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If you’re looking for some fun-filled entertainment during the opening days of spring, you can play board games with your family, enjoy Intertops casino no deposit bonus online casino gaming events or flip on a series for some binge-watching. Today the majority of American homes have streaming services. That means that, when it’s time to sit down and chill in front of the screen, you have your choice of watching reruns of old favorite TV shows or any of the new streaming releases.
Most people are most familiar with Netflix but there are other streaming service options including Amazon Prime, Sling, Acorn, YouTube TV, HBO Now, CBS Access, Disney Plus, and others. All of these services stream old shows and movies as well as their own made-for-their-service content. Some of the content is mediocre but much of it is as good as anything that you’d find produced by a major film studio or a long-running TV network.
Some of the best streaming programming in 2020 includes:
“The Crown”
Netflix’s “The Crown” continues to head the list as one of the best produced, best acted, and best-written series on streaming TV. The series follows the life of Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch who ascended the throne after her father’s passing in the post-WWII era. Elizabeth navigates her traditional role as England’s monarch in a time when the monarchy had ceded most of its power and held no real governmental authority. Yet Elizabeth remains, to this day, one of the most important heads of state in the world.
The Netflix series is now in its 4th season. Each season focused on a different period in the Queen’s reign with all of the political, social and personal events that have made the Queen the world leader that she is today.
“Arrested Development”
If you haven’t see the cult classic “Arrested Development,” it’s time to see what everyone else has been talking about. The series revolves around the Bluths, a wealthy family full of sociopaths and fools who lose their wealth after patriarch George goes to jail. Through the five seasons of the show, son Michael has been trying to keep the family together and keep the business running through snappy dialog and clever jokes.
“Never Have I Ever”
“Never Have I Ever” is a new teen dramedy on Netflix that centers on Devi, a young girl who is coping with her father’s sudden death and a bout of paralysis. After her dad’s sudden death and a brief period of paralysis, Devi struggles to navigate school, her family, friendships and her budding interest in boys. Never Have I Ever brushes over Devi’s Indian-American experience which is a backdrop to her other challenges which include the traditional perils of high school like teen romance, high school popularity, and grief. It’s moving and fun-filled journey through Adolescense. Mindy Kaling gives viewers a forget-your-troubles adventure just when it’s most needed.
“Hollywood”
“Hollywood” is about…Hollywood. No surprise. The Ryan Murphy drama centers on Hollywood’s Golden Age, a period following World War II when aspiring actors, actresses and filmmakers will do anything to make their dreams come true. The Netflix series takes a look at the seediness and grime that often accompanies glamor through focusing on a group of people who must maneuver their way through biases, entrenched power and dilemmas about how to challenge that power. Throughout the episodes the protagonists examine the Hollywood dynamics and consider if and how the Hollywood landscape might be dismantled.
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt:” Kimmy vs. the Reverend
This is a Netflix “interactive project” in which viewers follow Kimmy as she plans her wedding to a British prince. Kimmy finds herself investigating a mysterious book that raises the question of whether the Reverend has been hiding women. Critics give the show high marks for creative one-liners and with the option that viewers have to take the show in one of multiple directions. It’s the perfect show to watch for a good laugh and some lighthearted fun.
“Star Trek: Picard”
Trekkies won’t want to miss the latest in the “Star Trek” franchise which is set 20 years after “Star Trek: Nemesis.” Patrick Stewart returns as Picard who is now retired. Picard is still troubled by the destruction of Romulus and the death of his friend Data. There are 10 new episodes in this series on CBS All Access and another two seasons have already been confirmed.
“Mandalorian”
Disney Plus’s debit as a streaming channel is off to a good start with Mandalorian, the first live-action space western in the Star Wars franchise. The setting is 25 years prior to The Force Awakens and 5 years after Return of the Jedi. The series follows Din Djarin, a gunfighter from Mandalorian who is traveling in the outer reaches of the galaxy, out of the clutches of the New Republic. The first series has 8 episodes and if all moves forward, the 2nd season will debut in October 2020.
“Sex Education”
The general image of teen + high school + sex is that the kids are having plenty of it and enjoying themselves thoroughly. Sex Education on Netflix dispels some of those ideas. Sure, sex is on everyone’s mind but the same hang-ups that plagued previous generations are, to no one’s great surprise, still at play in 2020. The teens continue to grapple with sexuality as well as how, how much, with whom, and when they should get down. The silly (but VERY bawdy) comedy centers around Maeve and Otis who go into business teaching their peers about how to navigate the emotionally perilous adventure of sex.
“New Girl”
Jess moves into a LA loft with 3 guys that she’s met online. The four new friends embark on adventure that are familiar to all thirtysomethings including maturing relationships and career choices through the portrayals of emotionally driven, realistic characters.
