By Kitty Williams | Associate Editor
While Netflix may not always have the best movies or television at the ready, it certainly makes up for it with the original movies and series it provides. The popular streaming service introduced its first Netflix Original in 2013 and now they have an originals list of over 50 series. Here are some of the best series this category has to offer.
1. Black Mirror
This show began in 2011 and aired on television until Netflix commissioned its third and most recent season. This British anthology has been likened to The Twilight Zone, and for good reason. The show addresses the future of technology and the problems that come along with it in a mesmerizing yet terrifying way.
2. Derek
Ricky Gervais plays the titular character in this heartwarming mock documentary series. Derek is a good-hearted and childlike caretaker in a nursing home who truly loves what he does. His friends include Dougie, the curmudgeon janitor who constantly sports a frown and a silly haircut, and Kev, who doesn’t work there but hangs around to drink beer and make crude jokes.
3. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Creator Tina Fey makes the dreary seem bright in this original series starring Ellie Kemper as the optimistic Kimmy Schmidt. Kimmy lived in a bunker for many years when a cult leader told her the world was ending. After escaping, she learns to live in New York City alongside roommate and aspiring actor Titus Andromedon.
4. The Crown
This series, which premiered earlier this month, follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Claire Foy stars as a young Queen Elizabeth II in this inside look into the life of royalty. The show begins with Elizabeth’s marriage and continues on to show her reign as Queen of England and all that it entails, including her interactions with Winston Churchill.
5. Grace and Frankie
Sol and Robert are business partners turned lovers who have kept their love a secret from their wives for the past 20 years. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin star as Grace and Frankie, the wives who don’t always get along but learn to get through this tough time together. After they learn that their husbands plan on getting married, they decide to live together in their beach house. The series follows their complicated lives with great humor as their families merge in an unexpected way.
6. Stranger Things
In a town where bad things never seem to happen, terror strikes when a young boy goes missing. This brand new release, inspired by the theories about the Montauk Project on Long Island, follows a group of teenagers as they try to find their missing friend, Will. While searching, the young boys find a girl with supernatural abilities who escaped from government experiments. Together, they work to find what took Will and bring him home alive.
