California Dreaming! Stretches of sandy beaches, sparkling blue oceans and extravagant infinity pools decorated with bikini-clad bombshells and gorgeous men in such good shape, it’s crazy.
Or is it? This is California after all! Known for its beautiful people who, despite living laid-back lifestyles, are some of the most dramatic, complicated, and entertaining people on television.
We’re going deep inside the most notorious West Coast neighborhoods from the beaches of Santa Monica and Malibu to the hottest spots in Hollywood and Silver Lake to bring you, true TV Fanatics, the most binge-able television series homegrown in California.
Which series on this list are YOUR favorites, too? Which are you going to binge? Any best of the West Coast I missed?
Baywatch
How dangerous must our beaches have been before Baywatch came along to protect and serve with seriously suntanned sexiness?
David Hasselhoff stars as veteran lifeguard, Mitch Buchannon, who mentors his attractive young squad as they patrol a crowded Los Angeles beach. His staff of stacked hard bodies who are required to swim, save, and look sick in a red one piece includes Pamela Anderson, Yasmine Bleeth, Brooke Burns, Tracy Bingham, and Carmen Electra.
Only slightly less memorable is all the “Mandy,” (man candy)… David Charvet, Jason Simmons, David Chockachi, Parker Stevenson, and Billy Warlock. Of course, looking good is only half the Baywatch battle. Lifeguards handle the California dangers that threaten their beach from drowning swimmers and shark attacks to earthquakes and even serial killers.
As David Hasselhoff amassed a monster fan following around the globe, Baywatch became one of the most watched television series in the world, viewed by a billion people across 142 countries. It ran for 11 seasons, spawned several TV movies, the spinoff series, Baywatch Nights, not to mention the popular German porn franchise, “Babewatch!”
Big Little Lies
Welcome to the quiet beachfront town of Monterey, California where the privileged families, with their adorable children and happily married parents seem to live picture-perfect lives. That is until a murder rocks the previously peaceful community to its core.
The series is certainly a dark dramedy, but the heart of BLL beats as the friendships between three mothers – Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Celeste (Nicole Kidman), and Jane (Shailene Wodley) intensify. As the town begins to unravel, becoming a rumor mill fueled by gossip, greed, and jealousy, the trio finds solace in one another and each woman begins to reveal herself.
The critically acclaimed Big Little Lies was a BIG 2018 award winner, racking up 2 SAG Awards and 4 Golden Globes. It’s not only stacked with amazing performances, it is full of surprises every step of the way. Catch up on season 1 now before season 2, with the superstar cast addition of Meryl Streep, premieres in 2019.
Beverly Hills 90210
“90210” introduces teenage Walsh twins – Brandon (Jason Priestly) and Brenda (Shannen Doherty) – who’ve moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Beverly Hills, California. Created by Darren Starr and Executive Produced by Aaron Spelling, the series is a true 90’s classic.
On the first day of school, the twins drive up to West Beverly Hills High in a beat-up brown jalopy, dressed in the wrong clothes, without any friends and zero experience living in a world as glitzy and glamorous as Beverly Hills.
Luckily, it’s not long before Brenda and Brandon secure an entire posse of pals made up of West Beverly’s most spoiled (but sweet), silver spoon fed rich kids, including Kelly (Jennie Garth), Steve (Ian Ziering), and Donna (Tori Spelling). “Donna Martin graduates! Donna Martin graduates!”
As for the romances for which 90210 is known, Brenda falls in and out of love with Bev Hills bad boy, Dylan McKay (Luke Perry), while Brandon has an on-again, off-again love affair with his sister’s BFF, Kelly. Oh and Spoiler Alert, Kelly’s such a good friend that she sleeps with Dylan too.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Seinfeld co-creator Larry David stars as himself in the laugh out loud HBO comedy about his life in Los Angeles as a semi-retired television writer/producer. Much like Seinfeld, Curb storylines tend to deal with the daily minutiae, this time revolving around Larry’s problems with social situations, society’s expectations, and his general annoyance with other people.
