It’s the weekend and it’s time to relax at home. Nothing says settling down for a massive block of time than a good binge of television. In olden times, these marathons were often common on various cable networks. But thanks to the magic of the streaming services, we can now skip all the ads and zip through an entire season in record time. But where to start? Where to plant your flag for the weekend and consume as much entertainment as possible? There are so many options and one may be overwhelmed with the options on various platforms. Relax; we have you covered. Check out these 12 series you can binge on numerous streaming platforms.
1. The Crown (Netflix)
For the Downton Abbey crowd that just can’t get enough of that aristocrat drama, The Crown is the perfect binge cure for those seeking a stirring bit of British royalty and scandal. Created by Peter Morgan (director of The Queen), the series centers around the rule of Queen Elizabeth II. The show starts in the 1940s during her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, all the way up to the 21st century. Taking place throughout several ages, the drama shifts between different actors taking on roles, with the Queen played by the likes of Claire Foy in her early years and Olivia Coleman in her later reign. The all-star cast also boasts the likes of Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, Helena Bonham Carter, Charles Dance and John Lithgow.
2. Love, Death and Robots (Netflix)
Produced by David Fincher (David Fincher), this animated anthology series is a wild ride of wickedly adult stories very much akin to the surreal irreverence of Heavy Metal magazine. The episodes, ranging from 6-18 minutes in lengths, feature a number of different settings and mediums. Some of the strange tales include three robots exploring a post-apocalyptic Earth, farmers who fend off alien threats with giant robots, a mutant yogurt that takes over the world and a war of demons in the Siberian forest. Though the breathtaking and varied animation is the real star, a number of voice talents came together for this series including Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Gary Cole, Chris Parnell, Omid Abtahi, John DiMaggio, Christine Adams, Josh Brener, Jill Talley, Hakeem Kae-Kazim and Nolan North.
3. Fleabag (Amazon Prime)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge created, wrote and stars in this off-beat British comedy series based on her one-woman-show at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She plays Fleabag, a London woman living a very busy and chaotic lifestyle of much stress and lots of love. She’ll usually break the fourth wall to address the audience and be much more open with her internal commentary on awkward and relatable situations. The award-winning series (winner of the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance) not only features a fantastic performance from Waller-Bridge, but also some strong supporting roles from Sian Clifford, Olivia Colman, Bill Paterson, Andrew Scott and Fiona Shaw.
4. Harley Quinn (DC Universe)
Though DC Universe has a number of original programming based on the DC Comics line, the animated Harley Quinn series is by far the standout. Based on the sidekick villain of The Joker, Harley breaks up with her clown boyfriend and decides to find love and respect on her own with her new crew of criminal cohorts. Her gang includes the straight and understanding Poison Ivy as well as the eccentric Clayface and charming King Shark among others. With snappy humor and a surprising amount of heart, this is the perfect follow-up series for anyone who just couldn’t get enough of Harley after her leading debut in Birds of Prey.
5. Good Omens (Amazon Prime)
Based on the supernatural fantasy comedy-adventure by acclaimed authors Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens follows the complicated relationship of the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) over the course of generations. Being present on Earth since the creation of time, they drift in and out of each other’s lives throughout the ages. But they’ll find themselves coming together to stop the end of the world as they suspect foul play on both sides of the heavenly war. This is a brilliantly quirky bit of fantastic storytelling with a wonderfully hilarious cast that includes the likes of Nick Offerman, Miranda Richardson, Michael McKean, Jack Whitehall, and Jon Hamm.
6. BoJack Horseman (Netflix)
Existing in a world of humans and anthropomorphic characters, the horse actor BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett) finds himself washed up in Hollywood after his family sitcom finished in the 1990s. He now finds himself struggling to find some meaning to his life as he struggles with his tragic past and his addictions that have crippled him. His journey of self-discovery comes with as much comedy as it does darkness, backed up with such complicated and comedic characters as the journalist Diane (Alison Brie), the slick talent agent Princess Carolyn (Amy Sedaris), the obnoxiously eccentric actor Mr. Peanutbutter (Paul F. Tompkins) and the underdog slacker Todd (Aaron Paul).
7. The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu)
Based on Margaret Atwood’s best-selling novel series, The Handmaid’s Tale is a shockingly relevant tale of a dystopian future that doesn’t seem too far off from our own. The show takes places in the totalitarian state of the Gilead, replacing the United States. In this reformed country, women are now treated as property in the wake of lowered birth rates, with fertile women forced into slavery. But the woman Offred (Elisabeth Moss) seeks to bring about a revolution and reject a country that has betrayed her and her entire gender this award-winning saga that questions just how much control the government should have over the bodies of women.
8. The Tick (Amazon Prime)
Based on the comic book satire by Ben Edlund, The Tick is a quirky and odd action-comedy set in a world of superheroes and supervillains. The Tick (Peter Serafinowicz) is a mysterious hero of untold origins while the meek accountant Arthur (Griffin Newman) is unsure if he wants to make the leap into being a hero. They’ll have to do battle against the eccentric and sinister villain known as The Terror (Jackie Earle Haley) if they hope to save the city of all sorts of supervillains, from giant monsters to corrupt government officials. The series is an off-beat commentary on coming to terms with identity amid the usual heroics common to comic book tropes.
9. Watchmen (HBO Now)
Based on the iconic comic book by Alan Moore, the story of Watchmen continues from the comics to the small screen in this sequel saga. Taking place after the horrific events of morally-ambiguous superheroes in 1985, this new series follows new heroes and a few familiar faces in dystopian future of genocide, racism and a much different perspective on vigilantism. Dark secrets are soon revealed around the god-like powers of Doctor Manhattan, the missing genius Ozymandius and the troubling family history of behind Angela that spans as far back as the Tulsa massacre of 1921. Much like the comic book, the series is a brilliantly weird weaving of postmodern heroism questioning while tackling relevant subjects of fascism and racism.
10. The Twilight Zone (CBS All Access)
Producer Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) brings back the classic anthology series for another modern makeover of weaving fantastic fables around relatable stories. While the show does feature a few familiar stories of the original 1950s series, a number of the episodes touch on tougher topics of immigration, racism in police brutality, toxic masculinity, nationalism and even the very nature of The Twilight Zone itself. All of these stories, of course, come with a fantastical staging of something not quite being right, from the presence of aliens from outer space and time-altering devices. Every episode also comes with a direct message, per the formula, delivered by Peele acting as the host.
11. Undone (Amazon Prime)
From the creators of BoJack Horseman, Undone is an experimental and surreal series that takes great interest in the mental breakdown of comprehending mortality. When Alma (Rosa Salazar) nearly dies in a car crash, she makes a miraculous discovery about herself. She has an odd power to manipulate time and peel back its many layers. Perhaps with these powers she can find out what really happened to her dead father (Bob Odenkirk) and figure out who murdered him. Not only does the show have a strong voice cast but it also features an impressive use of trippy rotoscope animation that creates a whimsical, dream-like state as Alma takes a strange journey through time.
12. The Mandalorian (Disney+)
In this spin-off series to the Star Wars saga, a Western story is favored the tale of a silent and faceless outlaw, known as The Mandalorian, who ventures outside the grip of the New Republics. In the gunfighter’s travels, a new ally is made when coming across a small child of the same species as Yoda. What secrets the two hold will soon be discovered in this action-packed adventure series that clearly takes great influence from Lone Wolf and Cub, keeping the Japanese influence in this genre saga alive and well. While the two main leads are not exactly headliners, the supporting cast includes such notable names as Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Nick Nolte and Amy Sedaris.