Centuries of colonization, wars, and storms means there are tons of shipwrecks in the waters off the East Coast just waiting for enterprising SCUBA divers to stumble across them. It's one of these ships, laden with gold, that's at the center of this teen drama series, which follows a group of high-school kids hunting for sunken treasure, while also trying to solve a mystery about one of the friends' missing father. The subtext of it all—in finding the treasure and making themselves rich, aren't the central characters becoming the thing they disdain the most? —is itself a worthwhile pursuit, but for now it's more focused on turning a summery archipelago into a den of thieves.
Dear White People expands creator Justin Simien's 2014 indie film into an incisive, insightful series that plumbs complex issues of race and culture with wit and verve. Set at a fictional Ivy League school, the show centers around Samantha White , who launches a combative radio program to enlighten the white folks on campus. Meanwhile, the rich ensemble of characters around her lets the show explore various perspectives and personal and political issues. Smart, satirical, and timely, Dear White People is an ideal binge right now — and it's the perfect time to catch up before the fourth and final season arrives.
Set in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland, Derry Girls follows Catholic secondary school student Erin Quinn and her small group of oddball, kooky and, frankly, sweary friends as they navigate teenage life during the Troubles of the 1990s. In between the political turbulence of the period, Quinn and her friends juggle love lives, school exams and family life in, let's just say, very creative ways. Creator Lisa McGee, from Derry herself, brings forth the quirks, conversations and traditions of Irish families in this period in a very deliberate way, and it makes for an incredibly authentic and hilarious watch.
Only series 1 of this award-winning comedy is currently available on Netflix UK but even if you can't binge it, every episode is such a gem in its own right that it takes minutes to fall head over heels for the Derry girls. This British blend of comedy and drama follows the teenage students at a fictional secondary school (that's high school for American audiences) as they deal with issues in their personal lives often tied to their awakening sexuality. Asa Butterfield plays the shy, insecure Otis Milburn, who looks at sex a bit differently from his classmates thanks to his frank, oversharing mother, a sex therapist portrayed byThe X-Files star Gillian Anderson. Based on the beloved comic book series from Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez, Locke & Key took its sweet time reaching the world of streaming. But in 2020, the adaptation fans had been waiting for finally arrived on Netflix — and proved to be even more spectacular than we'd imagined.
An exquisite blend of adventure, fantasy, and mystery with a fantastic cast to boot, the story of the Locke siblings has sucked us in all over again. From the creators of Futurama and some of the best Simpsons episodes comes this wonderful and very different animated series. Disenchantment follows the story of Princess Bean, who is less than ladylike. After befriending a demon and an elf, her life quickly changes from royalty to an exciting and dangerous adventure. The newest season has just aired so it's time to catch up with the classic comedy we are so familiar with. If you're looking for other ways to watch cartoons online, you can also check out our guide.
On My Block premiered on Netflix on March 16, 2018, with 10 episodes and they were all so good that the series makes its debut on this list inside the top 20. That's just how great this show is about a group of friends growing up together in south central Los Angeles. The four friends are leaving middle school and worried about how things will change in high school when relationships get in the way and when of them joins a gang. This isn't your typical coming of age story you've seen before in movies and TV shows. This is a fresh new twist on the coming of age story and the latest example that representation matters.
The young cast may not be household names yet, but give it some time, they're all destined for big things. A heartfelt (and now Emmy-winning) riches-to-rags story, this comedy follows the Rose family as they're forced out of their lives of the rich and famous and into a middle-of-nowhere town filled with unusual characters. They try to rebuild their old lives and find themselves building new ones instead. Schitt's Creek made history in 2020 by sweeping comedy categories at the Emmys, and the final season launched on Netflix last year. If you haven't watched this wonderfully funny show yet, now is the time.
This eight-part British mystery thriller is based on the eponymous 2015 Harlan Coben novel, and stars Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran, and Hannah John-Kamen. The Stranger chronicles a mysterious phenomenon in which a stranger tells secrets to various characters throughout the series, which seems to have a disastrous impact on the receivers' personal lives. One such character is Adam Price , who learns about the story of a faked pregnancy concerning his wife, Corinne, which turns out to be true.
