During stressful and challenging times I always turn to TV to escape. Right now real life is scary and surreal, and if you’re spending it stuck in your house with time on your hands, the LezWatchTV staff is here with our selection of binge-worthy shows. We have deep cuts and crowd favorites, from quick binges to marathon long watches.
LezWatchTV Staff Picks of Binge-Worthy Shows
Carmel, Site Editor
- DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (4 seasons + season 5 airing now)
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If you don’t mind hearing a few phrases repeated over and over (“Vandal Savage”, “We share a psychic connection”) you should rewatch LoT seasons 1-4. The crew of the Waverider and the entire vibe of the show has come a long way.
- Warehouse 13 (5 seasons)
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This show is definitely a romp. It may get serious at times but characters Pete and Claudia (Eddie McClintock and Allison Scagliotti) always bring the humor. I also highly recommend watching some of the show’s blooper reels and behind the scenes content
- ClaireVoyant (1 season)
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This is my go-to Web series when I need a quick breather. Good for a short binge or watch an ep when you need a 10-15 minute break from reality. Great characters and top-notch shenanigans
- Stitchers (3 seasons)
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Who doesn’t love a secret science program within a secret government program? Keeping track of all the science and secrets is a good distraction. Plus, more Allison Scagliotti (always great. She’s a delight).
- She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (4 seasons + 5th and final coming soon)
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Great for viewers of all ages. Good for watching an ep here and there or binge a season if you have a few hours. Honestly, I think we can all relate with Mermista right now.
Melanie, Site Editor
- Wynonna Earp (3 seasons with more on the way)
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A modern-day western with supernatural bad guys, where the world is forever in peril and saving it is always a do-able thing. Bonus points for all those exterior shots of beautiful wide-open spaces.
- This Way Up (1 season)
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A dark comedy that feels like a cross between Fleabag and Derry Girls, this show goes to some bleak places, but it never stays there long, and it always manages to find humor and hope in the absurd messiness of life.
- Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings (1 season)
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If corny comfort-TV is your guilty pleasure, give this show a try. Each episode is loosely based on a Dolly Parton song, and it’s an anthology series so you can watch them in any order (and no, you don’t need to know the songs to enjoy the episodes). It’s a Hallmark movie world—but one where queer characters actually exist (see episode 2 “Two Doors Down” and Episode 4 “Cracker Jack”)—so you’ll probably cry your eyes out but then be filled with a surge of hope at the uniformly happy endings. Plus, each episode also allows you to enjoy a catchy tune or two and you’ll be reassured by the folksy intros from always lovable Dolly Parton.
Mia, Site Editor
- Everything Sucks! (1 season)
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I absolutely love this show and wish more people paid attention. Throughout all 10, half-hour episodes, we get a realistic, sweet and positive depiction of coming out in high school, discovering and accepting your queerness. For me even as a Genxer, Everything Sucks is beautifully nostalgic, but our 13-year-old also watched it multiple times. The soundtrack definitely strikes a significant chord with my Millennial friends. Although we only get one season, you can fully enjoy Kate’s story and won’t be disappointed with the final episode, or any episode for that matter. You should be watching this right now.
- Mindhunter (2 seasons)
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Often when watching a TV show or movie, I think to myself, “That women is queer even if the show doesn’t know it, and the writers are disingenuously making her straight.” I have been more disappointed than not, but Mindhunter gives us Dr. Wendy Carr, an ambitious, intelligent 1970s forensic researcher based on a real-life forensic nurse who continues to prove that diverse viewpoints yield breakthroughs. Interestingly the real person is not a lesbian. Dr. Wendy Carr quietly takes charge. Season 2 was well worth the wait. I know some writer out there gets me when they play both Patti Smith and Joan Armatrading when the lesbians are on screen. FYI the show is about real serial killers so it won’t be for everyone.
