Note: Apologies to my email subscribers, a recent update has caused the emails to contain all(?) of my 2020 postings in addition to the current post. My email subscription service is no longer supported and I was hoping to put off updates so it’ll just take a beat to clean up with a new service. Stay tuned the procrastinator is on it, eventually.
So there’s always more tv than a person can watch these days but as some people find themselves having more downtime, or just different downtime and needing to disconnect, we still find ourselves sometimes needing to find the right show. I find that when I’m looking for something to binge I’m not always looking for the best tv show and might want something a little lighter and ideally that has an entire series so I can mark it as complete. I might be due for a Buffy rewatch, that would keep me busy for a while. In what follows I’m going to lean toward more exhaustive and less detailed on some options but included only things available to stream. There are a few extras happening these days (e.g. select HBO shows available until ~5/15, I’m currently watching Veep) and now might be the time to do a free trial to check out a service you don’t have. For those not streaming take a look at your various on demand services and channel websites for backlogs to varied degrees.
- Classic sitcoms new and old – The Carmichael Show (Hulu). Cheers (Netflix/Prime/Hulu)/Frasier (Hulu), The Good Place (Net), Malcolm in the Middle (Hulu), Mary Tyler Moore (Hulu), MASH (Hulu), New Girl (Netflix), The Office (Netflix), Parks & Recreations (Netflix/Prime/Hulu), Scrubs (Hulu), Seinfeld (Hulu), That 70s Show (Net), 3rd Rock From the Sun (Prime), 30 Rock (Prime/Hulu) – While I’m still a fan of watching from start to finish for most of these you can just tune in and out (other than The Good Place which is a can’t miss but needs to be watched in order) I recently redid Cheers which totally holds up
- More under the radar – Baskets (Hulu), Better Off Ted (Hulu), Bored to Death (Prime), Community (Net/Hulu), Cougar Town (Hulu), Don’t Trust the B in Apartment (Hulu), Flight of the Conchords (Prime), Happy Endings (Hulu), The League (Hulu), The Mindy Project (Hulu), Party Down (Hulu), Santa Clarity Diet (Net), Schitts Creek (Net), Speechless (Hulu) – I recently finished the very fun Santa Clarita and I tend to find myself always tuning in for a random Cougartown
- Less sitcomy – Bojack Horseman (Net), Casual (Hulu), Catastrophe (Prime), Enlightened (Prime), Forever (Prime), Fleabag (Prime), Master of None (Net), One Mississippi (Prime), Sex & the City (Prime), Sorry For Your Loss (FBWatch), You’re the Worst (Hulu) – These all have moments of humor but are capitalizing on the dramedy phase, Bojack just ended but tempted to go back and rewatch that again next
- Procedurals/Capers – Bones (Prime/Hulu), Broadchurch (Net), Burn Notice (Prime/Hulu), Chuck (Prime), Crossing Jordan (Prime), Elementary (Hulu), ER (Hulu), Hannibal (Prime), Luther (Prime/Hulu), The Mentalist (Prime), NYPD Blue (Prime/Hulu), Patriot (Prime), Psych (Prime), Sneaky Pete (Prime), Southland (Hulu), Terriers (Hulu), Veronica Mars (Hulu) – I recently finished Psych which was perfect mindless tv, did a rewatch of Terriers before they took it down for a bit and a rewatch of Veronica Mars (not technically done but no new seasons on the way, Luther is also not technically done) before the later season added to Hulu, some of these are more mindless than others and of course some hold up longer in their runs than others but all would be good distractions
- Relationships/Soaps – Downton Abbey (Prime), Gillmore Girls/Bunheads (from the Palladinos) (Net/Hulu), Gossip Girl (Net), Greek (Net), Hart of Dixie (Net), The Riches (Hulu) – I recently wrapped Downton Abbey and what great fare but if you just want to curl up with these fluffier bits it makes for some fun, I was going to try The OC but can’t seem to find it for free, alas plenty of other options
- Genre – Angel/Buffy/Firefly/Dollhouse (Joss Whedon fare) (Hulu), Battlestar Galactica (Prime), HUMANS (Prime), iZombie (Net), Jessica Jones (Net), Orphan Black (Prime), Pushing Daisies (Prime), Saving Grace (Hulu), The Tick (Prime), The X-Files (Hulu) – I did an X-Files rewatch a while ago and the earlier episodes are fun but it does eventually get a little tedious, Buffy always calls to me
- Drama – The Americans (Prime), Breaking Bad (Netflix), Deadwood (Prime), Friday Night Lights (Prime/Hulu), The Good Wife (Prime/Hulu), In Treatment (Prime), Justified (Hulu), Lodge 49 (Hulu),, Mad Men (Net), Rectify (Net), The Shield (Hulu), Six Feet Under/The Sopranos/The Wire (Prime/Hulu) I think of these as the HBO canon) – Though I don’t tend to binge the heavier stuff so much, now is a great time to catch one of these classics, I personally dropped Breaking Bad after the second season and have decided to go back when I finish The Shield
Happy to do any personalized narrowing down! What’s next for you and what did I miss that you’d recommend?
