To binge or not to binge? That has become the question of our day. Back in my day, binging was just eating all the food at the buffet bar but now we can binge shows. I don’t feel like twenty-seven is incredibly old but I’ve gone in my lifetime from appointment television for literally any show I wanted to consume and not miss to casually pulling up entire seasons of shows on Netflix with every episode there in one night. Madness. With this new practice of entire seasons of shows being dumped/gifted into our lap, a new societal practice and phrase has been born to describe this act of consumption: binge watching. Now when we need to tune out the world with as much force as possible, we can flick on Netflix and turn off our surroundings. Should you need to tune out a bit and escape to another world, here are 10 excellent Netflix originals to binge.
I’m always looking for something to watch on Netflix. There’s so much, and I never know where to begin until one day, I jumped on and Elite was smack dab in the middle of my TV screen. I watched the trailer and was like… why not? It’s a modern-day Gossip Girl telenovela. You got rich, young teens, teens trying to fit in, cancer, sex, pregnancy, relationships, LBTQ issues, and of course, murder. The show started off as a whodunit of the death of a classmate. I’m a sucker for this kind of show when you have young adults playing teenagers. Even though the show is revolved around this murder, you also get a chance to see these characters in their everyday lives and how school’s the least of their worries. It shocked me that it didn’t feel cheesy or corny. Instead, you feel every emotion these characters are going through, even when they’re wrong. The only downside: the show is terribly dubbed. I couldn’t get through the first three minutes without cringing. I was trying to figure out how in the world can I change that!? Easy, I just changed the audio to European Spanish and put on the subtitles. It felt better to hear their voices and understand the emotions they’re showing because you can’t get through that with dubbing. Give this one a chance.(Chantal Ashford)
This is a very difficult premise to describe. This is a very difficult show to describe, and yet it’s one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever laid my eyes on. The series starts with Prairie Johnson (co-creator Britt Marling) as she returns home after having disappeared 7 years before. Her return is a miracle, not only because she made it home, but because she came back no longer blind. From there you’re taken on an insane journey of faith, science fiction, magic and everything in-between. It’s a winding road for sure, and at the end of it, you’ll either end up loving it, or hating it. I am in the LOVE camp. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen and has continued to be since it premiered in 2016. The best way to consume this, is to let it just take you on the journey it’s set out, suspend your disbelief and inhabit the characters. From there you will experience something new, raw and unforgiving in its storytelling. It’s beautiful, and more should see it, if only so I have more people to talk about it with! (Alice-Ginevra Micheli)
Sex Education is the best show on Netflix and it seems like not many people know about it. The story revolves around high schooler Otis who starts a sex therapy business with his friend Maeve to help fellow classmates. Throughout, he will learn more about himself while helping his patients deal with their doubts and insecurities. Add in the fact that Otis has not told his mom who is an accomplished sex therapist herself, about the clinic, and you have a really complex and interesting dynamic. This show has a really fun retro vibe to it with stunning shots of the English countryside sprinkled in to make it even more enjoyable. It may seem that this show is purely focused on sex, but it is actually all about relationships, both romantic and friendly. The show approaches difficult topics that most people in TV would not touch and does it with grace and vulnerability that is so refreshing. All in all, you will fall in love with so many of these well written characters who each get opportunities to shine and you will consistently burst out laughing. Do yourself a favor and choose Sex Education for your next quarantine binge. (Kaleb Wolters)
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A suburban real estate couple from California help each other through a series of hijinks like nosy neighbors, outdated cultural norms and get to the bottom of why this is suddenly happening to the family. Oh, and the wife is a zombie. Despite how overplayed those topics are, show runner Victor Fresco finds a way to combine this into something more than just a streaming original TV show with big actors. Like one of my favorite shows, The Good Place, there’s a lot of contemplation on what the mind will do when put in extreme situations. Most of your enjoyment will rely upon how much you like Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. They’re mostly playing themselves here, but with the twist of Olyphant being the moral center of the relationship and Barrymore turning the quirkiness factor to 11 whenever she needs to eat. Check out Santa Clarita Diet if you’re looking for a show to devour. It’s funny, quirky, and only 30 minutes per episode. Plus, you get Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant in some of the best work I’ve seen them in. (Austin Belzer)