Soon after, Connie disappears mysteriously, which is essentially treated as the central mystery of the series. Managing to keep audiences at the edge of their seats, The Stranger paces its narrative at an effectively taut clip, making it a commendable adaptation of the original book. It follows the story of Sabrina Spellman, a half-witch, half-human, who feels like she doesn't quite fit into the devil-worshipping world of her coven or the local high school for humans either.
The first season is entertaining, but it isn't until the second season, broken down in parta that it gets much more unsettling and addictive. Plus,Gillian Andersonco-stars as Otis' eccentric divorcée mom, who is an actual sex therapist and has a house full of phallic statues, which is just a lot of fun. Netflix didn't have much of a reputation for period drama until recently .
But everything changed in the lockdown Christmas of 2020, when the world needed a little cheer. Santa Claus delivered the most glorious series onto the streaming service on 25th December, just in time for us to binge watch with our tins of Quality Street. Based on Julia Quinn's popular novels, Bridgerton focusses on eight siblings looking for love in sparkling Regency London. A show inspired by the true story of the first pro female wrestling syndicate in the '80s?
GLOW's purely fun comedy, packed with eccentric female characters, teams campiness with underdog triumph and soars. Season 3 progresses deeper into the lives of its diverse ensemble, shifting the series to Las Vegas. A fourth and final season was in the works, but sadly production fell victim to the pandemic and Netflix cancelled the show. After a shaky first season, Atypical found its groove in its second season and followed that up with a third, critically acclaimed season that saw Sam begin college and deal with an entirely new set of challenges.
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Michael Rapaport play Sam's mother and father, respectively, while Brigette Lundy-Paine plays Sam's talented and protective sister. The series wrapped up with its fourth and final season, and all four seasons are now available on Netflix. Tom Ellis plays fallen angel Lucifer Morningstar in this loose adaptation of the Lucifer comic book series. After leaving hell behind to chart a new path in his life, Lucifer encounters Detective Chloe Decker and quickly falls for her. To remain a part of Chloe's life, Lucifer helps her solve murders in Los Angeles with his talent for making suspects give up their secrets.
No one can say that Lucifer isn't open about who and what he is, but it takes a while for Chloe to realize that she really has partnered up with the original fallen angel. This show has really blossomed with each season as it's proved to be timely and a great representation of shows that can come across as providing talking points about real life without coming across as too preachy. This limited series, based on a memoir by Deborah Feldman, was one of the biggest surprises Netflix unveiled this year. In four lovely episodes, it tells the story of Esty, a young woman who was raised in the Satmar community of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn. The narrative jumps back and forth in time to chart her path to an unhappy marriage and subsequent escape from her restricted world to Berlin.
In Germany, she falls in with a crowd of musicians and charts a life for herself independent of her past. Anchored by an incredible performance from Shira Haas, Unorthodox is one of the most spiritually fulfilling programs the streaming service has to offer. If you want to watch something light and fun at the moment we don't blame you.
That's why it's perfect timing that all six seasons of laugh-out-loud comedy series Community have landed on Netflix. You'll recognise most of the cast as they're all great comedy actors, including Donald Glover and Alison Brie. The show is about life at a community college in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. As Netflix's horny and heartfelt teen dramedy returns for season 3, it's a good time to school yourself on Sex Education.
Asa Butterfield stars as Otis, an insecure high schooler whose sexpertise — drawn from his sex-therapist mother Jean — gives him unexpected social capital among his classmates. Soon, he's dispensing advice with a makeshift sex-therapy clinic at school, alongside misunderstood bad girl Maeve . Come for the raunchy premise, stay for the empathetic story lines and winning cast, including Ncuti Gatwa as Otis' gay best friend who defies "gay best friend" tropes. Stephen Knight created this massive cult hit, a show with fans who adore it so much that they watch it repeatedly. Based loosely on the true story of the crime families that ran Birmingham, England after the First World War, it has a stellar cast that includes Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill, Tom Hardy, Paddy Considine, Adrien Brody, Sam Claflin, and Anya Taylor-Joy. The brilliant Liz Garbus moved from her traditional form of documentary filmmaking to direct this 2020 thriller based on the book of the same name by Robert Kolker.
