TAGGED AS: Amazon Prime, BBC America, CBS All Access, DC Universe, FX, HBO, Hulu, Netflix, Showtime, Starz, streaming, TBS, television, TV
While the current climate has forced us to isolate indoors and practice social distancing — and if you’re not doing that, fix that! — it’s a fortuitous time for those of us who have a laundry list of series to catch up on. Might we recommend the 11 below? All are Certified Fresh and returning with new seasons later this month.
What it is: A hapless janitor named Josh Futturman (Josh Hutcherson) has one joy in life: video games. And surprisingly, it’s that passion that eventually gets him recruited into saving the world from certain doom. After beating Biotic Wars, a game so difficult that most gamers have given up on it, he learns it was all a test from the future and is greeted by two mysterious visitors who hang the safety of mankind in his capable gamer hands.
Why you should watch it: Considering the creative pedigree behind this series (it’s created by Howard Overman, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir and executive produced and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg), it should come as little surprise that Future Man is quite funny. But it’s also a high-octane, rollicking adventure and fitting homage to sci-fi genre classics — in case you’re into that sort of thing, too. Season 3 premieres April 3 on Hulu.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 13 hours (for the first two seasons)
What it is: Everyone needs to cut loose after a breakup, and Harley Quinn is no different. After ending things with on-again, off-again boyfriend the Joker, Harley and her bestie Poison Ivy get up to various action-packed misadventures as she tries to make her way into the Legion of Doom.
Why you should watch it: Harley Quinn is having a bit of a moment right now, and we’re all the better for it! Any fan of DC Comics will find plenty to love here. But with strong language and adult situations, the series is not for kids. Season 2 premieres April 3 on DC Universe.
Where to watch: Amazon, DC Universe, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 5 hours (for the first season)
What it is: The Last O.G. is a laugh-out-loud comedy series with something to say. Following ex-con Tray (Tracy Morgan) as he readjusts to life in a gentrified Brooklyn after 15 years behind bars, the half-hour series is ripe for fish-out-of-water gags while also portraying social matters of the day.
Why you should watch it: Co-created by Jordan Peele and starring a never-better Morgan and Girls Trip breakout-turned-bona-fide star Tiffany Haddish as his estranged ex, there’s no reason why the very funny Last O.G. shouldn’t make your binge list this month. Season 3 premieres April 7 on TBS.
Where to watch: Amazon, Google Play, Microsoft, Netflix, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 8 hours (for the first two seasons)
What it is: Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) gets the leading lady treatment with CBS All Access’ hit spin-off of The Good Wife. Set one year after the events of that acclaimed series’ finale (and picking up on the morning of President Donald Trump’s 2016 inauguration), The Good Fight follows Lockhart after she’s forced out of her own firm and teams up with goddaughter Maia Rindell (Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie) and The Good Wife’s Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo).
Why you should watch it: Sure, if you loved The Good Wife, you’ll love The Good Fight — but believe it or not, Baranski is even more astounding here and finds exciting new shades to the beloved Diane Lockhart. Fans new and old rejoice. Season 4 premieres April 9 on CBS All Access.
Where to watch: Amazon, CBS All Access, FandangoNow, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 25 hours (for the first three seasons)
What it is: Inspired by creator Issa Rae’s hit web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, Insecure follows the day-to-day happenings of Issa Dee, her best friend Molly, and her love-on-the-rocks boyfriend, Lawrence, with notes as often comedic as they are heart-wrenching and true-to-life.
Why you should watch it: Issa Rae is utterly fearless, and Insecure is all the better for it. The Emmy and Golden Globe nominee weaves hot-button issues like gentrification, race, gender, and poverty into solid storytelling and character development. If you want to see what tough love and hard truths look like both in friendship and romance, Insecure serves those down-deep, human universals in spades — and it’s among the best series on television to do so. Season 4 premieres April 12 on HBO.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, HBO NOW, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 12 hours (for the first three seasons)
What it is: This half-hour comedy follows four vampire roommates navigating 21st century life while living on Staten Island. Though they were meant to conquer America, the series makes it clear soon enough that while certainly fearsome and bloodsucking, they’re not quite up to the task.
