New Year’s Eve typically conjures images of colorful party hats and confetti, champagne bottles popping, and drunken revelers crowded in tight places like Times Square or a suburban living room. But the festive holiday can be more than just that; it can also be enjoyed in the comfort of your home, apartment, or dorm room.
Thanks to Netflix, New Year’s Eve can be celebrated in many ways via its voluminous library that features movies, games (you can play Grand Theft Auto 3!), or TV series. It’s the latter we’re focusing on, and this list will highlight three exceptional TV shows that are worth checking out as you countdown to midnight on December 31.
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The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)
NetflixI’m recommending The Fall of the House of Usher, but really, this could be any Mike Flanagan Netflix show. From The Haunting of Hill House to The Midnight Club, Flanagan has rightly earned a reputation as a modern master of horror, and his latest, a brilliant remaking of an old Edgar Allen Poe, is right up there with his best work.
The show chronicles the gradual decline of the Ushers, a rich and powerful family who made their millions by producing, distributing, and marketing addictive drugs to an unsuspecting public. In the middle of a high-profile trial, a mysterious stranger appears and begins to pick them off one by one. Who is she? And why does she appear to have supernatural powers? The Fall of the House of Usher answers all these questions but does so with a satirical bite and visual flourish that makes it ideal for binging late into the night.
Seinfeld (1990-1998)
I’m a bit biased in recommending Seinfeld since I think it’s the best sitcom ever made. But there’s a reason why it’s a classic — its humor has defined modern comedy as we know it, and it’s shaped the way we think, act, and talk about all aspects of life, from masturbation (“Are you the master of your domain?”) to bad dates (“He took it out.”) to sexuality (“Not that there’s anything wrong with it!”).
Besides, who wouldn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer? They are terrible people who secretly say and do what we think and desire on a daily basis. If you’re looking for some episodes to binge, try season 3’s The Library, season 4’s The Movie and The Implant, season 5’s The Stall and The Dinner Party, season 6’s The Kiss Hello, and season 7’s The Wink. As long as you avoid season 1 entirely and skip through the back half of season 9, you really can’t go wrong with any Seinfeld episode.
Bodies (2023)
Bodies is worth watching just for the premise alone. In 2023, a detective finds a dead body, completely nude, in dirty Whitechapel street right in the heart of London. What makes this particular murder unusual is that this body has been discovered before … in 1890 … and in 1941 … and will be discovered again in 2053. What the heck is going on?
I wouldn’t dream of spoiling it for you, but suffice it to say, Bodies unfolds methodically and beautifully, never once making a false step. Even though it garnered a sizable viewership when it premiered last October, Bodies still isn’t talked about as much as it deserves to be. It’s an engrossing thriller, and it’s the rare mystery series that sticks the ending.
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