Netflix and Hulu are the streaming giants of the industry and for good reason. There are endless shows and movies, both old and new to choose from. Since we’ve all got some additional time on our hands + have no choice but to hang at home, now is a great time to browse that film + show collection If you need a little help deciding on where to start, we have put a list of recommendations together for shows of all genres. Here’s what to watch online this weekend {or any day of the week, really}:
Netflix
The Office
It is nearly impossible to find a show that can compete with the level of charm, humor, and utter ridiculousness that takes place in this multi-award-winning documentary-style show. It depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania, branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. If you didn’t already know that Michael Scott was the world’s best boss, you now know. You’re welcome.
Gentefied
This show has made major waves not only in the Latinx community but everywhere. It shows the real struggles in communities of color in an authentic and charming way. The Morales cousins scramble to save their grandfather’s taco shop and pursue their own dreams as gentrification shakes up their LA neighborhood.
Self-Made
Finally, a series inspired by the life of the one and only, Madam CJ Walker, hair care pioneer, mogul, and America’s first self-made female millionaire. Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer takes us through the aspects of the time beyond just business and race, including Walker’s disapproval when her daughter {Tiffany Haddish} begins a romantic relationship with a woman and her overall determination to create something to uplift her race. This one is for the books.
On My Block
Think plot twists, romance, action, and the very real scenarios {give or take a few liberties} of teenagers in the gritty inner city of South Central Los Angeles. These characters keep you on your toes, all why gasping for air in between laughs.
Gilmore Girls
The main focus is on the relationship between single mother, Lorelai Gilmore, and her daughter Rory, who live in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Get ready to be completely invested in their lives. Fair warning, you might shed a tear, laugh uncontrollably, scream when they make the wrong decisions, and fall completely in love with them. Luckily, there’s a short reboot streaming for those who can’t let go.
Mad Men
It’s the 1950’s in Manhattan and Don Draper is the best Creative Director in the advertising industry that New York has to offer. This show has won 16 Emmys for a reason. It’s sexy, compelling, stylized, and unapologetically ruthless. In other words, it’s a must-watch.
Breaking Bad
This show comes highly recommended. It stars a character by the name of Walter White, your average, run-of-the-mill high school science teacher who evolves into a ruthless player in the local drug trade. His desire to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer led him to break, bad.
See More: Shows to Watch on Apple TV+ , HBO GO, and Prime Video This Weekend
The Witcher
Based on the famous book series, this fantasy drama will keep you in the same spot from the first episode to the last. Commit to the binge ahead of time and be completely enthralled by Geralt of Rivia, the medieval-inspired Witcher, last of his kind.
Narcos Mexico
This drama series hones in on the illegal drug trade initiated by the Guadalajara Cartel based in Columbia in the 1980s. When DEA agent Kiki Camarena moves his wife and young son from California to Guadalajara to take on a new post, he quickly learns that his assignment will be more challenging than he ever could have imagined.
Peaky Blinders
Following the World War in Birmingham, England, circa 1919, the illustrious Thomas Shekbey leads the local gangster family known as the Peaky Blinders to think bigger than their neighborhood and fight to build an empire. You might wonder how they got their name — it’s not a pretty story but it is impossible not to root for their every success.
The Crown
There are endless movies, documentaries, and shows that have aimed to capture the essence and truth of what it is to not only be royal but to be the most recognized royal family in history, yet this adaptation seems to be the one that takes the cake. Take an unforgiving look into the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the moment she realized her life was abruptly changing forever to what has become of her reign in the modern-day.
Love is Blind
Netflix has hopped on the reality TV bandwagon and released this hit show that follows singles who try to find the love of their lives before ever laying eyes on one another. That’s right, they never officially meet, just have daily conversations with one another through a wall. The idea is to fall in love with who the person is, not what they look like.
Jane the Virgin
The daughter of a teen mother, Jane Villanueva grew up determined not to repeat her mom’s mistakes. At 23, her life is on track; Jane is studying to be a teacher and engaged to a handsome detective who supports her decision to remain a virgin until marriage. A routine clinic visit flips her life upside down. Inseminated by a specimen meant for a patient in the next room, now-pregnant Jane is in a situation made only more insane when she learns that the sperm donor is her boss, Rafael.
Lock & Key
Straight from the pages of the comics, three siblings move into a house filled with reality-bending keys, following their father’s death. It sounds fun, but don’t get too excited, they eventually become aware of a demonic entity that is also searching for the keys for its own malevolent purposes.
Hulu
Sons of Anarchy
This plot isn’t for the faint of heart. A biker struggles to balance being a father and being involved in an outlaw motorcycle club. Sons of Anarchy is a motorcycle club that operates both illegal and legal businesses in the small town of Charming. President Clay likes it old school and violent, while Jax, his stepson and the club’s VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are, based on his dead father’s manuscript + intentions for the club he founded decades ago. In short, stuff goes down on this show.
