3 Netflix Shows You Need to Binge This Weekend (August 22

If my friends and family want a TV recommendation, they turn to me. I’ve seen plenty of shows and it’s fair to say that not all of them are good. That’s why I’m happy to share these three selections from Netflix, all of which are worth your time and the ideal length for a binge.

This weekend my choices include a comedy with a side of moral philosophy, a laid-back cooking show, and Jeff Goldblum. Happy streaming!

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The Good Place

If you’re a fan of the hilarious Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you’re bound to enjoy The Good Place, a unique comedy from Michael Schur. It’s set in the afterlife, where Eleanor Shellstrop (Kristen Bell) has been sent to the Good Place on account of her supposedly exemplary behavior when she was on Earth—except she knows she’s more deserving of the torturous Bad Place. Eleanor is assigned a soulmate, Chidi (William Jackson Harper), an ethics professor who tries to help her become a better person.

They are also joined by socialite Tahani (Jameela Jamil) and dim-but-nice Jason (Manny Jacinto), and overseen by the otherworldly Michael (Ted Danson) and not-person, not-robot assistant Janet (D’Arcy Carden). Every single member of the cast is fantastic and they complement one another perfectly. It’s a joy seeing their characters develop over the course of four twisty and surprising seasons.

While The Good Place is very funny, the fact it’s also moving and intelligent is what elevates it above many other half-hour comedies. It also didn’t overstay its welcome; the show ended on Schur’s terms and maintained its high quality throughout. If that sounds appealing, don’t wait around to binge because it’s reportedly being removed from Netflix in the US in late September, likely to be rehomed on Peacock.

2

The Chef Show

Chef is a delightful 2014 movie created by and starring Jon Favreau as a chef at a fancy restaurant who quits and opens a food truck. Real-life chef Roy Choi served as a consultant on the movie and trained Favreau to help make his performance look authentic. In Netflix’s The Chef Show, the pair team up to cook a wide variety of dishes—pasta, curry, salad, soup, you name it—while chatting with celebrity friends and restaurateurs.

If you’ve seen the movie (and you should watch it first for maximum enjoyment of this show), you’ll remember the scene where Favreau’s character makes a grilled cheese. You’ll be pleased to know that’s recreated here in all its glory. Each recipe is introduced in a charming animated sequence, which shows the dish bouncing around in a food truck before exploding and revealing the ingredients.

It all makes for easy viewing. Even if you never plan to recreate any of the delicious-looking food, it’s fun to watch Favreau and Choi at work, and the pair make for a great duo; the former is keen to learn, while the latter is relaxed and talented. While the episodes with famous guests like Favreau’s Marvel colleagues or filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez are neat, the show really sparkles when featuring other chefs who have interesting experiences.

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Kaos

Kaos is a Netflix original show that stars Jeff Goldblum as a tracksuit-wearing version of Zeus. If that doesn’t immediately sell you, I don’t know what will, but I’ll continue. It’s created by Charlie Covell, who wrote the TV adaptation of The End of the F***ing World, and brings the Greek gods to the modern day. Zeus has long enjoyed his position as almighty ruler but is convinced that his downfall is imminent. And indeed it will be, if Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) can get his way.

Goldblum is always a captivating presence, but the rest of his Olympian family are great too, like Janet McTeer as wife Hera and David Thewlis as brother Hades. That’s barely touching on the cast, which is extensive. The show packs a lot in, but it does so with flair. The visuals are stylish, the dark humor is pitch-perfect, and it remains engaging from beginning to end.

Nowadays, shows only have a limited time to build an audience before streamers make a judgment whether to commission more. In the case of Kaos, despite decent reviews and millions of views in the first couple of weeks, Netflix swiftly canceled it after a single season. Presumably the show cost too much for Netflix to risk a second, which is a shame—original productions like these are exactly what I want to see, and there is no shortage of stories that could have been mined from Greek mythology.

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Once you’re done with these shows, there are many games you can play on your phone with a Netflix subscription. They’re all ad-free and don’t have any microtransactions, so you can enjoy an unadulterated gaming experience.