We’re eight months into 2020 (though it feels more like ten years) and chances are you blew through your TV watchlist a while ago. Way back in March the LezWatchTV staff put together a selection of binge-worthy shows that varied from quick binges to marathon long watches. There have been some new seasons and new series released since our initial list, so here are some more binge-worthy shows that we have been watching.
More LezWatchTV Staff Picks of Binge-Worthy Shows
- Amar Es Para Siempre (9 seasons and counting) / #Luimelia (2 seasons, 3rd season on the way)
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Carmel, Site Editor – I started watching the Luisita and Amelia storyline on Nikki’s recommendation and I was immediately drawn in. Amar Es Para Siempre handles a lot of themes I would expect to see in a telenovela or soap opera, but it was interesting seeing these topics through the lens of 1970s Madrid. Luimelia’s relationship is dynamic on its own but throwing in the challenges of the time period made the emotional journey all the more impactful. It also made the #Luimelia reimagining of the couple in 2020 all the more enjoyable. The spin-off series does some really great fan service in season one and has really brought a light and fun energy so far in season two.
Nikki, Staff Writer – As many know from my “Guide To Luimelia,” I spent half my summer in quarantine falling hard for Luisita and Amelia from Amar Es Para Siempre. I am a big fan of family dramas but have never been particularly called to telenovelas. Luimelia changed all of that. It was impossible not to become addicted to the ups and downs of their relationship and their passion for one another. Although Paula Usero and Carol Rovira have recently left Amar, we are lucky to still be getting new episodes of the second season of #Luimelia, their spin-off web series, with a third season to come!
- The Boys (2 seasons, 3rd season coming soon)
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Warning: Scenes of explicit violence, drug use, suicide, sex, and/or abuse occur regularly. Not intended for children or sensitive viewers.
Mika, Co-Editor in Chief – The Boys is not for the tenderhearted. It’s brash, offensive on many levels, disgusting, and absolutely hard to stomach. Originally created by Garth Ennis, who is not a subtle or shy writer, the series dives into exactly how terrible superheroes would be if they really existed. This is gory, gross, upsetting, and weirdly fascinating. If you’re somewhat masochistic, then you’ll enjoy this series. Season two is coming soon.
- The Chi
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Tracy, Co-Editor in Chief – The Chi is Lena Waithe‘s gritty drama about life in Chicago’s South Side. It centers around three teenage best friends, Kevin, Jake and Papa. Kevin’s mom Nina has a girlfriend and it’s treated as not a big deal. The show just completed its third season so if you decide to binge, you have 30 episodes to enjoy. The first two seasons do not have a lot of queer content, but the third makes up for it by introducing five new queer characters. It’s like Lena Waithe looked at the show, decided it wasn’t gay enough and turned the queer content up to 11. The third season begins with Kevin’s mom Nina marrying a girlfriend we hadn’t met before named Dre. We also meet Trig and his wife Imani. Trig is Jake’s older brother who is trying to gain custody of Jake after their other brother is killed. Imani is a badass and she and Trig have one of the most loving relationships I’ve ever seen on TV. Imani being transgender is organically revealed on the show and her backstory is interwoven into the show’s plot in a beautiful and non-sensationalistic way. In addition to these major characters, the third season is sprinkled with queer jokes and fun moments. All this being said, a lot of tragically horrible things happen on The Chi. If you generally avoid shows with violence and sexual assault, you may want to sit this one out, but otherwise, I recommend it.
- Dead To Me (2 seasons, 3rd and final season soon)
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Melanie, Site Editor – A female-centered dark buddy comedy, Dead to Me is fun in Season 1, but it’s even more satisfying in Season 2 when wallflower Judy meets a new friend at the retirement home where she works
Nikki – I was definitely late to the Dead To Me fandom, but that’s because the queer-baiting nature of season 1 scared me away (I know the creator is out writer Liz Feldman, but I have TV trust issues). But this season introduced Natalie Morales as Michelle and all my fears were silenced, with the added bonus of the newest queer character being played by a queer actress. The second season deepened the “friendship” between the lead characters, Jen and Judy, but my personal favorite part was Michelle’s sweet nature amongst all the show’s main drama.