Cheryl Hines stars as Larry’s wife (and later ex-wife) who is the voice of reason when her husband is at his most unreasonable. Jeff Garlin plays Larry’s best friend and manager, Jeff Green, who often uses LD as an excuse to cover up his indiscretions.
Susie Essman is Jeff’s filthy-mouthed, ball buster wife, Suzy Green, who’s often onto Larry and Jeff’s elaborate schemes, and when crossed by Larry retaliates by calling him a “Four-Eyed-Fuck!”
Other celebs making regular appearances include Larry’s longtime friends, Richard Lewis, Ted Danson and Wanda Sykes. J.B. Smoove stars in later seasons as Leon Black, a promiscuous bachelor who Larry took in after Hurricane Edna and has yet to get rid of, currently occupying Larry’s guesthouse.
Curb Your Enthusiasm premiered on HBO in the year 2000, went on hiatus after its 8th season in 2011, then returned in 2017 for a highly successful season 9. HBO has since picked up the Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning series for a 10th season. The chances of the series continuing on even longer are looking, “Prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay, pretty good!”
The O.C.
“Welcome to the OC, Bitch!” From those words, it was all adrenaline, laughter, loss, and love.
Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie) goes from impoverished broken home to the opulent, high-class neighborhood of Newport Beach, California when he is adopted by the posh but compassionate Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher).
Thrust into the closed-minded community of Orange County, Ryan is an outsider but begins to fit in when he befriends his new stepbrother Seth (Adam Brody).
The blow of being the new kid is further softened when Ryan falls for privileged but troubled girl-next-door, Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) while helping Seth navigate his childhood crush on Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson).
Winning the Teen Choice Award in 2004 for Breakout TV Show, The O.C. penetrated its way into pop culture with a window into the lavish lifestyle of Orange County, a killer soundtrack, and epic young love.
Entourage
Coming out to Cali with your entourage from New York and making it big in Hollywood is the East Coast version of The American Dream. Actually doing it, however, is a whole different story. HBO’s Entourage, inspired by the exploits of actor Mark Wahlberg, is that story.
Adrian Grenier stars as Vincent Chase, a once unknown actor from Queens, New York turned overnight A-lister, who’s come out to Hollywood with his boys from back home.
Best friend turned manager, Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly) helps Vince decide what projects to pass on and which to take. His older brother, Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) has acting aspirations of his own, often finding his way into bit parts on Vince’s movies. Longtime friend, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), becomes Vince’s L.A. driver and takes care of Arnold their watchdog.
Entourage is far from all business, as the boys use the Vincent Chase name to get anything and everything they can. Free stereo equipment, floor seats at Lakers Games, unlimited swag, and pussy — lots and lots of pussy.
Of course Vince doesn’t rely solely on his new-to-the-biz friends to guide his career. His agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is a typical Hollywood dirt bag, often bragging about banging women other than his wife (Perry Reeves). But he’s got Vince’s back, no matter what trouble he and his boys get into around Tinseltown.
Entourage shines especially brightly throughout its 8 seasons thanks to amazing guest star appearances by everyone from Jimmy Kimmel, Snoop Dog, Kayne West and Tom Brady to Jessica Alba, Sarah Silverman, Scarlett Johansson and Mandy Moore.
Two and a Half Men
Charlie Sheen plays a liquored up, womanizing jingle writer living the bachelor’s dream life inside an oceanfront Malibu beach house, until his uptight brother, Alan (Jon Cryer) moves in with his troublesome son, Jake (Angus T. Jones), seriously cramping Charlie’s hedonistic style.
The Harper brothers may be related, but their similarities end there. Alan is a tightly wound neat freak chiropractor who works 9-5 and has very little luck with the ladies. Charlie, on the other hand, is a drinking, smoking, gambling Casanova who rarely gets up before noon.
Jake is quite a handful – lazy, obsessed with food and just wants his strict dad to let him play with his super-fun uncle. The one thing Charlie and Alan do have in common? Disdain for their cold and domineering mother, Evelyn (Holland Taylor). Over time, the men learn to co-exist admist racy plotlines and dirty, but clever jokes, nabbing The People’s Choice Award for Favorite TV Comedy.
