Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In a world where all vampires can do is look angsty and make teenage girls’ hearts melt, it’s almost quaint to look back at a vampire show that’s heavy on action (every vampire knows karate!) and even heavier on sass.
Buffy gave us a whole world of beasties and, um, beastie fighters over its seven seasons and you can catch up on all of them on Netflix and Hulu Plus (which are both now $7.99 for all you can stream). It also inspired a spin-off and launched Joss Whedon to his current nerd-genius status.
I missed the boat on Buffy the first time around, and I have to admit I haven’t quite caught up on all 144 episodes, but I have a few questions… Can someone be a werewolf and a vampire at the same time? How about a witch and a vampire? Why is there so much hand-to-hand combat involved in slaying vampires? And isn’t Angel just dreamy?
Uh… never mind that last one.
Of course, as with most TV shows that are almost old enough to drive, watching Buffy is like a constant parade of Before They Were Stars. It should be a drinking game… if you spot an actor you recognize in a bit part, you have to take a shot. (Don’t actually do that, I don’t want to get sued.)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1 on Netflix
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu Plus
And a special bonus: the original movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Movie on Netflix
Chuck
When Chuck premiered three years ago, it didn’t seem to have much of a shot. It was promoted as heavily as some other new shows by NBC, and you could be forgiven mistaking some of the leads for stars from other shows (Zachary Levi says he gets mistaken for John Krasinski, and there is something very Seth Green about Josh Gomez).
But Chuck has all the style (and all the beautiful people) you’d expect from a show co-created by The O.C. and Gossip Girl’s Josh Schwartz. Plus, the action is decent, the jokes are funny and the characters are interesting. It’s also chock full o’ guest stars and geek culture references.
In a bit of a departure for Qworthy so far, Chuck’s previous seasons aren’t available for streaming anywhere, but the current season is on Hulu. Only the last five episodes are available at any one time (the first episode of the season expires in four days), but if you missed the season premiere and feel like jumping into a new series with both feet, head over to Hulu and check it out.
Weeds
Although Showtime has generally lagged slightly behind HBO in original series, it has a legitimate hit on its hands in Weeds, the story of a suburban soccer mom turned pot dealer. Some critics have said the show has passed its prime, but the good news for you is that means best seasons are on Netflix Instant.
It also doesn’t hurt that the main character, played by West Wing’s Mary-Louise Parker, is all kinds of hot. If only all suburban soccer mom pot dealers were so gorgeous. And it’s a rare title that can bring together fans of Desperate Housewives and Friday.
Weeds is currently nearing the end of its sixth season (and has been picked up for a seventh), and the first five seasons are currently available on Netflix.
Lie to Me
Apparently due to its licensing deals with the studios, most current shows are only available on Hulu in a very limited way. Usually just the last five episodes are available and they show up on the site anywhere from one day to two weeks after a new episode airs. I’m sure this makes sense to someone, somewhere, but it’s just frustrating for users.
But, one of the benefits of Hulu Plus seems to be that some shows’ current seasons are actually available in full. (Hurray!) One current show that you can check out on Hulu Plus is Lie to Me, a self-serious drama about human lie detectors loosely based on the concept of microexpressions.
The show centers around Dr. Cal Lightman, a microexpressions expert played by Tim Roth (Mr. Orange from Reservoir Dogs and Pumpkin from Pulp Fiction, for you Tarantino fans). Lightman is basically Dr. House, but instead of recklessly solving life-threatening illnesses (spoiler: it’s usually Wilson’s Disease), he recklessly assists the FBI with their cases. And they’re both on Fox. I wonder if there’ll be a crossover episode.
If procedurals are your thing and you haven’t checked out Lie to Me yet, give it a shot. This is the third season, though there’s really no need to go back and watch earlier episodes because there isn’t much in the way of a cross-season arc. If you want, season one is available on Netflix Instant as well (no season two yet, alas).
Coupling
I suppose you could say we are in the habit of featuring British TV shows, but it’s not my fault there are so many available for streaming and this is only the third one, so get off my back. Wait, where was I? Ah, yes… Coupling. I guess you could call this the British Friends, only it’s funnier and much raunchier. If you watch much basic cable, you may recognize Gina Bellman from TNT’s Leverage.
There aren’t may shows that can make you laugh out loud (yeah, literally “LOL”) even when sitting by yourself in your living room. My advice is to avoid streaming it at work, because you’ll definitely get caught when everyone in the office gathers around your cubicle to see what’s wrong with you.
As with most successful shows from the old country, there was an attempt to make a US version (featuring Colin Ferguson, now of SyFy’s Eureka). Unlike The Office which re-imagined the series for a US audience, Coupling took the same route The I.T. Crowd later tried and just had American actors recite the same scripts. (I was also a little disappointed the US version didn’t use Cake’s version of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps—the theme song from Coupling.)
