20 Bingeworthy TV Series To Start Watching This Weekend

Convicted of a decade old crime of transporting drug money to an ex-girlfriend, normally law-abiding Piper Chapman is sentenced to a year and a half behind bars to face the reality of how life-changing prison can really be.

Rescued after 15 years in a cult, Kimmy Schmidt decides to reclaim her life by venturing to New York, where she experiences everyday life with wide-eyed enthusiasm. On a whim, she rents a room from Titus, a gay wannabe Broadway actor, who makes ends meet as a street performer in Times Square. The unlikely pair find they’re well-suited to help each other out, with Titus reintroducing Kimmy to modern life, and her providing him with the inspiration that you should never give up. Together they’ll make it through whatever life throws at them.

Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star in this Netflix-original series as married realtors, Sheila and Joel, who are living a quiet life, raising their teenage daughter in Santa Clarita, Calif. Their world unexpectedly changes when Sheila goes through a dramatic transformation that sends her down a road of death and destruction — but leaves her looking and feeling better than ever.

This US adaptation, set at a paper company in Scranton, Pa., has a similar documentary style to that of the Ricky Gervais-led British original. It features the staff of Dunder-Mifflin, a staff that includes characters based on characters from the British show (and, quite possibly, people you work with in your office). There’s Jim, the likable employee who’s a bit of an everyman. Jim has a thing for receptionist-turned-sales rep Pam (because office romances are always a good idea). There’s also Dwight, the successful co-worker who lacks social skills and common sense. And there’s Ryan, who has held many jobs at the company.

In the sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” a wealthy couple — video store magnate Johnny and his soap opera star wife Moira — suddenly find themselves completely broke. With only one remaining asset, a small town called Schitt’s Creek, which the Roses bought years earlier as a joke, this once-wealthy couple must give up life as they know it. With their two spoiled children in tow and their pampered lives behind them, the Rose family is forced to face their newfound poverty head-on and come together as a family to survive.

Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber are among the original “Full House” cast members who have returned to star in this spinoff, “Fuller House.” D.J., now widow and a mother to three sons, finds herself back in her childhood home alongside her sister Stephanie, an aspiring musician, and her lifelong friend Kimmy Gibbler, who is also a single mother. All under one roof, the women experience moments big and small together, including budding romances, holidays, parenting and life’s surprises.

Exonerated after spending nearly two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit, Steven Avery filed suit against Manitowoc County, Wis., and several individuals involved with his arrest. Shortly after, however, Avery found himself behind bars again, this time accused of the murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach. She was last seen on Avery’s property, where she was to photograph a vehicle. Avery and nephew Brendan Dassey were tried and (spoiler alert) convicted of the crime. But that’s not the end of the story. When Columbia graduate students Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos read about Avery, they felt his story would make an interesting documentary. Neither PBS nor HBO were interested, but Netflix took on their concept to produce the docuseries, which generated plenty of publicity and prompted petitions to have Avery’s case reviewed, though officials in Wisconsin insist all the evidence is not presented in the program.

The medical drama series focuses on a group of young doctors at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital, who began their careers at the facility as interns. One of the young doctors and the show’s namesake, Meredith Grey, is the daughter of a famous surgeon. Grey struggles to maintain relationships with her colleagues, particularly the hospital’s one-time chief of surgery, Richard Webber, due to a pre-existing relationship between them – Webber and Meredith’s mother had a personal relationship when Meredith was young.

Home bakers who have a poor track record in the kitchen seek redemption — and cash — on this series. In each episode, three contestants try their hand at re-creating edible masterpieces. The projects don’t always turn out great, but whichever amateur baker comes closest to a successful dessert by the end of the episode takes home the $10,000 prize, which they might want to use on baking lessons. Comic Nicole Byer and renowned pastry chef Jacques Torres host the culinary competition that features such challenges as painting self-portraits on cookies.

Based on the best-selling novel by Margaret Atwood, this series is set in Gilead, a totalitarian society in what used to be part of the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate. In a desperate attempt to repopulate a devastated world, the few remaining fertile women are forced into sexual servitude. One of these women, Offred, is determined to survive the terrifying world she lives in, and find the daughter that was taken from her.

In this drama set in 18th century London, Samantha Morton stars as Margaret Wells, a brothel owner and mother to two daughters, Charlotte and Lucy. When Margaret’s business is attacked by Lydia Quigley (Lesley Manville), a ruthless rival madam, a war breaks out over the city’s most profitable commercial activity — sex. Margaret is determined to fight back and protect her business, even if it puts everything else at risk, including her family. Creators Moira Buffini and Alison Newman also serve as executive producers.

