Netflix's Virgin River captivated hearts with its dramatic romance and high drama.
If you've finished watching the show but are looking for others to fill the gap that its dreamy escapism fit, here are seven other Netflix dramas that are sure to give you all the beautiful scenery and emotionally unavailable men you need in your life, without all the traveling and heartache.
Virgin River is about a woman picking up the pieces of her life and starting over, and so is Sweet Magnolias. This series stars Joanna Garcia Swisher as Maddie, a soon-to-be-divorced mom grappling with her cheating husband and her gossipy small town. Fortunately, in swoops Maddie's son's new baseball coach (Justin Bruening) to save the day. Romance, small town gossip — the tea is hot and the romance is hotter.
Netflix's Dead to Me stars Christina Applegate as a housewife struggling with the loss of her husband. In comes a new best friend named Judy, also suffering from loss. The two women wind up meaning a lot more to each other than they originally thought they would, and they both have a few more secrets than either ever imagined. For plenty of complex female friendship dynamics and more than a few twists, this is definitely a great pick for those missing Virgin River's intrigue.
For another great adaption of a book, Netflix's Anne with an E is a three-season story of an orphan who finds a new home and grows up. It's a portrait of a young woman coming into her own that has resonated strongly with viewers.
While much more comedic than Netflix's Virgin River, Hart of Dixie does have a lot in common in terms of storyline. It stars a New York City doctor named Zoe Hart (played by Rachel Bilson) who goes to Bluebell, Alabama to work at a new medical practice. She has to deal with an unpleasant new partner and a bunch of other iconic small-town characters; and, of course, there's more than a spice of romance.
Alright, so Bridgerton is an obvious pick here. But for anyone who hasn't seen it, this romance has all the drama and intrigue that Virgin River did, with even more flowery ballgowns and many threads of tangled illicit romances.
Jane the Virgin tells the story of Gina Rodriguez's Jane, a young woman who is accidentally artificially inseminated. The show is five seasons of insane drama that includes kidnapping schemes, faked deaths, and much more. There's also a central love story that keeps the fire burning.
Netflix's Heartland is about a teenager growing up on a horse ranch, dealing with her mother's death, and a lot of other small town drama. This is an 11-season long show with over 200 episodes, so it'll satiate your appetite for quite a long time.
For mother-daughter bonding, small town gossip, romance and intrigue, visit Stars Hollow to hang out with Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, the mother-daughter duo who won a million hearts with their fast-talking dialogue and their various escapades and romances.
What is it about Catholic priests that fill us with thoughts that are anything but godly?
Is it that they're sexually unattainable? That their robes emphasize their shoulders? That they're obligated to listen to our problems? Whatever it is, the trope of the hot priest has become a cultural staple that can be found in myriad of books, movies, and TV shows. Here are 10 of the hottest priests to ever make it on-screen.
All the events clogging up our calendars and "wanna grab dinner?" texts waiting to be answered, we're feeling a little overwhelmed. And even though theaters are open and we're happy to support all our favorite local cinema spots, sometimes you just want to sit in the sweatpants that held you through quarantine and stream something from home.
The Summer Blockbuster of yore is a thing of the past now that there is a steady stream of new, exciting content on streaming sites seemingly every day. It can be hard to sift through all the new content, so we've picked out the best for you.
Here is the best new content coming to streaming platforms in July 2021.
July 2: Summer of Soul — Hulu
Questlove's Summer of Soul unearths forgotten footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a six week summer event celebrating Black music — with sets from Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Ray Baretto, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach and more. Despite the big names and the incredible performances, the festival went largely forgotten, overshadowed by Woodstock which happened the same year, until now.
Through archival footage and historical commentary, the documentary revives the brilliance of the summer of soul through celebration of Black art, culture, music, and joy. Questlove's directorial debut has already garnered rave reviews for this must-watch feature.
July 8: Gossip Girl — HBO Max
Attention Upper Eastsiders, it's almost time. The long awaited Gossip Girl reboot premieres on HBO Max on July 8. The new series picks up nine years after the last one left off, exploring how New York and NYC high schoolers have changed in the intervening years through political change, new social norms, and the prominence of social media.
