 16

Animals on the Loose: A You vs. Wild Movie

Jurassic World

February 17

Hello, Me!

Behind Her Eyes

MeatEater: Season 9: Part 2

February 18

Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan

February 19

Tribes of Europa

2067

February 20

Classmates Minus

February 23

Brian Regan: On the Rocks

Pele

February 24

Ginny & Georgia

Canine Intervention

February 25

Geez & Ann

High-Rise Invasion

February 26

Crazy About Her

Caught by a Wave

Bigfoot Family

Neon

February 1

The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived

Julian is Mermaid

Love is Love

Rainbow Stories

Think Like a Dog

Survive the Night

February 3

Search Party: Season 4

February 5

Harriet

Seized

February 7

Diana: The Interview That Shook The World

Astro Boy

Fewbruary 8

The Postcard Killings

Jumanji: The Next Level

February 9

Loudermilk: Season 3

February 11

The World’s Fastest Indian

February 12

Fuck That’s Delicious: Season 4

Arctic Justice

Downhill

February 13

Sex and the City

Sex and the City 2

February 14

Dirty Dancing

February 15

Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham

February 17

Bridge to Terabithia

February 19

Bulletproof: Season 3

Happy Feet

Bad Boys for Life

February 21

Help is on the Way

Endings, Beginnings

February 22

CB Strike: Lethal White

Gretel & Hansel

February 24

Nerve

Arthur & Merlin: Knights of Camelot

February 26

Snowfall: Season 4

Igor

February 28

Pay Dirt

TVNZ on Demand

February 1

Robot H

February 4

Back

Confessions of a Serial Killer

February 6

The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius

February 10

Coyote

February 14

Doctor Doctor

February 17

Queen Sugar

February 20

We Are Who We Are

February 24

Informer 3838

Disney+

February 5

Wild Lapland

February 12

Inside Pixar

Like Mike 2

Africa’s Hidden Wonders

Marvel Battleworld: Mystery of the Thanostones

Marvel’s Behind the Mask

February 19

Flora & Ulysses

The Muppet Show

February 26

Myth: A Frozen Tale

Disney’s American Dragon: Jake Long

Disney Pair of Kings: Seasons 1-3

Micky Go Local: Season 1

Amazon Prime Video

February 1

Coming to America

48 Hours

Another 48 Hours

Beverly Hills Cop II

Beverly Hills Cop III

February 5

Bliss

Greenland

February 8

Soulmates: Season 1

February 12

The Family Man: Season 2

Map of Tiny Perfect Things

February 19

Tell Me Your Secrets: Season 1

I Care A Lot

Apple TV

February 5

The Snoopy Snow

February 19

For All Mankind

Acorn TV

February 1

Balthazar: Season 1

Inspector Morse: Season 8

Midsomer Murders: Season 19

Blue Murder: Season 5

February 8

Keeping Faith: Season 2

Suspects: Season 4

Kavanagh QC: Season 5

Moving On: Season 5 and 6

National Treasure

February 15

Agatha Raisin: Season 3

15 Days

Black Box

Lewi: Season 9

February 22

Suspects: Season 5

Prime Suspect: Tennison

The Last Detective: Season 3-4

Moving On: Season 7-8

Keep going!