There were four seasons of Coupling, and their all available on both Netflix and Hulu (free, not Plus), so do yourself a favor and carve out a few weekend hours for the next few weeks and check it out.
Modern Family
Last year while most of the country was watching Charlie Sheen and John Cryer over on CBS, ABC was busy taking The Office’s formula (quirky, single camera, documentary style, with no laugh track) and applying it to the new traditional family. And they did it to great success—they just won the Emmy for best comedy (plus eight others).
The show is worth watching just to see Ed O’Neill in a family sitcom not playing Al Bundy. And Cameron Tucker (played by Eric Stonestreet) is the funniest character on television. We’ve still got a couple weeks before the fall TV season kicks off and the new season of Modern Family premieres. If you work real hard at it, you should be able to squeeze in all 24 episodes of season 1 before then.
The Fall Guy
This is the story of one of America’s great unsung heroes. At least, that’s what the opening voice over tells you. If you’re a little hazy on the details, let me remind you—Lee Majors is a Hollywood stuntman who tracks down bail jumpers for extra cash between stunt gigs. That makes perfect sense. I’m sure that’s what most stuntmen do in their spare time. That and bare-knuckle boxing.
Until the reality TV crap factory came along to give us Dogg, Colt Seavers was about as close Hollywood could get to portraying a bounty Hunter. But the real reason to check out The Fall Guy is because it’s from a long-gone era of shows that actually had theme songs. It’s hard to imagine and entire minute of a current show like House being devoted to introductory music. But that’s what TV was like back in the day. And the name-dropping theme was performed by the star himself. On second thought, maybe we’re fortunate to have moved in a different direction.
Wikipedia tells me it ran for five (!) season, but only one season is available on Hulu. in fact, it seems to be the only season available on DVD at all. Look for that to change with the rumored remake.
The Fall Guy: Season 1 on Hulu
Lost
Maybe you didn’t watch it the first time around. Or maybe you just have 100 or so hours to kill between now and forever. But you’ve decided you want to watch Lost. The good news is that you actually have a few options. Hulu Plus has the entire series and Netflix Instant has the first five seasons. (Sorry, you’ll have to get the last season in the mail, at least for now. Maybe by the time you get through the first five, the final season will be available for streaming.)
But, even if you don’t subscribe to Hulu Plus or Netflix, you can still see most of the series: ABC.com (and the ABC iPad app) has the first five seasons and the last few episodes of the sixth season for free.
So, there you have it. If you watch 8 hours a day, you should be done after about two weeks (two and a half if you take the weekends off). If you do watch it, and you figure out what the hell is going on, be sure to share it with the rest of us.
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The I.T. Crowd
Here at Qworthy HQ (HQworthy?), we love British TV shows. Well, the ones we have access to, anyway. When it comes to British workplace comedies, everyone knows The Office (though I get the feeling some people only pretend to like the original series) but less known over here is The I.T. Crowd. I.T. is less about cringe-worthy moments and more about broad physical comedy, but the best part, by far, is the slew references to nerdery—RTFM T-Shirts, Electronic Freedom Foundation stickers, a constantly telling callers to reboot their computers, social awkwardness… everything you love about the I.T. department.
The I.T. Crowd walks the line between completely ridiculous and standard “realistic” situation comedy in a way that U.S. multi-camera shows never seem to get right. As evidence, search YouTube for the dead-on-arrival NBC version of The I.T. Crowd staring Joel McHale. It has nearly the same script as the original and even brought over Richard Ayoade to reprise his role, but it hardly worked at all. (I suppose we can feel thankful that pilot wasn’t picked up, because Community is a great show that suits McHale much better.)
If you normally don’t go for British shows but like geek jokes and slapstick humor, this may be a good introduction. Or maybe you don’t care. They’ve made four short seasons of The I.T. Crowd, but only three have made it to video and Netflix streaming. Here’s to hoping season four comes along soon.
The I.T. Crowd: Series 1 on Netflix
The I.T. Crowd: Series 2 on Netflix
The I.T. Crowd: Series 3 on Netflix
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Star Trek Remastered
Netflix and Hulu aren’t the only places to watch streaming content. One of these other services is TV.com, CBS’s answer to Hulu (there is even an an iPhone app, but apparently not an iPad app, yet). It even offers videos in 1080p high-definition. That brings us to the reason for this post—Star Trek, the original series.
The franchise may have hit its stride in theaters, but it was the TV show that kicked it off (and introduced us to tribbles). As someone who was grew up with The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home (volumes III and IV, respectively), it’s interesting to watch the show and see Shatner before his Kirk became a caricature of himself.
The whole series is there on TV.com in all its remastered glory, but you’ll have to click around a bit to find and watch the episodes in order.
(For a nice list of places to watch TV shows online, check out this list from Mashable.)
Star Trek Remastered on TV.com
