QUARAN-STREAMING
Some of the best shows to binge at home while continuing to self-isolate
The coronavirus outbreak has us isolated at home (many of us working), essentially trapped. Movie theatres are shuttered, bars closed, malls a ghost town. Everything’s on pause right now.
But despite most TV productions going on hiatus, there’s still a wealth of television you can stream from the comforts of home:
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM 10 SEASONS (CRAVE)
We could all use a little laugh, right? Larry David plays a fictionalized version of himself, espousing all the things many of us think, but are too embarrassed to say.
THE OUTSIDER
ONE SEASON (CRAVE)
So far this year, my favourite binge has been the small-screen version of Stephen King’s recent twisty supernatural thriller.
The past few years have been a boon for King fans and HBO continues that tradition with a tense, superbly acted reimagining of The Outsider courtesy of crime fiction author Richard Price. Jason Bateman plays Terry Maitland, a man accused of the brutal murder of a young boy, even though he was caught on camera in a different town when the killing occurred.
STAR TREK: PICARD ONE SEASON (CRAVE)
Nearly 20 years after he last played the character in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, Patrick Stewart is back as the venerable Jean-Luc Picard in this new chapter that finds the former Starfleet captain lured out of retirement after a young girl comes to him for help. Plenty of fan favourites from the original Next Generation and Voyager series pop up, including Jonathan Frakes’ Riker and Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine.
WATCHMEN
ONE SEASON (CRAVE)
The 1986 comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons gets a thorough reimagining courtesy of executive producer/writer Damon Lindelof (Lost). Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, the new series embraces the nostalgia of the original, while breaking new ground.
WESTWORLD
THREE SEASONS (CRAVE)
Based on the 1973 film, Westworld is a futuristic thriller that finds humans and synthetics interacting inside an “amusement park.” But once the synths, led by Evan Rachel Wood’s Dolores, realize their life has been a lie, a robot uprising takes them into the great world beyond.
HUNTERS
ONE SEASON (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
Executive produced by Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele and led by legendary Academy Award-winner Al Pacino,
Hunters follows a ruthless band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters, as they’re known, have uncovered a plot by a group of high-ranking Nazi officials to create a Fourth Reich in the U.S.
LOST
SIX SEASONS (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
Tracking the story of a group of survivors stranded on a remote island, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof had me glued to the TV every week with the show’s cliffhangers and time jumps.
Off screen, fans debated theories online about the remaining passengers from Oceanic Flight 815 — were they dead along? It was a show made for binging long before binging became a thing.
JACK RYAN
TWO SEASONS (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
Amazon’s Jack Ryan reboot traces the early rise of the famed hero from data analyst to CIA hero. It’s thoughtful globe-trotting action with John Krasinski starring.
TREADSTONE
ONE SEASON (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)
From the world of Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series, Treadstone is set against the backdrop of the CIA black ops initiative that finds different agents from across the world being woken up and sprung into action.
CHEF’S TABLE
SIX SEASONS (NETFLIX)
Some of the best-known culinary geniuses in the world share personal stories and insights into their most popular dishes in this Emmy-nominated docuseries. Make sure you watch on a full stomach.
THE CROWN
THREE SEASONS (NETFLIX)
If the real-life drama surrounding the royals isn’t enough for you, settle in for this meticulous retelling of the life of Queen Elizabeth II, which follows her early reign all the way up to the late ’70s with Claire Foy and Oscar-winner Olivia Colman taking turns playing Her Majesty.
LOVE IS BLIND
ONE SEASON (NETFLIX)
Netflix’s popular reality-TV dating show revolves around truly blind dates where contestants commit to marrying a partner without ever laying eyes on them.
MINDHUNTER
TWO SEASONS (NETFLIX)
Ripped from real-life FBI case files, Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany play two agents who, along with Anna Torv, probe into the psyches of the most devious U.S. serial killers, including the Son of Sam and Charles Manson.
OZARK
TWO SEASONS (NETFLIX)
Jason Bateman plays a family man who finds himself ensnared in an underworld operation in which he has to launder money for a dangerous drug cartel in a sleepy Missouri resort town. You can binge the first two seasons just in time for season 3, which drops on March 27.
STRANGER THINGS
THREE SEASONS (NETFLIX)
An homage to the ’80s, the sci-fi show, which in its first season centres on a child who goes missing near a top-secret facility, mesmerizingly combines pop culture nostalgia with government conspiracies and spooky drama.
ENCORE!
ONE SEASON (DISNEY+)
Kristen Bell hosts the reality series we all need right now. Encore! reunites former high school musical stars and gives them an opportunity to revisit their original roles years after they first performed them. “This is about real people discovering how to have fun again,” Bell says. We couldn’t have summed it up any better ourselves.
THE MANDALORIAN
ONE SEASON (DISNEY+)
The first live-action Star Wars series follows a lone bounty hunter on the outer reaches of the galaxy five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. As a bonus, viewers just tuning in finally get to see what all the fuss was about regarding fan-favourite Baby Yoda.
FOR ALL MANKIND
ONE SEASON (APPLE TV+)
If you’ve recently purchased an Apple product, good news: You get a year free of Apple TV+. So far, high-profile series like The Morning Show (starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon) and See (Jason Momoa) have hogged the spotlight. But if you’re a fan of alternate history storylines, check out For All Mankind, a delicious reimagining of a world in which the space race never ended.