Television Shows to Watch Online or Through Netflix
The ability to watch television shows online at places like Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Hulu, and the Internet has created a new term in TV viewership: binge watching. This works well when it’s cold outside (along with these other winter friend date ideas), when your group is on a long-holiday weekend, or just when you want to veg out with your friends and get into a favorite show. Here are some of my favorite picks for shows to binge watch.
True Detective
There was much hype about True Detective, and it seemed that all my friends had watched it and recommended it before I finally caved. True Detective is worth every bit of the hype, in part due to the portrayals by real-life friends Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. The show will continue in Season 2 with a new set of detectives. Rachel Mc Adams, Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell have all signed on to play, along with a possible appearance by Rick Springfield.
Stream Season 1 on Netflix or buy direct.
The Blacklist
I recently stumbled on this one after getting recommendations from many of my friends. It goes to show you, listen to your friend’s suggestions. The entire first season is available for streaming and the second season is currently airing now.
The Blacklist will give you something to binge watch and may even start a new tradition with your friends to watch the new episodes together as they air. (Buy direct).
Broadchurch
This one out of Britain is about the investigation into a young boy’s murder in the small town of Broadchurch. David Tennant, known for a variety of roles including the tenth doctor on Dr. Who, was so great in this one they cast him in the American reboot, Gracepoint (buy direct). He plays the same character but you get to see him with two different accents, which I mentioned in a Twitter chat with the BBC was a great small talk topic with Brits and their American friends.
Dollhouse
Dollhouse will appeal to any friend that enjoys Joss Whedon creations. While it’s only two seasons long, the premise consists of “dolls” (humans used to carry out missions) having memories implanted that sometimes linger after the mission and cause problems. Dollhouse provide plenty to talk about.
Cosmos
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has revived and updated the original Cosmos show which aired with Carl Sagan in the 1980s. Cosmos is about space, our beginnings, and the earth in which we live. Nerdy friends who enjoy science and a good debate about life will like this choice.
Coupling
If you’ve got a set of friends who are single, trying to meet the right one, or falling for their best friend, Coupling will appeal to them. It’s a fun and sassy look at love and friendship with some British humor thrown in for good measure.
The West Wing
The entire seven episodes of The West Wing are available for streaming on Netflix. This may get you into really good conversations about politics, or cause you to argue. If you think this will set you up to disagree, you might want to skip it in favor of something else, but if your friends can handle it, there’s no better show that includes snappy dialog and fast-paced story telling.
Firefly
Another Joss Whedon creation (like Dollhouse on this list), Firefly is a frequently mentioned show by geeks who wish it had gone on much longer than one season. Still, that one season is a good one.
The show is kind of western in space set 500 years into the future. It features Nathan Fillion (currently starring in Castle) as the captain of the spaceship, with popular actors like Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, and Morena Baccarin as part of the crew.
(Buy direct.)
Fringe
Breaking Bad helped popularize the binge watching movement. From the start, the show pulls you in with action and completely unique characters, not to mention the general storyline. Breaking Bad is about a high school chemistry teacher who teams up with one of his former (not so bright) students to cook and sell crystal meth. He’s doing it to get money for his family because he’s dying of cancer, but it turns out he’s really good at it.
(Buy direct.)
Band of Brothers
I also chose Fringe as a great show to watch for small talk, and the best part is that it’s totally stream-able. Fringe combines out there storylines with superb acting and enough humor to keep the tone light. Perfect for conversation with friends.
Supernatural
I have groups of friends who seem to regularly go back to this miniseries, which make it a good one to binge watch. Band of Brothers follows the men of Easy Company, an airborne unit that saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge and even captured Hilter’s Eagle’s Nest. A wide variety of top actors add to the memorability of this series, which is based on a Stephen Ambrose novel (buy direct).
Modern Family
Cute guys fighting paranormal activity is sure to keep your friends interested for a binge watching night, and if that isn't enough, there are nine seasons worth. (Always a bonus when it comes to finding a show you like.)
Sherlock
This is the show that will have your friends laughing it up, so it’s good for a group that likes goofy and heartfelt TV. It breezes over serious issues, so there’s still lots to talk about, but it’s just a feel-good show that will help you and your pals relax and enjoy your night. Modern Family is another show that is available in multiple seasons online but also has a current run, making it a good friend date for the winter months.
