Netflix original tv shows: a ranking

For fun I've decided to rank the Netflix original tv shows that I've watched all the way through their most recent seasons.  For me, this sort of thing is actually fun.  I'll go from worst to best:

14. Santa Clarita Diet:  Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star as average suburban couple Sheila and Joel, whose lives are changed when Sheila becomes a zombie.  She craves human flesh and begins eating strangers and even a few friends and neighbors (cue the laughs?).  This show is meant to be Desperate Housewives meets True Blood, but it mostly falls flat due to Barrymore's weak performance and unimaginative writing.

13.  Chewing Gum: Michaela Coel stars as Tracey, a jittery young girl whose ultra-religious mother does her best to keep her sheltered in their poor British housing project.  Coel is pretty hilarious in her awkward and sometimes cringe-worthy attempts at losing her virginity, but the show is pretty one note and fails to dig too deeply into the characters.

12. Alias Grace: Grace Marks (Sarah Gadon) is a 19th century Irish housekeeper who, in flashbacks, aids a handyman in murdering her master and the headmistress of the house (a true story).  In the future, psychiatrist Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft) gets to know Grace and tries to determine if she should be set free.  The lead-up to the murder is tense and thrilling, and Gadon is terrific as Grace, but Holcroft's performance is creepy and weird, and the series ends on a strange note that left a bad taste in my mouth.

11.  Orange is the New Black: As one of Netflix's first original shows, about inmates at Litchfield women's prison, this used to be groundbreaking and refreshing tv.  Its most recent season, however, was tired and boring.  The cast has ballooned to out-of-control levels, making it impossible to tell a coherent story about any one of its characters.  The flashbacks used to provide insight into the characters' personalities and motivations, but at this point we've gotten the backstory on all of the characters that we care about.  A few actors (like Danielle Brooks as Taystee) still stand out, but it's time for this show to call it quits.

10.  Everything Sucks: This coming-of-age teen drama follows a group of young high schoolers in 1996.  The lead Peyton Kennedy, as Kate, a young girl struggling with her sexuality, steals the show. The show takes a while to really find its voice.  When it does, though, it packs a huge emotional punch that leaves viewers wanting more.

9.  Glow:  This show follows the inexperienced stars of a syndicated women's wrestling show in the 1980's.  The 80's outfits and music are a blast, and there are some really hilarious moments between the cast.  The last few episodes, when the women film their first wrestling match, are really fun to watch, but it takes most of the season for the show to really come together.  The show is set up for a much more entertaining season 2.

8.  Love: This quirky comedy from producer Judd Apatow follows the on-again, off-again romance of mismatched couple Mickey (Gillian Jacobs), an unfocused wild-child, and Gus (Paul Rust), a straight-laced nerd.  Episode plots meander all over the place (in a good way) and the characters feel like real people, but the show lacks some depth.  Netflix has announced that the upcoming third season will be the show's last, so hopefully it can end in a satisfying way that provides a definitive ending for the couple.

7.  Atypical: This lighthearted comedy follows Sam (Keir Gilchrist), a teenager with Asperger's, as he struggles to overcome his social anxieties and tries to navigate the world of dating.  The show is sweet and heartwarming, and Gilchrist steals the show with his funny and believable portrayal.  Jenna Boyd as Sam's girlfriend Paige also adds a fun energy to the show.  Strangely, the adult actors are the weakest on the show, and a boring infidelity plot should be ditched in season 2 to give the kids more screen time.   

6.  Queer Eye: A reboot of Bravo's hit makeover show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, this show follows a new group of 5 gay men making over a variety of fashion-challenged men.  The "Fab 5" help the guys build confidence in addition to improving their outward appearance.  The show tackles important social issues like police-involved shootings and discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and the loving interactions between the makeover experts and their subjects give the show real heart.

5.  American Vandal: A true crime mockumentary, this show makes fun of hit crime documentaries like Making a Murderer and crime shows like 48 Hours and Dateline.  Following an investigation into a silly act of high school vandalism (spray painted penises on cars in the faculty parking lot), the show presents the investigation seriously, with reenactments and computer models.  It pretends to take itself seriously, with hilarious results.  Jimmy Tatro, as doofus jock Dylan, the prime suspect in the crime, is both hilarious and serious at the same time, adding depth to a silly character.

4.  Black Mirror: A modern-day Twilight Zone, Black Mirror presents cautionary tales about the influence of technology in the modern world.  The quality of the episodes varies wildly, but the best episodes are instant classic tv, like the best Twilight Zone episodes "It's a Good Life" and "Eye of the Beholder".  My favorite episodes of Black Mirror are season 2 standout "San Junipero", an 80's love story set partly in the afterlife (yes, really), and "Hang the DJ", about a couple rebelling against a world where relationships are given set time limits.  In fact, the best episodes tend to be about love, or have some sort of strong emotional element.

3.  Thirteen Reasons Why: Another high school drama, this show is much deeper and more thoughtful than Netflix's other teen offerings.  Following teen Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford) after her suicide, the show uses tapes that she recorded before her death to illustrate how unfortunate events during her life led to her depression and her ultimate decision to take her own life.  The show is very dark, but there are light moments here and there.  The brief romance between Hannah and shy, caring Clay (Dylan Minnette) rivals some of the best teen romances ever onscreen.

2.  The Crown: One of Netflix's most expensive shows ever produced, this show is worth every penny.  Each season follows 5-10 years in the life of Queen Elizabeth II, providing a glimpse into the life of the notoriously private monarch.  Claire Foy as Elizabeth captures the queen perfectly; she's a guarded, prim-and-proper traditionalist, but she cares deeply for her country and defends it to the death.  John Lithgow gave a memorable, Emmy-winning performance as Winston Churchill in season 1, and the queen's looser, more fun-loving sister Margaret (Vanessa Kirby) provides some relief to all of the onscreen fussiness.  Season 3 will feature an all-new, older main cast, so here's hoping that the acting will remain at the high levels of seasons 1 and 2. 

1.  Master of None: Aziz Ansari's take on modern life and love is a masterpiece of modern tv.  Aziz's character Dev is a hopeless romantic.  In season 2 Dev falls for an Italian woman named Francesca, whom he met while serving as an apprentice pasta maker at her family's shop (yes, really).  The show's earlier detour into Italy, featuring a black and white episode, is just one of the experimental paths that the show takes.  There's also "Thanksgiving", an episode that follows Dev's best friend Denise on Thanksgiving over multiple years, as she comes out to her family and brings girlfriends into her skeptical family's home.  The episode paints a real portrait of a traditional black family having to venture into unfamiliar territory.  Finally, there's "New York, I Love You", which follows multiple New York stories, including a completely silent scene about a deaf girl and her boyfriend.  The show's bold risks pay off in a big way.  Hopefully the recent semi-sex scandal involving Ansari will not affect season 3; it would be a shame for this show to be cut short when it has so many more risks left to take and so many stories left to tell.