When Charlie dies at the end of season 8, the beach house is sold to Internet billionaire, Walden Schmidt (Ashton Kutcher), who is luckily lonely and invites Alan and Jake to live with him.
Behind the scenes, Sheen entered rehab three times from 2010-2011, and following disparaging comments he made about the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre and CBS, his contract was terminated. The show got a ratings boost from all the hoopla and Two and a Half Men lived on for three more successful seasons. I strongly encourage you to binge, baby, binge!
Ray Donovan
Liev Schreiber is Ray Donovan, a “fixer” who makes Hollywood’s darkest most seemingly unsolvable problems magically disappear. Professional athletes, sexy film stars and ruthless movie execs all call Ray when they’re in deep enough trouble and have deep enough pockets to pay whatever price Ray commands.
TV Fanatics, if you have a thing for a sexy bad-boy with a Boston accent, Ray Donovan may be for you. If you’re able to relate to a close-knit family that tends to be its own worst enemy, have a thick skin for serious violence, occasional murders and their dangerous cover-ups, Ray Donovan is definitely for you.
In 2013, the pilot episode of Ray Donovan broke viewership records, becoming Showtime’s biggest premiere of all time. Each season gets better and better, as evidenced by the 5th season’s score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. So now’s your big chance to catch up before season 6 premieres in late 2018/early 2019, when it relocates to New York City.
The Brady Bunch
Here’s the story of a single mother, Carol Martin (Florence Henderson) bringing up three girls – Marcia (Maureen McCormick). Jan (Eve Plumb), and Cindy (Susan Olsen) – on her own. That is until she meets Mike Brady (Robert Reed), a widowed architect with three boys, Greg (Barry Williams), Peter (Christopher Knight), and Bobby (Mike Lookinland).
The single mom and dad decide to form a family, and move everyone into a large suburban, two-story house in Sherman Oaks, California, designed by Mike. It’s the perfect abode to accommodate Dad’s longtime housekeeper Alice (Ann B. Davis) and the family dog, Tiger, with a backyard designed for family barbecues, jungle gyms, and potato sack races.
Voila! They became The Brady Bunch. Back in 1969, blending six children from two different parents into one house was just that easy! Even harder to believe, Carol was originally written as a divorcee, but since it was taboo to be a divorced woman on a family friendly network, ABC kept the details of Carol’s first marriage a mystery.
Initially, The Brady Bunch focused on blended family dynamics and sibling rivalry, but later morphs into a more relatable series about pre-teen self image and teenage tales of puppy love.
Speaking of love, behind the scenes, Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick began a romance that burned so hot, filming of the final episode became nearly impossible, as the chemistry between the on-screen brother and sister was off the charts! Ewwww.
Californication
David Duchovny stars as Hank Moody, a novelist and flawed father who’s addicted to beautiful women, bottles of booze, and anything else that leads him into temptation. Leaving the mean streets of New York City for greener, warmer pastures, Hank moves California ready to soak up all that shall be his – fame, fortune, and the sunny splendors of Tinsletown.
It doesn’t take Hank long to discover his inner demons still exist, despite his new address. Thus he struggles to keep his career on track while building a relationship with his teenage daughter, Becca, and attempting to rekindle the flame with his baby momma, Karen (Natascha McElhone).
Duchovny took home the 2008 Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role as the incredibly complicated Hank Moody. If that doesn’t drive you to binge Californication, consider the series’ greatest element of all – Hank and Karen’s friendship with Charlie and Marcy Runkel.
Evan Handler plays Hank’s bald-headed best friend and agent, Charlie, who’s ultimately fired from his job when a tape surfaces of him masturbating at work. (Oh my, wasn’t he ahead of his time!) Pamela Adlon is pure GENIUS as his wife with the pottiest of mouths, Marcy.
Charlie’s Angels
The crime-fighting adventures of three incredibly beautiful women working in a detective agency in Los Angeles was runaway hit back in the 70’s for emphasizing the sex appeal of its female leads. The series was even dubbed “Jiggle TV.” Imagine trying that nowadays!