- Tipping the Velvet (Mini-series)
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I loved this book by Sarah Waters, and the three-part limited series from the BBC is pretty amazing. I’ve watched it several times, including on inauguration day 2017. A great escape into the word of historical fiction and lesbian life in 1890s England, I highly recommend binging. Without giving too much away, I’m team Flo and if you read the book, you will have a better sense of why. If you crave more after watching, you can check out Fingersmith for another historical lesbian romp from Sarah Waters.
Mika, Co-Editor in Chief
- Avatar: The Legend of Korra (3 seasons)
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In these trying times, we need something fun. Watching a homeschooled bisexual jock try to learn how to be the savior the planet needs while mastering her powers and dating for the first time is right up that alley. Korra’s story is aimed at teens and young adults but touches on everything from love and romance to dealing with PTSD. They do an amazing job making the show accessible to kids without dumbing it down. Plus her enemies to friends to lovers story with Asami is a sweet and sometimes raucous story. (For a bonus combo – watch Avatar: The Last Airbender first – it’s not queer on the show, but in the comics, they confirm that Kyoshi was a badass bisexual avatar)
- Carmilla (3 seasons)
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I love a good cheerful/grumpy combo, and that is Hollstein in a nutshell. Perky Laura Hollis is off to college. But surprise, there are monsters and demons and vampires and a very unhygenic roommate who can turn into a cat? It’s wild and crazy and while it’s only 3 seasons, there are a million 7 minute episodes per season. You’ll get the theme song in your head and then celebrate a happy ending at the end. (For another bonus, tune in to the Carmilla Movie afterward for a high stakes and amazing quality story that changes, well, everything).
- Gentleman Jack (1 season)
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They may have had to put a pause on filming season two, but for a fun, sexy, romp through ye olde England, tune in to the rake herself, Anne Lister. This woman is amazing, and it’s based on her actual diaries which include such gems as “Today I ate an apple and had 6 orgasms.” The series has a murder mystery, politics, romance, sex, and a big gay wedding. If you’re nerdy like my wife, the frilly clothes they wear are amazingly accurate.
- Vida (2 seasons + 3rd and final coming soon)
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Oh, Vida. The final season is coming up, so this is the perfect time for you to settle in and watch the first two. A complex story about coming home, finding out the life you thought was the truth was anything but, and learning what that makes you is told in a poignant and connectable way. It’s not just that half of us want Emma to dominate us and the other half want to get drunk with Eddy, it’s that every single moment of the show has a way to touch you and relate to you. What other show has taken my OTP, destroyed it, and then built an even better one!? I’m incredibly sad that we only get one more season, but I’m filled with joy knowing they have written us an end.
- One Day at a Time (3 seasons + 4th season coming soon)
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This is it. You knew I was going to tell everyone to watch my most favorite show in the world. I don’t know how to explain to people why I love this show so much. Maybe it’s simply because this is the sitcom I wanted as a kid? I’m a creature out of time when it comes to comedy. After all, my idea of a funny show remains the Jack Benny radio program. Yes, I have all of the known recordings. For me, ODaaT lets me laugh freely without feeling like I’m laughing AT anyone. I may wince when they make fun of Elena, but I also do when they tease Alex for being self-involved. Lydia reminds me of Taffy, my grandmother, and I have a million uncles who are just like Dr. B. And while I do say I love Elena to bits (seriously did they have a camera on teen me?), it’s Justina Machado’s Penny who rips my heart out every season. I cried when it was canceled on Netflix, and again when it was resurrected by PopTV. My only wish now is that we get a full season 4, and many more, in spite of everything else going on.