The reboot also promises another slate of infuriatingly attractive cast members to watch galavant around New York in beautiful clothing, including: Thomas Doherty (who got to make out with Zoe Kravitz in High Fidelity, therefore a man we are supremely jealous of), Tavi Gevinson (former style blogger and editor of Rookie), Whitney Peak (darling of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), and Evan Mock (the pink-haired skater who got famous from a Frank Ocean Instagram story so obviously we're already obsessed with him).
The show also promises to be more "socially conscious" this time around so we're waiting around to see what that looks like.
July 9: Black Widow — Disney+
Sure you could watch Black Widow in theaters, but skip the crowds, lines, and exorbitant popcorn prices and stay in to see it instead. The long-awaited Marvel film has been delayed for long enough, so you deserve to watch it the second it comes out from the comfort of your room. With Disney+ Premier Access, you can do just that.
The trailer has been living in our minds since the first teaser was released in 2019. The origin story promises all the Marvel action, alongside the anticipated telling of Natasha Romanoff's backstory. Florence Pugh also co-stars, which is always a good sign.
July 15: Never Have I Ever, Season 2 — Netflix
The highly anticipated second season of Mindy Khaling's semi-autobiographical series Never Have I Ever is back on July 15th. The show's first season got rave reviews for its diversity and irreverence, a whimsical example of exactly how television in 2021 should look — inclusive without feeling forced.
The coming-of-age comedy series follows Devi, a high schooler balancing the expectations of her Indian immigrant parents and her burgeoning sexuality. In season 2, Devi has her cake and wants to eat it too: trying to choose which of her fledgling romances to pursue. The show became a hit during quarantine and is back now as the perfect comfort binge watch. The only question: Team Ben or Team Paxton?
July 23: The Last Letter From Your Lover — Netflix
Based on a book of the same name, this Netflix romantic comedy looks like the perfect watch to ignite your desire for romance and perhaps make you shed a few tears. Watch it with your significant other or put it on your summer vision board, The Last Letter From Your Lover promises to be a saccharine feast for your romantic senses.
The film stars Shailene Woodley, Joe Alwyn, Callum Turner, Felicity Jones, and Nabhaan Rizwan in a story of two couples, one in the past and one in the present. It follows the emergent romance between one couple as they read the letters of a couple who were separated decades earlier. If you're a Nicholas Sparks lover, this one's for you.
BONUS: July 23: Ted Lasso, Season 2 — Apple TV+
Jason Sudeikis might have been the cursed, chaotic element of the 2021 awards season — his awkward acceptance speeches, his tie dye hoodie… we almost didn't survive it — but his award winning show Ted Lasso is a fan favorite and Season 2 premieres on July 23.
The show follows an American college football coach who transitions into coaching British football … aka, soccer. With no experience in the game (white men stumbling into a job they're unqualified for, classic) Ted Lasso makes it work with not much more than like, surprisingly heartwarming enthusiasm.
Happy Pride to everyone who is still going to sit inside and rot while watching TV all month (read: us)!
But what to watch?
HBO has established themselves as always on the cutting edge of television, always pushing the boundaries of representation and chronicling the lives of underrepresented groups — not always, however, but where else would we get our fix of terrible rich white people if not for Succession?
From breaking boundaries in their representation of female friendship in Sex and the City at the turn of the century to doing so again with the now-dated, once revolutionary (for white women) Girls, to other dramas and thrillers and comedies, it makes sense that HBO Max is a hub of queer stories.
Their original content in recent years has produced a wealth of queer content and continues to move in that direction, boding well for both the future of representation and for our Pride Month watchlists.
Genera+ion
Starring rising queer icon Justice Smith (previously of Netflix's The Get Down and All The Bright Places), Genera+ion is one of the most honest portrayals of Gen Z on television. Disposing of the TikToking caracarures of other portrayals and the millennial-lite depictions found even in shows like Euphoria which get close, Genera+ion was intentionally researched and written to depict the increasingly queer generation Z.
The show follows a group of friends as they go through life and love, normalizing queer relationships on television without the overplayed narratives we've become accustomed to. And its fresh cast gives us a new, diverse representation of teens to empathize with and adore.
It’s A Sin
The smash British mini series It's A Sin premiered in 2020 to rave reviews for its careful blend of celebration and mourning of queer lives during the height of the AIDS crisis. Though many of the stories about the crisis show the devastation of the era, not many take care to show it through as diverse a lens.
