One of the goals of all streaming services, and especially Netflix, is to make you feel like you have endless choices of things to watch on the streamer. Whether you’re looking for a great drama, a fun comedy, or a gripping reality show, the streamer wants you to feel like it’s got you covered, and it does have plenty of great shows worth checking out.
If you’re spending your weekend combing through the service looking for something to watch, though, you’re not actually spending as much time watching great content. We’ve got you covered if you need some recommendations. These three underrated gems are perfect for your weekend viewing.
Bodyguard (2018)
Telling the story of a bodyguard assigned to a right-wing home secretary in the U.K., Bodyguard is a tense thriller series that knows exactly how to keep its audience hooked. It stars Games of Thrones‘ Richard Madden as the titular bodyguard, David Budd, an Afghanistan veteran who is still dealing with lingering trauma from his time in the war.
The show’s careful balance of focus on character and execution of tense, high-stakes set pieces will continuously leave you guessing, and the fact that it’s a limited series also means that it ends in exactly the right way. You don’t need to worry about Bodyguard getting bad, because the six episodes that we have are just exquisite.
You can watch Bodyguard on Netflix.
Elite (2018-2024)
A hugely compelling Spanish-language teen soap, Elite tells the story of three working-class students who find themselves enrolled at an elite high school. When tensions begin to boil over between these new students and their wealthier peers, someone gets murdered.
Elite takes the world of private school and heightens it to new levels, but the absurdity of its central premise serves a useful purpose. In giving us an extreme example, it reminds all of us just how perilous high school can feel, and also brings in some fascinating class commentary as an additional complication.
You can watch Elite on Netflix.
John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. (2024)
John Mulaney probably shouldn’t host a talk show, but seeing him try his hand at one was wildly entertaining. Everybody’s in L.A. was a limited event series that featured a slew of great guests, and was designed to dive deep into the specific strangeness of living in Los Angeles.
The show tried a bunch of things that few talk shows have ever attempted, and while not all of them worked, the result is nonetheless fabulously entertaining. The roster of guests on a typical episode includes a subject matter expert (like an expert on earthquakes) paired with lots of very famous people (like David Letterman). The results are equal parts unwieldy and hilarious.
You can watch John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A. on Netflix.
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