What To Watch On TV When You’ve Already Seen Everything
Leave the house? Never.
You’ve seen Stranger Things, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atlanta, Westworld, Ru Paul’s Drag Race and The Crown. You have rewatched the entirety of Gilmore Girls on DVD for the fifth time. You’ve even continued to hit play on Riverdale in dark, desperate moments. And you’re officially fresh out of TV to watch.
So what now? Will you finally have to… leave the house? Not if we can help it! We’ve pulled together a list of sleeper hits, weird shit and all the stuff that got lost in your ‘to watch’ list because you were too busy catching up on UnREAL.
Hooray for staying home!
Terrace House
Terrace House is the perfect antidote to the shitstorm that is Bachelor In Paradise. It’s a Japanese reality show where six people live together in one big share house — like MTV’s Real World or Big Brother, only the housemates are allowed to leave whenever they want to go about their almost-normal lives.
The majority of housemates go into Terrace House with a set goal — like opening a café, or finding love — and once they’ve reached their goal they wave goodbye to reality TV, and are replaced with a new housemate. Then between each scene, the show cuts to a studio where six hosts are ready to dissect every interaction between the housemates.
These are long seasons — like, 46 episodes long! But Terrace House will make you love slow TV. It’s refreshing to see people slowly evolve and relationships politely take shape across a season. And Terrace House might be slow, but it doesn’t sacrifice any of the drama that comes with cramming six young hotties into what’s a glorified share house.
The only bad thing about being a Terrace House fan is telling other people about Terrace House. No matter how long you spend explaining how good this show is, people just won’t watch it. Don’t be that guy! Watch Terrace House!
For fans of:
Big Brother and If You Are The One.
How to watch it:
There are two complete seasons of Terrace House on Netflix, with a third airing in parts throughout 2018.
Mozart In The Jungle
When Mozart in the Jungle won a Golden Globe in 2016, it seemed as though no one was watching it. Four seasons on, not much has changed.
Amazon cancelled it and a slew of other niche shows earlier this year. But there’s a reason why Mozart in the Jungle has a dedicated following — it’s a warm hug of a show, full of heart, full of angst and full of Gael Garcia Bernal (who I wish I was hugging).
Mozart in the Jungle begins with the New York City Symphony Orchestra in flux — the orchestra has a new conductor, the eccentric Rodrigo (Bernal), and must come to terms with change. Over four seasons the brilliant ensemble cast, which includes Bernadette Peters (of Broadway fame) and Lola Kirke (of Jemima Kirke’s sister fame), will start to feel like your family.
Personally, I can’t wait to watch it all again.
For fans of:
Transparent and Gael Garcia Bernal.
How to watch it:
Mozart in the Jungle is on Stan.
On My Block
There’s nothing quite like settling down with a new teen drama. Netflix have got the memo and produced some awesome new coming-of-age shows, like Big Mouth, Everything Sucks!, and maybe the best of all, On My Block.
This gem follows a group of African American and Latinx teens starting high school in South Central LA. On My Block has everything we’ve come to expect from American teen dramas, from love triangles to football games and high school dances. But these John Hughes-esque tropes are balanced with the grown-up issues these kids are also dealing with in their neighbourhood — like gun violence, racism and police lockdowns.
Thank you Netflix for giving us a teen drama with an actually diverse cast, and for renewing it!
For fans of:
Awkward and Dear White People.
How to watch it:
You can catch all of On My Block on Netflix.
Baby Ballroom
Okay, stick with me on this one. Baby Ballroom is basically British Dance Moms except the kids are all incredible ballroom dancers, and there’s much less shouting.
The show centres on the talented children who attend a particularly prestigious dance school, Zig Zag Dance Factory. The series follows kids — as young as 8-years-old — as they juggle school, friends and the cutthroat world of ballroom dancing. Once more, they are eight years old. This has got to be one of the most endearing shows ever.
For fans of:
Toddlers and Tiaras and Great British Bake Off.
How to watch it:
The first (and only) season of Baby Ballroom is on Netflix. More, please!
