10 Must Watch TV-Series To Get You Through This Lockdown

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It’s one of the most difficult decisions you can make these days, choosing which series to watch next. Do you finally commit to that political thriller your dad recommended? Or do you go for the reality show your sister said made her cry?

Well, don’t worry dear reader, we know there are a lot of options out there, especially with the launch of Star on Disney+, which just added a shed load of movies and TV series for you to work your way through, so we thought it best if we helped out.

To that end, we’ve compiled a complete list of the 10 essential series that you can watch through Star, so you don’t have to think too much about what to watch tonight. We had to watch an awful lot of great TV to put this list together, but we were willing to endure it for you…

Love, Victor

Nominally a TV sequel to the smash movie Love, Simon, Love, Victor is so much more than just a follow up to a popular movie. It’s an important story with a valuable message about accepting who you are no matter how difficult that journey is.

Set in the same universe as Love, Simon, the series focuses on a new student at Creekwood High School, Victor who’s going through something very similar to what Simon went through in the film. What’s interesting though is that Victor isn’t Simon and his journey to self-acceptance is going to be a lot more difficult.

All sequels live in the shadow of their predecessor but no show handles it quite like Love, Victor, which uses the obvious tension between the two to create real drama.

It would have been so easy for Love, Victor to just replicate the warmth and sweetness of Love, Simon but it shies away from that and instead tells a much more challenging story, confronting the audience with the sad fact that not everyone gets it as easy as Simon did.

And while we believe that Victor deserves a love story as great as Simon’s, we’d be lying if we didn’t say that watching his struggles didn’t make for great TV.

Scrubs

When it comes to classic comedies, Scrubs ranks among the finest ever made with its fast-paced gags, surreal vignettes, and surprisingly touching character arcs – the series has got something for everyone.

Set in Sacred Heart Teaching Hospital, the show follows John ‘J.D.’ Dorian (Zach Braff), a brand-new doctor as he tries to balance his new responsibilities, love life, and desperate need for validation from his chosen mentor, Dr Perry Cox.

While Scrubs is probably best remembered for its top-notch gags and incredibly quotable characters, in our opinion the series is at its best when it gets serious.
And no episode quite proved this like season three’s tear-jerker ‘My Screw Up’ and the killer line: ‘Where do you think we are?’ If you know, you know…

The X-Files

Created by Chris Carter and spanning nine seasons, The X-Files remains one of the most interesting, compelling, and downright terrifying TV series ever made.

Set in the Washington FBI office, the series focuses on special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), a dynamic duo who investigate the titular X-Files – unsolved cases which usually involve otherworldly paranormal shenanigans.

While each episode is brilliant in its own way – special praise has to be given to season one’s ‘Squeeze’ and season four’s ‘Home’, both of which are responsible for several recurring nightmares – the thing that truly makes The X-Files special is its overarching myth arc.

We don’t want to give anything away but needless to say, it involves a conspiracy that runs to the highest level of government, freaky alien abductions and weird black goo.

The truth is out there, all you have to do is watch it…

Lost

When it comes to peak TV it’s impossible not to mention Lost, a show that defined television for over half a decade, and kept audiences glued to their screens with its complex mysteries, fascinating characters, and mind-blowing reveals.

Set on a mysterious desert island in the middle of… somewhere (?) Lost follows the survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 as they struggle to survive the harsh conditions of their new home.

They’ll have to contend with more than just the elements though because this is no ordinary island, and the rainforest is full of secrets, mysteries, and ‘other’ things…

In all honesty though, if you’ve not rewatched this since it originally aired you’re in for a treat, the series works so much better without the agonising gap between episodes and the countless puzzles and mysteries are so fun they’re more than worth going back to.

24

When it comes to getting your action fix you can’t go far wrong with 24 and poor sleep-deprived Jack Bauer, who spent nine seasons saving the world and punching bad guys without a single coffee break.

24 was groundbreaking telly at the time of release – it cleverly made every season one day in Jack’s life, with each episode taking place over the course of one hour – and featured some of the most head-spinning twists in the history of the small screen.

While each and every season has its share of shocking moments, if we had to pick a favourite it’d have to be Day One which features a death so cruel and upsetting it would make your average Game of Thrones fan start crying with shock.

I still wonder when Jack found time to nip to the bathroom though…

Solar Opposites

A brand-new series available exclusively through Star, Solar Opposites is without a doubt one of the funniest animated series we’ve seen in a long time, but what would you expect from Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan who helped make Rick and Morty a success?

Solar Opposites tells the story of refugee aliens Korvo, Terry, and their child-replicants Yumyulack and Jesse, who are forced to live on Earth after their world, Shlorp, is destroyed by an asteroid.

It’s basically Rick and Morty with the existential dread stripped away, and it takes full advantage of its ridiculous premise by mixing mundane stories with incredibly over the top ‘high-concept sci-fi’ to great effect.

At its heart though, the reason why Solar Opposites works so well is that ultimately, it’s about a family trying to adjust to new circumstances, and just because they have a shrink ray doesn’t make them any less relatable.

Prison Break

How far would you go for your sibling? Would you lend them bus fare? Buy them lunch? How about break into a high-security prison with the blueprints tattooed all over your body?

If you answered no to that last one then you’re not even a tenth as dedicated to your unfortunate sibling as Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) is to his estranged brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) in this incredibly original drama.

While there’s something to like in all five seasons of Prison Break, the best season is, of course, the first which sees Michael and Lincoln pull off the titular prison break with a host of unforgettable inmates who become known as the Fox River Eight.

Atlanta

When Donald Glover turns his hand to something, be it writing, music, or acting you know it’s going to be great, but with Atlanta Childish Gambino outdoes himself.

Set in Atlanta (of course) the show follows Donald Glover’s Earn, a bit of a loser who’s recently dropped out of Princeton University.

Finding himself with no money, no job and having little other options, Earn turns to his cousin Alfred – who’s on the verge of making it as a rapper – in the hopes of giving his life some meaning.

Ambitious and smart, Atlanta really is a fantastic vehicle for Glover and his wry observational humour, we can’t recommend it enough and we guarantee you’ll be chomping at the bit for season three to drop.

Modern Family

Incredibly well written with an eccentric but lovable cast of characters, Modern Family is a modern masterpiece and easily one of the best sitcoms of recent years and the best example of the mockumentary since The Office.

Set in LA, the show revolves around the Pritchett clan and chronicles the strange shenanigans of the various groups who make up this motley family of eccentric but lovable characters.

Overall Modern Family is a surprisingly subversive look at how the family unit has changed – and not changed – over time.

Black-ish

Created by the esteemed Kenya Barris, Black-ish is a sitcom centred on the Johnson’s, a middle-class African American family led by Andre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross) who fear their kids are losing touch with their Black roots.

Incredibly relevant and sharply written, Black-ish boasts one of the best sitcom casts of recent years and pulls no punches when it comes to addressing the difficulties surrounding race relations.

The series’ greatest success is the way it balances its sociopolitical points with incredibly funny moments, never crossing that line into lecturing or preaching. It’s a superb series and one we hope you enjoy as much as we did.

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