Oh, those Summer nights! The windows are agape, letting in the neighborhood’s cooking scents and the street roar. As we lay-scantily clad- in front of our TV screens wiggling our bare toes and not remembering where we left our phones, this is the perfect moment to relax and binge-watch the crème de la creme of escapist TV.
We had been too guilty to give into during our work-loaded winter evenings, but now we have plenty of free summer nights. It’s the time to destress our minds and bodies and embrace programmes that promise not to tap into any of our real-life anxieties.
Don’t Trust The B_ In Apartment 23
With the right dose of satire and surrealism, Don’t Trust The B_ In Apartment 23 is one of those programmes that really deserves a second glance. Teletransporting us to a parallel universe in hectic New York City, we witness the hilarious shenanigans of sociopath con artist Chloe (Krysten Ritter) and sweet and innocent June (Dreama Walker), who is the new girl in town.
James Van Der Beek from Dawson’s Creek shines as a cult figure in the series, starring as another version of himself. Inexplicably the sitcom was canceled after only two seasons. For that reason the series never loses its pace: All its 26 episodes are deliciously snarky and fun to watch.
Crazy Ex Girlfriend
Even if you have a natural aversion to musicals, you simply cannot not like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The entire story is like a long fantasy you had on the train on your way home from work, involving your high school crush you haven’t seen in years.
What if you bumped into the person and decided to relentlessly stalk the hell out of him, disregarding all real-life ramifications? (Which, by the way, are not relevant in this story). Rachel Bloom’s talent as a comedian is simply larger than life in this crazy-stalker-slash-love story.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Doomsday cult survivor Kimmy Schmidt moves to New York City for a fresh start, only to find out that the world has slightly changed in these 15 years she spent in an underground bunker, imprisoned by crazy Reverend Richard Wayne. If you aren’t acquainted with the show, the storyline may sound a bit grim.
However, the comedy’s message is no doubt one of unwavering optimism. With her “Pollyanna” outlook and her child-like enthusiasm, Kimmy Schmidt’s happiness vibes are seriously contagious. What's more, I promise you that the theme song ("Unbreakable, they're alive, dammit! It's a miracle") will be the Summer's ultimate unofficial mood booster soundtrack.
Friends
Safely placed in a cushy 90s time capsule, the iconic series Friends is like waltzing through childhood memories, that include an orange couch, and those better times when people could rent Manhattan apartments on a waitress’ salary.
It gives us something to reminisce, and if you are a female fan of Jennifer Aniston, it helps you take your diet and fitness plan a bit more seriously.
Love
Binge-watching shows in the lazy months of the year shouldn’t involve anything gritty, but surprisingly, there is a kind of gritty that actually works. Love was a series that was quickly wrapped up by Netflix after only 3 seasons. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it was spared from recycling the same unresolved romantic struggle between protagonists Mickey and Gus. (Let’s be honest, there’s no satisfying real-life ending you could give their complex situation).
The honest and sarcastic look at relationships that Love offers ( not to mention the background of an unfiltered Californian setting), is just so effortless and refreshing.
Death In Paradise
Perhaps the biggest mystery in the history of television is how stories that involve a-murder-a-day became the ultimate delight of the escapist genre.
First, you add the popular Poirot character into the mixer, and then you sprinkle it with a spicy “Paradise” tropical setting. For a sexier taste, you add an unlikely love story such as stand-offish British detective falling for an incredibly sexy native Caribbean female officer. And voila, you’ve got the perfect Summer cocktail! Cheers.
Call My Agent
If you are lusting for some Parisian joie de vivre, Call My Agent is Netflix’s number one foreign language sitcom. Even if you can’t be bothered to read subtitles, putting the series on as background noise in your living room as you go about your chores, is enough to mentally embrace the globetrotter spirit that Summer requires.
Not that Call My Agent isn’t totally capable of gluing you on your sofa with its understated elegance and effortless rhythm, just to be clear.
Stranger Things
Netflix has given sci-fi fans a real treat with cult horror series Stranger Things. As we all know, Netflix takes its sweet time to release a new season and Stranger Things is no exception. Its third season has been confirmed to be July 4, 2019. But how many of us do genuinely remember what happened in Seasons one and two?
Binge-watching the first two seasons to warm up for season number three (especially now that we know that Uma Thurman’s daughter Maya Hawke is in it) is almost obligatory.
Silicon Valley
You don’t need to be an IT geek to appreciate Silicon Valley. In fact, even if your IT skills are limited to successfully switching on and off your laptop, Silicon Valley is still a fun series to watch, and designed to make you laugh your heart out regardless.
A more updated and infinitely more ambitious version of The IT Crowd, Silicon Valley walks us through the quirky and wonderful world of Californian tech start-ups. With Big Bang Theory chemistry and relentless gritty humor, it’s a pleasure to devour.
The first seasons of The Big Bang Theory
If we can be totally honest, by the time Young Sheldon arrived on our screens, The Big Bang Theory had already lost the very components that made it such a joy to watch.
We’ll let you decide for yourselves what was your personal moment when the series lost its magic and frankly, also its originality. But everything before that moment was a cushy, mind-numbing almost perfect break from reality.