Comic Con has arrived to San Diego this weekend, and while attendees will be battling crushing lines for the opportunity to see panels that those of us at home will be livestreaming. While they’re standing in line for hours, we can relax at home with some geek-inspired television series. It’s just like being at Comic Con, only it smells better, there’s more sleep involved, less pushing, and fewer Stan Lee cameos. Plus, Batman’s not there to bum us out with his sad face. So, if you’ve already watched the Best 25 Best Shows on Netflix, powered through the Next 25 Best TV Shows on Netflix, check out one of these 35 geek-friendly TV series recommended by Netflix.
1. American Horror Story: Season 1-2
Exploring humankind’s unsettling capacity for evil, this darkly twisted drama plays upon the power of supernatural fears and everyday horrors. Each season brings back familiar faces, but they’re playing different characters in an all-new setting.
2. Arrow: Season 1
This adaptation of the story of DC Comics’ Green Arrow stars Stephen Amell as the titular character, an affluent playboy who becomes an archer superhero at night, saving the city from villains armed with just a bow and arrows.
3. Bates Motel: Season 1
Everyone knows what happened in Psycho, but this chilling series takes viewers inside Norman Bates’ world before Marion Crane checked in. The story opens following Mr. Bates’ death, as Norman and his mother buy the motel that will bear their name.
4. Bones: Season 1-8
Socially awkward forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan teams up with intuitive FBI agent Seeley Booth to investigate crimes that have left scant evidence behind: namely, the bones of the deceased.
5. Supernatural: Season 1-8
Raised by their dad to fight supernatural forces, grown siblings Dean and Sam crisscross the country in their 1967 Chevy Impala, investigating paranormal activity and picking fights with deadly demons, ghosts and monsters.
6. The Following: Season 1
When escaped serial killer Joe Carroll goes on a new killing spree, reclusive former FBI agent Ryan Hardy is called in, having captured Carroll nine years ago. Hardy soon discovers that Carroll has a loyal following of killers ready to terrorize.
7. The Vampire Diaries: Season 1-4
Trapped in adolescent bodies, feuding vampire brothers Stefan and Damon vie for the affection of captivating teenager Elena, who attempts to unravel the many dark secrets of her hometown of Mystic Falls.
8. The Walking Dead: Season 1-3
In the wake of a zombie apocalypse that desolates the world as we know it, a group of survivors led by police officer Rick Grimes holds on to the hope of humanity by banding together to wage a never-ending fight for their own survival.
9. Witches of East End: Season 1
Besides being an artist and the mother of two daughters, Joanna Beauchamp harbors an identity she hides from the world: that of a centuries-old witch. But she hasn’t told her two daughters that they too are witches — until fate forces her hand.
10. Alias: Season 1-5
Created by J.J. Abrams, this action-packed spy series made a star of lithe leading lady Jennifer Garner, who redefined armed and dangerous as double agent Sydney Bristow, a CIA operative whose mission is to destroy a global crime syndicate.
11. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 1-7
Despite her desire to live a normal life at Sunnydale High, tough-as-nails teenager Buffy Summers fulfills her mystical calling as a Slayer by protecting humankind from vampires, demons and other malevolent supernatural creatures.
12. Adventure Time: Season 1-2
Young Finn and his shape-shifting dog buddy, Jake, have a series of surreal adventures as they journey through the postapocalyptic Land of Ooo, encountering odd situations that involve even odder characters in this quirky animated series.
13. American Dad!: Season 1-8
“Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane strikes again with this animated comedy about politically conservative CIA agent Stan Smith and his eccentric brood, a family unit that includes a talking goldfish with the brain of an East German athlete.
14. Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Season 1-2
Deep in New Jersey lurks an evil that only smart-mouthed fast-food superheroes Master Shake, Meatwad and Frylock can squelch in this off-the-wall animated series that pits the mismatched trio against monsters, aliens and their neighbor Carl.
15. Archer: Season 1-4
Sophisticated spy Archer may have the coolest gadgets, but he still has issues when it comes to dealing with his boss — who also happens to be his mother — in this wicked animated spoof of spy flicks and the sex-crazed agents who populate them.
16. Bob’s Burgers: Season 1-3
In this animated series, hamburger restaurant owner Bob Belcher, his happy-go-lucky wife, Linda, and their three rambunctious kids try to outwit a rival eatery and overcome their own family dysfunction to get their greasy spoon off the ground.
