All The Cool Stuff Coming To Hulu In September 2024

September is the month when the broadcast networks traditionally debut their new shows.  Hulu this September follows suit in its way with its streaming of interesting series from such places as Fox and FX.  Brian Jordan Alvarez headlines a dramedy about trying to be a gay teacher in a very red state.  A college soap opera returns with its lightness on the pedagogy, and a heavy emphasis on the sex, betrayals, and naughty secrets.  A new animated comedy involves universal basic income and finding a life purpose through realizing bad ideas.

Don’t forget that Hulu provides a home for sometimes unconventional movies.  The feature film debut by the creator of “Better Days” makes its bow this month.  A deadpan comedy about a woman stuck in both a bulls**t job and a shallow BDSM relationship has now stepped off the festival circuit.  And a new documentary reminds viewers of an unfortunately forgotten sex researcher whose best-selling book dropped a huge bomb on common understanding of the female orgasm.    

So check out Hulu this September.  There’s some wild stuff here, whether it’s learning about women trying to have non-masturbatory sex without intercourse or meeting “Nick f**kin’ yahow Cage!”

Now Available

The Bob’s Burgers Movie–In this big screen version of the beloved animated series, the Belcher clan is hit by crises large and small which threaten their future.  An unaffordable bank loan needs to be repaid in seven days.  A massive sinkhole prevents customers from patronizing the Belchers’ burger business.  The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee band keeps failing to launch. Add to this mix some great musical numbers and a mystery involving a possible murder, and lucky viewers will have a great time.

A Glitch In The Matrix

English Teacher–Instagram sensation Brian Jordan Alvarez plays Evan Marquez, the titular gay English teacher at Austin, Texas’ Morrison-Hensley High School.  He’s in danger of losing his job when an irate parent complains about Marquez’ kissing his current boyfriend and fellow teacher in front of her son.  The good news is Marquez eventually keeps his job and promises not to date any other school faculty.  The bad(?) news is that Harry, the incoming new teacher, happens to be both very gay and very flirty.

A Glitch In The Matrix–Rodney Ascher’s (“Room 237”) newest mind-mangling documentary examines the “simulation hypothesis” aka the idea that the world we live in is not real.  It’s a concept as old as Plato’s Republic and as recent as “The Matrix” movies.  Ascher’s film introduces the viewer to people who for one reason or another consider the hypothesis as much more than an intriguing speculation.

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes–Chemist Will Rodman’s (James Franco) attempt to create a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease accidentally results in the birth of an intelligent chimp named Caesar (Andy Serkis).  As the years pass, Caesar wonders what his place in the world can be.  Thanks to primate shelter politics and a more powerful version of Rodman’s drug, the chimpanzee’s answer will wind up permanently changing the world.  This film would launch a successful reboot of the 1960s-1970s “Planet of the Apes” film series. 

See How They Run–In 1953, sleazy Hollywood filmmaker Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) gets strangled on the night of the hundredth performance of the Agatha Christie play “The Mousetrap.”  Scotland Yard sends the frequently inebriated Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and greenhorn Constable Stocker (Saoirse Ronan) to investigate the murder.  But it soon becomes clear there are plenty of suspects who had a motive for implementing Kopernick’s demise.  The victim was everything from a creep to a jerk who had cringeworthy ideas for updating the Christie original to make it more “audience friendly.”

Sicario–Before director Denis Villeneuve started doing high-end science fiction films, he made this contemporary action-thriller about the drug war.  FBI Special Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) becomes part of a Joint Task Force which aims to apprehend the Sonora drug cartel lieutenant Manuel Diaz.  But that goal turns out to be a lie.  What is true is that whatever the task force’s ultimate plans are, it’s something that won’t be revealed without violently crossing the ethical line over and over again.  Script by Taylor Sheridan (“Yellowstone”). 

