What to Watch This Week
The 5 movies, TV shows, and events everyone will be talking about, for the week of September 3 to September 9.
The last long weekend of the summer is here (sorry to be the bearer of bad news), but that doesn’t mean the on-screen entertainment is slowing down for the occasion. The US Open is closing out its early bouts of competition (including a blockbuster doubles match featuring Venus and Serena Williams) and heading into the round of 16 by Sunday, so it’s all tennis, all the time. Holiday binge watches are also heading our way via second seasons of both The Paper, the spinoff of The Office set at a small-town newspaper, and The Gentlemen, Guy Ritchie’s slick action-comedy starring Theo James. But the actual showstopper comes after the weekend ends, because it’s finally time for the first kickoff of the 2026-2027 NFL season.
For the week of September 3 to September 9, here are the five movies, TV shows, and events that will have everyone talking.
2026-2027 NFL Season Kicks Off With Patriots vs. Seahawks
When to watch: September 9 at 8:20 p.m. ET
Where to watch: NBC, Peacock
It’s the moment American sports fans wait for every year: the kickoff of a brand-new football season and Week 1 of the 2026-2027 season starts with a real banger of a game: New England Patriots vs. Seattle Seahawks, a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. The Pats are looking to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke and have added veteran players to the roster to bolster its young lineup led by quarterback Drake Maye; meanwhile, as the reigning champs, the Seahawks, led by Sam Darnold, will want to come out fighting to set the tone for another magical run — and maybe even the chance to go back-to-back.
Pull out your fantasy league notes, order mountains of chicken wings, and call up your friends to gather around the TV, because there are a lot of NFL storylines to keep track of this year. Legendary defensive player Aaron Donald has come out of his two-year retirement to return to the LA Rams (who have also already been pegged as Super Bowl favorites), Travis Kelce (fresh off his MSG nuptials to Taylor Swift) and Patrick Mahomes (who’s returning to play after an ACL tear) are looking to bounce back after the Kansas City Chiefs had a down year, and talented quarterbacks Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are still looking for their first trips to the Super Bowl.
Onslaught
When to watch: September 4
Where to watch: In theaters
It’s an absolute pleasure to be watching something and know that you are watching a star. If you’ve seen Adria Arjona in anything (like Andor or crime romcom Hit Man), you know she has that ineffable quality. Onslaught is further proof of that. Arjona stars in the action-horror flick (directed by Adam Wingard, who is known for The Guest and You’re Next) as Celeste, a formidable Army sniper fighting to protect her daughter from genetically engineered super soldiers. Arjona’s performance clearly shows she has what it takes to be an action star (she found it “liberating” to do things she’d never done before, the actor said on Rotten Tomatoes’ Seen on Screen podcast), while the movie itself offers gory and exhilarating kills that genre fans will love. If you’re looking for a reason to get out of the house this Labor Day weekend, heading to a theater to catch Onslaught is a pretty good one.
Buy tickets on Fandango.
2026 US Open Week 2
When to watch: All week
Where to watch: ESPN
Grand Slam tennis is always thrilling, but there’s something especially exciting about the 2026 US Open: Venus and Serena Williams, the GOATs of athlete siblings, are playing doubles together. Serena has appeared at select tournaments this year after a four-year hiatus, and this is the first time the sisters (and former doubles champs) are playing the US Open together since 2022 (though they reunited on the court a couple of weeks ago at the Cincinnati Open). The Williams sisters open their first round of doubles action Friday, September 4, at 7 p.m ET against the 14th seeded duo of Chan Hao-Ching and Maya Joint (who actually beat Serena at Wimbledon earlier this year). As usual, the sisters aren’t being too definitive about their respective futures on the tennis court, but could this be the last time we get to see them play together? The only option is to tune in while we know we can, and bask in their greatness.
But the tennis action is heating up elsewhere in the tournament too, with second, third, and fourth round matches set to unfold into the weekend. The men’s bracket is, honestly, a bit light this year, but notable matches include Taylor Fritz’s second-round bout against Italian Mattia Bellucci (September 3 no earlier than 12:40 p.m. ET), as well as fellow American Learner Tien vs. beloved French pro Gaël Monfils, who is retiring at the end of the season (September 3, no earlier than 7 p.m. ET). Plus, superstar Carlos Alcaraz has returned to competition from a months-long injury, and is into the third round against China’s Y.B. Wu (September 4, time TBD). On the women’s side, meanwhile, the competition is extra fierce. Confirmed second-round matches on September 3 include: 2022 US Open champ Iga Swiatek takes on Argentinian Nadia Podoroska (no earlier than 11 a.m. ET), Naomi Osaka meets Czech player Katerina Siniaková (no earlier than 11:30 a.m. ET), and 2023 winner Coco Gauff faces off against Spain’s Paula Badosa (no earlier than 7 p.m. ET).
The Gentlemen Season 2
When to watch: September 3
Where to watch: Netflix
Guy Ritchie-created series The Gentlemen (a spin-off of his pandemic-era movie of the same name) is in a bit of a weird place for Season 2. When it premiered in early 2024, the crime dramedy was an undeniable hit, becoming one of Netflix’s most-watched series ever, according to Deadline. But even as millions of people reportedly watched the series, it never felt like it actually held conversation — and it certainly hasn’t stayed top of mind during its two-plus year hiatus. That makes it easy to forget that the show, which follows Eddie (Theo James) who unexpectedly inherits his family’s aristocratic estate only to discover it’s the site of a weed empire, was actually slick and wildly entertaining.
Season 2 of The Gentlemen leads into that pure entertainment factor, just as Eddie is leaning into his new status as a key player in the criminal underworld. The action picks up a year after Season 1 ended, with Eddie teaming up with crime boss Susie (Kaya Scodelario) to grow their operation. Their goals take them to Italy, where they hope to establish more business, but will their ambition cost them? There are fun twists, cool schemes, flashy style (both in terms of fashion and filmmaking) — everything you could want from a long-weekend binge watch.
The Paper Season 2
When to watch: September 9
Where to watch: Peacock
People who watched the first season of The Paper liked it well enough (it has an 85% on the Tomatometer and 70% on the Popcornmeter), but, as a spinoff of The Office, it undeniably lived in the shadow of its predecessor. So the fact that the charming sitcom — about the only-sometimes-competent staff at a local Midwest newspaper with dwindling resources — returns for Season 2 this week is welcome news. This marks the perfect chance for the show (which was co-created by Greg Daniels of the OG US series) to establish its own identity and prove that there’s enough here for it to stand separate from The Office.
Based on early reviews, Season 2 of The Paper — which follows Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) on a quest for a juicy, awards-worthy story that puts the outlet in the crosshairs of powerful people, while scene-stealer Esmeralda (Sabrina Impacciatore) tries to figure out her place at work — is well on its way to doing just that. Some critics indicate that the show is even funnier, with the quirky cast of characters being given more room to grow, evolve and become people you want to hang out with. And that is, perhaps, the biggest hurdle for any classic TV comedy to leap over: when the characters start to feel like your friends, the show will like it’s deserving of your time.
Check out what critics are saying in First Reviews.
