I've seen every good show on Netflix. Now what in the hell do I do?
Commentary: Finished with Tiger King? Not content with another rewatch of Stranger Things? There's a healthy solution.
- Best New Journalist 2019 Australian IT Journalism Awards
The End of the F***ing World is one of the best shows on Netflix.
With major Hollywood movies delaying their releases and shows like Stranger Things shutting down production, it's a rough outlook for 2020 in terms of new entertainment. But Netflix has racked up a buffer of fresh content to come our way. We just have to be patient and watch all the good stuff that's already out there now.
And there's a lot of good stuff to watch on Netflix : Unbelievable, Sex Education, The End of the F***ing World (which has nothing to do with a global apocalypse). You might even be partial to Tiger King, Kingdom or other king-related shows. But if you've watched all those programs and have gotten stuck in the endless scroll -- don't panic.
Because there's never been a better time to discover -- or rediscover -- old TV shows. Not for the nostalgia, but for seeing people on screen who're totally oblivious to anything going on right now. Lose yourself in every British sitcom Netflix has to offer. Watch The West Wing.
It's time to watch every prestige TV show your friends and colleagues don't know you've secretly never seen and you can tell yourself it's a healthy education.
Cillian Murphy is the endlessly watchable star of Peaky Blinders.
I'm up to season 3 of Peaky Blinders (there are five). Arriving all of seven years ago, the British crime drama falls under the modern-classic category. It follows the rise of gangster Thomas Shelby and his family in Birmingham, England, in the early 1900s. For every single episode, you'll find yourself completely fascinated by the intricate delicacy that is Cillian Murphy's face. Each season takes significant steps forward for the Shelby family, giving you the hugely satisfying feeling of seeing the effects of their growing wealth and power.
Of course, this extends to classic movies as well. If you, like me, were reviled for never having watched The Shawshank Redemption, now's the time to sit back, hit play -- and realize that it's just as depressing as you thought it would be, but at least you feel like you've accomplished something by watching it.
But what if you've seen Peaky Blinders and The West Wing and every other classic Netflix has to offer? Well, maybe it's time to become a free TV scavenger. You head to IMDb TV or Vudu, sign up for a free account and start Googling whether Three Men and a Baby is any good or not. It can be fiddly work, but you'll find hidden gems.
Why not rip the bandaid and watch subtitled shows like Spain's Money Heist?
And don't hesitate to expand your TV viewing scope to what other countries have to offer. We all proved we could read subtitles when it came to Spanish TV show Money Heist and Netflix's viewership numbers loved us for it. So why not finally rip the bandaid and watch Dark, a gripping mind-bender from Germany; the aforementioned Kingdom from South Korea; or the murder mystery Black Spot from France.
Maybe, like me, you're trying hard not to think about what's going on in the world right now. Aside from learning how to change your Zoom background, turn to TV and movie classics to tick some boxes and provide counterprogramming for your own brain.
Read more, listen to music and enjoy not having to sit on a train next to someone failing to hide how sick they are. Better to focus on all the time we have to catch up on good TV.
