Whether the polar vortex has passed or not, it’s still pretty cold as winter hasn’t lost its grip on America yet. This makes for the perfect time to cosy up indoors and catch up on overdue TV viewing now. With this time of relatively fewer premieres – but really, TV is year-round now – it’s time to revisit shows you’ve forgotten or those that may have fallen through the cracks altogether.
What you binge now could be an opportunity to prepare you for some of the bigger premieres coming in the spring or fall. This could mean returning shows like the final season of “Jane the Virgin” or the triumphant return of “The Expanse,” which was canceled by Syfy and saved by Amazon. No, the streaming service has not announced a premiere date yet, but it’s best to be prepared.
Also, with so many platforms and more than 500 scripted shows, there’s no possible way to keep track of everything that’s coming to your small screen. Fortunately, IndieWire’s crack TV team is here to curate a list of shows that you may have missed, ranging from thrilling mysteries and outrageous comedies to insightful docuseries and foreign-language dramas.
Many of these on the list are available on streaming services you may already have: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, or HBO Go. In some cases, a cable or other streaming subscription might be required such as for YouTube Premium, CBS All Access, or Acorn TV. Fortunately, with a binge, subscribing for one month is enough to determine if that’s to your taste.
What makes for a good binge? IndieWire has created a rough guide for easily digestible binges that can be accomplished during a weekend or over the course of a few weeks.
Some criteria for IndieWire’s curated list of the best TV shows to binge:
- Commitment: Fewer seasons and an easy entry point. First or second seasons are great for this. Comedies with shorter runtimes also work, but if a whole series has just finished, that might be a good time to start also. There are some exceptions, which are noted.
- Tone: Lightweight often works best – we’ve binged “Black Mirror,” and our state of mind afterward was not pretty – but sometimes brisk, engrossing storytelling can offset heavier material.
- Availability: It needs to be readily watchable somewhere.
With all this in mind, IndieWire has compiled the list, which can be accessed in the gallery above or simply click here.