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The Best Netflix Original Shows Of 2019 So Far (Jan.-Feb.)

Netflix has already had an impressive year for new shows.

We’re only two months into 2019 and Netflix already has a standout lineup of new Original television shows. Apparently spending billions of dollars on original content every year really pays off.

I’ve already found myself binge-watching multiple Netflix shows this year, even as I have tried to give up the habit of relentless television absorption. But like an addictive vice I just couldn’t quit, I absolutely had to get to the end of the exceptional “Russian Doll” when I started. In lockstep with the protagonist in “Russian Doll,” my bad habits die hard, apparently.

The below list of recommended shows may have debuts that span over a short time window, but these projects are not just the best of a small class. I truly enjoyed every one of them and believe you will too.

And if you want to stay informed on what’s joining Netflix on a weekly basis, be sure to subscribe to the Streamline newsletter.

"Russian Doll" on Netflix.
Netflix
"Russian Doll" on Netflix.
Ji Sub Jeong/HuffPost

Streamline makes recommendations for streaming shows and movies. Every Saturday, Streamline highlights the best shows to watch online, with a focus on Netflix.

5. “Friends From College”

"Friends From College" on Netflix.
Barbara Nitke/Netflix
"Friends From College" on Netflix.

Premise: The premise is right in the name ― this is about friends from college and these friends hang out and hook up with each other. In this comedy, the members of the friend group have aged into their 40s, amassed enough wealth to have big apartments in New York City and are all hitting early midlife crises in their own ways. Despite the backdrop of adulthood, most of the jokes are screwball in nature.

Sum-Up: After a critically disastrous first season, this show had a reset and became much more lovable. For one, the characters act less like sociopaths ― “People were saying [about the first season], ‘these characters are just so horrible, hanging out with them is like crawling over broken glass,’” co-creator Francesca Delbanco said to Indiewire about a realization that the show needed to change for Season 2. But most important, the jokes work this time around. I found myself laughing hysterically at a few of the set-pieces based around physical comedy this season. This has an all-star cast of comedians that was more or less wasted the first time around, so I was happy to see the actors have much better material to work with in this follow-up.

Heads-Up: The creative decision to make this yet another show about rich friends living in New York certainly lacked imagination. With the sitcom “Friends” basically still the most popular show on Netflix, this similarly named show could be seen as a shrewd attempt at capturing that classic New York sitcom’s glory for a more contemporary audience. But Netflix ultimately canceled this shortly after the second season debut, so “Friends From College” never quite found its audience.

Trailer:

4. “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" on Netflix.
Eric Liebowitz/Netflix
"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" on Netflix.

Premise: In these final episodes of the series, Kimmy Schmidt and her group of misfit friends begin to find success in the world. The previous seasons featured numerous emotional wallopings for the characters as they just couldn’t catch meaningful breaks in their overpriced New York City home. If you stuck around through Schmidt’s awkward, delayed coming-of-age phase, you might as well see her find happiness that runs even deeper than her typical cheery disposition.

Sum-Up: Netflix split this final, fourth season in two parts; the latter half debuted in January. This mini half-season spends a couple of episodes meandering with little narrative purpose, but then locks into place for the sprint to the finish line. After all the suffering these characters have went through, I certainly found myself rooting for the successes that come by the end. Plus, co-creator Tina Fey obviously knows how to craft jokes and so the show is still as funny as ever.

Heads-Up: As mentioned, this half-season takes a couple episodes to really get going. Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the final season (the part that debuted in 2018) far more than these last episodes. Many times throughout this 2019 season, I felt like I was watching throwaway ideas that didn’t have enough muster to make it in the series earlier. The show may run on narrative fumes before the end, but does credibly get to the finish line in a satisfying enough way to recommend.

Trailer:

3. “Larry Charles’ Dangerous World of Comedy”

"Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy" on Netflix.
Netflix
"Larry Charles' Dangerous World of Comedy" on Netflix.

Premise: Larry Charles ― a comedian that was an original staff writer on “Seinfeld” and has directed projects such as “Borat” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” ― travels the world to investigate the comedic communities in dangerous and presumably depressing areas. He interviews the comedians that have found success in these places. Through the interviews, the show often finds out that these comedians have both put their lives in danger by trying to be funny and that the jokes help them survive.

Sum-Up: Netflix put almost no marketing muscle behind this project and it quietly debuted on Feb. 15 without the cultural media really taking notice. But you should still give this a chance. Few shows on Netflix wade into the true horrors of the planet ― guts and all ― but Charles goes straight into the heart of darkness and does so with good humor. The interviews are executed with a high level of skill and the captured footage often feels unreal. If you haven’t been full-body stunned by a Netflix project before, you should check this out.

Heads-Up: The episodes cover a ton of ground, thematically and geographically. I would have preferred a format with more, shorter episodes than the four hourlong episodes that the show went with. And although this is not necessarily a bad thing, I should mention in a section called “Heads-Up” that this show has many shots of physical violence and spilled human guts.

Trailer:

2. “Sex Education”

"Sex Education" on Netflix.
Jon Hall/Netflix
"Sex Education" on Netflix.

Premise: A teenager living in southern Wales stumbles through puberty with awkward shyness, a situation made worse/better by having a sex therapist for a mother. With his gay best friend and an entrepreneurial cool girl at school, the protagonist teen gives sex advice (based on his mom’s teachings) to his classmates, despite not having sexual experience himself. The group slowly earns more friends through the process, but these pubescent compatriots also have to lean on each other through various emotional hardships.

Sum-Up: This became a megahit for Netflix, with the company claiming tens of millions watched the first season within the first month of its debut. The show deserves the popularity. The best aspect of this show may be the likability of the three main friends and the sex therapist mom (played by Gillian Anderson), but the show is full of surprisingly exceptional moments. I certainly didn’t expect the protagonist to live in one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen or for so much green, natural splendor to envelop the narrative action. The creators put great care into the details.

Heads-Up: Although “Sex Education” appears to have caught on with adults in their 20s and 30s, this still remains a teen-centric show. The coming-of-age plotlines and immaturity may be too juvenile for you, depending on your stomach for the broad, heavy-handed strokes of this genre.

Trailer:

1. “Russian Doll”

"Russian Doll" on Netflix.
Netflix
"Russian Doll" on Netflix.

Premise: While celebrating her 36th birthday at a hip apartment party in New York City, a woman keeps dying over and over again, only to reset back in the bathroom of the party. She goes on a journey to figure out why this is happening with the hope she can stop the violent cycle of deaths. This quest takes quite some time (many lifetimes in a way) and the world starts aging around her as if all life doesn’t truly reset. Figuring out what’s happening becomes an existential necessity.

Sum-Up: By far the best show Netflix has released this year, “Russian Doll” exists in a class of its own. The all-female writers and creators made ambitious creative choices with the over-arching concept and for the nuances within the story. With all the risky and experimental decisions, this could have been a trainwreck, but instead is a fast-paced, well-oiled narrative locomotive. The best part of this show is the fully realized female characters, with ambitions as unique as their attire. The male characters may tend to be dumb oafs, but this is not their story.

Heads-Up: Like “Friends From College” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” this is yet another New York-based show. As a former New Yorker, I understand why writers keep mining the city for its strange characters and impressive backdrop of towers, but it’d make me happy to see ambitious stories like this take place in other American cities too.

Trailer:

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.