Following a group of four friends in London, the miniseries boasts incredibly rendered characters with lives outside of their sexuality and their diagnoses. Perfect for an emotional June binge, it's both heartbreaking and heartwarming at once.
Legendary
After FX's Pose dazzled the screen with its look at the '70s ballroom scene, Legendary emerged to show the current stars of the scene. The reality show features both mainstream celebrities and legendary mainstays of contemporary ball culture.
With its diverse cast and dynamic energy, it offers a real life glimpse at ball culture to celebrate the persistence of the scene and its stars.
We Are Who We Are
By the director of 2017's Call Me By Your Name,We Are Who We Are is an achingly intimate portrayal of contemporary coming of age. The show follows two American high schoolers growing up on an army base in Italy, navigating their emergent queerness within the rigid structure of the base.
The series is an unflinching portrayal of their stumbling attempts to find themselves, to talk to their crushes, to figure out who they are. And, as you can expect from Luca Guadagnino, it's also a gorgeous cinematic experience that will have you astral projecting to a seaside town in Italy.
The Lady and the Dale
Based on a true story, The Lady and the Dale is a sumptuous feast of '70s aesthetics which tells the dramatic true story of Elizabeth Carmichael, who started a company to release a fuel-efficient car during the 1970s gas crisis.
The docu-series blends interviews and narrative to craft a compelling character study that shows the wild story of a thrilling, stranger-than-fiction saga.
Betty
Based on the real lives of female New York skaters, Betty is a dramaticized series and follow up to the 2018 indie feature film Skate Kitchen. The show walks us through the lives of a diverse group of skaters, not blinking an eye at their different backgrounds, aesthetics, or their queer relationships.
Ultimately, it's a chronicle of female friendship and an ode to a niche of some of the coolest girls is New York. You want to be them, you want to be with them — you know the deal.
Veneno
This Spanish-language drama is an instant cult classic. If you're not watching Veneno, what are you doing? Veneno has captured a niche and predominantly queer American audience for its compelling characters and captivating true story.
Based on the memoir Not a Whore, Not a Saint: The Memories of La Veneno by Valeria Vegas, the series illustrates the life of '90s trans icon Cristina Ortiz. A chronicle of kinship, the show is a feat of representation and inventive storytelling in how it portrays the multiplicity of all of its characters and asks how we are seen, how we want to be seen, and how we see ourselves.
May 2021 offers many promises: The new CDC rules for vaccinated Americans mean the return of a more normal social life, more activities, and less time spent indoors.
As more and more people get their doses of the vaccine (or as the TikTok kids call it, the Facui Ouchie) and count down the days until they are fully inoculated, there are some things that will be missed: sweatpants at all hours of the day, working from bed, and watching too much TV.
Some of us will be incorporating lots of these quarantine habits into our daily lives anyway and still taking the liberty to say no to plans, especially when there is so much good content coming to streaming platforms in May.
Streaming platforms have been stepping up their game for years, producing more and more original movies and TV shows that often beat larger production houses. And while theatres are tentatively reopening, many studios are still partnering with platforms to distribute their content, making the at-home watching experience better than ever.
And with awards season spotlighting streaming content in spades in 2021, giving big prizes to Hulu's Nomadland,amongst others, there's more than enough reason to stay in and turn on streaming.
Not everything is worth watching, though. Here's what is and why you should pay attention.
Ziwe (Showtime, May 9)
What we've all been waiting for: Ziwe's Showtime series with A24.
Many quarantine comedians came and went. From Jordan Firstman, who was famous for his impressions of things and people like "banana bread's publicist" and "money when it gets donated" and who was unseated from his early fame after being called out for (you guessed it) racist tweets, to cultural giants like Ellen, who was exposed for her workplace toxicity but actually suffered no repercussions, everyone seemed to be falling from grace.
But the brightest spot of Instagram humor was Ziwe Fumudoh's Instagram Live series, Baited. No one knows why her guests volunteered to be on the show, but they did and it was glorious. From problematic influencers like Caroline Calloway to national favorites like Bowen Yang, Ziwe's guestlist brought fans who stayed for her humor, her unflinching provocations, and her absolutely inimitable style of asking questions about issues like racism.
The former Desus & Mero writer is a New York-based comedian and performer, and her internet fame turned her into a verifiable star. While she uses words like "iconic" and "famously" to describe others, Ziwe has become the epitome of all of those things, and we wait with baited breath for what the A24 show will hold.
