Nonstop Netflix
November 18, 2015
Whenever I find myself with precious free time, I celebrate in a strange manner. I barricade myself in my room, and watch Netflix for an unhealthy amount of time, binge-watching my favorite shows.
Binge-watching, a relatively new phenomenon born from content streaming providers such as Netflix and Hulu, has taken over my life. No longer do I have to wait for a week, (an absolutely unreasonable and cruel amount of time) between episodes. I can watch entire seasons of a show in a matter of days, and face a strange emptiness when I finish a series. From my wild evenings of late night internet use, I have gathered some of my favorite shows, in hopes that you can also waste your time.
My absolute favorite show, “Friends,” follows the lives of six best friends as they navigate through the treacherous waters of being young adults in New York, in the most humorous way possible. Though I had already seen every episode by the time I was 13 through watching re-runs, I eagerly jumped at the chance to watch the entire series over again.
No matter how many times I watch this show, it still manages to make me laugh. I feel as if Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Rachel, Ross, and Monica are personal friends of mine, and I often find myself quoting the show in my daily life. The series is, overall, light hearted and hilarious, but it does have its moments of drama (who could forget Ross and Rachel’s on and off “breaks”) and heartbreak. I highly recommend this show as an introduction to the life of binge-watching, but don’t let the 10 seasons intimidate you, you’ll get hooked by the second episode.
While I can’t stand to sit through a sports game in real life, surprisingly I became a fan of a show that revolves completely around football, “Friday Night Lights.” The dramatic series follows the life of the Taylor family, led by Eric Taylor, the coach of a small town football team in Texas. The plot may sound boring, but the show is chock-full of raw emotion, and features characters facing trials that are so realistic, you can’t help but sympathize with them.
Eric and his wife, Tami, have the strongest marriage that I have ever seen depicted on TV, and the football team consists of some very cute guys (Tim Riggins is the love of my life.) With a wide range of characters and a total of five seasons, “Friday Night Lights” is the perfect candidate for some Friday night binge-watching.
When I first began watching “American Horror Story,” I was terrified, but found myself unable to stop. The show is certainly creepy, but has a strange way of reeling viewers in with its diverse cast of troubled characters and crazy plotlines that change with every season.
I must admit, I enjoyed some seasons more than others. While the third season, “Coven,” was an absolute masterpiece in my eyes, I could hardly sit through the second, “Asylum.”
Though the seasons are completely unconnected, I would recommend starting with the first, “Murder House,” which follows the dysfunctional Harmon family as they move into a famously haunted house in Los Angeles, as it eases viewers into the absolute insanity that is “AHS.”