Mindy Lahiri is a successful doctor, but when she leaves the office, all bets are off. She wants to become a more well-rounded woman, someone who is punctual, frugal and well-read instead of someone who is obsessed with romantic comedies and likely to give an inappropriate toast at a wedding. Not the least of Mindy’s obstacles are the doctors she shares her OB/GYN practice with – especially self-absorbed Jeremy, who seems to keep turning up in Mindy’s bed, despite her best efforts to resist. Mindy finds support on her quest for growth from Gwen, her best friend from college.

Chip and Joanna Gaines own and operate Magnolia Homes, a remodeling and design business in Waco, Texas, and “Fixer Upper” shows the process by which the couple turn dilapidated but potential-rich houses into showplaces that are helping revitalize whole neighborhoods throughout central Texas. Chip manages the construction and realty side of Magnolia and Joanna is the lead designer. They also act as part-time counselors to clients who can’t see a structure’s beauty beyond the blemishes. Combined, Chip and Joanna save homes that look hopeless, renovating the imperfect, and revealing them as what they were always intended to be.

Behind the facade of a postcard-perfect subdivision live four women whose lives are anything but idyllic. Klutzy Susan is divorced and the mother of teenage Julie. Lynette is married to Tom and the frazzled mother of four rambunctious children. Bree is the neighborhood’s Martha Stewart, whose perfection masks major dysfunction. Ex-model Gabrielle, married to handsome and successful Carlos, wants to have her cake and eat it too. Looking down on it all is Mary Alice, who took her own life but comments on the lives of her former neighbors.

It’s the late 1950s and Miriam “Midge” Maisel has everything she has ever wanted — the perfect husband, two kids and an elegant apartment on New York’s Upper West Side. Her seemingly idyllic life takes a surprising turn when she discovers a hidden talent she didn’t previously know she had — stand-up comedy. This revelation changes her life forever as she begins a journey that takes her from her comfortable life on the Upper West Side through the cafes and nightclubs of Greenwich Village as she makes her way through the city’s comedy industry on a path that could ultimately lead her to a spot on the “Tonight Show” couch.

Heidi Bergman is a caseworker at Homecoming, a facility that helps soldiers transition back to civilian life. She leaves Homecoming to start a new life living with her mother and working as a small-town waitress. Years later, the Department of Defense questions why she left, which makes Heidi realize that there’s a whole other story behind the one that she’s been telling herself. Oscar winner Julia Roberts stars as Heidi in the first regular TV series role of her career. “Homecoming” is based a podcast of the same name.

Emmy-winning producer Matthew Weiner (“Mad Men”) created this anthology series that tells stories of people who believe that they are descendants of a Russian royal family. Each episode takes place in a new location — with filming occurring on three continents — with a new cast. Among the actors appearing in the hourlong installments are Aaron Eckhart, Amanda Peet, Diane Lane, Kathryn Hahn, Noah Wyle, and “Mad Men” alumni Christina Hendricks and John Slattery.

Leslie Knope, a midlevel bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbours, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges. Leslie’s colleague Tom Haverford, who delights in exploiting his position for personal gain, is as likely to undermine her efforts as to help her, while her boss, Ron Swanson, is adamantly opposed to government in any form, even though he’s a bureaucrat himself.

Author Tom Clancy introduced the character of Jack Ryan in a series of books before Ryan headed to the big screen in several films. Now the former U.S. Marine is featured in an episodic series for the first time, with John Krasinski portraying Ryan in this Amazon original thriller that centers on Ryan as an up-and-coming CIA analyst. He is thrust into a dangerous field assignment for the first time and uncovers a pattern in terrorist communication. That launches him into the middle of a dangerous gambit with a new breed of terrorism that threatens destruction on a global scale.

Suits centers on a fast-paced Manhattan corporate law firm led by legendary lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), his intelligent but delicate partner, Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), and secretary-turned-COO Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty). After surviving leadership turmoil and the loss of key partners, the trio continues to tackle top corporate cases with the support of the formidable Alex Williams (Dulé Hill) and the undeniably talented Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull). After muscling her way into the firm, powerhouse attorney Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl) joins the ranks of Specter Litt and challenges the status quo. Together, these top minds must rely on their knowledge, wit and intuition to keep their clients at bay and their firm afloat.