September 4

Universal Basic Guys

Tell Me Lies Season 2–It’s the return of what Collider calls one of the most toxic (in a good way) shows on television.  The series is built around the addictive entanglement of Baird College students Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco over the course of 2007 to 2015.  But that relationship also affects the people around Lucy and Stephen, usually in the form of their making really terrible life choices.  This season, the 2008 storyline follows Lucy and Stephen and their friends as they deal with the fallout from such Season 1 finale events as covert infidelity and a retaliatory breakup.  The 2015 storyline follows Bree and Evan’s wedding, which will surprise viewers who saw where the characters were in 2008. 

September 5

Forged In Fire Season 10–This History Channel reality show competition pits four highly skilled bladesmiths against each other as they attempt to recreate famous historical edged weapons.  This season, the challenges will include making a hog splitter, the Napoleon Presentation Saber, and the Crusader Bible Falchion.

September 6

The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives–Taylor Frankie Paul was part of the TikTok Mormon influencer group known as #MomTok.  Her expected duties were to talk about her daily life, spread positivity, and focus on her spiritual beliefs.  In 2022, Paul announced on TikTok she was getting a divorce because she had messed up while living a soft swinging lifestyle (sexual interaction with others, but no intercourse).  She also claimed hers was not the only Mormon couple to screw up fighting off sexual temptation.  The resulting scandal would also reveal that more than a few #MomTok influencers were faking their online friendships.  This docuseries recounts the scandal and its consequences, and has earned the severe disapproval of the Mormon Church.

September 9

The Road To 9/11–This documentary mini-series uses the period between the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 attack itself as the basis for a 360-degree look at the roots of the violence (some of which stretch back literal centuries) leading to the horrific events of that 2001 day.  Drawing on more than 60 interviews, including one with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll, viewers are taken through clashes between terrorists and counter-terrorists, missed signals, and political turf wars.  

Universal Basic Guys–In Adam and Craig Malamut’s animated sitcom, brothers Mark and Hank Hoagies lose their jobs when their employer, the Glantontown Hot Dog Factory, embraces automation.  Fortunately, the brothers and their loved ones aren’t financially screwed thanks to Glantontown’s implementation of a universal basic income program for all residents of the town.  Can Mark and Hank find a purpose in a world that doesn’t need them?  Not any time soon, as they’re working with a combination of lots of free time and lots of stupid ideas.

The Disappearance Of Shere Hite

September 10

The Disappearance Of Shere Hite–In 1976, sex educator and feminist Shere Hite created a cultural earthquake with her best-selling book “The Hite Report.”  Drawing on thousands of responses from anonymous participants, Hite’s book would redefine what was commonly understood about female sexuality.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, the media of the time ferociously attacked Hite’s work.  The sex educator’s work ultimately proved culturally game changing, yet Hite’s been forgotten.  Why?  Nicole Newnham’s documentary will hopefully provide answers.

September 13

The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed–Joanna Arnow’s feature debut tells the story of Ann (Arnow), a Jewish 30-something whose life seems to be going nowhere.  Her decade-long BDSM relationship with Allen hasn’t led to emotional intimacy.  She’s stuck in a bulls**t job where her managers have no idea how long she’s been there.  Her mother mistakes pointless small talk for familial closeness.  Unfortunately for Ann, she’s too emotionally switched off to take steps towards personal change.

In Vogue: The 90s–This documentary mini-series charts one of the most transformative decades in fashion as recorded in the pages of Vogue Magazine.  Some of the topics to be covered in this program include the birth of the supermodel, the appeal of Tom Ford’s Gucci, the intersection of hip-hop and fashion, and the legacies of fashion renegades John Galliano and Alexander McQueen.               

September 15

The Favourite—Yorgos Lanthimos’ acclaimed tragicomedy takes place in the 18th century English court of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman).  Being overweight, gout-ridden, and a very unconfident ruler, the monarch depends on the advice (and other physical services) of her friend and lover Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz).  Into this relationship comes Sarah’s penniless and unemployed cousin Abigail (Emma Stone).  The noble makes the compassionate mistake of sending her poor cousin to work in the palace scullery, and a power struggle soon emerges between Sarah and Abigail for access to Queen Anne’s ear.  

