Best 5 TV Shows You Should Stream Right Now

1. Black Jesus 

(adult swim)

If you like to sometimes punctuate your goodbyes with a "bye Felicia," or spread icing on misfortune with a nice "You got knocked the FUGGOUT!" there's a good  chance Ice Cube's Friday (1995) is on your list of classics.  And if you liked Friday, you're gonna LOVE Black Jesus!  

Yes, it sounds fucking ridiculous: A thirtees-ish man (a black man) in modern-day Compton hangs around the 'hood with his friends, spreading ideas of love, kindness, and forgiveness as he and his crew get in and out of jams.  It's the epitome of what Adult Swim has been doing and it really works this time.  Gerald "Slink" Johnson is so perfect as Jesus.  And holy shit, Jon Witherspoon!  You know him as Craig (Ice Cube)'s dad in Friday.  He plays a filthy old homeless man in a role that no one else could possibly do as well.

Charlie Murphy does his thing, playing a landlord who's out to expose to the community that Jesus is a con man, not actually the latest incarnation of Christ.  The show doesn't explicitly show the viewer one way or the other whether Black Jesus is actually who he says he is, but there are occasional scenes where a miracle seems to take place.  Either way, his friends do believe, but don't seem inspired to treat him any different than an unusually charismatic non-divine friend.

It all makes for a surprisingly interesting dynamic.  It's definitely a cartoonish concept but after a couple episodes, I was hooked and philosophizing that it might not be too far from reality if the Third Coming was born out of an inner city.  

Streaming on:

Hulu

2. Better Call Saul

(AMC)

I just got into this, finally, after lots of strong recommendation, and I'm only sorry I waited so long. It's a little embarrassing, but I didn't watch Breaking Bad, and this show is a spin-off, so I'm told.  I just couldn't get all that into Breaking Bad, not because it wasn't good, idk, I just didn't like it that much I guess.  This is much different though!  I like it a lot, right off the bat.

If you're a fan of Bob Odenkirk, definitely check it out - There's a Mr. Show kind of absurdity to the humor that he always pulls of perfectly. What I've seen so far is suspenseful too.  Saul is a down-on-his-luck lawyer who works part time at a Cinnabon.  A scheme to land himself in a lucrative position goes awry and he gets into some serious shit with some drug dealers.  I'm only about that far, but even after a few episodes, I'm hooked.  

Streamin on:

Netflix

  

3. 11/22/63

Hulu

It's weird because I haven't heard anyone talking about this show, but it's been addicting.  Stephen King's screen-adapted stuff, for me, can either become boring as fuck, or riveting the whole way through.  This series is certainly the latter.

My girlfriend had this on one night while I was drunk or busy doing something, but my subconscious caught hold of the really cool story line and I made a mental dog ear.  I came back, started from the beginning and was stoked!

I'm a sucker for time-travel stuff and this premise is really awesome.  James Franco becomes friends with a salty old guy (Chris Cooper, the guy that kills Kevin Spacey in American Beauty) who owns a diner with a time portal in the back.

So the old guy tells Franco about the portal, how it only can take you to one place and moment in time, and how several years in the past equals only like 2 minutes in the present.  He's been going back in time, trying to prevent the Kennedy assassination.  The cool part is that TIME itself pushes back against the change!  I don't think I need to say any more...go watch it!

Streaming on:

Hulu

4. The People Vs. OJ Simpson

(FX Networks)

When the Bronco chase went live on TV, I was on a trip with my mom and my aunt in Eureka, California.  We were transfixed on the small screen in our room at a bed and breakfast.  More than 20 years later, watching this dramatic retelling of the entire OJ thing was just as exciting!

Man, the guy that plays Chris Darden is great!  They all did a great job playing the real OJ characters: you have Marcia Clark, Johnny Cochran, Robert Shapiro played by Travolta!  Cuba Gooding Jr. gives a great performance.  However, I just didn't buy him as OJ.  I'm pretty sure OJ is at least 3 times the size of Cuba.  It didn't take me too long to get over it, though, enough to adequately suspend disbelief.

Travolta actually produced this show and it will do more than keep your attention.  Even though we all know (if you're at least in your early thirties) most of everything that went down, this show sheds light on the personal dynamics.  Like the romantic stuff between the prosecutors, how Shapiro was kind of the leper on the defense, and especially the emotional battle Kardashian fights, portrayed by David Schwimmer.

If you DON'T have even a cursory knowledge of the whole OJ thing, I envy you, because watching this is gonna be like watching a dramatic version of "Making of a Murderer." Just don't go Googling shit and spoiling it for yourself!

Streaming on:

FX (you'll need a cable subscription)

iTunes

5. Flaked

(Netflix)

I tried to give picks for this list that have a lower-than-average chance of being on your radar...shows you might've scrolled past.  I did this with Flaked at first, then realized Will Arnett created and stars in it.  The series gets increasingly complicated with dramatic twists in a way you don't expect until you're totally hooked.

It's set in Venice Beach, where Arnett is a recovering alcoholic, and kind of a hero slacker in the community.  The dialogue is really good, which is what usually would turn me away from something like this.  It holds up as the story line progresses, and there's just enough unbelievable revelation peppered in at the right times to keep you interested.  Also, there are some really hot chicks in this show.

Streaming on:

Netflix