South Africans apparently spend more than four hours a day watching TV – nearly 25% of their awake time. That’s the second highest in the world, behind only the United States of America, according to a 2024 study by Electronics Hub.
But no matter how much TV you’re watching, chances are good that you’re not able to keep up with everything being released at the moment on Showmax, let alone any other streamer.
So as you get ready to curl up on the couch this festive season, Showmax has put together a handy month-by-month guide to what you might have missed:
JANUARY 2024: Succession wins Outstanding Drama Emmy
Looking for proof that 2024 was a strange year? Let’s start with the fact that the Primetime Emmys happened not once, but twice, in January and then again in September.
At the January edition, which had been pushed out of 2023 by the Hollywood strikes, Succession, The Last of Us and The White Lotus gave HBO and Showmax a cleansweep in ALL the drama categories. The family business drama Succession was the big winner at the Primetime Emmys with six, including Outstanding Drama, while the post-apocalyptic The Last of Us was the big Creative Arts Emmy winner, with six craft awards, as well as two guest actors wins for Nick Offerman and Storm Reid. The sex-themed second season of The White Lotus earned Jennifer Coolidge her second Emmy in a row as Tanya, as well as four craft awards.
Watch the trailer for Succession S4 below:
Fun fact: Connor’s Wedding, from Succession S4, remains the eighth highest-rated episode of all time on IMDb, with a 9.9/10 rating from more than 38 000 fans.
PS Showmax subscribers can look forward to new seasons of both The Last of Us and The White Lotus in the first half of 2025.
FEBRUARY 2024: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse spins a web of awards
February saw the relaunch of Showmax, in partnership with Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Sky, now powered by Peacock.
One of the many international highlights that month was the Oscar-nominated Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, just as it won Best Animated Movie at the Annies – among more than 100 other prizes, including Best Animated Feature at the 2024 Critics Choice Awards and Best Superhero Movie at the Critics Choice Super Awards.
Watch the trailer for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse below:
PS The Oscar-winning first film, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, is also on Showmax.
MARCH 2024: Oppenheimer blows up at the Oscars
Oppenheimer won seven Oscars in March, including Best Picture, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy as “the father of the atomic bomb.” Winner of more than 350 awards, Oppenheimer had been the third biggest box office hit of 2023 globally.
Other 2024 Oscars winners you can stream on Showmax include Barbie, which won Best Original Song for Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, and The Holdovers, which earned Da’Vine Joy Randolph the Best Supporting Oscar.
Watch the trailer for Oppenheimer below:
Special mention: In March 2024, Showmax also released Larry David’s classic comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is currently at #37 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV Shows Of 2024 list.
APRIL 2024: The Last Of Us slays Critics Choice Super Awards
At The Critics Choice Super Awards, HBO’s post-apocalyptic The Last of Us was the biggest winner, taking home seven awards, including Best Horror and Best Superhero, as well as Best Actor (Pedro Pascal), Actress (Bella Ramsey) and Villain (Melanie Ramsey).
Other 2024 Critics Choice Super Awards winners you can also stream on Showmax include Special Ops: Lioness, which won Best Actress: Action for Zoë Saldaña; Talk To Me, which won Best Horror Movie and Best Actress: Horror (Sophie Wilde); Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, which won Best Actor (Tom Cruise) and Actress (Rebecca Ferguson) in the Action Movie category; and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, named Best Superhero Movie.
Watch the trailer for The Last of Us below:
Special mention: In April 2024, Showmax also released HBO’s Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, which is currently at #7 of metacritic’s list of the Best TV Shows This Year.
MAY 2024: The Sixth Commandment wins Best Limited Drama BAFTA
At the BAFTAs, Britain’s biggest TV awards, true-crime drama The Sixth Commandment won Best Limited Drama and Leading Actor for Timothy Spall, who went on to win the International Emmy too. In addition, Éanna Hardwicke won Best Supporting Actor at the Royal Television Society Awards, where the four-part series also went home with Limited Series and Writer – Drama (Sarah Phelps).
Other 2024 BAFTA winners you can binge on Showmax include Black Ops, which won Best Actress: Comedy for Nigeria’s Gbemisola Ikumelo, and Succession, which won Supporting Actor for Matthew Macfadyen.
Watch the trailer for The Sixth Commandment below:
Special mention: In May 2024, Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff Knuckles became the most-watched original series on Paramount+ ever over its premiere weekend.
JUNE 2024: House of the Dragon flies to the top of IMDb charts
The second season of House of the Dragon flew express to Showmax from HBO in June 2024. The Game of Thrones prequel topped IMDb’s Most Popular TV chart during its run and has just been named the site’s fifth most popular series of 2024 overall.
Showmax is home to three of IMDb’s five most popular series of 2024, with crime dramas True Detective: Night Country and The Penguin in first and third place respectively.
Watch the House of the Dragon S2 trailer below:
Special mention: In June 2024, Showmax also released arthouse romance Past Lives, metacritic’s best reviewed film of 2023, winner of more than 80 awards, and a 2024 Oscar Best Picture nominee.
