Many series that are canceled after one season probably shouldn’t have been made in the first place. But others are taken from us all too soon. Here are some great shows you can binge in a day. In between making “Gilmore Girls” and its Netflix reboot, Amy Sherman-Palladino made another charming show about another charming small town.
Sutton Foster plays Michelle, a Vegas showgirl who finds herself teaching dance classes for teens at the studio of her mother-in-law (Kelly Bishop). The performances of Foster and Bishop are reason enough to watch, but there’s also beautiful dancing and satisfying teen drama. Where to stream: Hulu and Freeform. com.
An ex-cop and his criminal friend team up as private investigators in this smart procedural. If you’re looking for high jinks and heart, this could be the show for you. The pace and tone varies over the show’s short run, but the seemingly deadbeat characters are always charming and three-dimensional. Where to stream: Hulu.
Since its cancellation in 2003, this genre-bending show has developed a devoted fan base. It’s a Western, but the frontier is outer space. There are spaceships and lasers and love trysts and outlaws, as well as an eclectic cast, led by Nathan Fillion. The series was initially aired out of order, so make sure you start with the actual first episode, “Serenity.
” Where to stream: Hulu This cult favorite helped define the modern family drama. The “Life” of the title is that of Angela, a high school sophomore played by Claire Danes. Circling Angela are her crush, Jordan Catalano (a floppy-haired Jared Leto); her friends Rayanne (A. J.
Langer) and Rickie (Wilson Cruz); the boy who has a crush on her (Devon Gummersall); and her parents. Many scenes feature voice-over, which forges a rare connection between us and Angela as she struggles through teenage drama. Where to stream: ABC. com.
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“I Love Dick” is based on Chris Kraus’s book of the same name, and (broadly) adapted by Jill Soloway, the creator of “Transparent. ” Soloway teams with her frequent muse Kathryn Hahn, who plays a stymied filmmaker spending a season in Marfa, Tex. , with her academic husband (Griffin Dunne), when she meets the alluring, confounding Dick (Kevin Bacon, almost comically eroticized).
“Soloway’s loose, empathetic style and passion for slightly irritating characters are in full force.”
But “Dick” is less languid than “Transparent,” and it has a steadier beat than her film “Afternoon Delight. ” Where to stream: Amazon. If you lost track of this animated gem back last year, now’s the time. The show follows Tuca and Bertie (voiced by Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong), two bird besties and former roommates who are segueing into a new phase of friendship after Bertie moves in with her boyfriend.
Tuca and Bertie’s world has the quirky surrealism of a beloved children’s book, but the themes and ideas are quite adult. Where to stream: Netflix. Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury) is a screwball pitcher, and she’s poised to be the first woman to play Major League Baseball. The pressure is tremendous, her teammates are not all helpful, her coach is a little skeptical.
Because M. L. B. is participating in the show, the footage, game play and commentary all feel realistic — but none of that would matter if the show didn’t have emotional resonance.
Luckily, it does. Where to buy: Amazon, Google Play and iTunes. This show is set within the world of DC Comics — Batman exists, although we never see him — but on the regular-people side of things, at an R & D department. Vanessa Hudgens plays Emily, the too-needy new boss, but the best part of the show is her staff, played by Danny Pudi, Ron Funches, and Jennie Pierson.
“Powerless” reminds me a lot of “Better Off Ted,” “No Tomorrow” (not the premise, but the characters) and “Reaper. ” You know, quirky shows that dozens of us enjoy. Where to buy: Amazon, Google Play and iTunes. Do you ever feel as if you’re being gaslit by members of the underworld?
Then look no further than this demon-hunting comedy on Netflix, by way of Channel 4, which offers a road map for women navigating personal, and actual, demons. In “Crazyhead,” Susan Wokoma and Cara Theobold star as Raquel and Amy, two young women in Bristol who have the ability to see the malevolent, supernatural beings who walk among us. Since this isn’t a common gift, they are treated as if they were unwell, resulting in their having a justified skepticism of prescription-happy doctors and psychiatric institutions. This all helps to cement their friendship.
Fast. Where to stream: Netflix. In this odd-couple comedy, a vain actor who starred as a lawyer on a TV drama comes home and tries to join his family’s law firm. Rob Lowe plays the actor and Fred Savage his long-suffering brother.
“The Grinder” smartly satirizes legal dramas, as Lowe’s character tries to apply to actual cases what he has learned as an actor. There are strong performances all around, from Lowe, Savage and William Devane as the family patriarch. Where to buy: Amazon Video, Google Play and Vudu.
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