Amy Ryan plays Mari Gilbert, the mother of a young sex worker who disappeared on Long Island, leading to the revelation that a serial killer has been prowling the location. It's a unique true crime story in that it centers the victims and their relatives instead of the killer, who remains unidentified. As he listens to the tapes one by one, he discovers what drove Hannah to end her life and how 12 people at their school, including himself, were responsible in some way.
The animated series picks up with BoJack 20 years after his peak as he sinks deeper into middle age and an endless cycle of substance abuse. In an LA half-populated by human-animal hybrids, BoJack comes to terms with his existential dread in this bleak and darkly funny comedy. The first half of season one is a little heavy on the bleakness and light on laughs, but once it hits its stride this surreal comedy comes into its own with stellar voice performances from Amy Sedaris, Will Arnett and Aaron Paul. This adaptation of Jeff Lemire's comic book series of the same name is a dark fantasy set in a world where a terrible virus is quickly whittling down the remnants of human society. The show follows a half-human, half-deer boy as he embarks on a cross-country journey to find his mother, accompanied by a mysterious loner who saved him from violent poachers.
The series balances the naivety and wonder of its title character, portrayed by Christian Convery, with the harsh world outside the only home he's ever known. Sandra Oh plays the newly appointed chair of the English department at a fictional, stuffy New England university in this comedy series created by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman. Jay Duplass, Bob Balaban, and Nana Mensah all play supporting roles in a funny, thought-provoking series that explores the issues facing higher-education institutions in the modern era. Looks like the trending hashtag #SaveManifest worked, because Netflix recently renewed the hit NBC mystery series for a fourth and final season.
The story, which follows a group of passengers on a flight missing for five years that suddenly reappears, has made a huge splash on social media and sailed high in the Top 10 on Netflix for several weeks. A lot can happen in five years, which means most of their spouses have moved on, kids have grown up, and parents have passed away, making their return to society more unimaginably difficult. To make matters worse, the passengers begin to experience voices and visions representing events yet to occur, sending them down a bumpy moral road that they can only navigate together. 2020 witnessed the fourth season of Big Mouth, the adult animated sitcom created by Family Guy writer Andrew Goldberg.
The newest season of Big Mouth centers upon the shattering of friendships and emotions, only for the characters to come together stronger than ever before. The season premiere, "The New Me" opens with Nick , Andrew , and Jessi being set to sleepaway camp, while Lola and Jay cavort around Bridgetown with no holds barred. Despite being at a fault often due to character oversimplification, Big Mouth eventually is an empathetic approach to the toils and tribulations of adolescence, despite continuing its thread of cringe comedy. It is also important to note that season 4 works well due to its refreshing change of pace, while expertly mapping the inevitable transition of the characters into emotional maturity, which is almost endearing to watch.
Black Mirror is from the fevered brain of Charlie Brooker and boy does it turn a harsh light on technology and the potential dystopian futures that might only be a few years awa. The first two series were three episodes long and contain some fantastic episodes - including The National Anthem. Season 3 and 4 were boosted to six episodes apiece and if you haven't seen San Junipero then grab the tissues and watch season 3's immaculately told love story. A Christmas special and Bandersnatch, an interactive episode, are also included as is the brand-new fifth season, which stars Miley Cyrus as a future pop star. Bizarre, brilliant and sometimes brutal, Black Mirror is as subversive a TV show there is right now.
