Oh dear! You have just finished the final season of The Office and now you have nothing to binge watch when you know you should be doing homework. Whatever can you do?
Have no fear! A frequently bored-and-binge-ready Tiger is here to help you with his own personal Netflix recommendations. Whether you are looking for a hearty chuckle at awkward comical situations, a deep guffaw at oft-inappropriate humor, or a panicked scream at a series of horrific visuals, I have the shows for you.
We will start our recommendations with some Fun, PG-PG13 comedy shows. There are always the obvious choices like The Office, Parks and Rec, and New Girl; however, if you have already finished these shows and are craving more lighthearted whimsy I would recommend the fun, adventurous world of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the Big Bang Theory-esque nerdy humor of The IT Crowd, or the slightly-more-inappropriate cop humor of the recent hit Sirens. Also, if you consider yourself a true 90’s kid, Netflix has recently added Saved by the Bell to its repertoire, thus allowing plenty of nostalgic binge-watching for all of you Tigers yearning for the Golden Days.
Moving on, we should tackle some slightly more Inappropriate comedy shows for all of you feeling edgy. These shows might have a bit more language and graphic humor, so be sure you know what you are getting into. If you are new to this realm of humor, I would recommend classics like Family Guy or It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to get yourself acquainted to the new, darker realms. Progressing onward for you more experienced jokers, I would recommend the hit animated spy series Archer, the restaurant-owning classic Bob’s Burgers, and my personal favorite, the fantasy-football guy-comedy series, The League. Have fun, you wild hearts.
Next up we have Drama/Action TV Series. Note that these are less Gossip Girl-y and more Breaking Bad-ish. After getting acclimated with well-known hits like Lost, Friday Night Lights, and the aforementioned Breaking Bad, you should move on to the short lived sci-fi hit Firefly, the wonderfully-acted political drama House of Cards, the fairy tale phenomenon Once Upon a Time, and the excellent Breaking Bad follow-up Better Call Saul. These modern dramas all are critically-praised and highly recommended.
Continuing on from the dramas, we have detective/mystery series. These shows bring out the who-dun-it, Sherlock-Holmes in us all and make us love the criminal process way more than we probably should. Shows like the criminal-focused Blacklist, the funnier, more easygoing Psych, the science-fiction-soon-to-be-updated X Files, the political mystery hit Scandal, the dark-yet-often-fun Criminal Minds, the more science-oriented Bones, and the untouchable classic NCIS all provide excellent watchable mysteries that will have us all second-guessing every crime around.
Finally, we have the classic Horror Shows. These shows are for those of us who enjoy jumping violently into the air from jump scares and then not sleeping at night because we don’t want the Babadook to get us. There is always the obvious American Horror Story for all you fear-mongers, but we also have horror mystery series like Supernatural and Hemlock Grove, contemporary horror shows like the witch hit Salem and vampire thriller From Dusk Till Dawn, and eerie classics like The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents to provide you with creepy thrills and late nights. All of these shows are designed to fill you with just a little bit of existential dread, so watcher be warned.
Hopefully by now you have found at least one show you can waste valuable homework time on. This list has been by-no-means exhaustive and remains very incomplete, as there are still many excellent Netflix series to watch that are not found here. This has just been a little gift sample, from one tiger to another. Enjoy!
By Caleb Smoke
