1. The Office

With 9 Seasons of awkward, stress inducing comedy, the office comes in at number 1 on my list. This extremely quotable and relatable series on Netflix has been my go-to show for as long as I can remember. Even though I have gone through the entire series about 100 times, I still find myself looking forward to sitting down and binging 5-10 episodes after classes.

From the rivalry between Dunder Mifflin’s top salesmen, Dwight and Jim, to the extremely inappropriate yet effective antics of the “World’s Best Boss” Michael Scott, the office is a timeless classic that many will miss when it leaves Netflix at the end of this year. However, NBC will be picking up this incredible series on its own streaming service at the beginning of 2021 so there is no need to worry.

For those who have never heard of the office, it can be tough to get into. When I introduced the office to one of my friends, they didn’t understand why Michael Scott was so awkward and intrusive and why Dwight took his job as a paper salesman so seriously. However, after a couple episodes, they finally realized that LITERALLY the entire show is one continuous joke and since then, have gone through the series at least 5 times. If you’re ever looking for a new show to run through, need a good laugh, or want to get a little emotional and shed some tears, the office is the show for you.

2. Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad follows Walter White, a 50-year-old high school chemistry teacher who was recently diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. Missing out on making a fortune from the company he helped create, Gray Matter, Walt resorts to drastic measures in order to pay for his chemo treatments and to help set up his family for the future. Accompanied by his former student, Jesse Pinkman, Walt begins manufacturing methamphetamine in an RV in the middle of a desert in New Mexico.

At the beginning, Walt is a mild-mannered family man with only one goal, bring in as much money as possible to help his family before he goes. While providing for his young family remains his main goal throughout the entire series, Walt slowly becomes less of a mild-mannered family man and transforms into a drug kingpin known as Heisenberg. Having won countless awards for his performance as Walter White and being called one of the most iconic TV characters of all time, Bryan Cranston is by far the star of the show. He will not only play with your head, but your heart as well, whether that be due to his problems with his family down the line or from the times Heisenberg goes out of his way to protect the ones he cares about.

Personally, I could go on and on about this incredible show, but then there would be no need for you to watch it! So, I will leave you with this. With 5 seasons of drama, and meth, infused action, Breaking Bad is one of the greatest shows of all time which is a title it will hold for a very long time. From the slow but steady transition of Walt to Heisenberg to the quotable yet heart throbbing actions of Jesse Pinkman, Breaking Bad is a must watch.

3. Formula 1: Drive to Survive

My final pick for shows on Netflix that you have to watch is Formula 1: Drive to Survive. While there are plenty of other shows that could fill this spot, I believe that this docuseries doesn’t get the credit it deserves. My first two picks were well-known shows that have received endless amounts of praise, but this docuseries on the Formula 1 2018 World Championship needs more attention. Documentaries are already a niche section of Netflix and attaching a sport that not a lot of people know about makes it that much harder to get people interested, so here’s my pitch.

Formula 1 is the peak of motorsport. The cars, drivers, teams, equipment, and sponsors are all the best in the world, and not to hate on NASCAR, but Formula 1 is worlds beyond what any NASCAR team could dream of. In total, there are 10 teams in Formula 1 with two cars and drivers to accompany them. These teams will only spend months developing their cars before competing in 22 Grand Prix races all over the world. The thing that I love the most about Formula 1 is how the race weekend is structured. On Thursday and Friday, the teams break out their cars, set up their paddocks, and begin practicing on the track to test their car and engine setups. Saturday is for Qualifying, which means drivers are pushing their cars to the limit in order to extract milliseconds out of their lap times so they can get as close to the front row as possible. Finally, the day everyone has been waiting for, Sunday; Race day. After the race, teams break down all their equipment and ship off to the next country for the next race.

The Formula 1: Drive to Survive docuseries goes behind the scenes so we can see what it takes to bring this spectacle of motorsport to life. While the first season only features 8 of the teams, excluding Ferrari and Mercedes, Season 2, which is set to come out on February 28th, 2020, will include all 10 teams. If you want to learn about what it takes to set up a Formula 1 team, what goes through the driver’s head before, during, and after races, and what Formula 1 is as a whole, then Formula 1: Drive to Survive is the docuseries for you.

