San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)

TV gems after you’ve binged all else.

- By Rachel Leibrock

It’s an anxietyind­ucing notion: Six months into the pandemic with no end in sight — what if you run out of shows to watch?

Sure there’s a new crop of shows airing this season. But, if you like to hoard backup options for that moment when you finally finish a series (at 2 a.m. on a Wednesday, no judgment), then you know the sense of dread that creeps in as your “to watch” list shortens.

Don’t panic. The universe’s plentiful streaming options mean you’re probably lightyears away from actually hitting that black hole. The following are seven shows you may have missed — ready to binge, just when you think you’ve binged everything.

If you loved ‘Fleabag’

“Crashing”: Before Phoebe WallerBrid­ge became an Emmy sensation for playing a sexy, foulmouthe­d woman facing grief, she created and starred in this 2016 British comedydram­a. The sixepisode series chronicles a group of 20somethin­gs who’ve made an inactive hospital their communal home in exchange for cheap rent. WallerBrid­ge plays Lulu, a childhood friend of Anthony, one of the hospital’s new property guardians. When she decides to join them as a roommate, tensions arise between Lulu, Anthony and his fiancee, Kate. While the show isn’t as deeply moving as “Fleabag,” it nonetheles­s benefits from WallerBrid­ge’s crisp writing and plentiful charms.

Watch: Available to stream

on Netflix.

If you loved ‘Gilmore Girls’

“Better Things”: Pamela Adlon’s raspy voice is perhaps more famous than she is — she won an Emmy award for voicing Bobby Hill on “King of the Hill.” On FX’s “Better Things,” loosely based on her life, Adlon’s convivial humor takes center stage as Sam Fox, a Los Angeles actress trying to further her career while raising three headstrong daughters. Adlon cocreated the show with Louis C.K., but after sexual misconduct allegation­s against C.K. surfaced, she broke creative ties. While the comedian’s name still appears in the credits, the show’s last two seasons (four and five) have evolved, shifting focus to character rather than plot. The result is a bracingly nuanced show brimming with warmth.

Watch: Available to stream on Hulu.

If you loved ‘Broadchurc­h’

“Happy Valley”: With their clifflined seascapes and droll humor, British crime procedural­s remain popular with stateside viewers. If you’ve already burned through the likes of “Broadchurc­h” and “Marcella,” then queue up this show’s first two seasons (a third is reportedly in the works). The BBC One drama stars Sarah Lancashire as Catherine Cawood, a West Yorkshire police sergeant still mourning the death of her teenage daughter, who died by suicide years before. As Catherine, who is raising her daughter’s young son, tries to solve a local kidnapping case, she also must face the man who raped and impregnate­d her daughter. The series, which premiered in 2014, is richly layered with drama, suspense and comic pathos, all of it ably grounded by Lancashire’s spirited grit.

Watch: Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime.

If you loved ‘End of the F***ing World’

“Derry Girls”: Tune into this teen comedy set in 1990s Lon

donderry, Northern Ireland, during the conflict between Catholics and Protestant­s known as the Troubles. The British series follows five best friends as they navigate adolescenc­e against the backdrop of political unrest, bomb scares and strict nuns. The show premiered in 2018, and a third season is on the way. Just a suggestion: Opt for the subtitles; the Irish accents here are porridge thick.

Watch: Available to stream on Netflix.

If you loved ‘Ozark’

“Bloodline”: Set in the Florida Keys, this Netflix thriller features a stellar cast that includes Kyle Chandler (“Friday Night Lights”), Sissy Spacek (“The Big Love"), Ben Mendelsohn (“The Outsider”), Linda Cardellini (“ER”), the late Sam Shepard (“The Right Stuff ”) and Chloë Sevigny (“American Horror Story: Hotel”).

The story centers on the Rayburn family’s oldest son, black sheep Danny Rayburn (Mendelsohn), who returns home to Florida to celebrate the anniversar­y of his parents’ (Spacek and Shepard) seaside hotel. His siblings (Chandler, Cardellini and Norbert Leo Butz) are unhappy with his return, which leads to the messy unraveling of family secrets.

Tense and atmospheri­c — you can practicall­y feel the humidity on your skin — “Bloodline” starts with a shocking murder and works its way backward. The pacing is slow, but that works to its advantage. With three seasons, family dynamics unfold here with painstakin­g detail. Everyone is closeknit and loyal until they’re not. The series’ tagline best sums up the show: “We’re not bad people, but we did a bad thing.”

Watch: Available to stream on Netflix.

If you loved ‘The Killing’

“Hanna”: The chemistry between actors Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman from “The Killing” is intact, even if their character dynamics aren’t (she’s a CIA agent, he’s a rogue CIA recruiter) in “Hanna.” The show’s real focal point, however, is Esme CreedMiles, who captivates as a teenage girl trying to survive as she untangles shocking truths about her past. Based on Joe Wright’s 2011 film by the same name, which starred Saoirse Ronan, this is a riveting thriller and comingofag­e story that should also satisfy fans of “Orphan Black” with its gritty take on what it means to have bodily autonomy. There are two seasons so far with a third on the way.

Watch: Available to stream on Amazon Prime.

If you loved ‘Wild Wild Country’

“The Vow”: Prepare to feel your jaw drop to the floor as you watch this 2020 docuseries. Only a few episodes have aired so far, and you’ll have to wait on the remaining installmen­ts, which drop on Sunday nights. They’re well worth the wait, however. “The Vow” is the story of NXIVM, a Scientolog­yesque “selfimprov­ement” group. On the surface, NXIVM (pronounced “nexium”) seems like just another gardenvari­ety multilevel marketing company, the kind that plays out in midrate hotel conference rooms across the country. At its heart, however, is leader Keith Raniere, a cultlike figure convicted on sex traffickin­g and racketeeri­ng conspiracy charges in 2019, and “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, who pleaded guilty to racketeeri­ng charges in April 2019. With repeated instances of emotional blackmail, enslavemen­t and physical branding, the series examines the way NXIVM destroyed livelihood­s, relationsh­ips — and worse. Part of what makes it so compelling are the countless hours of recorded audio and footage. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, recruited to take NXIVM courses by another member, started documentin­g everything once she started to hear of the abuse. Her resulting work with cofilmmake­r Karim Amer is an engrossing study of how unlikely allegiance­s are built and exploited.

Watch: Available to stream on HBO Max.

 ?? Channel 4 ?? “Derry Girls” is a teen comedy set in 1990s Londonderr­y, Northern Ireland, amid the conflict between Catholics and Protestant­s.
Channel 4 “Derry Girls” is a teen comedy set in 1990s Londonderr­y, Northern Ireland, amid the conflict between Catholics and Protestant­s.
 ?? Pamela Littky / FX ?? “Better Things” follows the travails of Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a Los Angeles actress trying to further her career while raising three headstrong daughters. The show, which Adlon cocreated with Louis C.K., is loosely based on Adlon’s life.
Pamela Littky / FX “Better Things” follows the travails of Sam Fox (Pamela Adlon), a Los Angeles actress trying to further her career while raising three headstrong daughters. The show, which Adlon cocreated with Louis C.K., is loosely based on Adlon’s life.

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