The holiday season has become synonymous with bingeing. Traditionally, this begins with food, which, in the sluggishness it imparts, leads to hours upon hours of couch time. Sure, during that caloric coma you could make good on your plan to rewatch the entirety of Game of Thrones; but we are here to tell you there is another way! The Motion Source staff has come together to offer up a cornucopia of binge-worthy viewing delights that you may not be familiar with. From Victorian period dramas to sports docu-series, we’ve covered just about every major area of the menu. So slip on your sweatpants, reach for your remote, and tune in to these televised treats.

MICHELLE RECOMMENDS:

WYNONNA EARP on Netflix

By chance I stumbled upon Wynonna Earp on Netflix, and it took me only a couple weeks to binge the three seasons. This modern western-meets-supernatural/fantasy show sounded like a strange, but intriguing, combination that I took a chance on and hoped would not disappoint. Luckily, it did not! The titular character and her unlikely team battle demons, called revenants, who seek to destroy her and her family because of a curse placed on them many years back. Wynonna's great, great-grandfather is the famous Wyatt Earp, adding fun historical context to the otherwise fictional storyline. The show is packed with action, suspense, wit, and even some romance. The cast is perfect, and the actors shine just as much individually as they do as a group. Because of the genre bending, I think a lot of different people will enjoy this show. And I am very happy that a fourth season will be coming out next year!

SAL RECOMMENDS:

COMEDIANS IN CARS GETTING COFFEE on Netflix

"Jerry Seinfeld is joined by friends for a cup of coffee and a drive in a classic car, sharing stories all along the way." I had dabbled in CCGC when it first came out, but never really appreciated it until one Friday evening earlier this fall, when I watched it for nearly 5 hours straight.

In this age of small bites, this hits that perfect medium between short and long-form content. The episodes range anywhere from 15-25 minutes, but you'll be pining for more every time. 

Each episode is as unique as the car that Seinfeld chooses to drive. Naturally, many of the guests come from a comedic background who have gone on to bigger and better things. I guarantee there are many that you have not yet heard of, though. For that reason, this show is also a great catalyst to discover new comedians/entertainers you wouldn't have otherwise. I think this show is so entertaining because it pulls back the curtain on these "Hollywood" celebrities in the best way. No matter how "A-list" a guest may or may not be, Seinfeld does a great job putting them at ease and talking to them like a normal person. It's literally two people having a conversation in different settings for 20 minutes and it's great.

Recommended Episodes: Jamie Foxx, Kate McKinnon, Ricky Gervais, Zach Galifianakis, Tracy Morgan, Sebastian Maliscalco, Bob Einstein, George Wallace.

JEFF RECOMMENDS:

SUNDERLAND ‘TIL I DIE on Netflix

The documentary series follows an English football (soccer) club over the course of a disappointing—at times heartbreaking—season. The club was once a mainstay in the English top flight of football, but at some point in time over the last twenty to thirty years, they developed a curse that has seen the club snowball in a downward trajectory. The show follows the team but also shows the impact they have on the local fanbase and city as a whole. I am biased because I'm a fan of the sport, but I do believe people who are not will still feel compelled to watch the series through to the last episode.

DAVID RECOMMENDS:

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE on Netflix

If you're looking for a fright this holiday season, I cannot recommend The Haunting of Hill House enough. A majority of horror sub genres aren't my cup of tea, but there is a particular kind of psychological horror that lands just right. Think less Friday the 13th gory slasher, and more The Shining ghostly labyrinth. While Hill House has a fair share of frightening apparitions, they ditch many horror clichés, like jump scares, in lieu of building tension and a nail biting sense of dread. Subverting the typical focus on what happened to cause the paranormal activity in question, the story here narrows its gaze to the psychological impact one haunted house can have on a family and explores that by beginning the story many years after. With a wild conclusion, twists, turns, and even hidden ghosts scattered throughout the backgrounds in almost every episode, The Haunting of Hill House is gravely satisfying.