Tracy – This show is SO GOOD. The subject matter is murder and lies, which sounds really dark, but it’s so funny. My favorite part of the show is just when you think it’s going to fall in line with the usual tropes it doesn’t. It breaks all the rules usually followed when TV tells women’s stories and it does it in a way that’s not preachy or a learning lesson. It’s subtle and completely clever. Jen (Christina Applegate) and Judy (Linda Cardellini) play the two main characters and they have PHENOMENAL comedic chemistry. Judy and Michelle (Natalie Morales) also have great romantic chemistry. I absolutely loved the fact there was no coming out story line. Sexual orientation was never mentioned or processed. Even when Jen finds out about them getting together, she’s happy for her without asking, “What, are you gay now?” like we’ve seen on television 100 times before.
- Hitmen (1 season)
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Mika – It’s Mel & Sue (known to most Americans from The Great British Baking Show) as hitmen! They’re as inept as anything and make every possible mistake out there. But it’s brilliant and hilarious. This already showed in the UK, and is finally available for Americans. Each episode is goofy and slap-your-knee funny.
- Little Fires Everywhere (Mini-series)
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Nikki – This was the breakout show of the quarantine so far, for me. I’m still shocked that this show came out while the world was (mostly) shut down (March feels like a year ago), but I definitely remember that I looked forward to new episodes every week. As someone who did not read the book, I was pleasantly surprised to see that extremely timely topics were explored in depth through the shows two main matriarchs: Reese Witherspoon’s Elena and Kerry Washington’s Mia. The show highlights the racial prejudices and biases that existed (and still exists) in small towns, all while unraveling the arson-based mystery that’s presented in the first episode. Good stuff!
Tracy – When my wife and I started Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu I thought to myself, “This is an enjoyable drama.” Then as each episode passed the story got deeper and more layered until we were obsessed. The cast gave really amazing performances. I highly recommend adding it to your pandemic watch list.
- Love, Victor (1 season)
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Mika – A spin-off of the movie Love, Simon, this series tackles a young Latinx man who has his entire life uprooted and, oh yeah, he might be gay. And it sucks. He hates Simon, the cool guy for whom everything worked out, because his life is just not that easy. Thankfully he makes friends who help him along the way, but it’s not an easy journey. This show gets a second season where we’ll get to see the fallout of coming out.
- Lucifer (5 seasons, 6th “final final” season in the works)
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Carmel – The 5th “final” season just dropped on Netflix and they’ve already announced a surprise 6th “final final” season. This show has everything; titular queer character, badass ladies, cool fight scenes, CSI, buddy cops, family drama, a unique spin on Christianity, sex, sarcasm, and therapy. If that doesn’t make you at least a little bit curious then perhaps these gifs will
- Mapleworth Murders (1 season)
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Melanie – This mildly raunchy spoof of cozy mysteries is perfect if your attention span is limited these days. Installments are streamed weekly in a trio of bite-sized episodes on mobile app Quibi, featuring small-town amateur sleuth Abigail Mapleworth. In addition to solving local murders with her niece and procrastinating on her mystery-novel writing, Abigail enjoys sensible shoes, “sharing expenses” with other ladies, and pet rescues.
- Motherland: Fort Salem (1 season)
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Nikki – I had been reporting on MFH’s main couple for Queer Beats for months, so I have to admit that I was sold on this show before ever pressing the “play” button. Any way you look at it, Raelle and Scylla make a cute couple. But I was not expecting to become so sold on the show itself as well. With its alt-history storyline, it makes for a perfect binge to distract you from the alt-history world that seems to be growing outside our windows. And, honestly, I have never been drawn to war-type stories but I became pretty attached to the trio of Raelle/Tally/Abigail and their willingness to do what it takes to keep each other safe.
- Slo Pitch (1 season)
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Carmel – When I see Knox and Gwenlyn Cumyn on a project I already know I’m going to like it. This delightful romp dropped earlier this month bringing some much needed laughs during a time of stress. The series episodes are great, but the extra innings episodes… *chef’s kiss*
- Teenage Bounty Hunters (1 season)
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Carmel – It’s an enjoyable show with a fun relationship between the twins, Sterling and Blair, and their bounty hunter boss/new bff, Bowser. Religion plays a big part of the show and I really like how it pokes fun but never in a hurtful or disrespectful way.