– Eric Mott

American TV vs British TV
Who makes them better?

As a student, it’s pretty common for us to succumb to the stagnation of human movement and sit for hours’ binge watching tv shows (it’s almost a rule of nature). Lately for me it’s a continuous battle whether to watch more British television or more American television.
Maybe I’ve made myself more open to it than others but for me in recent years I find that the quality of TV originating from English broadcasting companies, predominantly BBC, are constantly improving the quality of TV that we’re looking for.

Over the last few years, in majority, American script writers have lacked originality (I’m not saying they’re not of high quality). There has been a burst on the American streamline for everything and anything superhero, although I am a fan to most if not all of them, I do have a keen interest for watching something that is always different and unique. Nearly every network on the American agenda has a current or future development for a superhero television series (Take a look at the CW they have 4 ongoing series at the moment). What essentially seems to be the problem is that America has a stereotype or rather continuous dramatic plot lines. Example – how many takes of detective shows are there? We’ve got CSI, Hawaii Five-0, a few NCIS’, Criminal Minds, Castle, Lucifer … (My brain is spinning thinking of this many already).

Compared this to what’s being broadcast in the UK – for example the long running sci-fi series Doctor Who. It has been running from the 60’s with its revival in 2005 and is going strong since. While initially introduced to educate its audience on astronomy it brings together different creative elements that make it a masterpiece – horror, comedy, drama (who doesn’t love some of it) and the ability to open your mind to endless possibilities of secret civilizations, different worlds while also making its connection to the 21^st century. I can’t think of an American tv show that does this, at least not off the top of my head! (Could argue your case for Supernatural!)

In the past, a few American networks have had countless takes on attempting to remake British TV and introduce it into the US and the failures certainly outweigh the success’.
Obvious failures include Little Britain, Skins, Misfits, The IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners. Very few have proven successfully including Shameless and The Office.

The main reason for this high failure rate (if the fact that America tried to remake Little Britain into “Little Britain USA” wasn’t the first clue) is that humour between the 2 nations are extremely different. Firstly, English humour (similar to Irish humour) embarks on a much more sometimes darker humour than expected, much of the time people take the absolute piss out of each other (translation = people spend much of their time mocking each other) especially to those you dislike but also there’s a tendency to do it to yourself.

If it was obviously apparent from the GIF screenshot, this example of Sherlock backs up my point – and also, who played Sherlock better: Robert Downey Jr vs Benedict Cumberbatch? Obviously goes to Benedict Cumberbatch. The first mistake you’ve already made is if you’re aware of this incredible show and have put it on the back-burner (Please fix that immediately)

I also feel like “foul” language or cursing doesn’t seem appropriate for American shows – as I’ve come to know them as Cable and Network channels with Cable TV allowing for it up to a certain level. English TV, depending on the culture that is being depicted, the characters, and the overall form of the TV show you could have every character cursing maybe a dozen times in just one sentence (probably the reason why Misfits USA never went ahead)
I’m only rejoicing to the fact that America haven’t tried to disrupt the long-running sci-fi Doctor Who. Can’t imagine that being successful!

I think the most obvious way to describe the change in humour is comparing the two primary characters of the US Office, one of the successful remakes, and the UK Office – Michael Scott a more exuberant character who could still be childish compared to David Brent’s dark and narcissistic character.

In my opinion anyway, I do feel that the quality of tv and script writing in the UK market definitely trumps over the American market (probably because I’m Irish and I understand both extremely well while some American’s wouldn’t understand the writing or have a hard grasp on the accent). I also think that the repetitious storylines don’t help – but who knows? The market seemed to have moved away from teen drama/comedies (Dawson’s Creek / The OC / One Tree Hill / Gossip Girl etc.) from the early 2000’s to dominating superhero’s in 2016. Maybe something new will come in the not so distant future?!

Tag: netflix

3 Shows on Netflix That You Have to Watch

1. The Office

2. Breaking Bad

3. Formula 1: Drive to Survive

33 Above Average Netflix Shows