Summertime Binge-Worthy TV You Can Stream
Your regularly-scheduled programming is on hiatus during these hot days of summer, so what does that mean in the meantime? It’s streaming binge season! Time to either catch up on something you’ve been meaning to watch or start something entirely new!
We here at the Wedding Chicks office regularly have lengthy conversations about what it is we’ve been watching and let me tell you the list is long and varied. To give you a sample here are all of our recommended summertime binge-worthy tv shows you can stream:
Drama/Sci-Fi
Westworld
Westworld isn't your typical amusement park. Intended for rich vacationers, the futuristic park -- which is looked after by robotic "hosts" -- allows its visitors to live out their fantasies through artificial consciousness. No matter how illicit the fantasy may be, there are no consequences for the park's guests, allowing for any wish to be indulged.
Ashley: Westworld (season 2 on HBO) - It took me a little longer to get into this season, but I’m slowly making my way through all the twists and turns.
Jocey: We watch Westworld with an upgrade purchase from Hulu. Sometimes I am not sure what is going on, and I have to hit pause because I am pretty confused. However, it is still quite good despite me being like… whaaaaat?
Doctor Who
The Doctor is called a `Time Lord', a time-traveling scientist from a far-off planet, who travels through time and space in a shop known by the acronym TARDIS. A TARDIS is a machine that is larger on the inside than the outside and is supposed to change its appearance based on its surroundings. The Doctor is also able to evolve his biology, so he appears as many different people throughout the series. The Doctor loves Earth, so he makes many trips here to save the planet, or to enlist earthlings to help him with tasks in the galaxy.
Julie: I just recently jumped onto this bandwagon and could not be happier. If you are a space nerd, (or really just have a bit of a nerdy tendency) You’ll love the goofy antics that Doctor gets up to in the current 10 season reboot of this BBC classic! My advice. Start with the reboot, ie the season with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.
Handmaid’s Tale
This series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her.
Jocey: Of course, I am addicted to Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu and Wednesday night could not come faster. If you haven’t watched it yet, prepare to take in all the drama of June/Offred and the totalitarian state known as Gilead. #PriaseBE
Ashley: Blessed be the fruit. They whipped up a good plot this season and I’m eternally grateful they’re only releasing one episode a week so I don’t binge it all in a day. Thanks, Hulu.
Erica: While the show is extremely dark, this season gives the viewer some hope. Also, the writing is phenom!
Comedy
Insecure
Modern-day black women might be described as strong and confident; in other words, just the opposite of Issa and Molly. As the best friends deal with their own real-life flaws, their insecurities come to the fore as together they cope with an endless series of uncomfortable everyday experiences.
Davina: Issa Rae expands on the reality of dating, work, feeling like a minority and having very real sexual desires we can pretty much all relate to. Can't wait for the third season this summer! Basically a better version of Girls.
Mom
Single mom Christy has her hands full with two children, Violet and Roscoe, and maintaining newfound sobriety, when her passive-aggressive, recovering-alcoholic mother re-enters the picture, brimming with criticisms about Christy's life.
Amy: I'm binging on all seasons of this dysfunctional family sitcom. I have a new found love for Anna Ferris and I can't get enough of Allison Janney. OMG she is funny.
Parks and Recreation
Leslie Knope, a midlevel bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbours, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges.
Megan: I am binge watching Parks and Recreation right now. I've seen it 4 times but its so funny I love it!
New Girl
After going through a rough breakup, awkward and upbeat Jess (Zooey Deschanel) moves in with three single guys. Intelligent and witty Nick is an underachiever who took the bartender off-ramp on his road to success. Schmidt obsesses over his social standing and looks at Jess as a personal project. Winston is a competitive former athlete who, after realizing he will never become a pro, moves into the loft. Together with Jess' best friend, Cece, they bond to form an unlikely, and dysfunctional, family.
Jocey: When I need to laugh and can no longer take all the drama I binge watch New Girl. It’s just plain old funny. Available on both Hulu and Netflix and is guaranteed to make you laugh.
Drunk History
The passage of time often has a way of rewriting history. So does a few drinks. The half-hour series "Drunk History" -- based on the award-winning Web series -- shows how by re-enacting famous events in history as told by inebriated storytellers. Each episode takes a tour of a U.S. city to explore stories and people from its rich past. Those stories are related in often-confusing ways by drunken narrators and performed by an all-star cast.
Amy: Drunk History is freaking amazing. Drunk history clears up some of the "fake history" you might remember. The super celeb cameos are amazing. My ex BF didn't think this was funny .. please note ex.
Barry
Disillusioned at the thought of taking down another "mark," depressed, low-level hitman Barry Berkman seeks a way out. When the Midwesterner reluctantly travels to Los Angeles to execute a hit on an actor who is bedding a mobster's wife, little does Barry know that the City of Angels may be his sanctuary. He follows his target into acting class and ends up instantly drawn to the community of eager hopefuls, especially dedicated student Sally, who becomes the object of his affection. While Barry wants to start a new life as an actor, his handler, Fuches, has other ideas, and the hit man's criminal past won't let him walk away so easily.