The Wire
Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved Sherlock Holmes character has been done so often in TV and movies that it seems impossible that another remake would be so popular. But this is modern-day Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman and created by Steven Moffat (who also created another favorite of mine, Coupling) and it puts a modern spin on this classic character.
Friends
Friends who enjoy smart TV, well written and about current topics, will enjoy a marathon night or two watching The Wire. One thing I enjoyed about it was that each season focused on a different part of the drug trade, from the dealers to long enforcement to the journalists.
Scandal
I can’t forget one of the best TV shows about friendship! Friends ran for ten seasons and recently made news because the entire series is now available for streaming. This is a good choice if you and your buds watched the original run (when it was part of “must see TV” Thursday) or if you’re new to the show and want to discover it for the first time. Perfect for those in their 20s in their struggles with career, friendship, and moving into the next phase of their lives.
Damages
I kept seeing the show Scandal (buy direct) trending on Twitter but didn’t get into it until the first season was available as a streaming option. Devoted watchers of Scandal are called “gladiators” following character Oliva Pope’s lead and often use Twitter along with the actors to chat about the shocking twists and turns of the show.
The show, created by Shonda Rhimes, would be perfect for friends who like House of Cards or Grey’s Anatomy.
Downton Abbey
The characters on Damages show a very unique working relationship with two women in a law firm. One is younger, just out of law school, and the other is ruthless and heads her own firm. The characters are complicated and well-drawn, they sort of have a mentoring type relationship (but not really), and all of it will give you and your friends plenty to talk about, especially when it comes to the business world.
House of Cards
Downton Abbey fans have become obsessed with everything about the show, from the fashions to the foods they ate to the way aristocrats lived back then. Viewing parties often consist of cucumber sandwiches and tea, followed by the talk of what will happen next on the show.
This is the show that ushered in the emergence of binge watching. About two percent of all U.S. Netflix subscribers watched the entire second series the weekend it first became available.
There’s much to talk about with this show, such as power, politics, and how awesome Kevin Spacey is in just about every role he plays. Plenty of twists and turns will keep you guessing. If you start arguing with each other (unlikely because the show is so fun but possible since it’s a hot-button issue like politics), be sure to change the subject and then the channel.
Friendship is more important than television.
The ability to watch television shows online at places like Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Hulu, and the Internet has created a new term in TV viewership: binge watching. This works well when it’s cold outside (along with these other winter friend date ideas), when your group is on a long-holiday weekend, or just when you want to veg out with your friends and get into a favorite show. Here are some of my favorite picks for shows to binge watch.
True Detective
There was much hype about True Detective, and it seemed that all my friends had watched it and recommended it before I finally caved. True Detective is worth every bit of the hype, in part due to the portrayals by real-life friends Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. The show will continue in Season 2 with a new set of detectives. Rachel Mc Adams, Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell have all signed on to play, along with a possible appearance by Rick Springfield.
Stream Season 1 on Netflix or buy direct.
The Blacklist
I recently stumbled on this one after getting recommendations from many of my friends. It goes to show you, listen to your friend’s suggestions. The entire first season is available for streaming and the second season is currently airing now.
The Blacklist will give you something to binge watch and may even start a new tradition with your friends to watch the new episodes together as they air. (Buy direct).
Broadchurch
This one out of Britain is about the investigation into a young boy’s murder in the small town of Broadchurch. David Tennant, known for a variety of roles including the tenth doctor on Dr. Who, was so great in this one they cast him in the American reboot, Gracepoint (buy direct). He plays the same character but you get to see him with two different accents, which I mentioned in a Twitter chat with the BBC was a great small talk topic with Brits and their American friends.
Dollhouse
Dollhouse will appeal to any friend that enjoys Joss Whedon creations. While it’s only two seasons long, the premise consists of “dolls” (humans used to carry out missions) having memories implanted that sometimes linger after the mission and cause problems. Dollhouse provide plenty to talk about.
Cosmos
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has revived and updated the original Cosmos show which aired with Carl Sagan in the 1980s. Cosmos is about space, our beginnings, and the earth in which we live. Nerdy friends who enjoy science and a good debate about life will like this choice.
Coupling
If you’ve got a set of friends who are single, trying to meet the right one, or falling for their best friend, Coupling will appeal to them. It’s a fun and sassy look at love and friendship with some British humor thrown in for good measure.