The fifth and final season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power dropped May 15, meaning you can now binge the complete run of Netflix's cosmic fantasy. The animated series, a reboot of the 1980s He-Man spinoff, follows teen soldier Adora , who comes across a sword that transforms her into the titular princess, She-Ra and turns her life upside down. (Magical swords have a way of doing that.) Adora must turn against her best friend Catra , assemble a group of warriors known as the Princess Alliance, and work to prevent the sinister Horde from conquering the planet Etheria. After Life mixes sweet and bitter flavors in a way that feels perfectly suited to our time, as creator-star Ricky Gervais leavens his signature comic brutality with a moving story of grief and growth. Gervais plays Tony, a newspaperman who has become a miserably pessimistic, insult-hurling misanthrope after losing his wife Lisa to cancer. Sophia Lillis shines as Sydney Novak, a 17-year-old dealing with the drama of life in high school when she discovers that she actually has telekinetic powers.
Part Breakfast Club and part Carrie, this is a clever, dark coming-of-age story that speeds by in a span of only seven short episodes. You can watch it all in one season and then you'll instantly start searching the web to find out when it's coming back for season two. Based on an acclaimed comic book, Locke and Key has a premise that will likely prove irresistible to fans of dark fantasy. After the tragic and violent death of their father, the Locke family moves to their ancestral home in the quaint town of Matheson, Massachusetts, where youngest son Bode soon makes an unbelievable discovery.
Within the grand old house are magical keys that – when put in the correct doors – give the holder the ability to do incredible things. On the surface a comedy about a 30-year-old New Yorker who loves his pasta, Master of None casually throws in nuanced and moving episodes about immigrant families and their second-generation children. Dev's relatable experiences bubble with creator and star Aziz Ansari's wit and charm and,personal controversyaside, the romantic and cultural themes he explores are remarkably mature. Season 3 takes things down a different road again, starring Lena Waithe and Naomi Ackie. Ansari features in an episode, letting us know where Dev's at in his love life.
BBC Two's Giri / Haji, available in the U.S. via Netflix, is already one of the year's best surprises. The international thriller starts when a Tokyo detective, Kenzo Mori , is tasked by a prominent Yakuza crime family—in conjunction with the police force—to secretly go to London in search of his brother Yuto , who he thought died a year ago. The hope is that bringing Yuto back will stop a sprawling war that he helped kickstart among the Yakuza factions. But like Kenzo's investigation into Yuto's disappearance and faked death, Giri /Haji is full of unexpected twists, not just in its narrative but in its form. At the center of the story is the tale of two brothers, yet it's also about forged family and discovering the truth about one's self. The gang war is the framework for the story, which plays out in many ways like Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels ; and yet, one of its most moving scenes takes place during a quiet, makeshift Yom Kippur dinner regarding atonement.
Comedy vets Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin headline this superbly bingeable sitcom about two women whose ongoing rivalry comes to a head when their husbands reveal they're in love and want divorces. While Grace and Frankie try to navigate this life-changing revelation alone, they fast become frenemies who wind up sharing a beach house. Throw in their four kids and their newly-married husbands, and what you're left with is a modern living situation. What starts as an amusing premise over the seasons sprawls into a ripe comedy setup that's all about figuring out life, love, career, health, no matter your age, and how our friends are the one thing we can always rely on. Adult CG animated anthology Love, Death and Robots just returned for its second, shorter season of episodes.
Like all anthologies, the quality varies between episodes, but taken as a larger work, this show has a lot to give. The ideas vary wildly between comedy and drama, with a dark touch at the heart of the series – what happens if a home-cleaning unit starts trying to kill its owner? Sometimes, an episode is as simple as a woman being on the run from a killer after witnessing a horrible murder.
This mystery drama about a passenger plane that lands years after it took off has proved such a hit on Netflix US that it's reportedly saving the show from cancelation – giving it a fourth and final season of 20 episodes. The puzzle box nature of the show means it's a good fit for streaming, and unlike Netflix's own originals, this one clocks in at a lean and snackable 40 minutes per episode. This dense ensemble drama might sound a little Lost-y, but it goes in some pretty different directions by comparison. When Marie Adler reports that she has been raped, she finds herself thrown into a deeply flawed system that will go on to tear her already traumatic life apart at the seams. Based on a true story, Unbelievable follows the aftermath of Adler's rape and the two female detectives who years later team up to uncover a series of disturbingly similar crimes.