Originally starring Kate Jackson, Farah Fawcett, and Jaclyn Smith, later Angels included Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack, and Tanya Roberts. TV execs feared the American audience would never buy three sexy women fighting crime on their own so a male cohort, Bosley (David Doyle) was added to the cast to aid the Angels whenever they got into seious trouble.
Of course the real person in control was the big, strong, mysterious man behind the women. Charlie Townsend (John Forsythe) doled out crime fighting directives over a speakerphone at Agency headquarters. A top ten hit back in the 70s, Charlie’s Angels is definitely a cult classic with a pop culture following still to this day!
L.A. Law
Stephen Bochco created this iconic legal drama that explores the personal and professional lives of the partners, associates and staff at the Los Angeles law firm, McKennzie, Blackman, Chaney and Kuzak.
The ensemble series is part soap opera, part drama and part sexually-charged comedy, infused with hot topic issues of the 80’s and 90’s like abortion, racism, AIDS, domestic violence and sexual harassment. Storylines also revolve around tensions between the wealthy senior lawyers and their underpaid junior staff.
L.A. Law won 5 Primetime Emmy Awards and 15 Golden Globes by serving up some of the best writing and most famous faces on television.
Among the all-star cast is Corbin Bernsen as womanizing divorce attorney, Arnie Becker, Harry Hamlin as Partner Michael Kuzak, Susan Dey as District Attorney, Grace van Owen, Jimmy Smits as Associate Victor Sifuentes, and Blair Underwood as Associate turned Partner, Jonathan Rollins.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians
It’s a good thing the Kardashians have documented their lives for 14 seasons and counting, because to say there’s a lot to “keep up with” is putting it mildly. Back when the series began, the Jenner/Kardiashian clan dubbed themselves “The Modern Day Brady Bunch.” (Ummm… not quite.)
Sure, both families include a gaggle of kids who grow up together on camera, but the similarities come to a FULL STOP right there. We may have witnessed Marcia Brady in and out of braces and Greg go from riding a bike to driving a car, but that hardly compares to the plethora of not-so-subtle changes we’ve seen from The First Family of Calabassas!
In the first episode of the series, Kim, who’s the center of the universe, is going on Tyra Banks to talk about her SEX TAPE! Kris and Bruce are celebrating their 16th anniversary beside their kids, itty-bitty pre-teens, Kendall and Kyle, Koutney (and her new boyfriend Scott), and Khloe, “the fat sister.”
Fast forward through the years and KUPWTK’s many seaons to where Kim, once the family’s only focus, has grown up, altered her appearance, and become a role model to Kendal and Kyle. The twins have matured into stunning 20-somethings themselves, both mega-money makers as makeup moguls and fashion models.
Kimmy marries and ditches loser Kris Humphries (not at the alter, but shortly thereafter) and trades way up to Kanye West! Kanye slowly but surely gives the entire Kardashian clan a style and music makeover.
Khloe turns into a workout fiend, scoring the sickiest body of the bunch. After she marries Lamar Odum (but eventually must let him go), she finds true love with Cleveland Cavalier Center, Tristin Thompson…who successfully puts a baby in her! Speaking of babies, Kourtney and Scott have three: Mason, Penelope and Reign.
After “Momager” Kris sees her 22-year marriage to Bruce end in a divorce settlement worth 60 million dollars, she definitely gets her groove back, coupling up with much younger beau,Corey Gamble. Get it, Kris!
Oh, and one more thing in case you’ve been living under a rock: Olympic gold medalist, Bruce Jenner transitions to into female Caitlyn Jenner, and it turns out she’s an even bigger dick without one.
Alone Together
In the particularly shallow city of Los Angeles, one needs three things to succeed: Above-average looks, a tight body, and some sort of god-given talent. Herein lies the rub: the platonic pair of millennials, Esther Povitsky (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and Benji Afalo, seem to have none of the above.
