Netflix

Netflix is the leader, so it has the most extensive catalog. I like especially historical series, some are really brilliant. On the other hand, it’s the platform that seems to take the fewest creative risks, and that’s a shame. Netflix has made a habit of launching big-budget series, then canceling them on the grounds that they cost too much 😉 The excellent Marco Polo was cancelled, for example. Hey, guys, couldn’t you have thought longer before?

• Brooklyn 99 / comedy / The wacky life of a police station. A series much smarter than it may seem…
• Down to earth / Documentary / Zac Efron and Darin Olien show concrete solutions to help the planet, with breathtaking images !
• Never have I ever / Teen series, comedy / Devi is a nerdy Indian girl in a californian high-school. A fresh, funny, moral booster series !
• Sandman / Lord Morpheus, King of dreams and nightmares, loses his power. Humanity is on the verge of chaos
• Secret city / Politics, spies / A journalist investigating a murder in Sydney unravels a major political conspiracy
• The good place / Comedy / Smart and funny, this series about afterlife asks fundamental questions and make you laugh

The series listed below are rather numerous, so I made a list by genre : action – comedy – competition – drama – heists, thieves – history, series taking place in the past – murders & investigations – young audience (teens and young adults)

ACTION

• Black doves / A spy in London sees her family’s life threatened after the death of the Chinese ambassador
• Bodyguard / A gripping story of a protection officer who faces terrorists, organized crime and… politicians !
• The last kingdom / At the end of IXth century, Saxons resist to Danes (vikings) invasions. England will be born from this fight.
• Peaky blinders / Birmingham, 1920. A ruthless gypsy family takes control of all the city’s trafficking
• Pine Gap / At the joint facility in Pine Gap, tensions are high between the Australian and US allies, with China playing a subtle game
• Sense8 / 8 people around the world discover that they are connected and can act together.
• Vikings / Amazon & Netflix / A bold young man decides, against all odds, to sail west. He will define the viking’s history + spin-off Vikings Valhala : 100 years later, also very good
• Wanted / Two women waiting at a bus stop witness a murder. They become suspects and run

COMEDY

• A man on the inside / a retired bored professor is hired by a private detective to infiltrate a retirement community.
• Detox or Off the hook / Two cousins in their twenties set themselves a challenge : no more internet for a month !
• En place / A suburban animator becomes a presidential candidate. A funny reflection on politics and democracy
• Fisk / A shy lawyer tries to find her place in a very small firm that handles estates
• Grace and Frankie / Two women in their seventies are left by their husbands, who remarry together.
• Nobody wants this / Joanne, used to dead-end relationships, meets Noah, a Rabbi. Against all odds and their respective families, they fall in love
• Ten per cent / Movie stars agents try to deal with the whims, doubts and crises of their clients
• The Kominsky method / An acting coach in his seventies manages his life between drama and happiness
• The unusual suspects / A successful influencer, her maid, her neigbours improvise a bold heist as a revenge
• Wellmania / A 40 years old woman comes back to Australia, but must improve her health before leaving.

COMPETITION

• Blown away / Glassblowers compete to create magically beautiful and skillfully crafted objects
• Drink masters / Breathtakingly beautiful cocktails in a dream bar
• The final table / 12 pairs of famous chef must reinterpret star dishes from all around the world

DRAMA

• Boy swallows universe / Brisbane, in the 70’s. Two brothers struggle to build their life in a poor suburb
• The diplomat / Amidst a major international crisis, a newly appointed US ambassador takes up her post in London
• House, M.D. / A misanthropist but genius doctor is able to diagnose even the most unlikely pathologies
• Territory : Australia, near Darwin.When the owner of the largest cattle station dies unexpectedly, a war begins between rival families

HEISTS& THIEVES

• La casa de papel or Money heist / The reference! A man of genius assembles a team of specialists to pull off an incredible heist.
• Berlin / Money heist’s prequel, much less convincing, an average series. But still, if you like heists, France or romances…
• Lupin / Assane Diop takes inspiration from Arsène Lupin to pull off daring heists while juggling his family life

HISTORY

• Vikings and Peaky Blinders are under “ACTION”
• Alexander / A beautiful docu-series focused on the period of the first part of the conquests (Persia and Egypt).
• All the light we cannot see / Saint-Malo, August 1944. A German soldier defies his orders to save a French young woman
• Downton Abbey / Great Britain, 1920. Dramas and joys in a noble family and its household. A classic (very classic)
• The Empress / From 1854, the fate of the famous “Sisi”, empress Elizabeth of Austria. A romantic series, faithful to historical reality
• The English game / At the end of 19th century, workers’ teams begin to play football against aristocrats. How can the game be fair?
• Marco Polo / From 1270 to 1272, the first years of the famous explorer at the court of the great Kubilai Khan, in China
• Poldark / Cornwall, 1783. A captain comes back after the war of independance. He is noble, without money. But he will find love and new fights.
• Tapie / France, between 1960 and 1995. The rise and fall of the very charismatic businessman Bernard Tapie
• Woman at war / France, 1914, on the border with Germany. Four women struggle to heal the wounded and protect their families

MURDER & INVESTIGATIONS

• Bodies / London. 1890, 1941, 2023, 2053. Four police detectives find a body in an alley. Naked, shot through the right eye. Same alley, same body…
• Bodkin / In a picturesque village in Ireland, foreign journalists will reaveal well-seated secrets, and unleash chaos
• Clickbait / The video of the abduction of a alleged rapist goes viral. At 5 M views, he dies. But who was really that man ?
• Sherlock / The famous detective, transposed in our time. Smart, and a excellent casting.
• The Indian detective / A constable in the Canadian Police flies to India, his family’s country, and becomes a true detective there
• The Lincoln lawyer / Netflix / A bold lawyer confronts criminals and defies the justice system without regard for risk
• The perfect couple : Greer and Tag, are rich and happily married for 29 years, and about to marry their son. But a murder disrupts the wedding
• The rookie / A 50 year old man, divorced, begins a second career as a policeman in LAPD

SERIES TARGETED FOR A YOUNG AUDIENCE

• A good girl’s guide to murder / A student in high-school decides to reopen the painful case of another student’s disappearance
• Bridgerton / Not exactly uchronic, but a reinvented Regency : romances and rumors at the court.
• The last airbender / 4 nations, 4 elemental powers. A boy gets the power and responsibility to maintain balance.
• Sex education / The son of a sexologist decides to give sex advices in his high school to impress a girl