The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed

Hell On Wheels (All Seasons)–Long before he became Captain Daddy on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” Anson Mount played a far different and harder protagonist in this Western based on historical fact.  Former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Mount) joins the Union Pacific Railroad during its construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.  But the reason for his presence is more personal than technological: he’s hunting down the Union soldiers who murdered his wife and young son during the Civil War.  To do so, he becomes part of the community known as Hell On Wheels aka the mobile encampment that follows the railroad’s westward progress.

September 18

American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez–This new addition to producer Ryan Murphy’s “American Story” universe recounts the life of former New England Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez.  The football player’s life was marked by abuse from a homophobic father, violence, possible closeted behavior, and the long-term brain damage caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy.  Could any of these factors, separately or together, have eventually sparked Hernandez’s murder of Odin Lloyd?

September 19

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent–In this meta-action comedy, Nicolas Cage plays a version of himself who aspires to be “Nicolas Cage.”  To be specific, Serious Actor Cage’s continual failure to land the parts he desires has turned him into a self-important loser.  “Nick f**kin’ yahow! Cage!” on the other hand is the Movie Star version who still exists in the public imagination.  To handle a serious cash flow problem, Serious Actor Cage agrees to fly to Mallorca for a million dollar payday to attend the birthday party of Spanish billionaire Javi (Pedro Pascal) and then retire from acting.  But the CIA needs Cage’s help as Javi’s suspected of complicity in the kidnapping of the daughter of the Catalan president.  However, Javi’s a Cage superfan whose attentions feed Movie Star Cage’s ego.

September 25

FLY–Ever wonder why people engage in BASE jumping (diving into the air from a fixed spot, and having only a single parachute) as a sport?  This new National Geographic documentary will answer that question by focusing on three BASE jumping couples: the “Mom and Pop” of BASE jumping, a wingsuit-wearing jumper and his lover, and a couple whose pursuit of the sport has led to both triumph and tragedy.  The film’s footage will thrill those curious about what living on the edge looks like in practice, but will cause less adventurous viewers’ bowels to clench in panic.

Fly

The Judge From Hell–In this Korean fantasy-romance, Kang Bit-Na may look like an attractive judge.  But she’s actually possessed by a demon whose job is to send remorseless killers to (literal) Hell.  Kang meets friendly and gentle detective Han Da-On, a sharp and keenly observant person who secretly carries a deep personal pain.  The demon is touched enough to work on becoming a real judge.   

September 27

What You Wish For–Middle-aged high-end chef Ryan (NIck Stahl) has come to an unnamed South or Central American country hoping to disappear into the rainforest.  The chef owes a lot of money to Rabbit for unpaid gambling debts, and Rabbit has goons looking to collect one way or another.  Ryan winds up connecting with fellow chef Jack and temporarily stays with him in a gorgeous mansion.  Jack has gotten himself a very well-paid high end dining cooking gig.  Yet why is he complaining about working for the worst people in the world?  Ryan’s about to find out, and the answer doesn’t promise to be a pleasant one. 

September 28

Social Studies–This docuseries offers an intimate glimpse of life among the first generation of digital natives.  It follows over the course of a school year the online activities of a diverse group of Los Angeles teens.  How has social media changed the ways today’s teens deal with such perennial childhood dilemmas as beauty standards, comparison pressures, and exploring one’s sexual identity?

September 30

Babes–Pamela Adlon’s (“Better Things”) debut comedy feature focuses on the bond of Eden (Ilana Glazier) and Dawn (Michelle Buteau), who have been best friends since childhood.  But when single carefree Eden gets pregnant after a one-night stand, she decides to have the baby.  That act winds up driving a wedge into the two friends’ relationship, especially as they seem to be at different stages of adulthood…and have drastically different views of motherhood.