Nikki, Staff Writer
- High Fidelity (1 season)
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If you hear this title, think of the 2000 movie version of the book, and roll your eyes… I don’t blame you. But I’m here to tell you good news! This Hulu series twists the original story by placing Zoe Kravitz in the main role. Zoe truly shines as Rob, a record store owner, who reflects back on her previous relationships with both men and women. Even prior to the quarantine situation we are living in, this one-season series was easily binge-able
- Atypical (3 seasons + 4th and final coming soon)
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The basic plot of this show is amazing on its own: 18-year-old Sam Gardner has autism spectrum disorder and the show follows him and his family as they deal with high school, relationship issues, and tough life lessons. Add in Casey Gardner – his younger sister who is struggling to figure out her identity after she switches to a private high school – and you have a perfect family drama. It is three short seasons so far and totally worth binging before the fourth and final season next year.
- Orphan Black (5 seasons)
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The. Greatest. Show. Of. All. Time. One insanely talented actress (Tatiana Maslany) plays four of the main characters. Cosima Niehaus quickly became a fan favorite. And who doesn’t love Cophine? (That was a rhetorical question. Cophine haters can go away.) The concept of this show is so addicting that you will easily binge all five seasons in no time.
- Jane The Virgin (5 seasons)
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I chose JtV as my marathon pick (100 episodes) because it truly has the heart, humor, and drama to keep you watching back-to-back episodes. The show plays off classic telenovelas, throwing the main character, Jane, into a whole mess of quirky storylines. The first episode plot? Jane, a virgin, gets accidentally artificially inseminated during a checkup and has to deal with the aftermath. Multiple queer characters and storylines will make all the tears you will probably shed completely worth it!
Tracy, Co-Editor in Chief
- I Am Not Okay With This (1 season so far)
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This is a newish show on Netflix. It’s about an angsty queer teen named Syd with supernatural powers. At 20 minutes an episode it is a very quick binge. The series is beautifully shot, and music is used so well to set the mood of the show. Also, Syd’s friend Stan may be my favorite straight, cis, teen male character of all time. It’s very horror-light so not too stressful to watch if you don’t like scary shows.
- Derry Girls (2 seasons with more to come)
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This show is about a group of friends at a (nearly) all-girls highschool in 1990s Derry, Northern Ireland. It’s a town in the middle of the Northern Ireland conflict and centers around the girls dealing with that in addition to typical teen shenanigans. Sounds like a bummer, right? It is actually one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. The humor and wit is non-stop. The episodes are 20-some minutes long and there are only 6 episodes a season. You’ll finish the whole thing before you know it like looking down and seeing you’ve eaten an entire bag of potato chips. My one tip is to watch it with the subtitles and have Google at the ready to lookup references you may not know.
- Boomerang (1 season + season 2 on now)
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Boomerang is a TV series written by Lena Waithe and produced by her and Hallie Berry. It’s a reboot of the 1992 movie and a really good drama about young professionals navigating life. It has serious moments but for the most part, it’s fun and engaging. There are 10 episodes a season and they are 30 minutes long. The best part is season 2 just started recently, so you can binge it and come out on the other side with a weekly show to watch.
- Grey’s Anatomy (15 seasons + season 16 on now) + Station 19 (2 seasons + season 3 on now)
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Do you have time on your hands for nearly 400 hour-long episodes of television spanning 15 years? If so, I assign you the task of watching all of Grey’s Anatomy and its spin-off Station 19. Shonda Rhimes is a national treasure and Grey’s Anatomy set a precedent for diversity on television and in casting. It’s also a ridiculous nighttime soap opera. Why is this one of my binge-worthy shows? There are so many pop culture references from this series (“You’re my person”, the Post-It wedding, heart in an elevator, etc.) and we have 20 queer characters listed for the series in our database.
Station 19 spun off of Greys 2 years ago and it is a true crossover show. Characters frequently appear on both series and there are a few cross-show relationships. If you make it all the way through you will be rewarded with one of the best ships on TV right now – Maya and Carina.
Stay safe, friends and if you need other queer tv-loving people to chat with during this hard time join our Slack Community. There you can talk about everything from TV to videogames. We even have a Queer Parenting channel.
We wish everyone health and sanity through this tough moment in history. Also, let us know what your binge-worthy shows are by listing them in the comments.