Melanie – Just as its title suggests, this show is an irreverent high school romp across several genres, perfect for a summer binge. The comedy is pretty broad, but the show takes on some serious themes along the way, ending in a twisty cliffhanger that leaves you wanting more.
Mika – It’s new and on Netflix, and it’s an incredibly fun watch. With 10 episodes, you can binge this campy teen dramedy that turns and twists with Telenovela levels of crazy, and laugh the whole way through. It even has a great gay-reveal that isn’t the biggest “What the actual WHAT!?” moment of the show (but is pretty close).
- Trinkets (2 seasons)
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Melanie – Now is the perfect time to jump on this Netflix series based on a YA novel about a trio of girls who meet in a Shoplifters Anonymous meeting: a new (and final) season debuts August 25th.
- Twenties (1 season, 2nd season on the way)
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Nikki – I started this show on Tracy’s request and I did not regret it! I think I binged it in two days (it’s only 8 episodes) and laughed the whole time. This show, another Lena Waithe creation, provides a comedic look into queer Hollywood life through the eyes of the main character, Hattie. Something about Hattie drew me in from the start, whether it was her insistence on always doing things her way or her passion for old movies. Either way, this show’s season one finale is one of the best I have ever seen. Highly recommend!
- The Umbrella Academy (2 seasons + more to come)
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Carmel – I think the best part of this series is how each of the siblings thinks they have their own life under control when really each of them is a hot mess. The beauty is when all of their hot mess selves come together to create one giant volcano of a hot mess family.
Melanie – If you watched season 1 of this super(anti)hero series for Ellen Page and found yourself disappointed that her character was kind of a bummer, this season will be better, I promise.
Tracy – My wife and I watched The Umbrella Academy season one last year and liked it okay, but found it a little boring and a chore to get through. Also, I know it’s my gay bias, but it felt weird to see Ellen Page playing straight and her season one love interest was the bad guy which made her already depressed character even more painful to watch. When season two rolled around recently I wasn’t excited, but it’s my second job to watch television so I stepped up to the task. We LOVED season two.
A little case of amnesia fixed Vanya’s problems. She didn’t know how depressed and isolated she was so she was free to fall for a lonely Dallas housewife in an unhappy marriage. Overall, season two was totally engaging and its use of music is phenomenal. While getting through season one was a chore, we had to hold back from binging too many episodes of season two in a row. Highly recommended!
- Warrior Nun (1 season)
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Mika – Okay, okay I know. It sounds incredibly daft. Except one of the geniuses of Person of Interest made this and it shows. There’s a lot of science and flashbacks and fighting (lots of fighting) and yes, some gay ladies kicking ass. It makes for a totally entertaining romp with nuns and nunchucks vs the evil priesthood a great binge.
- Vagrant Queen (1 season)
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Tracy – Vagrant Queen is hilarious, campy and so much fun. Elida, the main character is amazing. She’s fierce, witty and has the dreamiest eyes. Amae is her spaceship pilot love interest and the two of them have great chemistry. I’m not a fan of slow burns — I would rather get to the getting together part sooner and have more actual relationship screen time. However, the slow burn on this show is so entertainingly obvious it’s a delight. I loved every moment of innuendo and near-kiss leading up to their first actual kiss in the second to last episode. I also enjoyed Tim Rozon as Isaac. He is pretty serious as Doc Holliday on Wynonna Earp, and seeing him play a less intense, funny character was refreshing. It was a fun watch, but also sad because I knew this season was it. If you love Sci-fi comedies and cute wlw ships, give it a go. But you may want to skip if the heartbreak of ending on a never-to-be-resolved cliffhanger is too much
We wish everyone health and serenity as we continue to adjust and navigate life during the pandemic. 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 video games, Queer Parenting to podcasts.
Also, let us know what your binge-worthy shows are by listing them in the comments.