17. Family Guy: Season 1-11
In Seth MacFarlane’s no-holds-barred animated show, buffoonish Peter Griffin and his dysfunctional family — including wife Lois, children Meg, Chris and Stewie, and dog Brian — experience wacky misadventures.
18. Futurama: Season 1-10
Pizza boy Philip J. Fry awakens in the 31st century after 1,000 years of cryogenic preservation in this animated series. After he gets a job at an interplanetary delivery service, Fry embarks on ridiculous escapades to make sense of his predicament.
19. Robot Chicken: Season 1-2
Stop-motion comedy, parody and anarchy are rolled into one in this demented series. The Robot Chicken himself is an unfortunate creature rescued by a mad scientist and forced to watch movie satires, fake ads and other faux-TV programming nonstop.
20. The Boondocks: Season 1-2
Based on the comic strip by Aaron McGruder, this satirical animated series follows the socially conscious misadventures of Huey Freeman, a preternaturally smart 10-year-old who relocates from inner-city Chicago to the suburbs.
21. The Venture Bros.: Season 1-2
Teenage numbskulls Hank and Dean, with their embittered mad scientist father, Dr. Rusty Venture, and he-man bodyguard, Brock Samson, face off with a string of oddball villains in this madcap parody of the adventure cartoon “Jonny Quest.”
22. Batman Beyond: Season 1-3
The classic Batman tales takes on darker overtones in this Daytime Emmy Award-winning animated series that revisits billionaire Bruce Wayne at retirement age, when he passes the torch — and his costume — on to teen protégé Terry McGinnis.
23. Green Lantern: The Animated Series: Season 1
In the farthest reaches of deep space, Earth’s Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, patrols the Guardian Frontier, where he must face invasions from the evil Red Lantern Corps, which has sworn to destroy the Green Lanterns and everything they stand for.
24. Iron Man: Armored Adventures: Season 1-2
In this action-driven animated series, teen phenom Tony Stark takes to the skies with help from an ingeniously engineered suit of armor, taking down villains to learn the truth about his late father’s mysterious passing.
25. Justice League: Season 1-2
Anything’s possible in this animated series when world-famous superheroes — including Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Batman and Robin — band together to fight crime as the Justice League of America.
26. Justice League Unlimited: Season 1-2
As humanity faces threats from all kinds of new and vile villains, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and a dozens of other animated superheroes create a league from which they form small, specialized teams to combat each new menace.
27. Marvel’s Avengers Assemble: Season 1
After Iron Man persuades his fellow superheroes to reunite, the Avengers combine their skills to battle both longtime foes and deadly new villains.
28. Spider-Man: Season 1
Neil Patrick Harris, Ian Ziering and Lisa Loeb lend their voices to this animated TV version of the comic book and hit film. The show picks up with Peter Parker in college, trying to juggle a personal life and his superhero duties battling baddies.
29. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends: Season 1-3
Joined by his friends Firestar and Iceman, the amazing Spider-Man swings into battle against New York City’s most dangerous villains, using his superhuman strength, agility and ability to climb walls.
30. Transformers: Season 1-4
This classic animated series chronicles the ongoing war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, giant, intelligent robots that can transform into vehicles. With Earth as the battleground, mankind’s future pivots on the outcome.
31. Transformers Prime: Season 1-3
In this animated update to the Transformers franchise, the Autobots once again protect Earth from the onslaught of the Decepticons and their villainous leader, Megatron. This time around, the Autobots find powerful allies in three humans.
32. Ultimate Spider-Man: Season 1-2
Peter Parker comes of age in an epic tale that finds him torn between his teenage life and a war between SHIELD and villain Norman Osborn. The series follows 16-year-old Peter as he comes to terms with his origins and new abilities.
33. Wolverine and the X-Men: Season 1
To bring down the powerful Mutant Response Division and ward off a catastrophic future seen by the missing Professor Xavier, Wolverine reunites with Storm, Rogue, Cyclops, Beast and the other X-Men to wage a war against the enemies of humanity.
34. X-Men: Evolution: Season 1
This explosive animated series captures X-Men favorites as teenagers, coping with their nascent mutant powers under the guidance of Professor X or archrival Magneto. Between battles, the series adds depth to many characters’ backstories.
35. Young Justice: Season 1
This animated series follows Robin, Aqualad and other teenage superhero sidekicks as they form a secret crimefighting squad to save the world and prove they’ve got the chops to join their mentors in the adults-only Justice League.