Mayans
A spinoff series whose credits stand on its own, Mayans takes place four and a half years after the events seen in Sons of Anarchy. Creator Kurt Sutter refers to it as the second chapter of a four-part story. The scene is set hundreds of miles away in the fictional California border town of Santo Padre. Follow the struggles of Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, a prospect in the charter of the Mayans.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Arguably Margret Atwood’s best drama yet, this series displays an alternate reality in which the world’s elite conspire to overthrow the government, religion, life itself, and ultimately succeed. Offred is forced to become a handmaid, in other words, a slave that serves as a surrogate for couples who are unable to have children themselves. As Offred tells the story of her daily life, she often has flashbacks of her life before her abduction.
Grey’s Anatomy
Try juggling your personal life, a career as a well-seasoned doctor in a hospital, and training incoming interns. That is just the cherry on top of what is happening in the lives of America’s favorite fictional team of doctors. Every day is completely different from the last.
This Is Us
There is no other family on TV like the Pearson family. The passionate romances that show the world what true love really looks like, will undoubtedly have viewers utterly addicted. Watch the lives of siblings Kevin, Kate, and Randall aka the “Big Three” and their parents Jack and Rebecca unfold. It’s 1980, {present day + flashbacks} Kevin and Kate are the two surviving members of a triplet pregnancy, their brother is stillborn. Believing they were meant to have three children, the parents decide to adopt Randall, an African-American child born the same day.
Read More: Local Fitness Businesses Offering Online Classes + Streaming Options
90 Day Fiance
Reality TV lovers, this one is a goodie. Using a unique 90-day fiance visa, the K-1 visa, foreigners travel to the U.S. to live with their overseas partners for the first time. The couples must marry before their visas expire in 90 days, or the visiting partner will have to return home. They’ll have to overcome language barriers, culture shock and skeptical friends, and family, all with a clock that starts ticking the moment they step foot on U.S. soil.
Little Fires Everywhere
Based on the best-selling novel, this miniseries takes place in a small town that likes to brush things under the rug and deflect from the true reasoning behind their actions. Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington play opposite each other in this riveting drama about what happens when the lives of the town’s most admired family begin tearing from the seams. The characters are forced to face their reality, they aren’t as progressive and open-minded and they think.
American Horror Story
This is a strategic, high-strung horror anthology series where every season is a completely new story. Some plot elements of each season are loosely inspired by true events. Some of the season titles are Freak Show, Murder House, and Cult. Expect over-the-top creepiness that you just can’t stop watching.
Superstore
Amy, the star of the show and manager of Cloud 9 Superstore, is a hardworking Honduran-American woman and single mother. Every shift she wears a different name tag because it’s her way of keeping strangers at a distance while simultaneously protesting the system. It’s a funny workplace comedy showing the lives of the everyday worker.
Modern Family
This truly modern family revolves around three different types of families living in the Los Angeles area. All three families face their own unique trials that the rest of the world can relate to in some capacity. It is an honest and hysterical perspective of what family life is like in each household.
How To Get Away With Murder
You don’t want to be a sitting duck when Professor Annalise Keating walks into the classroom. A criminal law level 100 course that would’ve been just another class to get through has become the most sought-after classroom experience due to the professor’s real-life courtroom experience approach to education. She is the mentor we never knew we needed.
Seinfeld
Simply put, this is a show about nothing and it took the world by storm. This comedic sitcom stars Jerry and his friends going through everyday life and discussing various quirky situations we can all relate to, whether you live in New York City or not. The eccentric personalities of the offbeat characters make up the perfect ensemble of best friends.
Will & Grace
In the original eight-season run of this groundbreaking sitcom, now streaming a reboot, stars best friends Will, a meticulous corporate lawyer, and Grace, a neurotic interior decorator who share a New York apartment after Grace leaves her fiancé at the altar. Will and Grace, along with their best friends Karen, an outspoken socialite, and Jack, a free-spirited actor, face the highs and lows of life in Manhattan together. From sex, dating, and divorce to cutting cultural commentary, nothing’s off-limits.
Vikings
This epic adventure transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok. He is a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore and raid the distant shores across the ocean and ultimately becomes the greatest hero of his age.
The Mindy Project
Mindy Lahiri is a successful doctor, but when she leaves the office, all bets are off. She wants to become a more well-rounded woman, someone who is punctual, frugal, and well-read instead of someone who is obsessed with romantic comedies and likely to give an inappropriate toast at a wedding. Her quirky personality leaves rooting for her on the sidelines.
We may not be able to have outdoor adventures of our own for the time being, but don’t let that stop you. Sit back, relax, and let these characters take you on a joy ride.
Which shows will you be watching? Let us know in the comments!
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