Before I watched Master of None, I only knew Aziz Ansari from Parks and Recreation. Tom Haverford is a silly yet lovable character, but you wouldn’t expect the actor who brings him to life to have deep insights into life. But Master of None provided a whole new insight into him as a creator. The show has just 20 total episodes, but they each have a slice of life sort of feel and are portrayed in a genuine way. It provides the laughs you’ve come to expect from Parks, but you’ll also get a deep and emotional sense of connection to these characters. You’re placed in a position where you’re forced to come face to face with situations you may not be familiar with. And this is the best part about the show: it grapples with the difficult parts of life – the things not everyone is exposed to – and it doesn’t sugarcoat them. But it always shows the positive parts of life. I’m glad to have had my eyes opened to such a diverse show. (Robert Bouffard)
Where to even begin with this highly inappropriate, vulgar, yet heartfelt show with the best of intentions. I first stumbled upon this show on Netflix on a Sunday afternoon after a bodybuilding show where I planned to eat myself into a coma. What drew me in was the premise: pre-teens going through puberty and the difficulties young men and women face when your hormones are going absolutely crazy. What kept me there was just how brutally honest—and accurate—this show is. It’s relentless with its vulgarity and its nastiness, but it’s also relentless in just how heartfelt it is and how it goes out of its way to make all people feel included. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Hormone Monsters Murray and Connie, the monsters that try to help guide the kids through the difficulty their hormones may bring them (or just make them worse). They are the constant that keeps this show afloat and make each episode feel special. Season 1 is without a doubt my personal favorite as it feels more focused, season 2 feels a bit less focused than season 1 but it’s still a good time, but season 3 kinda falls off the rails a bit. It tries to tackle too many things at once and in turn loses what makes the show special. Having said that though, this show is very enlightening and very informative. It’s a high recommendation if you love shows like South Park, Family Guy, and Rick and Morty. (Ben Davis)
Autism isn’t an accomplishment. It’s something I was born with. You wouldn’t write an essay about having ten fingers and ten toes, would you? No, because that would be really, really, really, really dumb. So I’ll stick with the boobs. When we think of Netflix original shows, there are so many great ones out there, but there is one that is sorely left out of the conversation. Atypical is about Sam Garner who is going through all the motions of High School/College such as hormones, girl problems, and peer pressure. But this show is different from your typical high school show in that it shows the story of how Sam perceives the world while living with Autism. His story is one that brings some of the biggest laughs on Netflix, but also some of the most real moments in a half-hour comedy since Scrubs. Each season has progressively gotten better and isn’t afraid to take these characters to new and interesting places. For your next binge, make sure to give Atypical a consideration! (Aaron Schweitzer)
When scrolling endlessly through Netflix last year, a bright, shiny gem of a show appeared right before my eyes. This is a show that is genre bending and changes tones like no other. Russian Doll blends Comedy, Drama, Horror and Sci-Fi with the greatest of ease. Natasha Lyonne plays Nadia Vulvakov, a cynical software Engineer who is having an existential crisis and worst of all keeps dying on her 36th Birthday. Russian Doll is packed with laughs, clever dialog and most of all is very stylish. It appears to look more expensive than it actually is due to Its cinematography and lighting. Natasha Lyonne constructed a character that encompasses a lot of her, including facets of life that she has dealt with personally. Since the character is so much like herself, there is an authenticity that is very endearing. The aspect of the show I enjoy the most and makes it highly rewatchable are the complex themes. This show deals with loneliness, mental health, forgiveness and most of all attempting to cope with one’s past. Enriched in dark humor and neon drenched sequences, it presses all my buttons in what I want from my entertainment. From the primary characters to the supporting cast, there are no weak performances in this show. With a solid script and masterful dialog Russian Doll delivers something truly unique with a familiar format that has not been done before. What sets it apart from the other content in the “Ground Hog day” genre(feels like it’s own genre at this point) is it’s complex themes. There is nothing quite like a show that can make you laugh out loud as well as make you think long after its runtime. The best shows and movies should elicit all types of emotions. Co-creators Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne and Amy Poehler created Russian Doll to be a 3 Season Show and I hope they get the opportunity to revisit this insane, hilarious and deep world they have constructed. (Joe Vargas)
Take a little walk to the edge of town and go across the tracks where the viaduct looms like a bird of doom as it shifts and cracks…sound familiar? From the very moment of hammer hitting steel, Peaky Blinders will tunnel deep under your skin and stay there. Steven Knight is a genius in how he creates a perfectly realized style and atmosphere in this industrial era England tale. The Shelby clan takes on crooked cops, crooked priests, Italian gangsters, and Fascists as they seek power and authority…oh and money too. Cillian Murphy gives one of the best performances in modern television as he delivers a balance performance that is as equally cool as it is angry. This is one tortured soul. The rest of the clan is stacked with memorable turns like Paul Anderson as the fiery Arthur F***’n Shelby, Helen McCrory as the resourceful and sexy Aunt Polly. Crime, violence, love, tragedy, and betrayal seep through every episode. Enjoy every moment of the tragedy of Thomas Shelby because he’s a god, he’s a man, he’s a ghost, he’s a guru. They’re whispering his name through this disappearing land but hidden in his coat is a red right hand. (Shane Conto)
