The Best TV Shows to Stream on Netflix This Week

Credit: Baby Bandito/Netflix

If you’re looking for the best new series to binge this week, Netflix is dropping a slew of shows to consider that run the gamut from a Chilean crime comedy to a U.K thriller. (There are also a couple of "you might have missed 'em" older shows to check out too.)

Baby Bandito

This Spanish-language series embellishes the hell out of a real-life heist that happened in Chile in 2014. Over the course of Baby Bandito’s eight fast-paced, funny episodes, Chilean skateboarder Kevin Tapia falls in love, double-crosses a crime lord called “The Butcher,” and pulls off the heist of the century. With both cops and criminals chasing him across the world Kevins learns that stealing tens of millions of dollars was the easy part. The hard part is keeping it.

Fool Me Once

A talented cast and tight writing hold together the sometimes ungainly plotting of this British import. Based on a novel by Harlan Coben, Fool Me Once begins with main character Maya, a former special-ops pilot, grieving her murdered husband Joe. Soon after the funeral, Joe appears on footage from Maya’s nanny-cam, kicking off an "is he dead or is she crazy" story with more twists and turns than Carnaby Street. It’s not necessarily believable, but it’s engaging, competent, and smart enough to be worth watching.

Loudermilk (2017)

Loudermilk proves you can make a funny, touching series about a complete asshole (or at least Peter Farrelly can). Ron Livingston plays Sam Loudermilk, a bleaker version of Livingston’s character in Office Space. A recovering alcoholic, Loudermilk wears his personal failure like armor and rarely bothers to disguise his disdain. But he’s trying—trying to stay sober, trying to get his shit together, and even trying to help other addicts in recovery. The series originally ran for three seasons on the AT&T Audience Network, and in a perfect world, its appearance on Netflix will gain it enough fans for them to make season four. 

Quarterback (2023)

Why not check out a jockumentary series while you wait for the Super Bowl? Quarterback takes us into the personal lives of three NFL quarterbacks, chronicling the very different seasons each experienced in 2022. Marcus Mariota’s stint with the Atlanta Falcons ended with the once-promising prospect benched for the final four games. Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings had a solid season, even if the Vikings tanked in the playoffs. While Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes had a great year, what with the whole winning-the-super-bowl and being league MVP thing. Yes, Quarterback is a tightly controlled commercial for the NFL, but as long as you don’t expect anything too honest, it’s an engaging watch. 

Cunk on Earth (2023)

British mockumentary series Cunk on Earth is an experience you either fall for immediately or nope right out of; it’s very British like that. The premise: The BBC has hired the dumbest woman on earth to host a prestigious documentary program about the history of humanity. Philomena Cunk (played by Diane Morgan) travels the world with a real BBC crew and sits down with real professors, philosophers, and academics of all kinds, just to ask them incredibly misinformed, stupid questions. The result: Unprecedented levels of awkwardness as Cunk’s well-meaning guests try to maintain their polite facades and make sense of this strange woman who has sought them out. It's hard to describe why it’s funny; you have to see it to understand (or fail to).

Last week's picks:

Queer Eye, Season 8

There are six new episodes of Queer Eye available now. If you’ve seen the show, you’re probably already watching, but if you haven’t, now’s the time to dive in. The premise of a gaggle of LGBTQ+ experts fixing up regular people’s looks and lives would get old fast if the cast wasn’t so charming and the presentation so unfailingly empathetic and tolerant. It’s tear-jerking, transformation TV that should not be missed. 

Griselda

Sofía Vergara turns in a ruthless performance as real-life Columbian kingpin (queenpin?) Griselda Blanco in Griselda. Blanco was on par with Pablo Escobar in the 1980s; she controlled most of Miami’s cocaine trade, and her rise to power and subsequent fall from grace is detailed over six episodes in this intense new drama. 

Masters of the Universe: Revolution

The world needs He-Man, and he’s right there waiting for you to stream his muscular, heroic form into your home right now. Sci-fi icons Mark Hamill and William Shatner lend their voices to this animated series that updates the source material just enough to stay current but keeps the essential vibe of the original series intact. 

Six Nations: Full Contact 

The 2023 NFL season is nearing its end, making it the perfect time to dive into the sport’s father: rugby. Docu-series Six Nations: Full Contact takes us into the Six Nations tournament, the Super Bowl of rugby, and introduces us to the hard-ass kings of this smash mouth sport.  

Not Quite Narwhal

Netflix adds Dreamworks’ undersea kiddie cartoon Not Quite Narwhal to its collection of children’s programs this week. Based on a series of kids books, Not Quite Narwhal’s hero Kelp straddles two worlds: he’s part Narwhal and part Unicorn. Despite the show’s cutesy-poo look, Narwhal has substance. Kelp and his pals’ gentle adventures explore acceptance and identity in a way everyone could learn from, even if the show is aimed at pre-schoolers.