It doesn’t hurt (us) that Benji lives with his older brother Dean (comedian Chris D’Elia) who, like his gorgeous girlfriend, have typical LA looks and the attitude to match. I love this series for its harsh, yet accurate look at the insane level of vanity that rules young Hollywood. Plus Esther’s view of the glamorous world they’re trying so desperately to invade is beyond amusing.
When the gorgeous checkout girl at a Juice Bar won’t tell Esther what to order, she says, “Hot girls have secrets like magicians, they don’t let anyone know.”
Esther, who co-created and stars in Alone Together with Benji, may just be the next big breakout comedienne. I’m talking Sarah Silverman/Amy Schumer big. (Maybe.) Binge the 2018 series on Freeform alone or together with one of your platonic pals.
Melrose Place
The steamy soap follows a group of attractive adults living in the apartment complex Melrose Place in West Hollywood, California. The starry-eyed young adults have come to The City of Angels to make their big Hollywood dreams a reality. A Darren Star spinoff from 90210, the cast is young, driven, but broke, hence their need to find roommates with whom to share the bills.
Unknowns when first cast, Melrose Place became the launching pad for many to become big stars. Grant Show is the link of from 90210 as Jake, the handyman Kelly Taylor crushes on, while Andrew Shue’s Billy moves in with Courtney Thorne Smith’s Alison, and Thomas Calabro lives in sin with Josie Bissett until they marry and become Dr. and Mrs. Michael Mancini.
Oher soon-to be stars who move into MP include Daphne Zuniga as photographer Jo Reynolds, Rob Estes as Kyle McBride and Lisa Rinna as his wife, Taylor. Heather Locklear plays one of TV’s greatest villains, Amanda Woodward who has a steamy love affair with Dr. Peter Burns played by Jack Wagner.
Doug Savant also stars as the openly gay, Matt Fielding. Back in 1992, while the other straight tenants flaunted their promiscuous sex lives, Matt’s only on-screen kiss with another man was edited out before airing, as Fox feared backlash from conservatives and advertisers!
Vanderpump Rules
Lisa Vanderpump owns, operates, and lords over a collection of Los Angeles restaurants and lounges, including West Hollywood’s sexiest hotspot, SUR. The abundance of stunning pink flowers and crystal chandeliers help give SUR its seductively chic vibe, but the truly special thing about the place is its staff of sexy, young Hollywood wannabes.
The “SURvers” are actors, singers, and musicians by day, waitresses, cocktail servers and bartenders by night. Over the years, the staff has become a tight group of on-again-off-again friends, most of whom are sleeping with a member of the opposite sex, have coupled up with various SURvers in the past, and/or have a checkered history with yet another member of the crew.
Their incestuous sexual relationships and tenuous friendships create some of the most salacious, jaw-dropping drama ever to unfold inside a dimly lit lounge while being broadcast on TV. Sure Lisa Vanderpump rules the school, but these kids are gonna play, play.
In the slideshow “25 Shows To Binge If You Love New York,” I list MDLNY and RHONY as two of my faves.Yet there is simply no Bravo series more worthy of your time and attention than Vanderpump Rules. The SURvers may be growing up, but they have yet to go grow out of their lying, cheating, scheming ways.
Currently in its 6th season, VPR’s dysfunctional, dramatic, booze-infused game is not just on point…it’s gaining steam.
Six Feet Under
The Fisher Family runs a funeral home in Los Angeles, responsible for taking care of strangers’ loved ones when it’s their time to be buried. Widely regarded as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, Six Feet Under has won nine Emmys, three SAG Awards, and three Golden Globes.
These accolades are at the top of this review in case your instinct is to run from a show with death at its core because I promise you, this series is about so much more. Yes, it’s about life and death, but also pain and pleasure, victory and defeat, love and sex. Six Feet Under is dark, deep, racy… and funny!
The Fisher family is composed of eldest brother, Nate (Peter Kraus), middle child, David (Michael C. Hal), younger sister Claire (Lauren Ambrose), their widowed mother, Ruth (Frances Conroy), and their deceased father, Nathaniel Fischer, Senior (James Cromwell).
