Perhaps the most overwhelming feeling is the one you get when you first open your streaming interface: “continue watching,” “you might like,” “because you watched,” “for fans of”… the list goes on. You can either succumb to the intimidation and defeatedly rewatch New Girl for the third time, or read this article to find your new streaming hidden gem! Obtain bragging rights for putting your friends onto these unique and genius series, which all star and/or are written by brilliant women of color!
NETFLIX: Lovesick
This show was once called “Scrotal Recall”… thankfully, the title has been amended. The series follows three roommates who reminisce about relationships passed when one of them is diagnosed with Chlamydia and has to contact all of his old partners. The show takes a lot of creative liberties jumping around time and events, taking us through memories spanning from years ago to days ago. Because of its disjointed timeline, Lovesick works as a suspenseful mystery, sprinkling seeds of knowledge in each flashback, only to come back as important details later on. It’s full of New Girl style wackiness and restrained British humor. And unlike those high school dramas we’re starting to grow out of (although Gossip Girl has its time and place), Lovesick is not afraid of showing the mature and perhaps unpleasant sides to dating in your 20’s like shifting career plans, broken engagements, cultural differences, oh and STD’s.
Watch if you like: New Girl, Sex Education
NETFLIX: Terrace House (Any Season)
The concept is skeletal as far as reality tv goes; six young strangers all live in one house with no designated arrival or end date, each with a personal goal they’d like to achieve. Unlike typical US reality programs, there are no wacky mini-challenges, forced plots, or character interviews. You’re essentially a fly on the wall of this luxury house, watching ordinary people form friendships, slowly crush on each other, and go on charming outings with beautiful scenery. In true Asian TV fashion, there are tons of delicious shots of all the food they eat, which are so satisfying to watch. And the best part, there’s a panel of Japan’s most beloved comedians and actors watching along with you, providing hilarious fourth wall breaks, reactions, and reenactments (think John Mulaney and Zendaya watching The Bachelor with you). It’s the television equivalent of a chill hang out with your friends, with conversations wavering from gossip to jokes, to confessions.
Watch if you like: Indian Matchmaking, Great British Baking Show
HBO MAX: I May Destroy You
Anyone who has seen this series will tell you that it’s absolutely unforgettable. It seems to capture a part of life that has never been shown on screen before. Written by Michaela Coel, who also stars as its lead, Arabella, this semi-autobiographical series follows the journey of a viral London writer who has an unexpected night out. What proceeds is an inner unraveling of everything she’s ever known about love, friendship, career, and herself while her daily life remains fun and lighthearted. This incredible series highlights contemporary questions of consent, racism, gender politics, social media, female friendship, immigrant upbringing, justice, and healing. But don’t be mistaken, it’s primarily a comedy! Michaela Coel ingeniously balances dark topics with humor and wit, bearing so much verisimilitude to the way millennials/gen-z communicate it gives me chills (and the soundtrack as well!).
TRIGGER WARNING: Be cautious of this series if you are triggered by stories of surviving sexual assault or substance abuse.
Watch if you like: Fleabag, Euphoria
HBO MAX: Los Espookys
Despite the multiculturality of 2020, many shows still hesitate to blend languages in their dialogue–Los Espookys has bilinguals rejoicing (though it’s equally as enjoyable for subtitle readers as well). This series provides ensemble comedy in a fictionalized Latin American country, where an unlikely group forms a horror-prank-for-hire company. Produced by absurdist humor vanguard Fred Armisen, Los Espookys throws off-beat, quirky jokes at rapid-fire. The plot’s nature provides plenty of unconventional scenarios with campy props, hilarious stage makeup, and tacky costumes; each episode contrasts the cheerful and sophisticated foreground with scenes straight out of a Lady Gaga music video circa 2009. The series fuses the best tropes from beloved telenovelas (family secrets, arranged engagements, fake deaths) with the surrealist, child-like gimmicks of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Broad City.
Watch if you like: Portlandia, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
HULU: The Mindy Project
If The Mindy Project existed in The Office universe, it would be Kelly Kapoor’s favorite show. Not even exaggerating, there is an incredibly famous guest star in nearly every episode (Stephen Colbert, Frida Pinto, Laverne Cox, Seth Rogan, Reese Witherspoon, the entire cast of The Office, and Greta Gerwig to name a few). The Hulu Original follows the dating life of Dr. Mindy Lahiri, NYC’s most colorfully dressed OBGYN. It’s every cosmopolitan girl’s ideal sitcom, blending the best elements of a romance, workplace comedy, and medical drama into one. Mindy Kaling’s irreverent writing reminds us that confidence, self-deprecating humor, superficiality, compassion, laziness, ambition, independence, and romance can all co-exist in one person. Also, her best friend Nurse Morgan has to be one of history’s most insanely hilarious TV characters.
Watch if you like: Sex and the City, Schitt’s Creek
HULU: Superstore
At the strictest time of quarantine, think mid-March, there seemed to be nothing more thrilling than to go inside of a Target. That’s when I got hooked onto Superstore. America Ferreira reprises her role as the endearing every-woman as manager of The Cloud 9 Store in St. Louis. Rarely does a sitcom make me laugh out loud while simultaneously presenting a fresh portrait of today’s US residents. Superstore forces its viewers to confront their own biases and perceptions of who they are as consumers, citizens, and laborers. Tensions arise between the workers and the corporate executives. Conversations emerge about unionizing and immigration. The workers of Cloud 9 clash on topics of religion, motherhood, ableism, and sexuality. And yet, Superstore’s characters find pure joy in their daily lives and the community they’ve built among the toothbrushes, outdoor furniture, and dishware.
Watch if you like: Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Next time you are looking to procrastinate on assignments… Ahem, I mean relax with a TV show, consult this list before letting an algorithm choose a series for you! To me, the best shows blend real-life with the extraordinary, balance drama with humor, and make me see the world in a new light; crazy as it may sound, finding a new TV show can change your whole perspective.