Top 10 Shows We Binged in 2017
Who doesn’t love a good binge watch? Netflix and Amazon stepped it up this year with tons of original content. Did follow up seasons to blockbuster hits live up to their expectations? Did anything surprise us this year? Without further ado, here are the Top 10 Shows we binge watched in 2017!
10. The Keepers
This murder docuseries from Netflix evoked a similar emotional tone as the highly popular Making a Murderer series did a few years ago. It asks the question of who killed Sister Cathy Cesnik, but gives more answers than we wanted.
Our Reaction: This was well promoted by Netflix, and wasn’t initially on our radar. Like many, the accounts of graphic sexual abuse angered us the most, with the predictable Church cover-up decades later just as infuriating. As a series, it was gripping, engaging, and sad.
As of April 2023, we’re still seeing reports of abuse and coverups like we saw in The Keepers. In Maryland, there are reports of ‘staggering’ church sex abuse allegedly perpetrated by the Archdiocese of Baltimore – the oldest Roman Catholic diocese in the country – in which over 600 children were abused.
Hook Factor: 8/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Netflix, July 19, 2017
9. The Man in the High Castle Season 2
Man in the High Castle is an original Amazon series based on the 1962 story by Philip K. Dick, in which the Nazis and Japanese win World War 2 and divide America into two major territories.
Our Reaction: While we love the dark, tense mood that powers this show, Season 2 of Man in the High Castle was noticeably weaker. The Axis characters, Japanese trade minister Tagomi and Obergruppenführer Smith, continue to grow in their humanity while American protagonists, Juliana Crain and Frank Fink, become more irrational and unlikable (albeit well performed). Additionally, there’s something wrong with Amazon mostly ignoring overt racism and bigotry in this fascist universe. With Season 2 receiving a mere 65% positive rating, Season 3 will limp to Prime Video before it eventually shuts down.
Hook Factor: 8/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Season 2, Amazon, Dec 16, 2016
8. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 1
A great addition to our Top 10 Shows in 2017 list, this period-dramedy follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a Jewish newlywed who falls into standup comedy after her husband leaves her.
Our Reaction: It’s not a surprise that the marvelous Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards) just received a Golden Globe nomination for the lead role in this fast and funny series set in 1950s NYC. She’s sharp, vulnerable, and resilient. She also gets support from a veteran cast of comedic actors, including Alex Borstein (Family Guy), Tony Shalhoub (Monk, Wings), Kevin Pollack, and Marin Hinkle (Two and a Half Men). We couldn’t get enough.
Hook Factor: 8/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Season 1, Amazon, November 29, 2017
7. F is for Family Season 2
F is for Family is an animated series from stand up comic Bill Burr about a father trying to raise a family in 1970s America.
Our Reaction: Words that come to mind are vulgar, angry, and impatient. Not the show, but lead character Frank Murphy (Burr). The show itself is hilarious, heartwarming, and, yes, vulgar. It’s really accurate too – the style, the language, and attitudes made us feel like we were back in our 1970’s childhood bedrooms. Modern observations on things like media, women’s roles and male identity make for a really smart show.
Hook Factor: 8/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Season 2, Netflix, May 30, 2017
6. GLOW Season 1
GLOW follows the origins of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, from the team behind Orange is the New Black.
Our Reaction: Netflix continues to feed our insatiable appetite for the 80s with GLOW, starring Alison Brie and Marc Maron. The writing and art direction help give it that gritty 80s feel, but with enough humor and warmth to make us care for these ladies. If you were like us and couldn’t get enough after it ended, we recommend the 2012 documentary, GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, also on Netflix.
Hook Factor: 9/10
Our Rating: 5/5
Released: Season 1, Netflix, June 23, 2017
5. 13 Reasons Why Season 1
Adapted from the New York Times Bestseller of the same title, 13 Reasons Why presses rewind on a high school rocked by the suicide of Hannah Baker (played by Golden Globe nominee, Katherine Langford).