The West Wing
The entire seven episodes of The West Wing are available for streaming on Netflix. This may get you into really good conversations about politics, or cause you to argue. If you think this will set you up to disagree, you might want to skip it in favor of something else, but if your friends can handle it, there’s no better show that includes snappy dialog and fast-paced story telling.
Firefly
Another Joss Whedon creation (like Dollhouse on this list), Firefly is a frequently mentioned show by geeks who wish it had gone on much longer than one season. Still, that one season is a good one.
The show is kind of western in space set 500 years into the future. It features Nathan Fillion (currently starring in Castle) as the captain of the spaceship, with popular actors like Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, and Morena Baccarin as part of the crew.
(Buy direct.)
Fringe
Breaking Bad helped popularize the binge watching movement. From the start, the show pulls you in with action and completely unique characters, not to mention the general storyline. Breaking Bad is about a high school chemistry teacher who teams up with one of his former (not so bright) students to cook and sell crystal meth. He’s doing it to get money for his family because he’s dying of cancer, but it turns out he’s really good at it.
(Buy direct.)
Band of Brothers
I also chose Fringe as a great show to watch for small talk, and the best part is that it’s totally stream-able. Fringe combines out there storylines with superb acting and enough humor to keep the tone light. Perfect for conversation with friends.
Supernatural
I have groups of friends who seem to regularly go back to this miniseries, which make it a good one to binge watch. Band of Brothers follows the men of Easy Company, an airborne unit that saw combat in the Battle of the Bulge and even captured Hilter’s Eagle’s Nest. A wide variety of top actors add to the memorability of this series, which is based on a Stephen Ambrose novel (buy direct).
Modern Family
Cute guys fighting paranormal activity is sure to keep your friends interested for a binge watching night, and if that isn't enough, there are nine seasons worth. (Always a bonus when it comes to finding a show you like.)
Sherlock
This is the show that will have your friends laughing it up, so it’s good for a group that likes goofy and heartfelt TV. It breezes over serious issues, so there’s still lots to talk about, but it’s just a feel-good show that will help you and your pals relax and enjoy your night. Modern Family is another show that is available in multiple seasons online but also has a current run, making it a good friend date for the winter months.
The Wire
Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved Sherlock Holmes character has been done so often in TV and movies that it seems impossible that another remake would be so popular. But this is modern-day Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman and created by Steven Moffat (who also created another favorite of mine, Coupling) and it puts a modern spin on this classic character.
Friends
Friends who enjoy smart TV, well written and about current topics, will enjoy a marathon night or two watching The Wire. One thing I enjoyed about it was that each season focused on a different part of the drug trade, from the dealers to long enforcement to the journalists.
Scandal
I can’t forget one of the best TV shows about friendship! Friends ran for ten seasons and recently made news because the entire series is now available for streaming. This is a good choice if you and your buds watched the original run (when it was part of “must see TV” Thursday) or if you’re new to the show and want to discover it for the first time. Perfect for those in their 20s in their struggles with career, friendship, and moving into the next phase of their lives.
Damages
I kept seeing the show Scandal (buy direct) trending on Twitter but didn’t get into it until the first season was available as a streaming option. Devoted watchers of Scandal are called “gladiators” following character Oliva Pope’s lead and often use Twitter along with the actors to chat about the shocking twists and turns of the show.
The show, created by Shonda Rhimes, would be perfect for friends who like House of Cards or Grey’s Anatomy.
Downton Abbey
The characters on Damages show a very unique working relationship with two women in a law firm. One is younger, just out of law school, and the other is ruthless and heads her own firm. The characters are complicated and well-drawn, they sort of have a mentoring type relationship (but not really), and all of it will give you and your friends plenty to talk about, especially when it comes to the business world.
House of Cards
Downton Abbey fans have become obsessed with everything about the show, from the fashions to the foods they ate to the way aristocrats lived back then. Viewing parties often consist of cucumber sandwiches and tea, followed by the talk of what will happen next on the show.
This is the show that ushered in the emergence of binge watching. About two percent of all U.S. Netflix subscribers watched the entire second series the weekend it first became available.
There’s much to talk about with this show, such as power, politics, and how awesome Kevin Spacey is in just about every role he plays. Plenty of twists and turns will keep you guessing. If you start arguing with each other (unlikely because the show is so fun but possible since it’s a hot-button issue like politics), be sure to change the subject and then the channel.
Friendship is more important than television.
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