Thanksgiving is known for a lot of very important things. Turkey. Family. Wine naps. But perhaps most important, it gives us a four-day weekend to finally catch up on all those shows we're behind on.
But where to start? There's a lot of TV out there, and while a long weekend provides quite a bit of time, it's not, like, watching-every-Simpsons-episode levels of time.
This Thanksgiving, then, allow us to give you something even better than warmed-over sweet potatoes (if that's even possible). Below are 10 of the absolute best shows to burn your way through while you’re (slowly) burning off those extra Turkey Day calories—complete with our previously published Binge Guides to help you get the most of out each of them.
Everyone talks about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but if you're not watching DC’s offerings on the small screen, you’re seriously missing out. Start with this treat on the CW about playboy/superhero/preternaturally handsome person Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and don’t look back.
Where to Get Your Fix: Netflix, iTunes
Like My So-Called Life, this brutally honest look at outcast life in 1980 only got one season. But it was also a model of consistency: 18 episodes without a dud. And with a cast that birthed future stars Seth Rogen, James Franco, Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, Busy Philips, and Martin Starr—as well as creators Paul Feig and Judd Apatow—it's like going back in time to witness the government experiment that would dictate the next 15 years of comedy trends.
Where to Get Your Fix: You’ll probably have to track this one down on DVD, but it’s worth it.
The greatest thing Starz ever gave the world was this 20-episode powerhouse comedy about a crew of cater-waiters navigating their depressing lives. Adam Scott and Lizzy Caplan had decent acting gigs before this, but this is the show that ensured they'd have fans forever.
Where to Get Your Fix: Hulu, Starz Play
OK, let's get real. It’s time you watched the surprise hit of the summer. If you’re anything like us, you’ll be so addicted to this workplace comedy/drama about the producers of a reality TV show you won’t be able to stop. And with a few hours to kill this weekend, you shouldn't. It’s as suspenseful as it is funny. Just give in now.
Where to Get Your Fix: Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes
The Knick is currently in the middle of a red-hot second season. (Seriously, if you’re not already watching, you might be missing some of the best TV you’ll see all year.) If you tear through the first season and catch up, you’ll be able to follow all the drug-induced, medically-baffling work of Dr. Thackery (Clive Owen) and his crew at the Knickerbocker Hospital. Get hooked.
Where to Get Your Fix: Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes
Want to feel thankful for your family this holiday season? Spend some time with the Lyons. Sure, Lucious (Terrence Howard) and his ex-wife Cooke (Taraji P. Henson) and their three sons love each other, but they also spend a lot of time fighting, back-stabbing, and struggling for power. (They also sometimes manage to make music.) Whether this reminds you of the dinner tables you eat at each Thanksgiving or not, it’s still worth sitting down and sharing a meal in the Lyons' dynasty.
Where to Get Your Fix: Hulu Plus, Fox Now, iTunes
Admit it: at some point this weekend, you'll be done with humanity. Maybe it'll be local news footage of stampeding Black Friday shoppers, or maybe it'll be the way Christmas music descends as soon as the leftovers are put away, but either way you'll be in the mood for something on the darker side of things. Cue the stellar dystopian anthology series Black Mirror, which packs a lot of future dread into a very, very easily binged package. Just don't watch the first episode with Grandma in the room.
Where to Get Your Fix: Netflix
Granted, the last thing you want to watch during a holiday devoted to eating is a show about a cannibal. But, if you can get over that for any show, do it for this one. Hannibal got cancelled too soon (the most recent season is reportedly its last), but it left behind three stellar seasons of TV. Devour them along with the four-star meal of your choosing.
Where to Get Your Fix: Amazon Prime, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes
We're already headlong into the forthcoming election season here in ’Murica, so now is as good a time as any to watch the best political satire on television. (No, this is not up for debate.) Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her band of power-hungry, bumbling political operatives just get better and better from one season to the next, so once you start with Season 1, you won’t finish until you’re at the end of the campaign trail.
Where to Get Your Fix: HBO Go, HBO Now, Amazon Instant Video
Since you’ll be spending quite a bit of your binge time on Netflix anyway, you might as well drop in on Piper (Taylor Schilling) and the rest of the inmates at Litchfield Penitentiary. They have surprisingly great holidays, and you’ll be sad if you don’t spend a bit of yours with them.
Where to Get Your Fix: Netflix
