Just watch these dang shows!
The Good Place
Where you keep scrolling past it: Hulu and Netflix
What it's about: Eleanor (Kristen Bell) finds herself in the "Good Place" (read: Heaven) after an accident ends her life, but the problem is she's a terrible person and clearly doesn't belong there. She enlists the help of her mistakenly assigned soulmate Chidi (William Jackson Harper) to teach her how to be a better person and — hopefully — keep her secret safe.
Why you should just give up and watch it: Despite the high-concept premise, The Good Place finds ways to ground itself and stay fresh throughout the first season. Just when we start to get tired of watching Eleanor avoid letting her secret get out, we're thrown a twist to make the story interesting again. You might ~think~ you know which way the show is going, but you probably don't until it takes one of its many sharp turns.
NBC
Ozark
Where you keep scrolling past it: Netflix
What it's about: A financial adviser goes into hiding in the Ozarks with his family as he takes on the task of laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for a crime boss.
Why you should just give up and watch it: First off, yes, that is Jason Bateman and Laura Linney in a show together. If that's not enough to get you to watch, then consider the fact that it's being compared to Breaking Bad by pretty much everyone who watches it.
Seriously though, if you liked the normal-guy-does-criminal-things aspect of Breaking Bad, then this show is the perfect spiritual successor for you to become obsessed with.
Netflix
The Mick
Where you keep scrolling past it: Hulu
What it's about: When her wealthy sister flees the country to avoid arrest, an irresponsible aunt is thrust into a parental role as she's forced to become the guardian of her niece and nephews.
Why you should just give up and watch it: The show has one of TV's best and most underrated comedic actors in the starring role (Kaitlyn Olson of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia fame), but the supporting cast is equally hilarious. Carla Jimenez is a riot as Alba, the wealthy family's former maid whose journey of self-discovery is littered with bottles of booze. And Thomas Barbusca — whom you might recognize as the kid from the Wet Hot American Summer sequel, or that Geico commercial with Peter Pan — hilariously shines as the teenage epitome of white privilege.
The show returns for a second season on Fox starting Sept. 26, so you have some time to catch up on the first 17 episodes on Hulu.
Fox
Atypical
Where you keep scrolling past it: Netflix
What it's about: Sam — a high school senior who is on the autism spectrum — takes the advice of his therapist and tries to get a girlfriend.
Why you should just give up and watch it: You would expect a coming-of-age show about a teenager on the autism spectrum to be a tearjerker...and you'd be right, Atypical will absolutely make you cry. But it's also consistently hilarious throughout its eight-episode first season. And while some of the jokes are at Sam's expense, the show does a good job of being sensitive about people on the autism spectrum without treating Sam with kid gloves. And, much like ABC's Speechless, Atypical paints an accurate picture of what life is like for a family with a member who has special needs.
Netflix
via BuzzFeed/Travel
