COMON Network

By Austin Shaw

Ah the holidays. The most wonderful time of the year. But it’s 2020 and we’re stuck inside more now than ever. So why not binge some television that you probably haven’t seen before? Here is my list of the top 5 shows I think you should binge over the holidays.

But before I begin… if you have not watched: The Office, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, or Stranger Things, stop what you’re doing. Go and watch those five now.

Number 5: Big Mouth (Netflix)

Do you miss middle school? Probably not. But if you want to relive it through cartoon characters and laugh your ass off the whole time – this is the show. This show isn’t just dirty humor that guys will laugh at. This show is full of wit and although it is a cartoon, it has a realistic take on going through puberty for both boys and girls. It’s also ridiculous and hilarious. Each kid has a “hormone monster” that talks to them and is basically the kids’ subconscious during puberty. Give this one a chance, it’s seriously laugh out loud funny.

Season 4 just came out December 4th.

Number 4: Dawson’s Creek (Netflix)

No, our Kyle Dawson is not the star of this late 90’s TV show. Thank God right? KD would just be like, “I suppose” and “I don’t hate that” or “Loved” every time you ask or tell him something (love ya Dawson). Anyways, I just started watching this one. I’m a big James Van Der Beek fan because Varsity Blues is the best football movie of all time in my opinion. He plays a very witty, fortunate, aspiring film maker. He’s obsessed with Steven Spielberg and knows everything about film. If you know Jake Kaylor, he would probably point out every problem in this show.

Dawson’s Creek takes place in a made-up town in Massachusetts. It follows the lives of four friends throughout high school. Dawson and his best friend Joey (the girl on the right in the picture up top) have spent every waking moment together. But now they’re grown up so you can guess where that is going. Jen is the new girl from New York City. Oh and Pacey, Dawson’s other best friend, he has a thing for his teacher. Buckle up.

Number 3: BoJack Horseman (Netflix)

I have been telling people to watch this show for years now. This show changed my life. It changed my philosophy about a lot of things. This show is deep, dark and real. It follows a horse (yeah a horse get over it) that was on a famous TV show in the 80s. Now he’s old washed up and a real rich asshole, even though he lets loser Todd (Aaron Paul) live on his couch. You get to see him grow and how other people point out his flaws. You also get to see why he is the way he is and it really focuses on the effects of experiencing hardship during ones childhood and adolescence.

I swear by this show. I tried watching it once when I was younger and couldn’t get into it. I gave it a second chance and I am so glad that I did. This is one of the most under-rated and under-watched shows on Netflix. The series finale just aired in January 2020 so the show is finished. It has one of the most beautiful and real endings I’ve ever seen. Please give this show a chance.

Number 2: Cheers (Hulu)

“Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.”

Cheers is my favorite sitcom of all time. Better than The Office. Yeah, I said it. If you have no idea what Cheers is, imagine The Office in a bar in the 80s. Except the Michael Scott of the show isn’t a weird branch manager, but rather a drunk, ex-MLB pitcher, and bachelor named Sam Malone who is played by legend Ted Danson. Spoiler Alert (not really), Ted Danson doesn’t walk-out on the show during the sixth season.

It wasn’t until I binged The Office a few times over that I finally gave Cheers a shot. Man am I glad I did. The Network’s Donny and Joe just watched the show over the past year or two. If you’ve seen Cheers, you know Coach. Well, Joe Smeltzer actually played Coach in his previous life. Oh and Norm, that’s Donny. Seriously, when Donny was born the whole room screamed “NORM!” But his parents went another direction with his name.

I seriously love this show. Most bars are closed right now anyways so why not live vicariously through Cheers? You won’t regret going to a place where everyone knows your name.

Number 1: Vikings (Hulu)/(Prime Video)

Vikings gets the number one spot for a few reasons. First, it is phenomenal. It follows the story of Ragnar Lothbrok and his rise to becoming one of the most famous Vikings of all time. It reminds me of House of Cards in a sense because of the way Ragnar rises to the top. Ragnar is a very compelling character and later in the series we see the story of his sons. Which leads to another reason why this is my number one on my list, the final season is about to air on Amazon Prime Video starting on December 30th. If you can really sit down and binge it, you can catch up before the end. That’s what I did with GoT. It took me about a month. Vikings is like GoT except it’s less fantasy and historical. Ragnar and his sons are real figures in history; Ranger, Bjorn Ironside, Sigurd Snake in the Eye, Ivar the Boneless, Hvisterk and Ubbe.

This show is truly amazing. In senior AP English, my teacher even showed us clips from it because of the true mastery in the writing, acting, and story. I’ve watched Vikings from the beginning and recently rewatched it and caught back up. They set it up to be one hell of a final season. I’m ready for Valhalla.

SKOL!