Some of you will remember walking into a Blockbuster (or, for the hip, your local mom-and-pop video store) on a Friday or Saturday night and being overwhelmed with all of the choices. Drama? Comedy? Documentary? Where to begin? You could get lost forever wandering down those aisles and wondering, “but is this the best choice?” The same can happen now when you scroll around Netflix; the options seem endless (and they nearly are, so much so that Netflix’s own newly released series often get lost!)
What you need is to be able to log on and know exactly what you want to start bingeing without wasting time scrolling around. Some have been well-executed versions of familiar TV forms, while others have seemed so wholly new that it’s hard to imagine them existing in the pre-streaming era. Here, are our favorite shows to watch.
‘ Squid Games ’ (2021- present)
An outta-nowhere smash, this South Korean series exploded up the Netflix streaming ranks upon release in 2021 to become the most-watched show in the platform’s history. It’s a feat made all the more astounding given the subject matter. Effectively a more overtly class-conscious – and way more violent – take on The Hunger Games, the show centers around a contest in which financially desperate competitors are made to participate in a series of children’s games. The winner stands to earn a significant cash prize and the losers are killed one by one. It’s hard to watch at times, due to both the gore and hyperventilating suspense, but once its hooks set in, it’s impossible to turn away from.
‘Stranger Things ‘(2016- present)
A rollicking, endearing ’80s pastiche that leans deep into its inspirations – a little John Carpenter here, some (ok, a lot of) Steven Spielberg there, a dollop of Stephen King with a dash of Red Dawn – Stranger Things took off thanks in no small part to its neo-Goonies cast of Dungeons & Dragons-obsessed kids highlighted by Millie Bobby Brown’s telekinetic Eleven. With its creepy parallel-dimension threat, underbelly teeming with mad scientists and commies, genuinely chilling horror moments, and penchant for cliffhangers, the show all but perfected the binge-watch model.
‘Russian Doll’ (2019 – present)
Natasha Lyonne graduated from the next show on this list to her co-creation: a high-concept series that bent genre as quickly as it bent the laws of physics. In the flawless first season, Lyonne’s irrepressible Nadia was cursed to die and be reborn over and over again on her 36th birthday. In the messier but still delightful second season, she began quantum leaping into the young lives of her mother and grandmother. Russian Doll is brimming with ideas and energy in a way few recent series (on Netflix or otherwise) can equal.
‘Orange Is The New Black ‘ (2013 -2019)
Orange, a dramedy set at a federal women’s prison with an enormous cast crossing boundaries of race, sexuality, gender, and more, felt brand-new, and like a sign that the streaming era would have lots of room for TV to keep evolving.
‘When They See Us’ (2019)
It was an infamous real-life story made even more harrowing when it became clear the cops and the media had gotten it so wrong: A woman was brutally raped in Central Park in 1989, and five young men of color were convicted, only to be exonerated years later, when the real attacker confessed. The show was accompanied by a special, Oprah Winfrey Presents When They See Us Now, which also drew a lot of attention.
‘BoJack Horseman’(2014-2020)
A showbiz comedy about a self-destructive ’90s sitcom star who happens to be a horse isn’t exactly an easy sell. BoJack is, after all, a show about humanoid animals that’s also a stark meditation on the nature of depression, greed, addiction, fame, obsession, abuse, and generational trauma. BoJack was a parody of modern dramas about middle-aged male antiheroes who get away with everything. But it was also a supreme example of the form, as laugh-out-loud ridiculous and as soul-crushingly sad a show as has been produced during the streaming era.
‘Dear White People (2017-2021)
Based on the eponymous 2014 film, the series centers on several African-American college students at Ivy League school Winchester. Each 30-minute episode zooms into a single character’s story, poignantly touching upon race relations and issues. The fourth and final season of the show is set to premiere sometime this year.
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