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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hofstra chapter.

We all need a break from life every once in a while and that means, time for a Netflix binge! Maybe you are looking for a way to decompress from a really difficult lab, or maybe you are looking to procrastinate on writing that paper you have due next week. Do you just need something to do all weekend so you have an excuse not to leave your bed? I get it. As a college student, it might even be all three! With all of that in mind, take a look at the ten Netflix series to binge watch below. 

 

Photo Courtesy of Netflix.com 

 

If You Want to Watch a Drama: Orange is the New Black  

If you’re looking for a new drama series to start on Netflix look no further than Orange is the New Black. If you have not already jumped on the OITNB bandwagon here is a quick synopsis. Piper Chapman is a young woman in her thirties who is sentenced to fifteen months in prison for smuggling drug money to her girlfriend ten years prior. The show follows her time surviving in a minimum-security prison and her interactions with the other prisoners.

 

If You Want to Watch a Comedy: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

If you’re looking to laugh until you cry then you need to start Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Kimmy Schmidt was kidnapped by the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne and held in an underground bunker for fifteen years. After she is rescued, Kimmy moves to New York and befriends her eccentric roommate and landlord, Titus and Lillian. Kimmy goes on all sorts of adventures as the nanny hired by a Manhattan trophy wife, Jacqueline Voorhees. Kimmy Schmidt is sure to leave you stomach in stitches as she learns how to navigate modern New York City.

 

Photo courtesy of Netflix.com

 

If You Want to Watch Something Trendy: A Series of Unfortunate Events

This show is not only a major throwback for everyone who read the Lemony Snicket books but is also super trendy on Netflix. The plot follows the three Baudelaire children as they bounce from family member to family member after their parents perish in a mysterious fire. Count Olaf is a distant relative who first tries to claim them to steal the family fortune for himself. When the children finally escape and move in with a new relative, they must still evade Count Olaf and his nefarious plans. This show is sure to leave you looking over your shoulder and checking under your bed for a while after you watch it.

 

If You Want to Feel Nostalgic: Fuller House

If you want to watch everyone’s favorite family but with a modern twist watch Fuller House. This show revisits your favorite San Francisco home, two of your favorite Tanner sisters, and of course, everyone’s favorite neighbor. It features DJ’s three sons, Jackson, Max and Tommy Fuller, as well as Kimmy’s daughter, Ramona Gibbler. The gang gets into their usual antics and this show is sure to fill the hole Full House left in your heart when it ended in 1995.

Photo courtesy of Fox.com

 

If You Want an Interesting Crime Show: Bones

Everyone loves a good crime solving team so if you are looking for your next favorite duo, look no further than Bones. The show follows renounced forensic scientist Dr. Temperance Brennan, or Bones as her partner Special Agent Seeley Booth calls her. The two solve FBI cases with the help of many other scientists at the Jeffersonian Institute. Each member of the team uses advanced scientific techniques to identify the bones of their victims and tie evidence back to the criminals. The FBI uses the information provided by the Jeffersonian team to catch the murderers every time.

 

Photo courtesy of Netflix.com

 

If You Want to Watch a Documentary: Making a Murderer

This documentary will not only leave you thinking but it will leave you mad about the justice system. It was filmed over a ten-year period and follows Steven Avery, a man who, in the first episode alone, is freed from prison after serving eighteen years of a wrongful conviction. The ten episodes in the series follow his attempts to sue the county and his subsequent arrest for yet another crime. During the investigation his nephew is also implicated in the case, further complicating the process for the Avery family. New episodes are in the works as new developments come about with his and his nephew’s case. This show will surely leave you questioning the legal system for the time. 

 

If You Want to Watch a Show about Nothing: Friends

This classic television show is set in the mid 90’s in New York City and is about six best friends: Monica, Rachel, Phoebe, Ross, Chandler, and Joey. The group spends most of their time in their favorite coffee shop, Central Perk or Monica’s apartment. The show follows their lives, relationships and very occasionally their jobs as they try and navigate the world in their mid-twenties. This show not only leaves you longing for the 90’s but also longing for lives as fun as the six friends. 

Photo courtesy of NBC.com

 

If You Want to Watch a Show with a Strong Female Lead: Parks and Recreation

Leslie Knope is the ultimate female lead; she is the deputy director of the Parks and Recreation department in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana. She leads her staff and sometimes even her own boss on adventures trying to improve their small town one park at a time. Through her job, she meets her best friend, Ann Perkins and the two become best friend. Everyone in the show tries’s to navigate the difficulties of working for the government while also figuring out their personal lives. This show will surely leave you not only laughing but also wanting to be a feminist like Leslie Knope. 

 

If You Want to Watch the Opposite of Grey’s Anatomy: Scrubs

Grey’s Anatomy is one of the most dramatic shows currently on television, so if you need to laugh but still need your hospital show fix, try Scrubs. It is set in Sacred Heart Hospital and is centered on best friends J.D. and Turk. The two start their medical and surgical residencies together and the show tackles all the ups and downs with a comedic twist. While they are there they befriend another doctor named Elliot as well as Carla, the nurse. Over the course of the show, each character gets into various complicated relationships. Overall this is a feel good show that you will want to watch time and time again. 

 

Photo courtesy of BBC.com

 

If You Want to Watch Something British: Sherlock

If you need your fix of British television, Sherlock is the place to start. The show currently has three of the four seasons on Netflix each consisting of only three episodes. Sherlock is a sociopathic consulting detective in modern London who helps solve mysteries for the police department. Sherlock partners up with his roommate Dr. John Watson, a man who just returned from military service in Afghanistan. Sherlock’s hour and a half long episodes are sure to leave you puzzled until the very end when he swoops in and saves the day.  

 

Happy Netflix’ing!

Danielle Zulkosky is currently a Junior in the Honors College at Hofstra University where she is double majoring in Journalism and Political Science. She is currently the Program Director of Talk at 88.7 FM WRHU, the Vice President of the Hofstra University Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In the Fall of 2017, she interned with the MSNBC Booking Department. When she's not busy with her many other clubs she's in you can find her writing for Her Campus or hanging out with her sisters in Alpha Epsilon Phi! After college, she hopes to get any journalism job offered to her. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter: @DZulkosky