With summer just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to start binging a TV show. Throughout the school year, many teenagers around the world are working long days, with little time to sit down and start watching the perfect series. Now that summer has officially started and binging season has begun, here are our top seven shows to start your summer.
No. 7: Outerbanks
Outerbanks is an emotional roller coaster: painful, yes; gut-wrenching, yes; clever, sometimes; and, of course, it has its fair share of love triangles. Is the constant competition over Kiara (Madison Bailey) and Sarah (Madelyn Cline) necessary? Probably not, but it does create tension between our favorite Pogues. Each character has a completely different personality, allowing all kinds of people to connect with the show.
The fight between the Pogues, working-class locals, and the Kooks, rich vacationers, drives the conflict within the show. Fantastical adventures give this average group of kids a different kind of story. From sunken ships to hidden gold, every episode brings a new problem for the Pogues to tackle.
Outerbanks will keep you on the edge of your seat. You never fully understand what is happening, but it keeps you along for the ride. Is a driving factor to watch this, the hot blonde, JJ (Rudy Pankow)? Probably, but the emotional pull towards the rest of the characters will keep you around for the four seasons. Will we ever know what the Pogues are really doing or where they’ll end up? No. Will we keep rooting for them to have their happy endings? Yes.
No. 6: Friday Night Lights
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose. Dillon’s favorite football team has made the cut as a must-watch. Although this sports drama has been around for 20 years, Friday Night Lights continues to engage viewers with heartfelt scenes and lovable characters. This show goes deeper than football, exploring poverty, racism, substance abuse, and so much more, but football is definitely the glue that keeps the town of Dillon, Texas, together. Throughout the show, a makeshift family starts to form, one that viewers can’t help but love and root for.
The casting of the show is another highlight, with truly gut-wrenching scenes and acting. Viewers can’t help but shed a tear when their favorite character hits a rough patch. The true shining star of the cast is Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch), the alcoholic, brooding bad boy, with a heart of gold and striking good looks.
While Friday Night Lights spans five seasons, each new part has a slightly altered story line that’s still connected to the main theme of football and community. Although, watch out for season two because throughout filming there was an industry wide writers strike, and the show’s plot gets turned upside down. Be ready for an unexpected murder trope and unlikely Mexican medicines. But once you push through that season, the rest of the show is very worth it.
No. 5: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Filled with laughter, crime, and romance, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a top contender when choosing a new bingeable show. Brooklyn Nine-Nine follows a chaotic squad of detectives, with very different personalities and qualities. First, there’s Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), the immature cop that loves to challenge his colleague Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero). Amy is the complete opposite of Jake, she is put together, organized, and constantly trying to win Captain Holt’s (Andre Braugher) approval. Captain Holt is the leader of the squad and very serious like Amy; however he also has a fun side that Jake brings out in him. These are just a few of the many Brooklyn Nine-Nine characters, and together the entire cast makes for a hilarious sitcom.
However this show isn’t all jokes, there are also a few high intensity action-sequences that make you root for this squad of detectives even more. But let’s be honest, this show is mainly focused on the hilarious things that happen around the station. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is extremely funny with lovable characters and excellent humor.
No. 4: Schitts Creek
Schitt’s Creek is another classic family comedy, following the Roses, a family that just lost their fortune and now must move to a tiny, middle of nowhere town they bought as a joke. Living in this town, the Roses have to figure out their relationship with the quirky local residents. Filmed and set in Ontario, Canada this show brings Canadian spirit especially because the two main characters David (Dan Levy) and Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) are Canadian.
Going from their glamorous mega-mansion in Los Angeles to sharing two rooms in a rundown motel in Schitt’s Creek was definitely not on the Roses’ bucket list. They struggle with the loss of all their prized and ridiculously expensive possessions, and of their life of luxury. Over the course of six seasons, the family works to adjust to their new life in their small, run-down town, with various jobs, groups and business endeavors. This life of normalcy doesn’t fit the Roses quite right and each attempt to assimilate brings the audience to tears of laughter. From the Jazz-a-gals, Moira’s choir, to Rose Apothecaries, David’s business, the Roses’ lives are anything but ordinary.
No. 3: Off Campus
The new “Conrad Fisher” has just graced our screens. Off Campus is Prime Video’s newest book adaptation of “The Deal” and it did not disappoint. Following a group of best friends, who just happen to be swoonworthy hockey players, Elle Kennedy’s hit book series has delighted viewers and taken over the media. With alluring characters, a fake-dating trope, and simmering tension, this show is definitely worth binge watching.
The story initially follows Hannah Wells (Ella Bright) a nerdy, musical junior at Briar University. Hannah’s life has been anything but easy, and problems with her musical scholarship are constantly on her mind. So when Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), the star player of Briar University’s hockey team, asks her to tutor him, she initially refuses. Desperate to pass his class, Garrett makes a deal to fake-date Hannah; in exchange for tutoring, Garrett will help Hannah get her crush’s attention. What they don’t know is that, in the end, they will both fall head over heels in love. With whom? Well, you’ll have to watch Off Campus to find out.
Throughout the show there is sneaking around, yearning from afar, and a minuscule amount of hockey. Off Campus’ soundtrack is incredibly versatile and viewers will keep listening to it even after finishing the show. Off Campus is a must-watch and perfect bingeworthy show for people who love hockey romances and hidden relationships, but beware there is a fair share of suggestive scenes and cringeworthy moments.
No. 2: Grey’s Anatomy
One of, if not the most famous medical dramas of our generation, Grey’s Anatomy is an absolute must watch for the summer. While the debate of McSteamy or McDreamy has spanned two decades, new Grey’s Anatomy seasons are continuously produced, with new characters and cases. While some people think that producers have extended the show too much, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital will never stop working, and new episodes are always in progress.
Different emergency or medical cases keep Grey Sloan employees busy, ensuring there is never a dull moment in the hospital. The show wouldn’t be the same without the iconic Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her posse of other surgical staff. While many of the early characters have now left the show, new individuals are always arriving and viewers can look forward to many old cast guest appearances. Although the show can have some unrealistic aspects, like a mass shooting one day and a plane crash the next, Grey’s Anatomy continues to entertain viewers and remains one of the best binge-worthy shows to date.
No. 1: Modern Family
Modern Family is the perfect take on a modern sitcom, with 11 total seasons, a catchy intro and laughable family dynamics. Modern Family is a mockumentary style show that follows one big extended family and their interrelated lives.
This show follows 3 families: The Pritchett’s, the Dunphy’s, and the Tucker-Pritchett’s. Within each family there are different cliches and complex situations they must navigate every episode. Throughout the first season, there are many new firsts for the characters, including Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) adopting their daughter, Jay (Ed O’Neil) and Gloria (Sofía Vergara) adjusting to marriage, and Claire (Julie Bowen) and Phil (Ty Burell) trying to handle their three rowdy kids.
All 11 seasons are highly humorous and many of the episodes will make you roll on the floor laughing. Critics also highly praise the show with 22 Emmy awards. With the amount of seasons, rating, and humor of this show, it is the perfect binging show for summer. Modern Family shows everyday family relationships, it’s a classic comedy and should be your next must watch TV show.