The HBO drama is unlike any other TV series. Each episode begins with a death, the cause of which ranges from a slip and fall to a heart attack to murder. The death sets the theme of the episode, as every family member has their own storyline, whether it’s Nate’s womanizing, David’s cheating in public, or Claire’s promiscuity – all while the body being worked on is in the basement!
If you haven’t seen Six Feet Under, I implore you to give the LA-based series a shot. Run toward, not away from the light (of your TV)!
The Big Bang Theory
From the creator of Two and a Half Men, Chuck Lorre, comes this comedy about two male physicists, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons), who share an apartment and their nerdy existence in Pasadena, California. That is until a beautiful waitress, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moves in across the hall and disrupts life as the nerds know it.
Leonard and Sheldon’s geek squad includes aerospace engineer, Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist, Raj Koothrappali, an Indian-American genius who can’t quite talk to girls. In later seasons, other women join the nerd herd, including microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski and neuroscientist, Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik).
Currently in its tenth season, The Big Bang Theory has been nominated for 46 Primetime Emmy Awards, with Jim Parsons taking home the statue repeatedly for best actor in a comedy series.Given seasons 2, 3, 5 and 7 score 100% on RottenTomatoes, TV Fanatics who binge The Big Bang Theory have been scientifically proven to laugh their asses off and are still left wanting more.
The L Word
In 2004, this Showtime series went where no show had gone before, with a cast of incredibly talented actresses playing provocative roles as women proudly sleeping with other women. Spoiler alert: There isn’t much sleeping, as the sex is frequent, racy, and red hot!
When Jenny Schechter moves to West Hollywood, California with her boyfriend Tim to become a writer, her life is turned upside down after attending a party at their next-door neighbors, lesbians Bette (Jennifer Beals) and Tina ((Laurel Holloman). Thrust into a whole new world, Jenny begins questioning many aspects of her life, including her relationship and sexual orientation.
Other friends of Bette and Tina include Dana (Erin Daniels), a professional tennis player, Alice (Leisha Hailey), a magazine writer, and Kit (Pam Grier), Bette’s alcoholic sister. This series is worth binging for Kate Moening’s performance alone, who ROCKS IT as Shane, a hairstylist who can’t stick to just one woman, but whose women all get stuck on her.
Better Things
Pamela Adlon stars as “Sam Fox,” the single mother of three girls, master of none in this ballsy, brave, sarcastic, yet tender series originally birthed by FX. Major California props to Better Things for its exclusive peek behind the curtain of Hollywood’s hustle, as we follow Adlon on auditions and acting gigs, in the quest to stay relevant when almost famous.
Based on Adlon’s relationships with her own daughters, BT delves into the rocky terrain of young adulthood as each child’s coming of age story unfolds. Teenager Max has off-the-charts anxiety and raw vulnerability, thinly veiled by a bit of beauty and an overload of teen angst. Middle child, Frankie, has an elevated social consciousness and is either confused about her gender or is just avoiding the bullies in the girls’ bathroom.
The youngest, Duke is shockingly mature for an 8-year-old, as witnessed in Season 2’s 1st episode, “Sam has People Over,” when she hosts a crazy game of Truth or Dare in her bedroom with her munchkin friends. How crazy? As in, “I dare you to put a monopoly hotel up your vagina” crazy!
Full disclosure… Adlon co-created Better Things with Louis CK, who you’ve certainly heard of by 2018, as one of Hollywood’s heavyweights accused of sexual misconduct. If you choose not to support anything C.K. (ahem) had his hands on, that includes Better Things.
However, I strongly encourage you to keep in mind that one of the intentions of the #MeToo movement is to empower and support women in Hollywood even more going forward.
Pamela Adlon wrote and directed every episode of Season 2. She’s the star of the show, an outstanding comic, and her series is a MUST NOT MISS recommendation specially designed to have us all holding out for funnier, bigger and better things.
