It’s been almost a decade since Netflix revolutionized how we watch and talk about TV. They started by obtaining rights to an extensive archive of classic TV shows, including Friends, Lost, and The Office, just to name a few. And boy, did they launch their original content off with a bang; House of Cards, followed by Orange is the New Black. Binge-watching was born by releasing the whole season simultaneously (also seasons of fewer episodes than we were accustomed to on network and cable TV). And they embraced the world. Netflix has singlehandedly made people realize that subtitles are not that scary. I’ve enjoyed watching Russian, Danish, Swedish, Spanish, French, Israeli, German, Icelandic, and South Korean programming (and I know I’m not alone in being tempted to turn on the subtitles for the Brit shows).
A lot can change in a decade, however. A business model that relies on adding millions of new subscribers every month has reached its capacity. They are losing subscribers and relying more and more on their huge series like Stranger Things and The Crown. Numerous other streaming options are available now that are overwhelming TV watchers with choices. Company stock plunged and thousands of employees were laid off. They are creating more and more content and frequently canceling programs after a season or two. Quantity has displaced quality. And the days of commercial-free programming have come to an end. Some people seem to be enjoying Netflix’s free fall. So, maybe it’s a good time to remember and reflect on Netflix’s exceptional shows by reviewing Rolling Stone’s recent top 20 best-of list (we’ve had some fun with Rolling Stone’s lists before, Rolling Stone’s Updated 100 Greatest Songs of All Time: Less Rock, More Hip-Hop), For, as RS says, “when the streamer’s shows are good, they’re very good.”
20. Sex Education: This would be higher on my list. I love it – see previous post Sex Education: Netflix’s Fun and Raunchy Ode to Teen Sex…and So Much More
19. The Haunting of Hill House: I’ve never seen this popular horror show.
18. The Baby-Sitters Club: A cute 25-minute program about middle-school girls who start a babysitting business. This is one of those examples of early cancelations: just two seasons of eight/ten episodes.
17. Stranger Things: This blockbuster has to be on any top-Netflix list. The show has hit an awkward stage in later seasons, mirroring those of its aging teenage cast. I was pleasantly surprised with season four, however, and will be watching the final season when it finally airs.
16. Lady Dynamite: A journey through life with bipolar disorder. I’m not familiar with this show.
15. The Crown: This would be top five for me. Just look at the cast. It’s a fascinating look under the covers of the royal family as they navigate crisis situations amidst their suffocating family obligations.
14. Dear White People: Another one I’m not familiar with. The four-season series, adapted from the movie, follows some Black students at a mostly white Ivy League college.
13. Squid Game: I was unsure at first about watching this, but so glad I did. It’s an enthralling dystopian nightmare centered around financially desperate people playing childhood games. It’s a winner-take-all contest; the winner gets billions of dollars and everyone else dies. The “Pink Soldiers” theme song is haunting and unforgettable. So, is the music that plays each time a new game begins. Johann Strauss’ “Blue Danube” will forever hence give me the chills.
12. When They See Us: I haven’t watched this powerful dramatization by Ana DuVernay of the wrongful conviction of the Central Park Five.
11. Mindhunter: An avid TV watcher friend of mine highly recommended this and I still haven’t gotten to it. FBI agents criminally profile serial killers.
10. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: This Tina Fey and Robert Carlock creation starred Ellie Kemper (The Office) as a young woman rescued from a doomsday cult’s underground bunker. I thought it was funny-weird for a couple seasons+ but the humor became too silly for me.
9. One Day at a Time: This reboot of the beloved original (Bonnie Franklin, Valerie Bertinelli, and Mackenzie Phillips) is reimagined as a single Cuban-American woman raising two kids with help from the family matriarch (Rita Moreno).
8. Unbelievable: Merritt Wever (Nurse Jackie) and Toni Collette (Hereditary) star as detectives on the trail of a serial rapist. Kaitlyn Dever (Last Man Standing) is the rapist victim unbelievably charged with lying to the police about it. This was a one-season miniseries of crime drama at its best.
7. Master of None: Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation) wrote, directed and starred in this series about love, friends, and family in NYC (for the first two seasons; season three had a new premise and lead.)
6. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson: I’ve never heard of this one. A sketch-comedy with “indelible, explosive bits.”
5. Big Mouth: Another new one to me. A graphic animated show “about middle schoolers that probably shouldn’t be watched by middle schoolers.”
4. American Vandal: I’m going to check this one out. A spoof of true-crime shows about two high schoolers investigating the antics of their classmates on campus.
3. Russian Doll: Natasha Lyonne (Orange is the New Black) co-created and steals the show as Nadia; a young woman cursed to die and be reborn again and again on her 36th birthday. That’s the can’t-miss first season. The second season was not as enjoyable for me as she time travels into her mother’s and grandmother’s lives. RS calls the second season “messier but still delightful.”
2. Orange is the New Black: Glad to see this high on the list. It would probably be # 1 for me. A gripping story about life in a women’s prison with a never-ending cast of superb, diverse characters. It was a big bite at seven seasons of 13 one-hour episodes, but the series was a grand announcement to the landscape of television that a new level of entertainment had begun.
1. Bojack Horseman: This is not the only best-of list where the animated Bojack series takes the top spot. I don’t get it. My wife and I started watching it recently but gave up after a few episodes. Will Arnett (Arrested Development) is the horseman in a world where people live side by side with anthropomorphic animals. It had its moments, but I must be missing something.
Ok, my turn to critique someone else’s list. First, Where’s Ozark…House of Cards, …and The Queen’s Gambit?! Those would be high on my list. Other worthy shows include Maid, Grace and Frankie, Bodyguard, Never Have I Ever, You, Money Heist, Dark, and Black Mirror. Or Narcos, Midnight Mass, Borgen, Peaky Blinders, or Wednesday?
Netflix is on its own. They don’t have brands, products, services, or television studios like their streaming competitors have to fall back on. But with their television trove it’s way too early to call for Netflix’s demise. It’s a good bet that they’ll make more shows that everyone will be talking about.