Shows to binge watch

TV Series

1. Stranger Things

Year: 2022
Creator: The Duffer Brothers
Stars: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Rating: TV-MA

Stranger Things Season 4 came back with huge ambition and cinematic visuals that continue to elevate the overall scale and scope of the series. There’s perhaps an overabundance of ’80s horror nostalgia, but that doesn’t negate the genuine scares and the appreciated push towards a more mature tone for the year. But in trying to give everyone in the extra large ensemble a worthy storyline, the middle episodes of Vol. I get bloated and stalls the momentum coming out of the fourth episode. Luckily, the writing and directing gets more focused and picks up the pace again in the last two episodes, with some major reveals, unexpected twists and a cliffhanger that had fans return en masse for the July 1 conclusion. —Tara Bennett.

2. The Umbrella Academy

Creators: Steve Blackman, Jeremy Slater
Stars: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Mary J. Blige, Cameron Britton
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: TV-MA

As a fan of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s comic book, I was a little skeptical of Netflix’s adaptation of The Umbrella Academy. I assumed it’d flatten out the comic’s esoteric edges in an attempt to make it more like other superhero shows. The first episode almost immediately calms those fears, though, revealing a series as weird and idiosyncratic as the comic. Imagine if Wes Anderson directed a Grant Morrison adaptation, complete with a mansion-spanning sad-superhero dance break to Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now.”. —Garrett Martin

3. The Unxplained with William Shatner

Year: 2022
Stars: William Shatner
Genre: Docuseries
Rating: TV-14

William Shatner hosts this 10-part docuseries examining everything from prophesy to the afterlife.

4. Pirate Gold of Adak Island

Genre: Documentary
Rating: TV-14

Treasure hunters—including the Mayor of Adak—head to a remote Alaskan island in search of a secret burial site of a pirate named Gregory Swargstof, wary of booby traps, in this eight-part docuseries.

5. The Upshaws

Creator: Regina Y. Hicks, Wanda Sykes
Stars:: Mike Epps, Wanda Sykes, Kim Fields, Page Kennedy, Diamond Lyons
Genre: Sitcom
Rating: TV-14

Netflix has emerged as one of the big platforms for specials filling the void left by Comedy Central’s shifting priorities. Swimming in their sea of original shows is The Upshaws featuring Mike Epps and Wanda Sykes. The comedians star in this traditional family sitcom about a working-class, African American family in Indiana with a struggling auto garage business. Unlike some comedians, Sykes and Epps are no strangers to TV, having played regular and recurring characters in a plethora of sitcoms. —Olivia Cathcart