Why you should watch it: Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi: What more do you need!? Both reunite here to reimagine their 2014 cult-favorite comedy of the same name for the small screen, setting it in New York City, and introducing new characters along the way. It’s just as dark, clever, and hilariously gruesome as you’d expect. Season 2 premieres April 15 on FX.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 5 hours (for the first season)
What it is: Titus Welliver stars as Harry Bosch, a steely, determined homicide detective keeping watch over the City of Angels in this Amazon Prime original series. Each season follows one major case and strikes the perfect balance between contemporary crime grit and smooth, yesteryear noir.
Why you should watch it: Bosch may be the best crime series you’ve never heard of. Change that! Co-creator Eric Ellis Overmyer is a seasoned vet of the genre, with roots planted firmly in the genre. Homicide: The Movie and Law & Order both earned him Emmy nominations in 2000 and 2002, respectively. He knows his way around the daily dramas of LAPD homicide and proves the perfect collaborator for the source material’s author, Michael Connelly. Season 6 premieres April 17 on Amazon Prime.
Where to watch: Amazon
Commitment: Approx. 42.5 hours (for the first five seasons)
What it is: From the mind of Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Killing Eve is a female-driven cat-and-mouse espionage thriller between a globetrotting assassin, Villanelle (Jodie Comer), and a MI5 security operative, the titular Eve (Sandra Oh).
Why you should watch it: Oh is effortlessly likable and utterly watchable, and the fact that Killing Eve gives her the opportunity to flex that charm (and brains, brawn, sensuality — the list goes on) as a top-billed leading lady is reason enough to watch. The fact that she’s met mark-for-mark by relative newcomer–turned–Emmy winner Comer is the reason you’ll stick around for the binge and want more when you’re done. Season 3 premieres April 26 on BBC America.
Where to watch: Amazon, Google Play, Hulu, Microsoft
Commitment: Approx. 11 hours (for the first two seasons)
What it is: Based on Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories novels, this BBC Two and Netflix co-production is a period epic charting England’s division into seven kingdoms through the 9th century while Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders. Uhtred is our fictional protagonist, born a Saxon but raised by Vikings. The series’ action begins as he sets out to lay claim to his birthright.
Why you should watch it: Anyone who’s both a history buff and lover of large-scale battles and epic storylines have plenty to sink their teeth into here. Season 4 premieres April 26 on Netflix.
Where to watch: Netflix
Commitment: Approx. 26 hours (for the first three seasons)
What it is: Prepare to meet Dr. Frankenstein and his creatures, Dorian Gray, Dracula, and more delightful denizens of classic monster tales in Showtime’s Penny Dreadful. It comes as a bit of a surprise that Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, premiering in April, isn’t linked to its Victorian London–set predecessor from creator John Logan. On pure mood-setting and binge-ability alone, we recommend you acquaint yourself with the beloved three seasons of Penny Dreadful prior to the new iteration.
Why you should watch it: We could all use a little more Eva Green in our lives, no? The new series is set in 1938 Los Angeles, and a grisly murder — and some unforeseen supernatural forces — rocks the city to its core as Detective Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto) and his partner Lewis Michener (Nathan Lane) embroil themselves in the case and soon get in over their heads. Hint of what’s to come: Game of Thrones favorite Natalie Dormer also stars as Magda, a demon who can take on the appearance of others. Season 1 of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels premieres April 26 on Showtime. (Watch the trailer for City of Angels here.)
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Netflix, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 27 hours (for all three seasons)
What it is: Set in the rarely depicted neighborhood of East Los Angeles, Vida follows estranged Mexican-American sisters Lyn and Emma Hernandez, who are forced to revisit their childhood home and memories after the sudden death of their mother. Familial secrets and personal growth abound.
Why you should watch it: Shows don’t get much more refreshingly original than Vida, Starz’s half-hour dramedy from showrunner Tanya Saracho. Centering queer, Latinx voices both in front of and behind the camera is a feat in and of itself, but the fact that the series is compellingly alive (and bingeable) is what will keep you sticking around. It’s wonderfully grounded by Melissa Barrera and Mishel Prada as the central reunited sisters. Season 3, its final outing, premieres April 26 on Starz.
Where to watch: Amazon, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Microsoft, Vudu
Commitment: Approx. 9 hours (for the first two seasons)
