10 TV Shows I Love to Binge-Watch

My go-to comfort lineup when laziness calls my name

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

I recently had a piece published in Big List Energy entitled 10 Albums I’d Want with Me on a Desert Island, which I had a lot of fun writing.

While working on it, I recalled a similar article I wrote a couple of years ago about 10 TV shows I’d want with me if I were stranded alone on an island.

In each of those works, it was hard for me to settle on just 10 picks. As both a music and TV addict, it was quite a struggle!

During a recent TV binge-watching session (which definitely wasn’t supposed to last as long as it did), I thought it would be fun to put together a new list of 10 shows I can get lost in for many hours at a time.

To challenge myself a little bit, I decided not to include any of the ones I used in the piece I wrote about shows I’d want with me on a desert island.

Below are 10 TV shows I’ve happily spent several hours binge-watching. I’ve mixed it up with old and new series — featuring dramas, comedies, and more.

These shows may be very different from each other, but they all share the same magic — they’re perfect for those lazy stretches on my couch when I’m happily doing nothing but relaxing and watching.

NOTE: Rather than ranking these by preference, I’ve listed them in the order they premiered and paired each one with the front cover from one of its DVD collections.

1. Perry Mason — 9 Seasons (1957–1966)

Paramount Pictures

I’d never seen an episode of this legendary legal drama until just a few years ago. Once I did, I was hooked.

Some of it definitely feels dated and a little bit cheesy at times, but that’s only natural for a show this old. Fortunately, Raymond Burr’s great performance as Perry Mason more than makes up for those moments.

On a very related note, I also love the Perry Mason TV movies that were made in the 1980s. They were, basically, a continuation of the original series.

Paramount Pictures

2. Bewitched — 8 Seasons (1964–1972)

Mill Creek Entertainment

Throughout most of my childhood, reruns of Bewitched aired multiple times a day on local TV stations. I’m not saying I watched it every day back then, but I sure watched it on a lot of those days!

And things haven’t changed that much for me in the decades since then. Just yesterday, I watched three episodes in a row.

What can I say? It still bewitches me!

(And if you groaned at that line, I don’t blame you a bit!)

3. Barney Miller — 8 Seasons (1975–1982)

Shout! Factory

This classic comedy about Captain Barney Miller and his police detectives in the fictional 12 Precinct of New York City has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember.

With only a small number of exceptions, every episode of Barney Miller took place solely in the squad room of the 12th precinct. Not many TV series can pull off something as restricting as that, but because of the excellent cast and writing in this series, it always stayed fresh and entertaining.

4. Friends — 10 Seasons (1994–2004)

Warner Home Video

I watched this one almost every week when it was new. I’m very close in age to the cast members of it, so it sort of felt like I was watching “my people” in it.

I loved Friends then and still love it now. I’ve rewatched the entire series multiple times — and I foresee it happening over and over again in the future.

5. The Office — 9 Seasons (2005–2013)

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

When I first started watching The Office, I wasn’t sure I liked it enough to stick with it. Thankfully, somewhere in the middle of its first season, it finally “clicked” with me and I became a fan.

My wife and I just began a rewatch of it, which is especially fun since we weren’t yet together when The Office originally aired. I love watching it now with her and sharing laughter over the antics of Michael, Dwight, Jim, Pam, and the rest of the crew of The Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

6. Criminal Minds — 19 Seasons and Counting (2005-Present)

Paramount Pictures

Criminal Minds has an interesting history. It originally aired on CBS and concluded there after its 15th season in 2020. However, it was later revived and retitled Criminal Minds: Evolution for its 16th season, which premiered on Paramount + in 2022. It’s stayed there ever since and was recently renewed for its 20th season.

I didn’t watch Criminal Minds at all when it first aired. I never saw it until just a little over a year ago. Once I finally did, I quickly got hooked. I can easily sink into my couch and watch four or five episodes in a row — if not more.

That said, I’m only midway through Season 5. I’ve got a lot of Criminal Minds ahead of me and I’m looking forward to all that will be coming my way!

7. The Big Bang Theory — 12 Seasons (2007–2019)

Warner Home Video

When The Big Bang Theory began, I had zero desire to watch it. From the advertisements I’d seen, I thought the male characters in it seemed way too geeky. Being a bit of a geek myself, I was afraid the series was going to overdo it with the typical stereotypes of geeks and make us all look ridiculous.

I thought: No, thank you. We can do that well enough on our own!

Somewhere around the fifth season or so, I reluctantly tried it — and almost instantly loved it. I then bought the earlier seasons on DVD and binge-watched them until I was all caught up on what I’d missed.

Fantastic cast and characters, clever scripts, and a lot of great humor. I still love it!

8. Community — 6 Seasons (2009–2014)

Mill Creek Entertainment

Speaking of great casts, excellent stories, and hilarious performances, Community has all of those things.

This is another series that completely eluded me when it first aired, but I thankfully finally watched all of it recently on one of the bazillion (perhaps an overestimation on my part) streaming platforms we pay for.

I’ll be rewatching it again very soon!

9. NCIS: Los Angeles — 14 Seasons (2009–2023)

Paramount Pictures

I know I’m getting repetitive here, but this is another series I never watched when it originally aired.

I’d never even seen any episodes of the original (and still airing) NCIS, which NCIS: Los Angeles was a spinoff of. I watched the first few episodes of the original last year and that inspired me to check out this one too.

I ended up liking Los Angeles even more than NCIS — so much that midway through watching Season 1 on cable, I went and bought the entire series. My wife generally doesn’t care for these types of shows, but she loves this one and we have a blast watching it together.

We just finished the fifth season. Only nine more to go!

10. Death in Paradise — 15 Seasons and Counting (2011-Present)

BBC Studios

This long-running comedy crime series has been through several cast changes since it began. Included in these changes have been five different actors portraying different D.I.’s (Detective Inspectors) who head up the murder investigations of each episode.

I think what’s helped keep Death in Paradise appealing to viewers is that none of the new characters (or actors) are exact copies of their predecessors. They’ve each got different personalities, backgrounds, quirks, etc., and that’s helped to keep things fresh and exciting to watch.

Plus, the quality of the writing has remained great throughout the series. The mysteries are always cleverly handled and never easy for the detectives (or the viewers) to solve. I never tire of watching it.

So, how about you? Are you a fan of any of the TV series I wrote about above?

If so, please let me know in the comments. Or, better yet, write your own story in which you share your favorites. I’d love to read it!

Thank you for reading and thank you to the talented and awesome people at Big List Energy for publishing this!

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

P.S. — If you’d like to read the aforementioned Medium story in which I wrote about 10 different TV shows I’d be willing to watch over and over again while stranded on a desert island, please click below:

[embed]What TV Shows Would You Bring With You To a Deserted Island? Here are my top 10 choicesmedium.com

[embed]Big List Energy: Submission Guidelines Want to write for us? Read this!medium.com