JULY 2024: True Detective: Night Country – IMDb’s Most Popular Series Of 2024
In July, True Detective: Nighty Country became the most nominated limited or anthology series going into the Emmys, where two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster picked up her first Emmy as Detective Liz Danvers.
Four seasons in, True Detective remains one of IMDb’s Top 50 highest-rated series of all time, but the Alaska-set Night Country is the most-watched, best-reviewed, and most Emmy-nominated series of the anthology yet – and IMDb’s Most Popular Series of 2024.
Watch the trailer for True Detective: Night Country below:
Special mentions: In July 2024, Showmax also released The Beekeeper, starring action legend Jason Statham in South Africa’s 10th biggest box office hit of 2024 so far; record-breaking romcom Anyone But You, starring Sydney Sweeney; and the musical hit Mean Girls, the 33rd biggest box office hit of 2024 globally.
AUGUST 2024 – Fargo intros one of IMDb’s ‘5 new TV characters who defined 2024’
August saw the fifth season of crime anthology Fargo land on Showmax, just before it won Lamorne Morris the Outstanding Supporting Actor Emmy in September as North Dakota Deputy Witt Farr.
While Lamorne took home the Emmy, IMDb has just named fierce mama bear Dot Lyon, played by Ted Lasso star Juno Temple, as one of their ‘5 new TV characters who defined 2024.’
Watch the Fargo S5 trailer:
Special mentions: In August 2024, Showmax also released spy drama The Sympathizer, #11 on Metacritic’s Best TV Shows This Year, and finance drama Industry S3, #16 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV Shows of 2024, and at #2 on Time Magazine‘s list.
SEPTEMBER 2024: The Penguin waddles to the top of IMDb charts
Yes, September was Emmys month, with Hacks named Best Comedy, but the show everyone was really talking about was The Penguin, a Batman-free spinoff of The Batman. Yes, that really is Colin Farrell in the picture above, and he deserves his Emmy already, but it’s Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone who was just named one of IMDb’s ‘5 new TV characters who defined 2024.’ Don’t be like the Falcone crime family and underestimate her…
Watch the trailer for The Penguin:
Special mentions: In September 2024, Showmax also released Julio Torres’ quirky Fantasmas, #5 on Metacritic’s Best TV Shows This Year; hitman comedy Laroy, #13 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best Movies of 2024; and biopic Bob Marley: One Love, the 24th biggest box office hit of 2024 globally.
OCTOBER: Hacks, the Best Comedy Emmy winner
At the Emmys in September 2024, Hacks was named Best Comedy, with Jean Smart winning her third Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy in three seasons. After launching on Showmax in October 2024, the HBO comedy about comedy is the 15th highest-rated TV show of 2024 on Rotten Tomatoes – with a 98% critics’ rating. Hacks has already been renewed for a fourth season, expected in 2025.
Watch the trailer for Hacks S3 below:
Special mention: In October 2024, Showmax also released Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the 21st biggest box office hit of 2024, just in time for Halloween.
NOVEMBER: Kung Fu Panda 4, the sixth biggest blockbuster of 2024
The sixth biggest box office hit of 2024 (so far), Kung Fu Panda 4 returns comedy icon Jack Black to his role as Po, the world’s most unlikely kung fu master. Kung Fu Panda 4 was nominated for the 2024 Kids’ Choice Award for Favourite Animated Movie, with Jack Black and Awkwafina nominated for Favourite Voice from an Animated Movie – Male, and Female, respectively.
Watch the trailer for Kung Fu Panda 4 below:
Special mentions: In November 2024, Showmax also released Civil War, IMDb’s seventh most popular movie of 2024; Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, South Africa’s 10th biggest box office hit of 2024 so far; Fight Night: Million Dollar Heist, #23 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV Shows of 2024; and The Fall Guy, the 23rd biggest blockbuster of 2024 globally.
DECEMBER: Dune: Prophecy brings the spice to Showmax
Showmax is releasing new episodes of Dune: Prophecy every Monday at 9:30pm until 23 December 2024. Starring Oscar nominee Emily Watson (Chernobyl) and Critics Choice Super nominee Travis Fimmel (Ragnar in Vikings), Dune: Prophecy is HBO’s epic prequel series to the six-Oscar-winning movie and its sequel, Dune: Part Two, which is the fourth biggest box office hit of 2024 and IMDb’s second most popular film of the year. As Mashable writes, “Truly, this is the closest TV has gotten to the idea of Game of Thrones… in space!”
PS Dune: Part Two is coming to Showmax on New Year’s Day, 2025.
Watch the Dune: Prophecy trailer below:
Special mentions: In December 2024, Showmax is also releasing Somebody Somewhere S3, #11 on Rotten Tomatoes’ Best TV Shows of 2024, and A Quiet Place: Day One, IF, and Wonka – the 15-17th biggest box office hits in South Africa in 2024.
