5 Best New Netflix Shows to Watch This December
After a year of some pretty impressive debuts, new seasons, and send-offs, it’s hard to believe we’re about to reach the final chapter of television for 2025. But after a strong block of new shows in November, Netflix doesn’t appear to be losing any momentum as it closes out the year. From a new western drama to the final episodes of a beloved series, there’s more than enough to keep you entertained all the way into ringing in the New Year. So, grab your remote, finish up the overlooked and underrated shows you’ve been missing, and get ready to start bingeing anew with the best new Netflix shows to watch in December 2025.
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1 | The Abandons (Dec. 4)
If you were as big a fan of this year’s criminally underrated and underappreciated American Primeval as I was, then there’s a good chance you’re as excited about this hotly anticipated western drama. The show follows the matriarchs of two families (Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson) who become locked in a bloody battle with one another.
The fact that this is a classic Wild West tale of settling versus expansion already makes me feel confident about it becoming a must-watch, but the involvement of two stellar leading actors in Headey and Anderson all but assures it. It also comes at a perfect time of year for grittier drama viewing, so I’m all ears!
2 | Man vs. Baby (Dec. 11)
Growing up watching Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean and Blackadder was one of the very first blocks set in building my now life-long appreciation for British comedy. Now, he’s back in this four-part comedy series that’s technically a follow-up to the hilarious Man vs. Bee, in which he must deal with—you guessed it—a newborn who unexpectedly falls into his lap.
With a Christmas-themed setting, this show gets bonus points for easy December viewing. I’ll absolutely be using this as a way to unwind in the chaotic run-up to the end of the year (and if I’m being honest, possibly dipping back into some Blackadder as well).
3 | Stranger Things: Season 5, Volume 2 (Dec. 25)
Get ready: After nearly a decade of following around a bunch of precocious teens from 1980s Indiana, Stranger Things is finally coming to an end. As if Netflix knows exactly what it’s doing, most of the last batch of episodes will drop on Christmas Day, making it a perfect holiday binge watch once you’ve finished opening the presents. However, the kicker is that the series finale won’t come out until a full week later—on New Year’s Eve, of course.
In all honesty, I’ve dipped in and out of this show over the years, but it’s not exactly the fault of the writing or storyline. I’m still fairly confident the showrunners will know exactly how to send this modern cultural phenomenon off with the respect it deserves.
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4 | What’s in the Box? (Dec. 17)
Maybe it’s the current state of the world, or maybe it’s just be getting older, but I’m finding a lot of comfort in having a game show to watch. In this new series hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (and named after an often quoted climactic line from Se7en), contestants will have to solve trivia to answer the titular question and hopefully leave with an impressive prize.
Full disclosure: I am having a very hard time discerning the game’s premise from any of the marketing materials! But perhaps this is by design, as I now want to know exactly how this works and will be tuning in to find out. Who knows? Maybe this could be the next Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
5 | Emily in Paris: Season 5 (Dec. 18)
Listen, I know what you’re thinking: This show is still on?! Well, the answer to that question is definitively “yes,” since you’re reading about it here. However, it is straying from its title just a bit, as the show’s heroine will soon say “arrivieerci” to her French surroundings and “bongiorno” to Rome as she pursues yet another complicated love interest there.
For as much as people love to hate on this show, there’s a reason so many people are still watching. It’s the kind of low-lift, escapist content audiences crave, even if the writing does feel lazy from time to time. Regardless, the show still has the same charming moments that endeared it to viewers from the start, and there’s very little chance that will change as the show continues to hold its footing season after season.