The variety show promises musical numbers, interviews, and sketches that are sure to make SNL more redundant than it already is. The early trailer shows guests like Fran Lebowitz, who Ziwe asks, "What bothers you more: racism or slow walkers?" On May 9th on Showtime, we'll find out the answer.
The Crime of the Century (HBO, May 10)
As we ask each other which vax we all got, and Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J become likened to prestige brands and almost feel like status symbols, The Crime of the Century feels impeccably timed.
The new HBO documentary aims to expose how the opioid crisis was a windfall for big pharma. According to the press release, the two-part documentary explores how the drug was born, how it proliferated, and how it spread through culture, described as a "searing indictment of Big Pharma and the political operatives and government regulations that enable overproduction, reckless distribution and abuse of synthetic opiates."
The revealing documentary is directed by Emmy and Academy Award winner Alex Gibney, presented in association with The Washington Post. Though the commentary on the opioid crisis often focuses on the victims, who were criminalized for so long, this version explains how the health crisis did not come from nowhere and how people were exploited for the sake of the government and big pharma.
"We've defined the opioid epidemic as an opioid crisis, like it's a wildfire," Gibney says. "It actually wasn't a crisis at all, it was a crime and the body count was extremely high." Part one premiers on May 10th.
The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime, May 14)
Barry Jenkins, Academy Award winning director of Moonlight and If Beale Street Can Talk, has been working on the highly anticipated adaptation of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad. The 2016 novel was instantly acclaimed and won a Pulitzer Prize for its imaginative interpretation of history, a feat in both acknowledging the truths of slavery while imagining a world of possibility.
Jenkins is well-versed in adaptations, and his most acclaimed previous works have been adaptations themselves. And though Jenkins has worked on stories about pain and struggle — Moonlight a wrenching autobiographical account of being Black and gay, Beale Street a Baldwin novel about the prison industrial complex — Jenkins is adept at telling these stories with beauty and grace, rather than reveling in trauma, unlike previous Amazon productions such as Lena Waithe's Them.
Jenkins is aware of this tension. At a press event on Thursday March 29th, he said, "I think what's really beautiful about putting images into the world is that when someone's ready to find that image, it will be there. What we all did in creating this show, I think it honored our ancestors, we were respectful, respectful of the text and respectful of the audience."
The show stars newcomer Thuso Mbedu as the protagonist, Cora Randall, a 15-year-old enslaved girl who escaped a Georgia plantation to follow the rumors of an Underground Railroad — which, in this imagination, is a literal train system, a real railroad which follows a network of tracks and tunnels deep under the ground of the South.
Halston (Netflix, May 14)
Ryan Murphy is at it again with a new Netflix production, and we can only hope it is more like his masterwork American Crime Story than his insufferable, embarrassing teen-drama series The Politician.
This time, Murphy is at the helm of a series about the famed American designer Roy Halston Frowick, better known as Halston. The limited series explores the life and career of the designer, who is now one of the most prominent names in American fashion — a pertinent topic as the fashion world gears up for this year's Met Gala and its recently announced theme: American fashion.
Halston was not just famous for his designs and his striking minimalist style — though his designs became iconic early in his career when he designed the pillbox hat which Jackie Kennedy made iconic — but also for his legacy as a public figure. He reached the height of his career in the 1970s disco era and was active in the famed New York City social scene.
A regular at Studio 54 and friend of the rich and famous, Halston's personal life was as interesting as his professional life. Despite being disparaged early in his career for his sexuality, he became a household name and an icon to the biggest celebrities and to the youth, especially queer youth.
Ewan McGregor stars as Halston, which was caused some controversy and conversation around the constant casting of straight actors in gay roles, which the actor defended despite the backlash.
According to the synopsis, the show tracks "the designer's decline," delving into the "hostile takeover" of his namesake brand, which "forces him to battle for control of his most precious asset ... the name Halston itself." It premieres on May 14th on Netflix.
The Woman in the Window (Netflix, May 14)
The Woman in the Window is a long-delayed thriller which was set for theatrical release in October 2019 and is finally being released in May 2021. The two-year wait should be rewarded though, as anticipation has been high for the Amy Adams and Gary Oldman-led drama.