MITCH RECOMMENDS:

VICE PRINCIPALS on HBO

I was very excited to find out that the creators of the movie The Foot Fist Way and the HBO show Eastbound and Down, were releasing a new show on HBO. Writer/Director/Actor Danny McBride teamed up with his production crew of Jody Hill and David Gordon Green to create a much more tightly made story than their previous works, and it paid off big time. Vice Principals is about Neil Gamby (Danny McBride) and Lee Russel (Walton Goggins) and their goal of being promoted to principal of North Jackson High School. When the former principal (played by Bill Murray) announces his retirement, Gamby and Russel begin to compete against each other for the open position only to find out that the school district is bringing in an outside hire. The two opposite characters then decide to form a partnership to get rid of the new principal in the hopes that one of them will get the position. On the outside, this show looks like it’s about evil men willing to do anything to get what they want, but actually, in the process they learn how their selfish acts force them into being more alone than they originally were. The whole series is out on HBO and only has 18 episodes. It is very funny, but also has one of the greatest character arcs in a comedy series I have ever seen. Plus, Walton Goggins gives one of the most underrated comedic television performances in recent memory. 

STEVE RECOMMENDS:

WESTWORLD on HBO

While I haven't recently binged any shows, the last one I gobbled up was Westworld on HBO. Wikipedia's description of the show is fairly succinct: “In an unspecified time in the future, Westworld, one of six theme parks owned and operated by Delos Inc., allows guests to experience the American Old West in an environment populated by ‘hosts’, androids programmed to fulfill the guests' every desire. The hosts, who are nearly indistinguishable from humans, follow a predefined set of intertwining narratives but have the ability to deviate from these narratives based on interactions they have with guests.”

To me, the initial attraction of the show was the sci-fi western setting; but I soon became enthralled with Anthony Hopkins’ character, Robert Ford: the co-creator and park director. Ford eloquently discusses the creation of the park as well as the tremendous philosophical implications of humans interacting with lifelike androids who are unable to harm them in any way. And, it’s fascinating.

As with all good sci-fi theme parks, (Jurassic Park) the park breaks down and things go awry rather quickly. The performances of the actors playing the android characters are incredible to watch as they develop over the two seasons released so far. I believe a third season is coming in 2020, and I for one will be looking forward to another binge.

CRAIG RECOMMENDS:

VICTORIA on Amazon Prime

Recently, I have been researching the Victorian era for a short story that I intend to write. While perusing Amazon for books on the subject, I chanced upon the BBC Masterpiece production of—the aptly titled—Victoria. Always a sucker for a well-done period drama, I figured I’d watch an episode and see if it fit that category. I am very pleased to report that it most certainly did.

Victoria begins at the moment when young Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent ascends to the throne. She is summarily informed that the name Alexandrina is too foreign, and Victoria, “hardly the name for a queen”. Elizabeth and Anne are both suggested as options, yet she assumes the title Queen Victoria, expressing right out the gates that this young woman refuses to be a puppet to tradition, a doll for advisors to toss around. In the face of the ponderous weight of history, customs, and prim expectations, Jenna Coleman does a phenomenal job evoking the stubborn rebelliousness of the queen. She simply will not be controlled. Though, she is a young monarch, too young and sheltered to apprehend the abject squalor that plagues the majority of her subjects. In time her eyes are opened, and she must make very difficult decisions, both political and personal. Victoria is both a willful and charitable queen; and a moody teenager more concerned with the fluttering of her heart than the starving poor in her streets: this three-dimensionality is refreshing and engaging. 

For as wonderful a performance as Jenna Coleman delivers, it is difficult to compete with Rufus Sewell’s Lord Melbourne. Mr. Sewell’s name might not be familiar to many readers, but his face certainly is. Whether you know him as the villain in A Knight’s Tale, or the tortured protagonist of Dark City, he is an actor ever-present, but without the talk show circuit to make his name a household fixture. And, while he has always been a consummate player, I have never seen him as subtly glorious as he is here, cast as the incumbent Prime Minister upon Victoria’s rise to the throne. Together, the characters of Queen Victoria and Lord Melbourne produce the most absorbing chemistry that I have come across since Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson’s bizarre cop/killer love/hate dance in the first season of Luther. Lord Melbourne is many things to Victoria. He is her most trusted advisor, her dearest friend, and, in time, her obsession. So complex is their relationship that watching it play out feels as though a scrap of reality has been snipped and stretched across the screen for your visceral viewing pleasure. There are those relationships in life that are difficult to describe the precise shape and hue of. Relationships that cannot neatly be categorized: this is one of them. And, I promise, it will break your heart.

Thus far I have only watched the first season of Victoria. But, with the holidays approaching, I hope to find the time to plow through the second and third. This, in itself, is tall praise coming from someone who rarely finds time to dedicate to television. This is a testament to the depth and quality that Victoria has to offer its audience.

Hope you enjoy these recommendations. Happy bingeing!