Last year, Netflix’s original programming introduced a new female protagonist to Marvel’s small-screen universe (Jessica Jones), turned a box-office flop into a wet hot must-watch (Wet Hot American Summer) and joined the revival of the true crime genre (Making a Murderer). A tough act to follow, perhaps, but the streaming giant delivered in 2016, debuting more than two dozen wide-ranging new shows, which have largely sustained the high quality that has left many traditional networks trailing in its wake. (Let’s try to forget about Fuller House). Here are the ten most worthy of a spot in your queue.
10. Easy
Appreciation for this dramedy anthology may depend on your penchant for writer and director Joe Swanberg’s heavily improvised “mumblecore” style. If the likes of Drinking Buddies and Happy Christmas left you infuriated at their dawdling dialogue and general inconsequentialities, then Easy probably isn’t for you. But if watching familiar character actors attempt to resolve thirtysomething white hipster problems is your bag, then step right forward. For those somewhere in the middle, you’re likely to find the short stories of Easy a mixed bag. Dave Franco’s over-enthusiastic performance in “Brewery Brothers” may be the most obnoxious you’ll see all year, while Marc Maron doesn’t exactly stretch himself as a whiny self-obsessive in “Art and Life.” But “Vegan Cinderella” is a surprisingly sweet romance that proves Swanberg’s ability to craft a satisfying narrative, while the refreshingly light-hearted threesome story of “Utopia”—featuring Orlando Bloom’s second most notable naked appearance of 2016—and the intense, Spanish-language “Controlada” will leave you wanting more.
9. Haters Back Off
The term “YouTube star” may send a shudder down the spine of anyone born before the days of internet dial-up, but by skewering the very same culture that launched her to fame, deluded, tone-deaf wannabe Miranda Sings—a.k.a the actually very talented vocalist/comedian Colleen Ballinger—is one of the few with something to say. Occupying that surreal space between the kooky small-town antics of Napoleon Dynamite and the cartoonish naivete of Pee-Wee Herman, Haters Back Off successfully expands Miranda’s distorted world, introducing a whole family unit almost as oddball into the fold. (A brilliantly unhinged performance from Steve Little as the blindly supportive Uncle Jim almost elicits sympathy for Ballinger’s monstrous creation—his highly inappropriate backyard production of Annie has to be seen to be believed.) But whether she’s gate-crashing a church choir or using a stranger’s funeral as a career opportunity, it’s the wild-eyed, lipstick-smeared Miranda that commands attention from the moment she butchers “Defying Gravity” in the opening scene.
8. The Get Down
You wait for one visionary director’s love letter to the New York music scene of the 1970s, and two turn up at once. But while Martin Scorsese’s tiresome Vinyl made hedonistic rock ‘n’ roll seem about as thrilling as Antiques Roadshow, Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down, which made Paste’s list of the Best 16 TV Shows of 2016, managed to recapture the vibrancy of the burgeoning disco and hip-hop scenes perfectly. Of course, its whopping budget undoubtedly helped—each episode reportedly cost an astonishing $10 million. But alongside Luhrmann’s usual high camp extravagance, The Get Down also boasts characters you care about, a refreshingly diverse and largely unknown cast (including a superb central performance from Justice Smith) and a pitch-perfect soundtrack curated by Nas, Nelson George and Grandmaster Flash himself. Sure, it’s all over the place, both tonally and narratively, and the interminably long pilot means that many viewers will have given up long before the show’s half-way pay-off (a binge watch this most certainly is not). Then, style over substance has always been Luhrmann’s forte.
7. 3%
In contrast, Netflix’s first Portuguese-language series builds its dystopian world on a budget that redefines ‘shoestring’ – its eight episodes were filmed for a total of just $3 million. Luckily, with Oscar-winning cinematographer César Charlone (City of God, Blindness) among its directors, 3% makes up in mood and atmosphere what it lacks in lavish production design. In fact, the financial constraints work in its favor: Unlike many of the young adult blockbusters that attempted to cash-in on the Hunger Games phenomenon, the Brazilian drama places just as much emphasis on its characterization as its set-pieces. Adapted from a 2011 YouTube short, 3% depicts a futuristic São Paulo in which a group of poverty-stricken 20-year-olds compete in a series of physical, social and mental trials to reach a promised land known as The Offshore. It’s a simple but gripping setup which doesn’t pull any punches—one poor applicant commits suicide after failing early on—and allows its intriguing cast to explore themes of inequality and immigration in a manner which feels authentic and all too timely.
6. Chelsea Does
Chelsea, Chelsea Handler’s attempt to shake up the late-night talk show hasn’t made the impact that Netflix bosses were likely hoping for when they signed her for a reported $10 million. But her attempt to shake up the docuseries has proven to be a far better use of her quick-witted and sharp-tongued talents. Combining investigative journalism with personal therapy sessions and the type of round-table showbiz chat she first employed on E!, Chelsea Does gives Handler free reign on four different and often provocative subjects (marriage, technology, racism, drugs). As you would expect, the caustic comedian doesn’t hold back. This can make for viewing that’s genuinely challenging (witness her appalled response to the ‘heritage not hate’ Civil War reenactors) and deservedly scathing (her treatment of Ashley Madison boss Noel Biderman), but also unnecessarily cruel (her behavior during a series of blind dates borders on the contemptible). In fairness, you don’t watch Handler for pleasantries, and Chelsea Does is never anything less than fascinating.