Erica: Super dark comedy, but the storyline about this hitman turned actor is surprisingly binge-worthy and I watched the whole season in like 3 days
Crime / Drama
Queen of the South
While living in the barrio of Jalisco, Mexico, poor Teresa Mendoza falls in love with a member of a successful drug cartel, hoping the love will help her rise above the hopelessness she feels in her life. When it doesn't happen, she is forced to flee the country after her boyfriend is murdered. She seeks refuge in America, where she teams up with an unlikely person from her past to take down the leader of the drug ring that is after her.
Megan: I'm obsessed with this show and watched it in a day and a half. I fell in love with it last year and when they released season two I was so excited. It is very interesting, action-packed, and suspenseful. So many crazy things happen and you have to know how it's going to end!
Broadchurch
When the corpse of an 11-year-old Scotish boy, Danny Latimer, is found bloodied and dirty on an idyllic beach, a small Dorset community becomes the focus of a police investigation and media madness. Out-of-town Detective Inspector Alec Hardy gets the point position over Detective Sgt. Ellie Miller -- who feels the job should have been hers. Now she must engage in an efficient working relationship with taciturn Hardy.
Julie: OMG, this show is part murder mystery and part Law and Order! You follow the detectives assigned to the case through ups and downs and plenty of blundering mistakes that will have you cringing and sometimes yelling at the characters on screen. My sister and I are in season 2 of 3 and we are still unsure about who we can trust.
Riverdale
Archie Andrews starts the school year with the world weighing on his shoulders. He's decided he wants to pursue a future in the music business, but his recently ended clandestine relationship with the music teacher has left him without a mentor, and his friendship with Jughead Jones is in a bad place. Things look like they might be turning around when Veronica Lodge, a new girl, arrives.
Davina: Someone told me if I liked Degrassi, I will like this and as cheesy as it is, I am giving it a shot.
Documentary
Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown
Bourdain explores the world to, he says, "eat and drink with people without fear and prejudice ... they open up to you in ways that somebody visiting who is driven by a story may not get." Enticed by the opportunity to experience cultures rarely visited by American TV, such as in the Congo, Libya, and Myanmar.
Julie: After the report of Anthony Bourdain’s death this month and the outpouring of love and respect on the internet I realized I’ve never watched any of this show. If you like food or exploring new places this is such a fun watch. Not only does Tony give a broad look at what is happening in the place he is visiting but he narrows the focus down to the people he meets and the regular lives they lead. It is a beautiful look at the fact that we are all people no matter where we live.
Abandoned
As time goes on, the look of cities change as businesses, schools and other establishments move or go out of business, leaving behind empty structures, which can go abandoned for years in some cases. In this series, legendary skateboarder Rick McCrank explores some of these abandoned places, traveling around America to see the current state of the modern-day ruins years after the lights went out.
Ashley: If you love run-down places, this documentary follows skateboarder Rick McCrank as he explores abandoned locations and the people who loved them.
Reality TV
Real House Wives of Orange County
They may live in the lap of luxury, but life isn't always perfect for the women who reside in one of the wealthiest enclaves of the U.S. They continue to focus on living large; plastic surgery, working out, shopping, drinking, dancing, and dining out top their agendas.
Davina: I realize I am 30, but there's nothing like some hot drama hence this pick and being sad that Vanderpump Rules is over. Hopefully, this season is good. Last season was kind of a bore and Shannon bothers me. Leave Vicki alone.
Real House Wives of New York City
Bravo heads to the Big Apple for this entry in its hit reality-TV franchise "The Real Housewives of (insert location here)." This New York edition features several confident women, who change throughout the seasons as the women leave, with some returning later on.
Find it on HuluErica: Probably one the better seasons in a while, between Luann's arrest and Jill and Bethenny reconnecting over Bobby's death, it's been an emotional but fun season so far.
The Bachelorette
Becca Kufrin believed she had found love with Arie Luyendyk Jr. on "The Bachelor," but when the race car driver changed his mind and broke her heart so he could reunite with runner-up Lauren Burnham, the humble girl next door from Minnesota resolved not to let the heart-wrenching breakup hold her back. When the 27-year-old publicist isn't making a splash at the boutique public relations agency where she works or planning her next overseas trip, she can be found at home hosting dinner parties for her friends. She hopes to find a man who shares her firm set of Midwest values and who is actually ready to commit to her on her terms.
Amy: Boys are bringing ALL THE DRAMA. This is my first go at The Bachelorette and I mostly just sit there smh.
90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After
Marrying someone you have known for no more than 90 days comes with more risks than traditional unions. This companion series to `90 Day Fiance' sets out to see how the relationship has worked out for several couples from the original show.
Davina: UGH… When will Nicole learn?!
Action / Adventure
Vikings
Viking Ragnar Lothbrok is a young farmer and family man who is frustrated by the policies of Earl Haraldson, his local chieftain who sends his Viking raiders east to the Baltic states and Russia, whose residents are as poor as the Norsemen. Ragnar wants to head west, across the ocean, to discover new civilizations. With assistance from his friend Floki, Ragnar builds a faster, sleeker fleet of boats to help him make it to the Western world. Through the years Ragnar, who claims to be a direct descendant of the god Odin, continues to struggle with Earl until the two face each other in a final battle for supremacy
Julie: Are you a Game of Thrones fan? Are you beside yourself with anticipation for the new season to come out next year? (It’s so far away!) In the intervening time let me recommend Vikings. There may not be dragons in the show but there are tons of love triangles, backstabbing and epic battle scenes that fill the current 5 seasons.