Our Reaction: Starting with the suicide of the main character, the show hooks you immediately. The characters were stereotypically labeled, but they developed enough to show complexity in their motivations. Our biggest gripe was how some information was obtained in order to tie things together: characters looking through the window blinds of other characters. CLOSE YOUR BLINDS, PEOPLE. Other than that, 13 Reasons Why offered great performances, intense mood, and stylish production elements.
Hook Factor: 10/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Season 1, Netflix, March 31, 2017
4. Vice Principals Season 2
The power struggle for North Jackson High School continues! As Gamby tries to find the masked assailant who shot him last season, Lee Russell’s world flies out of control. Hilariously out of control.
Our Reaction: We devoured Vice Principals voraciously. In past projects, we’ve seen the promise in both Danny McBride and Jody Hill, but they come together in this series at the peak of their powers. They slay with their depictions of ambitious vice principals vying for the top principal job. Season 2 picks up in the aftermath of Gamby’s shooting. Edi Patterson is psychopathically funny, sexy, and gross at the same time. Of our Top 10 Shows in 2017, Vice Principals is cemented as a two-seasons-and-out legend.
Hook Factor: 10/10
Our Rating: 5/5
Released: Season 1, HBOMax, March 31, 2017
3. The Crown Season 2
The Crown is a beautifully-set drama based on the award-winning play, The Audience by Peter Morgan. It chronicles the ascension of Queen Elizabeth II to the throne and delicately examines her relationships to Winston Churchill, Princess Margaret, and her new husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Our Reaction: Naturally, we love The Crown. The production, the writing, and award winning performances – all outstanding. At least, in Season 1.
Season 2, which was released a few weeks ago, sorely missed Winston Churchill, played by John Lithgow (who won an Emmy and SAG award for the role, not to mention nominated for a Golden Globe). Instead we were given two weak Prime Ministers and a few, uninteresting story arcs. The first include the extra-marital dalliances of Prince Philip, which lasted a third of the season. Then, an almost unwatchable two episodes about Margaret and her bisexual commoner. Luckily, Season 2 is saved by a handful of fascinating episodes (Royal links to Nazis, Prince Philip’s childhood/shaping of Charles, and the Jackie O encounters). It also has the top-shelf performances of Claire Foy and Matt Smith. As of this writing, The Crown boasts 26 various award wins and 55 nominations, the most on our Top 10 Shows in 2017 list. Holy moly.
Hook Factor: 9/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Season 2, Netflix, December 8, 2017
2. Broadchurch Season 3
Broadchurch was an intense crime drama set in the UK that originally broadcast on ITV in 2013. It followed the story of two detectives on the path to solve the murder of 11 year-old Danny Latimer in a small, beach town in Dorset. 2017’s Season 3 focuses on a new crime, but does so in the aftermath of Joe Miller‘s trial.
Our Reaction: While not as powerful as the previous two seasons, Season 3 isn’t that far behind. It offers the same stellar acting, dramatic mood, and picturesque photography that we loved so much. The drama is still intense, though there were elements this season that made us scratch our heads a bit (we don’t know much about the differences in the UK justice system, so the trial scenes were infuriating to watch). But overall, we couldn’t get enough of the the Tenant/Colman pairing. We’d watch them monitor traffic in Greenland.
Hook Factor: 10/10
Our Rating: 4/5
Released: Season 3, Netflix, November 27, 2017
1. Stranger Things Season 2
The champ is back. Will’s been rescued from the upside down, but all is still not right in Hawkins, Indiana.
Our Reaction: It’s no surprise this tops our Top 10 Shows in 2017 list. With its suspenseful storyline and nostalgic packaging, Stranger Things Season 2 was one of the most anticipated follow ups of the year, and it did not disappoint (mostly). Even more retro-references were unleashed this season: Dragons Lair, Mad Max, Dig Dug, The Warriors, and a double down on My Two Dads, which we wrote about earlier this year. Kudos to Netflix for giving us Beyond Stranger Things, a companion extras show that gives audiences some insight into the production through cast roundtables.
Hook Factor: 10/10
Our Rating: 5/5
Released: Season 2, Netflix, December 8, 2017
