What’s New in Pop Culture: December 16-22, 2024
Releases this week in TV, Music, Movies & Games
New This Week: What If…? Season 3 drops new episodes daily; Sonic the Hedgehog 3 races into theaters; Squid Game becomes a video game.
TELEVISION
Thursday 12/19: Fast Friends (Max; Game Show, Nostalgia)
Comedian Whitney Cummings hosts this new game show based NBC sitcom Friends — now 30 years old! — as teams answer trivia and participate in games and puzzles relating to the show.
Thursday 12/19: Laid (Peacock; Romantic Comedy)
Stephanie Hsu — Oscar nominee for Everything Everywhere All At Once — stars in this new series about a woman trying to understand why all her past sex partners are dying in strange ways.
Thursday 12/19: Virgin River (Netflix; Soap, Drama)
Netflix’s popular cozy soap returns for Season 6, which will include the much-anticipated marriage of leads Mel and Jack.
Sunday 12/22: What If…? (Disney+; Animated, Super Hero)
The third and final season of Marvel’s alternate-reality anthology series will release new episodes daily through 12/29, including episodes focusing on Agatha Harkness, Howard the Duck, The Hulk, and the official MCU debut for a popular X-Man.
Sunday 12/22: 2024 Kennedy Center Honors (CBS; Special Event)
Honorees this year include filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, the remaining members of The Grateful Dead, folk/country/blues artist Bonnie Raitt, and jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandovol, with performances by Sheryl Crow, The War and Treaty, Dave Matthews, and others.
MUSIC
Very few new albums are releasing this week. If you’re looking for new music, check out our Best of 2024 Music list; if you’re looking for new Christmas music, check our 2024 Holiday Music Guide.
MOVIES
Friday 12/20: Mufasa: The Lion King (Wide; Animated, Family)
This prequel to The Lion King has Timon, Pumba, and Rafiki relaying the story of Mufasa and Scar as young lion cubs, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Friday 12/20: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Wide; Action, Video Game)
Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite to take on the threat of Shadow the Hedgehog, voiced by Keanu Reeves.
Friday 12/20: The Brutalist (Limited; Drama, Historical)
Adrien Brody is getting massive Best Actor buzz for this film, about a Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust, comes to America, and tries to rebuild his life with an ambitious project.
Friday 12/20: The Six Triple Eight (Netflix; Drama, Historical)
Tyler Perry wrote and directed, and Kerry Washington stars, in this film about the U.S. Women’s Army Corps’ unit featuring women of color, who handled a three-year backlog of mail to U.S. soldiers and saw the letters delivered during World War II.
GAMES
Tuesday 12/17: Squid Game: Unleashed (Netflix Games; Multiplayer, Free to Play)
In this battle royale based on the soon-to-return Netflix show, you’ll try to survive both the insane games set by the gamemasters, as well as your murderous fellow players.
Thursday 12/19: Alien: Rogue Incursion (Steam VR2, PSVR2; Virtual Reality, Horror)
If you've ever wanted to star in an Alien movie, now is your chance! In this first-person VR horror, you’ll play a former space marine exploring an uncharted planet infested with Xenomorphs.
