Hiya!

If I were to mention a silver lining to the whole social distancing and self-quarantining most of the world has been having to deal with, it’s that I have finally watched a lot of the stuff I haven’t been able to watch. I’m already all done with Breaking Bad and all caught up with Better Call Saul. Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and, yes, even Iron Fist, have all been dealt with as well. I’m also done with The Umbrella Academy, Stranger Things, Jack Ryan and Lucifer as well. Yet, even with all of that, there are still a plethora of high profile shows like Russian Doll, Orange is the New Black, GLOW, The Witcher and many more that’s still on my playlist.

I’ll get to them eventually and maybe even do a review of a couple of them during this self-quarantine business. However, right now, I would like to talk about the other shows that don’t have the spotlight on them for one reason or another. Maybe they’re too old or there just isn’t enough chatter about them. I did watch them along with the shows I’ve mentioned above. In fact, I have watched some of them before but, since I have lot of time on my hands nowadays, I went off to watch them again and they still hold up!

So, if you’ve run out of the high profile shows for binge watching, here are five shows you might be interested because I fully approve of them!

Good Omens (Amazon Prime)

To steal a line from the review of the show: It’s the end of the world. But something goes horribly wrong…

The premise of the show has an angel and a demon who, upon learning that Armageddon is about to happen, team up to stop it because they like their lives on Earth. The premise right there is already deliciously fun and intriguing but that’s not the only story. There are plenty of side stories and characters that are just a pleasure to watch.

Of course, the biggest scene stealers are David Tennant as Crowley (the demon) and Michael Sheen as Aziraphale (the angel). Both their performances are just spot on in characterization! Good Omens is worth a watch just to see them in those perfectly casted roles!

Being only 6 episodes long, Good Omens is available only on Amazon Prime and is a show that’s super easy to binge watch but those 6 episodes are just glorious.

Cobra Kai (YouTube Original)

I knew it! I knew it was an illegal kick!

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Karate Kid movies. I did watch them when I was much younger and I thought they were fun. However, the movies do kind of pale in comparison to Cobra Kai, a series that explores the lives of the characters from the films in present times… but with a focus on Johnny Lawrence, the “bad guy” from the first film.

The idea to tell the story, not of the hero of the movies but the antagonist, is a very interesting twist as it shows Johnny in a better light. He’s now down on his luck and blames Daniel Laruso for his troubles after losing in the tournament all those years ago “from an illegal kick to the head.” The weird thing is that neither Johnny nor Daniel are portrayed as the bad guy, which is really smart.

There are currently 2 seasons of Cobra Kai, with 10 episodes per season. It’s a YouTube exclusive but you either need to buy each episode or subscribe to the service. A 3rd season is planned but, with the entire lockdown situation, it’s hard to say when it’ll be released. So better watch both seasons now before it does!

American Vandal (Netflix)

Proof that all crime documentaries do not have to be all about serial murderers.

American Vandal is a spoof on crime documentaries we see today in the fact that the tone is overly serious yet the perpetrated crime is very silly. It’s an over the top parody on those shows yet, even if that is the case, there’s just something about the presentation that grabs you. There are an angle in each episode and there is even some legitimate detective work that feels organic, which is a testament to how good the writing really is.

It may be played as a joke but the actual mystery and trying to figure out who did the crime for the season was the main thing that got me hooked. I really wanted to see who did it! It certainly helped that each episode ended in a weird cliffhanger when something was just about to be revealed. This led me to just stick around for “just one more episode.” Before I knew it, I finished a whole season in one sitting!

American Vandal only lasted for 16 episodes spread across 2 seasons. Netflix sadly cancelled the series, which is such as shame because it was really a fun show!

Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (DC Universe and YouTube and dailymotion)

The only Justice League you should care about.

I have watched every episode of Justice League Unlimited much later in my life and I loved them. Even then, I really wanted to see the original Justice League animated show and I did manage to finally watch that show as well. Now, as someone who didn’t grow up watching the shows, I have no nostalgic love for them. Seeing them as a grown adult, however, I can say that both Justice League and Justice League Unlimited are superb shows.

While both Justice League and Justice League Unlimited share the same continuity and timeline, they are different beasts. The first incarnation was focused on telling longer, more well developed stories while the second were more one shot episodes. Justice League only featured Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter and The Flash. Justice League Unlimited shined the spotlight on the more lessen known heroes. Yet, even if they had different focuses, they are still fantastic superhero tales that can be enjoyed by all ages.

All-in-all, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited encompassed 91 episodes throughout 5 seasons. You can watch them on DC Universe… but, if you’re like me, you have to be ultra sneaky and find that rogue YouTube channel or dailymotion uploader who managed to sneak it though the copyright machine.

You can only blame yourself DC Universe for not having the service available in the Philippines!

Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra (Netflix and CBS All Access and YouTube and dailymotion)

Thank God they never made a live-action film based on any of these, right? Right?

I was incredibly late to the entire Avatar and Legend of Korra craze. I definitely remedied that over the past couple of days and, wow! I am so glad I watched these shows. Avatar is definitely a fantastic show but Legend of Korra is no slouch. Aang’s story is more epic as it’s basically all about him and his final destiny to take on the leader of the Fire Nation as the Avatar. Legend of Korra takes place after the events of the previous show and is about the next Avatar, a girl named Korra. The show does have a flowing timeline but is less focused as it’s more of a “big bad” for the season. That’s not a bad thing but it does make it feel not as big.

Even with that nitpick, both Avatar and Legend of Korra do compliment each other as it is part of one universe. The animation is brilliant and, despite it being a cartoon, the story is very involved and more adult than your typical animated program. The action is good and the worlds they inhabit have a definite style to it. The characters are all likable that you can’t help but feel involved with their struggles. Oh, and SPOILERS! Korra ends up with the person I wanted! The mere fact they did this was a super gutsy move and I applaud the writers for taking a huge risk.

Avatar: The Last Airbender ran for 3 seasons with 61 episodes while The Legend of Korra had 4 seasons and 52 episodes. In total, that would make a whopping 113 episodes to watch! Even so, I would recommend these shows even if you could go out! You can search for them on Netflix or CBS All Access… but you can also be sneaky and get all of them on YouTube and dailymotion as well. Wink, wink!

BONUS: Angry Video Game Nerd (YouTube)

He’s the angriest gamer you’ve ever heard…

The reason why this is a bonus is because I know there are going to be some people who don’t care for the Angry Video Game Nerd’s kind of humor but he’s been on YouTube for more than a decade and he’s made a ton of videos already. The Nerd himself, James Rolfe, has done many more things but The Angry Video Game Nerd is still his most popular series. If you like video games and people getting mad at bad video games, you owe it to yourself to watch the entire series.

With a total of 178 videos (!) and counting, it’s a super long series but each episode’s length does vary from super short (around 3-5 minutes) to sitcom length (around 20 minutes), they are very binge watchable and can be viewed in any order. Oh, and there’s the movie as well. You might wanna give that a watch!

Byee!

What are some of the lesser known series that you’ve binge watched lately that you thoroughly approve to watch? Let me know what they are in the comments section below!