Stuck at Home? Time to Binge-Watch a Few Shows

Are you staying at home, stuck in your room and bored because your school closed due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic? In addition to doing a little homework or home schooling temporarily, you might have more time to calm your nerves in this difficult time by binge watching seasons of streaming TV series you either never explored or always hoped to get around to.

With this in mind, Kidzworld compiled a short list of teen-friendly series to check out while staying safe at home.

Netflix

"Riverdale" - Drama based on characters from the Archie comic-books series is set in usually quiet Riverdale, where aspiring musician Archie deals with life, love and high school. Life is shaken up when the death of a popular rich boy named Jason Blossom rattles the town. Archie Andrews discovers his love for music, and his teacher. Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead band together to solve the mysteries behind Jason Blossom's murder.

"The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" - Imagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Warning: For younger kids, this can get pretty scary and sexy.

"Stranger Things" - Hawkins, Indiana, 1983. A young boy, Will Byers, goes missing near a top-secret government laboratory. As friends, family and local police search for answers, they are drawn into an extraordinary mystery involving top-secret government experiments, terrifying supernatural forces and one very strange girl. The teens of Hawkins have come a long way. Binge watch from the beginning!

"I Am Not Okay With This" – newer show starring “It’s” excellent actress Sophia Lillis and based on the comic book, this is an irreverent origin story that follows a teenage girl who is navigating the trials and tribulations of high school, all while dealing with the complexities of her family, her budding sexuality, and her mysterious superpowers just beginning to surface.

"Lost in Space" – interesting stories, teen and family drama and awesome visual effects mark this remake of sci-fi master Irwin Allen's 1965 cult TV classic and the show is an epic but grounded science fiction saga set 30 years in the future when colonization in space is now a reality. The Robinson family is among those tested and selected to make a new life for themselves in a better world. But when the new colonists find themselves abruptly torn off course en-route to their new home they must forge new alliances and work together to survive in a dangerous alien environment, lightyears from their original destination.

"Locke and Key" - Based on the comic book, this drama follows three siblings who, after their dad is murdered, move to their creepy ancestral family home, only to realize that the magical keys they discover there can create all kinds of interesting but scary challenges. There are worse things than getting used to a new school and town.

"Atypical" – This series presents a coming of age story that follows Sam, an 18-year-old on the autistic spectrum as he searches for love and independence. While Sam is on his funny yet emotional journey of self-discovery, the rest of his family must grapple with change in their own lives as they all struggle with the central theme: what does it really mean to be normal?

"End of the F***ing World" – This show follows the dark and confusing lives of James, a 17-year-old who believes himself to be a psychopath, and Alyssa, a rebellious classmate who sees in James a chance to escape from her tumultuous home life.

Hulu

"Marvel’s Runaways" - Six teenagers with nothing in common join forces after discovering their parents are evil-doers and part of a criminal organization known as The Pride, after they witness them sacrificing a young girl in an occult ceremony. The kids do as the title suggests and run away, but not before stealing some resources from their parents — like tech, weaponry and… a dinosaur.

"Cloak and Dagger" - This interracial sci-fi romance follows Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers while falling in love. Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness.

"Looking for Alaska" - Miles Halter, a new student at Culver Creek Boarding School, has had a boring life until he meets Alaska Young. Gorgeous, clever and undoubtedly screwed up, Alaska draws Miles into her reckless world and irrevocably steals his heart. For Miles, nothing can be the same again.

"Pen15" - Two middle-school friends deal with the awkwardness of adolescence in 2000. The girls, Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, play versions of themselves as 13-year-old outcasts surrounded by actual 13-year-olds, where the best day of your life can turn into your worst with the stroke of a gel pen.

"Veronica Mars" - Veronica Mars used to be the popular girl with the cool friends and the jock boyfriend. A series of personal and family traumas have made her an outcast albeit one with a sarcastic side and a snarky sense of humor. Now, she helps her private investigator father dig into the lives of the rich and famous in the messed-up town of Neptune, Calif.

"Light as a Feather" - Four best friends invite the shy new girl out on Halloween, but they quickly regret their decision when she suggests they play a game of Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board. The seemingly innocent game goes awry when the five girls who played start dying off in the exact way that was predicted. The survivors are then forced to figure out why they're being targeted -- and whether the evil force hunting them down is one of their own.

"Black-ish" – The series follows an upper middle class African-American family led by Andre 'Dre' and Rainbow Johnson who have teen kids. The show revolves around the family's lives, as they juggle several personal and sociopolitical issues while living in the mostly white ‘burbs.

Amazon Prime Video

"Prime Carnival Row" – Starring Cara Delevingne, this fantasy series follows mythical creatures who have fled their war-torn homeland and gathered in the city as tensions are simmering between citizens and the growing immigrant population. A human detective and a fairy rekindle a dangerous affair in this Victorian fantasy world, where the city's uneasy peace collapses when a string of murders reveals an unimaginable monster.

"Hanna" – Based on the 2011 movie starring Saoirse Ronan, this series is equal parts high-concept thriller and coming-of-age drama. The story follows the journey of an extraordinary young girl raised in the forest and raised as an assassin as she evades the relentless pursuit of an off-book CIA agent and tries to unearth the truth behind who she really is.

"The Tick" - In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an underdog accountant with zero powers comes to realize his city is owned by a global super villain long-thought dead. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with an eccentric, strange blue superhero.

CBS All Access

"Star Trek Discovery" – Set a decade before the events of the classic Star Trek TV series and during the Federation-Klingon war, this series follows the voyages of the Starfleet crew of the U.S.S. Discovery on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms. We focus on one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.

"Star Trek Picard" - At the end of the 24th Century, and 14 years after his retirement from Starfleet, Jean-Luc Picard is living a quiet life on his vineyard, Chateau Picard. When he is sought out by a mysterious young woman, Dahj, in need of his help. Picard soon realizes she may have personal connections to his own past with Commander Data.

"Star Trek: Short Treks" – This is a spin-off series from Star Trek: Discovery. Each episode of Star Trek: Short Treks tells a stand-alone story that serves as an opportunity for deeper storytelling and exploration of key characters and themes that fit into Star Trek: Discovery and the expanding Trek universe.

Disney+

"Star Wars: The Mandalorian" - Baby Yoda and much more! After Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. "The Mandalorian" is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. The series depicts a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - Binge it all! Yoda, Anakin and the Jedi Knights fight in the Clone Wars, taking them to many new planets and introducing new players. The series spans the time between Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

"High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" - In an extremely meta portrayal/mockumentary of the High School Musical story, the series' plot surrounds the East High drama club's journey in executing their school's first production of High School Musical inspired by the original film. 

"Diary of a Future President" - Told through a collection of voice-overs by central character Elena as she reads from her diary, the series centers on the 12-year-old Cuban American girl, who attends middle school as she aspires to be a future president of the United States.

Is this list complete? Heck no! There are also many cool, interesting TV series on network television and multiple seasons of older classic, teen-fave shows that you can binge watch on streaming and cable networks like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Pretty Little Liars”, “The Vampire Diaries”, “Gossip Girl”, the original “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, “Degrassi: Next Class”, “My So-Called Life”, “The 100”, “Dawson’s Creek” “Freaks and Geeks”, “Teen Wolf”, “Awkward” and many, many more.

What Would Be on Your List?

Do you have a fave show not on our list? Have you discovered other new ones you love? If so, please share your finds with all of Kidzworld by leaving a comment or talking the show up on your Kidzworld profile page.

By: Lynn Barker