New Year’s Eve concerts and 40 years of Rocky: Here’s what’s streaming on Netflix, Crave and more

With so many different streaming platforms and cable offerings to navigate, choosing what to watch has never been harder. To make things easier, here are our best tune-in tips for the week ahead.

WEDNESDAY

The Circle

The pick of the week is the fifth season of this popular Netflix reality staple. In an effort to change things up, the series has only cast single contestants this time around. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it features contestants either playing themselves or setting up a fake “catfish” profile to fool the other players. In each episode, the players rate each other in terms of their popularity, with the most popular people being voted up as “influencers” who get to oust anyone of their choice. The new season features the return of former fan favourite Shubham Goel. Another familiar face that you might recognize is that of Brett Robinson, who previously competed on “Big Brother.”

Netflix

The Gift: Kindness Goes Viral With Steve Hartman

This CBS special examines how one simple act of kindness can create a ripple effect. From giving a haircut to a homeless man to helping to pay for an adoption, Steve Hartman works with an MIT professor to determine what it takes for an act of kindness to spread. Touching stuff.

10 p.m., CBS

FRIDAY

White Noise

Described as an “absurdist comedy,” this movie features an American family’s attempts to deal with the struggles of everyday life. The movie is set in 1984, when a fraudulent professor and his fourth wife raise a blended family of four children. Their suburban life is disrupted when a train accident casts a cloud of chemical waste over their town. The film is adapted from a book by Don DeLillo.

Netflix

Wildcat

“Wildcat” tells the story of a young veteran suffering from PTSD who discovers a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in the Amazon. Once there, he begins to find himself again by fostering an orphaned baby ocelot.

Prime Video

Rocky Franchise, 40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic

The first “Rocky” film was the highest-grossing film of the year when it was released in 1976. It was the same year the film received three Academy Awards. The original would go on to serve as the precursor to five sequels and now all of the movies will be available to watch on Crave. As an added bonus, the ageless Sylvester Stallone (who currently stars in Paramount Plus hit “Tulsa King”) narrates a special documentary chronicling the most famous character he has ever played.

Crave

SATURDAY

Lizzo: Live in Concert

Three-time Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and rapper Lizzo hosts this prime-time special on New Year’s Eve. The superstar is joined by Cardi B, SZA and Missy Elliott for a show that promises love, positivity and “a night of incredible music.” The special was taped during the singer’s tour stop earlier this year at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

8 p.m. Crave

Canada’s New Year’s Eve: Countdown to 2023

Rick Mercer hosts his annual New Year’s Eve special from the Blue Mountains in Grey County. This year’s all-Canadian lineup features performances by Devon Cole and JJ Wilde in Halifax, Vincent Vallières from Quebec City, James Barker Band in Saskatoon and Leela Gilday from Aurora Village in the Northwest Territories. Chad Price, Kardinal Offishall and Savannah Ré will perform in the Blue Mountains alongside the host.

11 p.m. CBC & CBC Gem

DON’T MISS

Emily the Criminal

If you are detoxing from “The White Lotus” and need a little more Aubrey Plaza in your life, I recommend this one from Netflix. Plaza plays the title character, an unlucky employee at a catering company who gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her further and further into the underbelly of Los Angeles’s criminal underworld. The movie is fast-paced, which is certainly a welcome change from “White Lotus,” which I found to be very slow-moving.

Netflix

Murtz Jaffer is a Toronto-based Entertainment writer and a freelance contributor for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @murtzjaffer

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