Let’s be honest. We’ve all had days where we sat in front of the TV and watched one singular show until we couldn’t stay awake or ran out of episodes. We’ve all felt the void of a Netflix binge hangover, where you ask yourself what now? To help stave off your next Netflix hangover, here are some shows you might not have heard of for your next binge. So plop yourself in front of your laptop or TV, and get on that Netflix account you may or may not pay for, and get ready to lay there engrossed until the sun starts to rise again.
Feel Good/ No Thinking Required
For when you just want an easy watch that’ll put you in a good mood.
Baby Daddy:
Not one of the more well-known shows on the list, Baby Daddy is a good show to watch when you really just want to feel good and not think. The pilot of the show begins with Ben Wheeler opening his apartment door to discover a baby girl has been left for him with a note from an ex saying she’s his. With the help of his roommate, childhood best friend who’s in love with him, lovably dumb brother and crazy but occasionally helpful mother, Ben decides to try to raise the baby girl and have a go at being a father, all while still trying to date and live his normal twenty-something single guy life.
New Girl:
After going through a rough breakup, oddball elementary school teacher Jess Day is in need of a new apartment. She finds a room to rent in an apartment shared by three other guys, all with their own individual quirks. Nick is a broke slob, Schmidt is an over-tidy snob, and Winston is a pure child at heart (Coach, the third roommate in the pilot episode, isn’t in the apartment after the pilot until later in the series). All of them, including Jess’s best friend Cece, a model, look out after each other and help each other out as best they can (usually making a bigger mess along the way). Of course, relationships between the main characters get messy and complicated, but you’ll be rooting for your favorite couple the entire show.
Prepare to Think
Like the weird shows that make you do some of the work? Here you go.
Sense8:
Where do I even start with this one? It follows eight characters who become linked in a way that allow them to “visit” each other or even take charge of each other’s bodies if needed. Avoiding the trope of “everything happens in America,” these characters come from all over the world, each living entirely different lives. If you’re looking for representation, boy do you have it here. The eight characters help each other in dangerous situations, especially when they find out there are people out there who want to capture and harm them, all while navigating their own hardships. This is one of those shows that just gives you the impression of importance. If you’re willing to jump all in and give your mind some exercise, start typing Sense8 into your search bar.
The OA:
This is an odd one, not going to lie. After missing for seven years, a young woman suddenly resurfaces. The twist? She was blind when she went missing, but now she can see. Largely, the story revolves around what happened during those seven years, a story which she tells to an eclectic group, ranging from young high schoolers to fully fledged adults. Why? She won’t say until the very end, but she needs their help and she needs them to believe her. The question is, do you believe her? This is definitely a show you can’t watch unless you have an open mind and a penchant for accepting the weird and hard to explain.
These Kids Show Aren’t For Kids
When you want to embrace your inner child, but not feel like one.
Voltron: Legendary Defender:
If you watched (and loved) Avatar: The Last Airbender*, then this show might be right up your alley. Voltron, a remake of an old animated show, follows seven main characters. Five of these characters come from earth and were part of a futuristic space exploration academy, until they get caught up looking for robotic space lions that form the most powerful robot in the history of everything so they can defeat the alien race trying to take over the universe. Did I lose you? While the concept is a little out there, Voltron explores concepts like bravery, self-doubt, identity, loss, tyranny, genocide, family, trust and friendship. You won’t see blood or hear any cursing, but this show knows how to go deep while keeping its TV-Y7 rating.
(*Side note: If you haven’t watched Avatar, you need to get on that immediately. It’s not on Netflix but it’s worth the effort.)
Dragons: Race to the Edge**:
Based off the How to Train Your Dragon series, and taking place between the two movies, the show follows Hiccup, his Night Fury and his friends as they explore the Archipelago and discover new dragons. Making a home on their own island, the gang faces new threats, new enemies and new challenges. While admittedly much lighter than Voltron, this show definitely recognizes who its actual audience is, and often tailors its humor and themes accordingly. The show’s villains get increasingly smarter, challenging Hiccup in new ways each time. Bridging the gap between the two movies, Race to the Edge offers backstories to things such as Hiccup’s flight suit, flame sword and relationship with Astrid, while also showing how Hiccup went from the outcast of the island to someone who was ready to lead.
(**Cartoon network did two seasons under the titles of Riders of Berk and Defenders of Berk that took place immediately after the first movie, but unfortunately can’t be found on Netflix. However, you don’t need to have seen them to watch Race to the Edge.)
Gritty and Dark
These shows aren’t for the faint of heart.
Gotham:
In the battle of Marvel vs DC, are you team DC? Or do you love all superheroes but wish DC would get their stories to find the right balance of dark but not too dark? (Looking at you Batman v Superman.) Then Gotham might be for you. Out of DC’s five current superhero TV shows, Gotham is definitely the grittiest. Featuring the city of Gotham in the pre-Batman era, the show kicks off when the parents of a young Bruce Wayne are murdered and the detective Jim Gordon swears to find the killers. While the show primarily follows Gordon and how he has to deal with the underbelly of Gotham, often getting himself muddied in the process, you slowly see the evolution of Bruce Wayne into Batman, along with the evolution of other notable characters like Catwoman, Penguin, the Riddler and even the Joker. If you ask me, this is DC at its finest.
Defenders:
Or maybe you’re team Marvel or just wish Marvel would cut out the sunshine, rainbows and comedy. Defenders (including all of its preceding shows) is the darkest take on superheroes you’ll see on a screen. Created like an Avengers for Netflix, Defenders started with each of its four characters getting their own shows: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist, to list them chronologically. Individually, the shows have gotten mixed reviews, such as Jessica Jones getting only rave reviews and seeming to be the common favorite, while Iron Fist was called out for white privilege and cultural appropriation. Each show has its merits and is worth the watch and make watching Defenders all the more satisfying. These shows don’t hold back in terms of language, sexual content or thematic content, and give a realistic view of what a superhero might be like if Marvel wasn’t just trying to keep the PG-13 rating and rake in the box office dough.
Shameless:
If superheroes aren’t your thing and you want grit with realism, take a shot at Shameless. The show follows six children of an absent mother and alcoholic father. 21-year-old Fiona Gallagher, oldest of the bunch, dropped out of high school to take care of the kids and works relentlessly to keep the kids (mostly) in line and their bills (mostly) paid while dealing with the consequences of their father’s actions, all while trying to have a personal life and relationship. In this show, theft is viewed as thrifty, odd jobs are the only kind of jobs they have and you always hide the money from Frank, their father. With the show refusing to shy away from character flaws, you’ll find something to relate to in every Gallagher.
Good luck and happy binging!