Can there possibly be a show that is able to balance heartbreaking drama, animal puns, infinite pop culture references, visionary and artful direction all at once while also being an animated show? Yes, it can. The name of that show is Bojack Horseman. The show may start off as a goofy sitcom with anthropomorphic animals but it became so much more. Certain episodes of this show are some of the most daring and experimental episodes of television ever. The show digs deeper into so many issues such as addiction, depression, and sexual assault and it is all centered around a former sitcom star horse. All of the cultural and political commentary is also biting as hell and will surprise you just how far it will go. The voice cast is impeccable with Will Arnett giving one of the most layered and memorable vocal performances ever. Alison Brie, Amy Sedaris, Aaron Paul, Paul F Tompkins, and an ocean full of all-star cameos and performances stack the deck even further. I know this show may be a hard sell. Hell, the basic premise sounds absolutely stupid and absurd. But if you take the time to ride this tidal wave of artful television, it will surprise you at every turn. (Shane Conto)
Honorable Mentions
Tales by Light
I love movies. But I. LOVE. Photography. Imagine if you will: a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. An astronaut on the moon. Marines raising a flag on Iwo Jima. Using just a couple of words, most people can instantly visualize these images in their minds. But how do photographers get these shots? That is what “Tales by Light” attempts to address, and I just adore this show. The series primarily focuses on nature and street photography. Think of it like a NatGeo/BBC documentary, but behind the scenes, where the shooters explain their thought processes for different assignments. I find it fascinating to watch them approach their subject, then getting to immediately see the pictures that come from it. The first episode sets the bar high: a photographer swims with whales in Tonga, capturing the bus-sized animals appearing out of the deep blue ocean to streak past him in so-called “heat races”. This episode alone needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible to really appreciate the scale of these animals. The second episode’s highlight is a photographer wandering India during the celebration of Holi, where massed crowds throw handfuls of colored powder at each other. It needs to be seen to be appreciated. If you find yourself enjoying these first couple of episodes, there are 3 full seasons waiting to be enjoyed over a Saturday or Sunday binge. (Donald Skidmore)
F is for Family
F is for Frank here with his weekly court mandated community service. If you haven’t seen F Is For Family on Netflix then you are missing the F out. You really need to sit down and F-ing watch this F-er. For one, it features funny man Bill Burr (Breaking Bad, The Mandalorian) as Frank Murphy, a father and family man in the 1970’s. Burrs blue collar, off-the cuff-comedy shines. As a father figure he is often misguided and angry and even if it doesn’t show, he loves the F out of his family. Many people should be able to connect to it. As a father myself I am often unabrasive and honest with my kids to a fault. With the world how it is, you almost have to be. Children take in knowledge from everywhere and with as many dumb-asses in the world (myself probably included) you have to always set them straight. “Oh you think 5G is causing all this? Get the F off youtube! Here’s a fork go test the outlets.(Editor’s Note: SiftPop does not condone nor encourage forks being placed in outlets. We have confirmed Frank is in fact kidding and has not given this advice to his children) Where was I? Oh yeah the article. With three seasons and a fourth on the way, now is a perfect time for an F-ing marathon. (Frank Kemp)
Wet Hot American Summer
In 2001, “Wet Hot American Summer” was released in theaters to barely any fanfare. The movie, directed by David Wain, tells the story of a group of camp-goers, the camping staff, and the outrageous hijinks in which they find themselves on their last day at Camp Firewood in the summer of 1981. Here’s the kicker: the cast members, who are adults, portray children and teenagers. While the movie itself is merely chuckle-worthy, you can’t help but be curious about the premise and the committed performances from the cast, which is a mixture of people who were known names and soon-to-be superstars. The movie gained a cult following, and then, fourteen years later, Netflix released an eight-episode prequel series, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp,” all of which takes place on the first day of camp that summer. The surreal and random humor from the movie finds more of a footing and is taken up several notches, delivering scenes that range from funny to bustlingly hilarious. With all of the new additions to the cast joining the original characters, this enjoyable prequel series results in the viewer asking themselves several times, “They’re in this, too?!?” And, the amount of fun that the cast seems to be having absorbs you in the zaniness of the narrative’s events. I can’t even begin to describe the plot because of how over-the-top ridiculous it quickly becomes, but I can assure you that it’s as unpredictable as it is side-splitting. While the 2017 Netflix sequel series, “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later,” has its moments, it pales in comparison to what the prequel series gives us. Summer is right around the corner, so if you haven’t seen the movie and prequel series, now’s the perfect time to do so to get you in the spirit of the season. (Vincent Abbatecola)