Christmas break is upon us. Let this Christmas season be full of good food, great friends, loving family, and a month-long Netflix binge.
Let's be real, you deserve it. It’s been a semester packed with never-ending papers, countless exams, and balancing meetings with clubs, professors, and advisors. It’s time for a break. And what better way to spend a break than Netflix binging? I don’t think there is one.
It’s almost time to sit back, relax, and Netflix and chill.
After spending a semester making mentally taxing decisions, it can be difficult to make a decision as simple as what show to binge-watch on Netflix for the next three or four weeks.
While this is definitely a decision that requires careful consideration, there are absolutely a handful of shows that you can’t go wrong with.
"One Tree Hill" is always an excellent choice. Although the month-long Christmas break sounds great in theory, it gets lonely. After a week or so apart from your college friends and lifestyle you’re bound to get lonely. "One Tree Hill" is full of dozens of characters who will make you laugh, cry and fall in love. This show will take you on an emotional rollercoaster season after season, tragedy after tragedy, and it will become your guilty pleasure. I’ll admit, nine seasons is a commitment, but once you’re in the heart of it, nine seasons won’t seem like enough. Besides, who could get tired of Nathan Scott making your heart throb?
"Friday Night Lights" will fill your life with drama, comedy, and football. You will fall in love with Tim Riggins and wish like hell you were Lyla Garity. It’ll bring you back to your high school days and make you realize you were doing high school wrong. You’ll wish Coach Taylor was your dad and pray you grow up to be like Tami Taylor while harboring a secret hatred for their daughter, Julie. Even if you don’t like football, I promise you’ll still fall in love with FNL.
"How I Met Your Mother" will keep you laughing from beginning to end. Drama isn’t for everyone. HIMYM is a great mixture of comedy and romance that avoids all of the heavy soap opera stuff. Ted Mosby searches New York City for his future wife and encounters hilarious situations along the way. HIMYM is a modern day version of "Friends" that will leave you desperate to be part of a friend group made up of a pair of college sweethearts, the ultimate womanizer, an architect who can’t seem to hold down a girlfriend, and a Canadian news anchor who’s greatest talent is dodging commitment. Not to mention it’ll probably improve your sense of humor too.
Speaking of "Friends," if you’ve never seen it what are you waiting for? Take this opportunity to flood your life with a TV show that will bring you nothing but joy. Sure, "Friends" isn’t the type of show that leaves you on the edge of your seat. You won’tneedto watch to next episode but you’ll absolutely want to. "Friends" is a 10-season long journey that will teach you valuable life lessons through an immeasurable amount of comedy. It’ll leave you wondering whose the Monica to your Rachel, which one of your friends is most like Phoebe and arguing with yourself back and forth over who would make a better husband; Chandler, Ross, or Joey? (It’s probably not Joey, but I can guarantee he’ll always hold a special place in your heart.)
If you’re a fan of "Sex and the City" do yourself a favor and watch "The Carrie Diaries." It’s not much of a commitment because it’s only two seasons long. If we’re being honest you could probably knock it out in a few days. But those few days will be filled with Sebastian Kidd continuously make your heart skip a beat while Carrie Bradshaw makes you question all of your life decisions. Give her two episodes and you’ll start living vicariously through her. If you think there’s no one you’d rather be than adult Carrie Bradshaw, you certainly haven’t met teenage Carrie Bradshaw.
Have you heard the rumors that Netflix is coming out with a continuation series of "Gilmore Girls?" If this isn’t the best news you’ve ever heard then you’ve clearly never watched the series. That’s your first mistake. "Gilmore Girls" will warm your heart. Lorelei Gilmore will become your spirit animal, and you’ll find yourself praying your daughter turns out exactly like Rory Gilmore. You’ll find yourself wanting a man who can rock the backwards hat and flannel like Luke Danes and you seriously won’t be able to choose between Dean, Jess, and Logan. Or you will be able to choose and you’ll never love someone as much as you love a fictional character.
Nothing will suck you in quite like "Gossip Girl." The acting in the beginning is a little rocky but by the second season, you’ll probably start averaging six to eight episodes a day. You’ll want to marry Chuck Bass while simultaneously sucking face with Nate Archibald. It’s unpredictable and always sends you for a loop. You’ll have a whole new taste in clothes after watching Serena Vander Woodsen strut down 5th Avenue in her brand new designer outfits day in and day out and you might even appreciate a good headband after watching Blair dictate Constance Billard School for Girls. Honestly, it doesn’t stop there. The list of how your life will change could go on forever, but I’ll let you figure that out on your own. All I can tell you is I know you won’t regret it.
In the mood for some light-hearted comedy? "New Girl" is the show for you. Jessica Day will redefine the word quirky for you. Everything you once thought was weird and unacceptable will now seem cool and look like something you want to try. Jess’s lifestyle is the definition of carefree, and there’s nothing better than watching the predicaments she gets herself into. Don’t even get me started on her romance with Nick. Or how hard you’re going to laugh at Schmidt’s unexplainable personality. Winston and Coach will have you giggling to yourself as well. I’ve never had a harder time picking a favorite character in a TV show.
I’m not going to lie to you: "Grey’s Anatomy" is a commitment. You’ll fall in love and get your heart broken episode after episode. It is 11 seasons of emotional breakdowns but it is worth every second. The characters will speak to you on every possible level. One episode Meredith Grey will be the perfect representation of how you are feeling, and the next day it will be Alex Karev. You will get attached to characters and feel betrayed by them. You will cry and throw things at your TV. But you will also laugh uncontrollably and feel love in ways that you didn’t know were possible. Watching Meredith Grey and Derek Shepard fall in love is an experience you definitely don’t want to miss out on. So even if you don’t think 11 seasons in one month is possible, it’s worth getting a start on because you can probably knock out five or six and they will be the best five or six seasons of a TV show that you’ve ever seen.
So as the excitement of Christmas Break dominates your thoughts, keep these shows in mind.
It's not going to be easy to pick one show to watch when there are countless options, but I can assure you that you will be satisfied with any of these choices. They might even change your life.
