10 TV Shows You Should Binge-Watch As Soon As Possible
Binge-watching, or marathoning, has been all the rage since Netflix began releasing entire seasons of TV shows on Friday’s. It’s really annoying, but one cannot help but be tempted when one episode ends, and the next starts in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, weekend gone!
Cosmos (Fox and Netflix)
Premise: Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, in a departure from the type of material he is best known for, pays homage to Carl Sagan’s award-winning and iconic Cosmos with this docuseries. Through stories of humankind’s quest for knowledge, viewers travel across the universe. Scientific concepts are presented clearly, with both skepticism and wonder, to impart their full impact. Renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts, and Sagan’s original creative collaborator, Ann Druyan, serves as an executive producer.
The original series from Carl Sagan was a groundbreaking piece of television that hoped to get more people into science. It was played during primetime and helped inspire many scientists today to look up to the stars and wonder just how they came to be. This new series aimed to do the same thing with a more modern take since more scientific advancements have occurred since the first series.
Neil deGrasse Tyson takes us on a journey over 13 episodes to open our minds to the past, the present, and the future to really let us know what we should know, and to reminds us of a lot of stuff that we don’t. It’s a fascinating series that entertains, but most importantly, it teaches.
Rick and Morty (Cartoon Network)
Premise: After having been missing for nearly 20 years, Rick Sanchez suddenly arrives at daughter Beth’s doorstep to move in with her and her family. Although Beth welcomes Rick into her home, her husband, Jerry, isn’t as happy about the family reunion. Jerry is concerned about Rick, a sociopathic scientist, using the garage as his personal laboratory. In the lab, Rick works on a number of sci-fi gadgets, some of which could be considered dangerous. But that’s not all Rick does that concerns Jerry. He also goes on adventures across the universe that often involve his grandchildren, Morty and Summer.
Godless (Netflix)
Premise: Notorious criminal Frank Griffin and his gang of outlaws are on a mission — get revenge on Roy Goode, a former protege who betrayed the brotherhood. On the run, Roy seeks refuge in isolated mining town La Belle, N.M., where he lives with Alice Fletcher, a hardened widower and outcast. When word reaches La Belle, which is governed mainly by women, that Griffin is headed there, the residents of the town band together to defend against his murderous gang.
I came upon this show merely because of the cast. What I got was a western that instantly hooked me from the first episode. It does a rare thing in western-style television by showing female strength and power in it. You can guess that a bunch of idiots on Twitter went nuts over women having any power at all, but that’s their loss. This show looks like a really long movie with breathtaking cinematography.
This will eat up a weekend and have you dreaming about riding horses or shooting bad guys with a long rifle. Oh, and hookers. Always hookers.
The West Wing (Netflix)
Premise: Cutthroat presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.
The definitive political television show by Aaron Sorkin. I have to admit I’ve seen the series (7 seasons) at least 4 times. I usually just have it playing in the background and look up while I’m working. The entire cast delivers in every scene. Every show similar to it copies its “walk and talk” style of dialogue delivery. Hell, most shows inside of a building copy it. Martin Sheen is so good that if I ever met him, I’d call him Mr. President.
I’m not even joking. He’s who you want to be President, even if you’re a conservative. You know he won’t blow up a country because of some bogus idea. He cares for everyone, and he has the right people by his side to help him make the tough decisions. It’s one of the best shows ever made, and if you haven’t watched it, I’m jealous you get to make your first journey into The West Wing.
Deadwood (HBO)
Premise: Deadwood is set in a mining town that was not part of any U.S. state or territory in the post-Civil War years, and thus was literally lawless. Deadwood attracts people looking to get rich after a huge gold strike, as well as those looking to capitalize on the lack of organized law in the town, built on land stolen from the Sioux.
Partially based on true events, Deadwood is the western that has more swearing than a Tarantino film. It’s gritty, violent, full of nudity, well-acted, and just one of the best written shows I’ve ever seen. It’s like poetry with a load of f*cks and c*cksuckers poured over the scripts.
If you love Ian McCain and Timothy Olyphant, you better get your butt to HBO and start watching this ASAP, yah c*cksucker.
Attack on Titan (Netflix and Cartoon Network)
Premise: 2000 years from now, humans are nearly exterminated by titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a colossal titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind
Imagine you live in a walled city your entire life. You were told that mankind was nearly wiped out by huge naked giants that live solely to eat you alive. Their faces are that of nightmare (trust me). Then one day a huge giant that can see over the wall and destroy it appears on a regular day. That’s just the beginning.
Attack on Titan preys on our basic fears of “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman, Be he alive, or be he dead I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.” But instead it just eats you alive. I love anime with a passion, and this is one of the best damn animes I have ever seen.
Parks and Rec (Netflix)
Premise: Leslie Knope, a mid level bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges. Leslie’s colleague Tom Haverford, who delights in exploiting his position for personal gain, is as likely to undermine her efforts as to help her, while her boss, Ron Swanson, is adamantly opposed to government in any form, even though he’s a bureaucrat himself.
The Wire (HBO)
Premise: This series looks at the narcotics scene in Baltimore through the eyes of law enforcers as well as the drug dealers and users. Other facets of the city that are explored in the series are the government and bureaucracy, schools and the news media.
One of the most realistic depictions of a city dealing with drugs and the bureaucracy trying to stop it, The Wire is undoubtedly one of the best television show of all time. Each season is a novel. Each season adds a different part of the city. It’s so fluent in its dialogue that you forget it’s not a reality show filmed on the streets. I’m sure all of your friends have asked, “Have you The Wire?” There’s a reason for it. It’s not one of those shows where you can watch one episode randomly, you must watch the show season. It’s a slow burn, but a perfect one.
The Sopranos (HBO)
Premise: Tony Soprano juggles the problems of his fractious family with those of a “Family” of a different sort – the mob. He sees a therapist to deal with his professional and personal problems, which bring on panic attacks. He deals with personal and professional power struggles, affairs, violence, the threat of exposure and betrayal, and a whole bunch of people being whacked.
I don’t really need to say much about this gem of television. It made HBO the powerhouse it is today. People die you don’t expect to, twists happen you don’t see coming, cliffhangers abound. You probably know the ending since every news channel played it over and over, but that will not stop you from loving these monsters eat pasta and shoot each other.
Battlestar Galactica (SYFY)
Premise: This update of the late-1970s series takes a decidedly darker tone as what’s left of humankind struggles for survival against the robot Cylons, who have killed millions. The Galactica, led by William Adama, protects a patched-together fleet of civilians — led by de facto president Laura Roslin — in search of a mythical planet called Earth.
As nerdy as this show sounds, it’s more mature than most of the crap playing on your TV today. It takes issues we are dealing with currently into a narrative that’s very reflective of our society. War, famine, hunger, income disparity, technology, psychology — it has it all. BSG will satisfy anyone who enjoys good drama. Oh, and the space battles and CGI are still being ripped off to this day.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com