Best Shows to Binge This Summer

Kayla
19 Min Read

Is your favorite show currently on hiatus? Is your Netflix watch list ever growing because you’re just not sure what to watch next? Well, we’ve got you covered! Check out our favorite, most “binge worthy” shows and we’ll help carry you over until your favorite show is back on, or we might just help you find your new favorite show.

GREY’S ANATOMY

McSteamy. McDreamy. 007. All these will become part of your vocabulary when you binge watch Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix. The show comes with a lot of tears, heartbreak but also heartwarming moments and lessons. It follows Meredith Grey, as she and others work to become some of the best surgeons at Seattle Grace Hospital. This show will not disappoint you with jaw-dropping twists that you won’t see coming. This show has touched many generations and is a widely known show as part of the brilliance of Shonda Rhimes. Grey’s Anatomy reflects current issues that are happening all around the world and puts into perspective real issues that can occur everyday. It is definitely binge worthy with season 14 just finishing on ABC. Trust me on this one, you will want to know what all the hype is about. Grab those tissues.Kailey

FRIENDS

“So no one told you life was gonna be this way…” *clapclapclapclap* If you have never heard this theme song or never seen the show Friends, then you have probably been living under a rock since the 90s. Friends follows the lives of six people from Manhattan that become best friends through some interesting circumstances. The show has been off the air for 14 years, yet the situations Monica, Chandler, Ross, Rachel, Joey and Phoebe find themselves in are still pertinent today. Everyone can find a character within the show to relate to in some way, whether that is Joey’s impressive eating skills, Phoebe’s eccentric personality or Chandler’s punny jokes. Though a primarily comedic show, Friends can make you cry but then start laughing hysterically through those tears. For a long and easy binge that will leave you singing “Smelly Cat” and yelling to people that, “WE WERE ON A BREAK!” go tune into Friends on Netflix today. Hailee

CASTLE

Spanning eight seasons (and seven good ones), the ABC dramedy Castle captured fans’ attention with the love story between famous mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) and no-nonsense NYPD detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic). The series begins with Beckett seeking out Castle’s help with a murder based out of one of his novels, and Castle, intrigued by Beckett, arranges to shadow her as research for a new series of novels centered around a fictional NYPD detective Nikki Heat. Castle and Beckett, along with detectives Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) and Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas), form a hilarious crime-solving team and a supportive family unit, while helping seek justice for the families left behind. If you’re a fan of crime dramas full of heart with a splash of comedy, add Castle to your future binge watching list. While Castle is not currently available on any streaming service, it reruns Friday afternoons on TNT and all seasons are available on DVD. –Elizabeth

 

IZOMBIE

Loosely based on a series of Vertigo graphic novels, iZombie tells the story of Olivia “Liv” Moore (Rose McIver), who’s trying to make sense of her new life as a zombie following a boat party-turned-massacre on Lake Washington. After breaking things off with her fiance Major Lilywhite (Robert Buckley), leaving her promising residency position and icing out her friends and family, she takes a job as Seattle’s newest medical examiner under Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti (Rahul Kohli), the first to discover her secret penchant for brains. The brains give Liv snippets of the deceased’s memories, personality traits and special skills (such as kung fu, the ability to speak Romanian, and sharp-shooting), and because of this, she teams up with homicide detective Clive Babineaux (Malcolm Goodwin) to bring killers to justice. As the seasons go on, the brains get more and more hilarious and McIver plays each version of Liv (sometimes two or three in a single episode) to perfection. Despite there being some dark themes in the series, iZombie injects enough levity to keep it balanced. Season four was recently added to Netflix, so watch all of Liv’s exploits from the beginning and get ready for the fifth and final season coming soon. –Elizabeth

 