The Netflix movie is an adaptation of a screenplay by Tracy Letts, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by pseudonymous author A. J. Finn. The story starts with a now-familiar premise: a woman does not leave her house.
Amy Adams plays a psychologist who suffers from agoraphobia. While in her home, she watches the family across the street from her place in the window. While peering out at them, she sees something she shouldn't and becomes obsessed with them and fixated on solving the crime.
The thriller boasts an all star cast, with Amy Adams as Dr. Anna Fox as well as Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman and Anthony Mackie. It premieres on May 14th on Netflix.
Run the World (STARZ, May 16)
Remember the tyranny of Lena Dunham's Girls, the atrocious show about Lena Dunham living her whitewashed fantasy of Brooklyn in a poor imitation of the equally problematic Sex and the City without the fashion or the iconic cast?
Finally, we have a balm to fill the gap Girls promised to fill: a show about women underrepresented on TV living life in New York City. Run the World follows four Black, female friends who live in Harlem as they navigate their jobs and relationships.
It promises lightheartedness as well as drama, and, as Insecure announces its farewell season, it also promises to deliver the same energy and representation as the Issa Rae production. The show stars Amber Stevens West, Andrea Bordeaux, Bresha Webb, and Corbin Reid as drastically different types of women who have an enviable friendship despite their divergent personalities.
It premieres on Starz on May 16th.
Twenties (BET, May 21)
The exact opposite of her horror-anthology Them and even her urban drama The Chi, Lena Waithe's series Twenties is another unbridled celebration of Black joy
The show is a semi-autobiographical retelling of Lena Waithe's own experiences as a young, Black, queer woman trying to make it as a writer in Hollywood. Filled with Black pop cultural references and the protagonist's enviable collection of vintage tees adorned with Black musicians, the show is a collection of Waithe's own tastes and appreciation for Black arts and culture in its purest form.
The fictionalized version of Waithe is a twenty-something named Hattie, played by Jonica T. Gibbs, a queer and aspiring screenwriter and her two best friends, as they all navigate relationships and professional aspirations in Los Angeles. The show is lighthearted, funny, and heartwarming, celebrating the joy of Black female friendships.
Season two promises higher emotional stakes but also more comedic joy. It returns on May 21st on BET.
Even though anime has made its way into the mainstream over the past few years, negative notions about the medium persist.
With the exception of a few mature animated comedies (some of which are fantastic and thematically complex, like Bojack Horseman), animation in the US is still typically viewed as a medium for children. The idea that cartoons are kid sh*t, while perhaps understandable for someone who has only ever been exposed to Western media, is ignorant of the broad range of animation in other cultures.
In a similar vein, a lot of people insist that they just can't get into anime, or they stigmatize all of it because they don't like the "schoolgirl stuff." But it's important to remember that anime isn't a genre–It's a medium.
Individual anime series fall into every genre under the sun, just like movies and live-action TV shows. Saying you don't like anime because of the schoolgirl stuff (which is a very valid thing to dislike) is kind of like saying you don't like movies because of slasher films. You're writing off an entire medium of art over a genre that you can easily avoid.
So let's say you are open to watching anime, but aren't quite sure where to start. Or, more likely, maybe you already love anime and you're trying to find a series to convince your SO that the $200 action figure in your room was a totally reasonable thing to buy (it was, and your life choices are perfect). Just check out any of these gateway anime series that serve as perfect entry points into the medium's diverse offerings.
Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Kodansha
<p>Few series have ever come close to crafting a narrative as perfect as <em>Attack on Titan</em>. The premise is high-concept: The last surviving humans live in a walled off city surrounded by giant, humanoid, man-eating monsters called Titans. </p><p>One day the walls are breached, and three surviving children — Eren, Mikasa, and Armin — set their sights on joining the military in order to fight back for the sake of humanity. But what could have been a simple, straight-forward action-horror show, turned out to be so much more. Nothing is ever as it seems in <em>Attack on Titan</em>, and the plot continually twists to turn everything you thought you knew on its head. </p><p><em>Attack on Titan</em> is thrilling, terrifying, tragic, and emotionally resonant, oftentimes all at once. It's a show about the horrors of war and the lengths humans will go to protect the things they hold dear to them. If you only watch one anime ever, make sure it's <em>Attack on Titan</em>.</p>
