Lie to Me

Crime Drama

This show is a hit among AP Psychology students. It was nominated for a Primetime Emmy and was so rudely removed from Netflix before I could finish the first season. The plot follows the job of a professional lie detector and his cases, with some psychology knowledge sprinkled in. Actors on this show include Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs) and Kelli Williams (The Practice). It can be found on both Hulu and Amazon Video, and makes for excellent “review material” for all your AP and Intro to Psychology needs.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

Animated Series

You’ve most certainly heard a reference to this show, whether it be in a meme or a sound effect you’ve heard on YouTube. This show portrays the titular character and the weird situations he winds up in. Although it’s not in English, this animated series has a devoted fanbase and is perfect to watch before or after school. Only five seasons of it have been adapted from the original anthology, but it’ll take more than a week of heavy binge-watching to get through all of it. This show is available on Hulu and features talented voice actors like Unshō Ishizuka (Pokémon) and Daisuke Ono (Black Butler).

Black Mirror

Sci-Fi Anthology

Committing to a show with a set amount of characters can be hard. Black Mirror consists of a revolving cast of characters and a different plot for each episode, although the theme of technology remains the same. If you look hard enough, you might be able to catch a few of the meta-references the Netflix show throws at you. Each episode will leave you wanting more, drawing you in with the siren call of dark existential comedy. It has won and been nominated for a vast amount of awards, even with under 20 total episodes. In 2017, it won two Emmy awards, so you can expect quality.

American Vandal

Mockumentary Series

Netflix’s smash success show about school and suspension, American Vandal, often goes unnoticed by amateur Netflix-goers. The comedic levels of hyperbole balance out the more serious elements of this quasi-crime drama when things get rough for main character Dylan Maxwell. The action follows Dylan and his crew on a quest to prove himself not guilty of defacing several staff cars, with his friends acting as producers and investigators. Comedic talents like Tyler Alvarez (High School Lover) and Jimmy Tatro (22 Jump Street) are just icing on the comedy-drama cake.

Gossip Girl

Teen Drama

If you’re a person who loves getting all up in everyone’s business, this show is definitely the one for you. So what if it’s a bit passé for 2018? Like Pretty Little Liars, this six-season show is based off its original novel series and follows the conundrums surrounding the main characters’ actions and reactions. It’s addicting and the perfect thing to watch at night, when Netflix is unguarded and no one can complain about not being able to watch anything. Actors include Blake Lively (The Shallows) and Leighton Meester (Making History). School drama at C-G is bland and unremarkable, and Gossip Girl can give you the perfect fix of melodrama.

Cops

Docu-series

Bad boys, bad boys, whatchu gonna do? Watch Cops, obviously. With 30 seasons (and more to come), this real life legal drama delves into the world of sex, drugs, violence and arrests. Camera crews follow around police officers on the job and record raw, unscripted action from their interactions with criminals. It’s a great guilty pleasure show, and it can be found on Youtube or the TV channel Spike. It’s a great break from the incessant drone of mid-day talk shows, hospital dramas and judge shows.