JESSICA JONES

Looking for a show with a strong female lead? Maybe a mature take on Marvel? Then the Netflix Original show Jessica Jones is the perfect binge-worthy show for you.  The show follows Jessica (Krysten Ritter), a leather-wearing, whiskey-drinking woman with a strong attitude.  She works as a private investigator in New York after a failed attempt to be a superhero. We follow her journey of dealing with her past, the people she lost, the things she has done, and a chilling villain (played by David Tennant.) Also a fan of the comic book Alias by writer Brian Michael Bendis? Look out for little Easter eggs throughout Season 1 to the comic book that started it all. And in a truly groundbreaking way, each episode of Season 2 of Jessica Jones was directed by a woman. With a cool, modern film noir vibe, complete with a jazzy melody and a voiceover, Jessica Jones will keep you intrigued to find out what happens next.- Melanie

WYNONNA EARP

“Careful, Earp. Doing what’s right, even in the face of ridiculous odds … you are beginning to sound like a hero.” Fans of Supernatural will love, love,love Wynonna Earp. The show is Western-meets horror- meets badass girl with a big ass gun. The SyFy series currently has two seasons under its belt with the third season set to be released later this summer. And, with the seasons only being 12-13 episodes long this show is perfect for a weekend binge. If you’ve ever wondered what the female equivalent of Dean Winchester would be, well it’s Wynonna Earp. The show has many of the same themes as Supernatural: guns, demons, curses, and most importantly family. Throw in a diverse cast, Doc Holliday, and one of the cutest LGBT couples on television and you’ve got the perfect recipe for your new favorite show. Season one is currently on Netflix, and the second season will be available later this month. –Kayla

 

LOST IN SPACE

Summer always means two things to me, warmer weather and my favorite TV shows going on hiatus.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who refers to this time as hellatus. This time of year is like a barren desert when it comes to TV shows.  Unless you are catching up on the shows you missed, you will be turning to subscription services like Hulu, Amazon and Netflix to fill the void. One of the shows that hooked me immediately was Lost In Space on Netflix.  This is a reboot of the 1965 sci-fi classic, which followed  the Robinson family and their space adventures. I will say that I was very sceptical at first, as I grew up watching the original in syndication and I’m just generally sick and tired of reboots.  Doesn’t anyone have an original idea anymore?I was more than pleasantly surprised when I tuned in to watch the premier. By the end of the premier episode, I was hooked. This re-imagining(calling it a reboot does this show an extreme injustice) has everything a sci-fi buff would want. It’s full of adventure, suspense, a ton of sci-fi tech and of course THE robot. Any fan of the original show knows the line, “Danger Will Robinson,” spoken by the robot that was Will Robinsons’ constant companion. Netflix has updated our favorite robot in a wonderful, unexpected way that I thoroughly enjoyed.  Just like our updated robot, this Lost In Space is edgy, surprising and an overall enjoyable show. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.- Deb

 

PARKS AND RECREATION

If you’re looking for a fun zany workplace comedy with a lot of heart, look no further than Parks and Recreation. Set in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, the mockumentary-style series follows the adventures of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler), a dedicated civil servant in the Parks and Recreation department, and her coworkers and friends Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza), Tom Haverford (Asia Ansari), Donna Meagle (Retta), Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe), Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott), and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt). Leslie and her friends do their best to make Pawnee a better place despite corrupt and incompetent city leaders, gotcha journalism, and *yuck* Eagletonians. Treat yo self to one of the funniest TV series ever and stream Parks and Recreation on Netflix today!- Elizabeth

 

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE

If you have been on social media at all in the last few weeks, no doubt you saw the firestorm that erupted when Fox announced it was cancelling Brooklyn 99. Brooklyn 99 (which was thankfully renewed by NBC for a 13-episode sixth season) features a diverse cast of positive LGBT+ and POC representation, and tackles important social issues such as racial profiling, sexism and homophobia with grace and care. The show centers around the fictional 99th precinct of the NYPD, and begins with the introduction of a new captain, Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher). Hilarity ensues as detectives Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), Charles Boyle (Joe LoTruglio), Michael Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker), Norm Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller), civilian administrator Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) and Sergeant Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) learn to adjust to their new captain and new precinct dynamic. Settle in for five seasons of heists and hijinks with the squad on Hulu today! NINE NINE! – Elizabeth

