If you’ve already watched the Best 25 Best Shows on Netflix, powered through the Next 25 Best TV Shows on Netflix, and got caught up on this week’s best new movies on Netflix, we now have even more Netflix options for you. Here’s all the recently released seasons of television on Netflix, plus upcoming expirations and Netflix TV news.
Pick of the Week
Top Gear: Series 20 — If you have six days and 19 hours to spare, you can now watch 20 of the first 21 seasons of UK’s phenomenally popular series, Top Gear, a fantastically fun series about obscenely expensive cars. Actually strike that: For some reason, Netflix has seasons 2-20 now, but not the first season. In season 20, the boys race a car against a yacht, test out the new London bus, and drive across Spain. Oh, and Game of Thrones‘ Charles Dance is one of the stars who race around in a reasonably priced car (his time, however, is not great).
Expiring Soon
Nothing of note, unless you have a two-year-old that loves Trotro, which will be expiring on June 1st.
Netflix News of Note — In early June, Netflix will release Breaking Bad in 4K, i.e. remastered to work on Ultra HD television sets with 5.1 surround sound. It’s also official now: Netflix is raising prices on new customers.
The Rest of Netflix’s Recent Releases
Royal Pains: Season 5 — I can’t believe that Royal Pains has been on for five seasons already. Does Mark Feuerstein ever age? This season, Dr. Lawson gets a career upgrade, which I didn’t realize was possible for a doctor living in the Hamptons who treats wealthy people. Did the insurance company increase co-pays? Anyway, Royal Pains used to be one of the highest rated series on USA Network, but it’s lost some of its following. Switching out Brooke D’Orsay for Jill Flint as the love interest didn’t apparently help, either. Nevertheless, if you want to get caught up before season six this summer, now’s the time to get in. It’s not a bad watch-in-the-background-while-you’re-doing-the-laundry-or-making-dinner show.
Psych: Season 7 — I had most of the the seventh season of Psych on my DVR for about six months before finally abandoning any notion that I’d catch up. Now that the seventh season is on Netflix, I can add it to my Netflix queue and probably end up keeping it there for months. It was once a great show, but it got kind of stale and repetitive by the fourth season. Still, the first three seasons of Psych (also available) are perfect summer watching.
Freakshow: Season 1 — AMC is a weird network. It gives us several of the best shows on television — Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead — and then drops bizarre unscripted programming on us, like Small Time Security, Kevin Smith’s Comic Book Men and this, which follows Todd Ray’s quirky family business – the Venice Beach Freakshow. Spectators gather to see truly unique people, specimens and creatures. AMC: Home of prestige television … and crappy little reality shows.
Switched at Birth: Season 3 — There is a really quick turnaround for the ABC Family drama, about a pair of unsuspecting teens who discover they were accidentally switched at birth. The first half of season three finished airing in March, and it’s already being made available on Netflix ahead of the second half of the series, which returns to ABC Family in June. It’s not exactly the Uproxx demo, but it’s popular among teens and it has a Peabody award, so teenage girls could do worse.
Legit: Season 1 — The FXX show turned out to be an unexpectedly hilarious show considering that it’s often about screwing with a guy who has muscular dystrophy (DJ Qualls) and a mother who fakes illnesses. Stand-up Jim Jeffries, playing a fictionalized version of himself, mixes incredibly politically incorrect, raunchy humor and adolescent sweetness to create a weirdly funny and touching series. With season two wrapping up next week, it’s a good time to catch up now.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Season 2 — Ten seasons of the show exist, but there’s only two on Netflix, but it’s a good start to one of television’s best animated shows, which is about smart-mouthed fast-food superheroes Master Shake, Meatwad and Frylock taking on monsters, aliens and their neighbor, Carl.
The Boondocks: Season 2 — The first two of Aaron McGruder’s controversial Cartoon Network animated series are now on Netflix. Watch the satirical series that ABC news both raved and condemned for its “unapologetic, sometimes unpopular, views on various issues, including race, politics, the war on terrorism and the September 11 attacks.”