Homecoming Queens
Homecoming Queens is a show about chronic illness, but it’s also not. Created and co-written by Michelle Law and Chloë Reeson, it follows Law as she flees Sydney and her recent Alopecia diagnosis, seeking refuge with her best friend Chloë, who is recovering from breast cancer.
This show is serious in its depiction of chronic illness, but it also has sweet moments of banal normalcy — who amongst us hasn’t made a DIY version of Hogwarts out of old Barilla boxes, or dealt with suspect discharge stains on our underwear?
For fans of:
Broad City and Please Like Me.
How to watch it:
All of Homecoming Queens is on SBS On Demand now.
One Day At A Time
One Day at a Time is an American sitcom filmed with a studio audience — but don’t worry, it’s nothing like The Big Bang Theory.
It’s about a Cuban-American family living in LA, dealing with almost everything that faces the Latinx community in America. It has all the hallmarks of a familiar sitcom — the punch lines, the studio laughter, and the goofy neighbour who never seems to spend any time in their own apartment — but with so much more. The sharp social commentary deals with racism, mental health, PTSD, sexism and LGBTQI+ issues.
The more you watch, the more you will fall in love with this family.
For fans of:
Fresh Off the Boat, Black-ish and Who’s the Boss.
How to watch it:
One Day at a Time is on Netflix.
Young and Promising
2018 was the first year without Girls, so you might be looking for your fix of flawed 20-somethings. Enter Young and Promising.
The show is Norway’s take on flailing millennials trying to pursue creative careers, friendships, and of course, relationships. The real highlight of this show is the female friendships –there’s something really warm and real about these friends, which makes their scenes together a real joy.
For fans of:
Girls, Insecure and SKAM.
How to watch it:
All three seasons of Young and Promising are on SBS On Demand.
Hard Quiz
Most quiz shows are boring and formulaic ‘dad’ TV. Hard Quiz is not most quiz shows.
The spin-off of Hard Chat is a genuinely hysterical show helmed by Very Funny Person Tom Gleeson, in which he quizzes four ordinary people with expert knowledge in bizarrely niche topics such as Thomas The Tank Engine or vintage Australian washing machines.
The joy of this show really comes from the repartee between Tom and the contestants. There’s an unwritten rule of the show that if you’re not negging Tom as hard as he is negging you, then you’re not playing right.
For fans of:
Would I Lie to You? and Have You Been Paying Attention. And Hard Chat (obviously).
How to watch it:
You can catch Hard Quiz on ABC iView.
Everything Sucks!
Don’t let the fact that Everything Sucks! got cancelled fool you. It’s Freaks and Geeks, but set in the ’90s and the problematic Franco brother isn’t in it.
The teen drama centres on the AV Club and the theatre kids at school in Boring, Oregon, who team up to make a sci-fi film. A sign of a good teen drama is how good the parents’ storylines are (see: The OC), a test Everything Sucks! passes with flying colours. Also: it has very good ’90s vibes. So much Oasis and Tori Amos!
The show received loads of praise for its portrayal of lesbian characters without the usual tragedy attached — it’s a damn shame it’s been cancelled.
For fans of:
Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life.
How to watch it:
Watch Everything Sucks! on Netflix. Before they take it down.
Alone Together
Co-created by comic duo Esther Povitsky (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the Glowing Up podcast) and Benji Afalo, and produced by the Lonely Island guys, Alone Together has all the makings of a hit TV show in wait.
Povitsky and Afalo play exaggerated versions of themselves and their own friendship in this buddy-comedy about making it in LA, whatever that means. You could be mistaken for thinking this show is ripe for a will-they-won’t-they set up, but refreshingly Alone Together focuses on the pair’s friendship and banter without getting distracted by unrequited love.
For fans of:
Love and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
How to watch it:
Select episodes of Alone Together are on Foxtel Now and the series was renewed for a second season late last year.
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Chloe Gillespie works for Junkee and loves dogs and grilled cheese. Her work is featured right here, on FBi Radio and on a Tumblr she used to run about her parents.