 

TRAVELERS

Travelers is one of those shows that at first glance seems to have been done before.  Time traveling people who are coming back to correct the past; been there done that. However Travelers, with a mix of amazing acting and great storytelling, manages to take this trope and turn it on its head.  First are the rules, or directives. The Director, gives each Traveler a number and they are a part of a group that all goes at once. There is a medic and a historian, an engineer and a tactician and of course a team leader.  Travelers “jump” into a host body as they die in this century, and are able to complete their missions using the cover of the person they are in. The only exception to this is that children can be used as messengers from the directors for 5 minutes or less without causing any damage to the children. The Director is sending the teams back into the 21st century, in order to keep society from collapsing and dying in the future.  The team we meet and follow through the series is: Team Leader Grant MacLaren who is played by Eric McCormack, Medic Marcy Warton played by MacKenzie Porter, Engineer Trevor Holden played by Jared Abrahamson, Tactician Carly Shannon played by Nesta Cooper, and finally Historian Philip Pearson played by Reilly Dolman.  This team has a specific mission in the first season that will save thousands in the future, maybe even the whole of society. As with the best laid plans of mice and men, messing with history has some very serious side effects.  Changing a small event in history causes ripples, and changing something as major as they did has far reaching and unexpected results, both good and bad. The second season is MacLaren’s team dealing with those repercussions and trying to make things right again.  They gain the assistance of more Travelers and we learn more about The Director and the timeline they came from. So far there are only two seasons, but summer time is the best time to catch up on it because the third season is due to be released on Netflix in October, just in time with the rest of the shows coming back this fall. Season 3 starting filming in March of this year in Vancouver using Vancouver native actors and crew.  Both the official Travelers account and the actors would live tweet BTS pictures during filming as we see here from Eric McCormack.

Travelers is an easy show to get absorbed into and at the same time will make you think not just about what’s happening currently, but how everything they do in the 21st is going to affect the future they are from.  Can’t wait for Season 3!!

Nicole

 

CRIMINAL MINDS

Thirteen seasons strong and a fourteenth on the way, Criminal Minds is a CBS crime-drama that follows the lives and psychologically thrilling cases of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. The phrase “psychologically thrilling” can be used to explain the premise of the show as well: the members of the BAU are an elite group of profilers, all of whom extensively study human behavior and psychology in order to accurately predict a criminal’s motivations within their cases. Criminal Minds hosts an impressive range of talent and stars; to many fans, there exists a “core” team within the show — Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. Cook), Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster). However, the show has since gained the skills and personalities of new characters, such as Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler), Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez), and Matt Simmons (Daniel Henney) just to name a few of the many faces that have been embraced within the Criminal Minds community, both on and off-screen. While it is primarily a drama centered on solving crimes and uncovering the motives behind a criminal’s actions, Criminal Minds also portrays a close looks at the relationships, both personal and professional, that are formed between the members of the BAU. The warmth and genuine love and affection the team has for one another counteracts the horrific scenes they see every day in the field. From hilarious prank wars to advice on troubling issues, it’s incredibly difficult not to care about each BAU member as if they were a part of your own family. As of right now, there is no solidified news of when the thirteenth season of Criminal Minds is set to air on Netflix, though fan speculation has it happening in the near future. With filming for the new season set to begin this July, however, this is the perfect time to start watching this incredible show about this wonderful team kicking serious criminal butt!-Gisselle

We hope this will help you get through the summer months and the dry spell that is hiatus season.

What are your favorite shows to binge? Let us know!

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By Kayla
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Kayla has been with Nerds and Beyond since 2016 when she decided to combine her love of fandoms and writing. She enjoys all things Marvel, gaming, reading, traveling, going to conventions and concerts. When not writing, she can usually be found in front of the TV enjoying her favorite shows and trying to make a dent in her every growing 'to watch list', behind a camera lens, or on Twitter yelling about her love for Bucky Barnes.
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