Big Brother
Big Brother, a competition game show in which contestants are moved into a house and live together in seclusion to play a physical, mental and social game for a $500,000 prize has aired for 400 seasons across 54 countries and regions around the world!
The American version of BB, set in the Big Brother compound in Los Angeles plucks a group of people with diverse backgrounds, beliefs, races, and religions from across the nation from their lives to enter a brave new world as BB “houseguests” without clocks, music, books, television or technology.
There is one thing to be found aplenty – the BB cameras. 80 cameras in every nook and cranny of the compound mean Big Brother is always watching!
The strangers must co-exist until they are evicted in as little as one day, and up to three months if they play their cards (housemates) right!
HGs are unable to escape each other, but for one place: The Diary Room. Each player enters “The DR” alone to strategize, breakdown, reveal alliances, confess romances, and help narrate the story…all while America is watching. Live feeds are broadcast from inside the compound 24/7!
The superfans who wait impatiently for a new season of BB every year do not regard Big Brother as simply a show, nor just a game. It is a religion, an addiction, and a summertime obsession! Now’s the perfect time to binge past installments of the CBS mega-hit, because a special edition of “Celebrity Big Brother” premieres in February 2018.
Wanna give the show a shot? My recommendations for the strongest early seasons are Big Brother 7: All Stars and Brother 10, which has a stellar group of houseguests, amazing game play, and was the first season broadcast in HD. TV Fanatics, put your television lives in my hands and binge Big Brother tonight!
Three’s Company
In Santa Monica, California, a pair of pretty single gals, Chrissy Snow (Suzanne Somers) and Janet Wood (Joyce DeWitt) desperately need a third roommate. They take in ladies man, Jack Tripper (John Ritter) who can afford the rent and is an amazing cook.
Although it’s a purely platonic arrangement, their prudish landlord, Stanley Roper (Norman Fell) fears there will be non-stop hanky-panky in the apartment, so the girls tell Roper Jack is gay. The comedy comes from the very heterosexual Jack, essentially a closeted straight man, drooling all over his roommates, while having to pretend he’s uninterested in ladies.
Back in the 70s, John Ritter was TV royalty and Jack Tripper was possibly the first man to make gay okay.
American Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson
The first installment of the FX True Crime Anthology, American Crime Story revolves around the 1994-5 trial of former NFL running back Orenthal James “O.J.” Simpson for the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
It’s a story many of us are all too familiar with, yet with a crime committed in Brentwood and a trial that spreads beyond Los Angles into homes across the nation and around the world, this television event is definitely binge-worthy. American Crime Story: The People v O.J. Simpson received 22 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, nine wins, and took home the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries.
Executive Produced by Ryan Murphy (Nip/Tuck, Scream Queens), the series is worthy of your time for its stellar writing, directing and acting. Get ready to be particularly wooed by performances from Sterling K. Brown as Christopher Darden, Courtney B. Vance as Johnnie Cochran, and Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark.
Once you’ve binged the first season of American Crime Story, you’ll be in perfect position to dive right into the second installment: The Murder of Gianni Versace, which is also AMAZING!
Episodes
British husband-and-wife comedy team, Sean and Beverly Lincoln, travel to Hollywood to remake what was their award-winning TV series in England about the headmaster of an elite boys’ school for the American audience.
Though the Brits are promised their original script and cast would remain unchanged, network President, Merc Lapidus (John Pancow) ultimately dismisses their elder, highbrow British lead in favor of young, idiotic Friends’ star, Matt Leblanc.
LeBlanc won a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy for playing a satirical version of himself in the Showtime comedy. Until you’ve seen him in Season 5 as a game show host caught jerking off on camera to an alluring contestant confined to a glass box, you haven’t seen the best of Episodes!
Weeds
Way before marijuana became no big deal, mainstream, and even legal in California, drug dealers populating playgrounds were either run of the mill thugs, bad seeds, or troubled teens. Until Nancy Botwin (Marie-Louise Parker) comes along and takes over as Agrestic, California’s neighborhood pot dealer.
