Prime Video’s adaptation of the popular post-apocalyptic video game series “Fallout” returns for a second season on Dec. 17. The show follows the fortunes of a few people wandering the wastelands of an irradiated America, including the ravaged Ghoul (an unrecognizable Walton Goggins), soldier Maximus (Aaron Moten), and the previously sheltered Lucy (Ella Purnell, who I’ll always remember as the first member of the soccer team to get eaten on “Yellowjackets”).
“Emily in Paris” may not be strictly accurate as the name of the show anymore, as its heroine (Lily Collins) is trying out Rome when the Netflix series returns for its fifth season on Dec. 18. I suspect Netflix knows what they’re doing by releasing the sunny show that looks like a permanent vacation in the dead of December.
The premise of Adult Swim’s “The Elephant” tries something new. The one-off special airs Dec. 19 (you can find it on HBO Max the next day) and features a group of animators all working on different acts of a single show. The catch? None of them have seen what the others are working on. Will the result make any sense? Who knows! But the team assembled to create it is pretty impressive, and includes Pendleton Ward (“Adventure Time”), Rebecca Sugar (“Steven Universe”), and Patrick McHale (“Adventure Time,” “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”) and Ian Jones-Quartey (“Steven Universe”).
Ready to make room for another beautifully shot nature docuseries in your life? Apple TV’s “Born to Be Wild,” premiering Dec. 19, tells the stories of endangered animals raised in captivity as they’re gradually introduced to life in the wild. Need more enticement? There are baby cheetahs in the trailer.
Actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley,” “The Big Sick”) releases his latest comedy special, “Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts,” on Hulu on Dec. 19. Nanjiani famously packed on some muscles before his appearance in Marvel’s “The Eternals,” spurring an intense wave of discourse about his choice; here he gently reassures viewers that the muscles are not here to hurt them. He also posts a lot of cute cat photos on Instagram, in case you want to check in on that.
The documentary “Breakdown: 1975” comes to Netflix on Dec. 19, courtesy of director Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “20 Feet from Stardom”). The year 1975 was a landmark one in film releases; it marked the beginning of the modern blockbuster with “Jaws,” but was also the year that “Dog Day Afternoon,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” and many more classic films came out. The doc compiles interviews from such luminaries as Martin Scorsese, Seth Rogen, and former Boston Globe film critic Wesley Morris on the subject, with narration provided by Jodie Foster.