After her husband Judah’s unexpected death, Nancy is left in serious financial crisis. The widowed mother of two young boys, Shane and Silas, Nancy is desperate to not disrupt her children’s lives any further by maintaining the standard of living to which they’ve become accustomed.
Nancy’s business thrives thanks to her supplier, Conrad (Romany Malco), help from her slacker brother-in-law, Andy (Justin Kirk), and a steady client base that includes her most frequent patron, city councilman and secret stoner, Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon).
All Nancy has to do is keep her family life in order and her business a secret from the town’s busybody neighbors, especially PTA President, Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins).
MLP won The Golden Globe in 2006 for her role as the soccer mom turned cannabis Queen-pin. Put that in your bong and smoke it…then binge-eat a few seasons of Weeds.
The Bachelor
Reality dating-competition series, The Bachelor premiered on ABC in 2002, and has continued to capture the hearts of viewers for more than 20 seasons and counting. Hosted by Chris Harrison, The Bachelor franchise has multiplied with The Bachelorette, Bachelor Pad, and Bachelor in Paradise.
Combine every series in the franchise and ABC has aired 40 seasons of the reality dating show turned phenomenon. Forty seasons of singles looking for love. Forty seasons of America still hoping for its fairytale ending.
Or maybe we stay tuned for the dramatic sideshow: sweet and innocent single ladies one minute, booze-soaked bachelorettes the next. Contestants get swept up in the experience, put their hearts on the line, just to have them smashed to smithereens… and somehow they never seeing it coming.
Whatever the reason for its success, the dating competition yields high ratings and occasionally long-term results. While many seasons of The Bachelor culminate in marriage proposals, few have stood the test of time. Still, more than 10 married couples attribute their happily ever after love stories to the franchise and most have little bachelor/bachelorette babies to boot!
The newest incarnation of the dating franchise, The Bachelor Winter Games, reunites previous contestants at a resort where they’ll compete in winter sports, airing February 13, 2018.
Also check out Lifetime’s series UnREAL, based on what goes on the behind-the-scenes of The Bachelor, which premieres its 3rd season on February 26, 2018. Catch up on UnREAL now.
Modern Family
Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neil) is the patriarch of a large and unconventional family who lives in the same neighborhood in West Los Angeles. Jay’s on his second marriage to much younger wife Gloria (Sophia Vergara), a gorgeous Latina fireball who’s often mistaken for Jay’s daughter. Her precocious son, Manny lives with them, often coaching Jay on how to dazzle his mother.
Jay’s eldest daughter, Claire (Julie Bowen) is right around the corner with her husband and self proclaimed “Cool Dad,” realtor Phil Dumphy (Ty Burrell), and their three kids, Haley, a popular teenager, Alex, the smarty pants of the family, and their son Luke, who’s no genius.
Claire’s brother, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is uptight and serious as opposed to his longtime partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), who is larger than life and wildly dramatic. Mitch and Cam are raising their adopted, Vietnamese daughter Lily, who is so freaking cute and absolutely hilarious!
Modern Family is done in mockumentary style, with the family members often talking straight to camera. Together the Pritchett clan is a diverse group – straight, gay, multi-cultural, multi-generational – with the common thread being their love for one another as one big happy modern family.
Brothers & Sisters
Brothers & Sisters revolves around the lives of the Walkers, a wealthy, tight knit family living in Los Angeles. Father William Walker (Tom Sherritt) built the family’s fortune with his company Ojai Foods and is married to the family matriarch, Nora Walker (Sally Field).
The couple has five grown children: two daughters, Sarah (Rachel Griffiths), an executive at their father’s company and Kitty (Calista Flockhart), a conservative activist, along with three sons, Tommy (Balthazar Getty), also an executive at Ojai Foods, Kevin (Matthew Rhys), a gay lawyer, and Justin (Dave Annable), who returned from the Afghan War with PTSD and a drinking problem.
When William drops dead of a heart attack, he leaves behind a life of secrets suddenly uncovered. The family is left to pick up the pieces of William’s web of lies, including his failing Ojai Foods empire, his mistress Holly Harper (Patricia Wettig) ,and her daughter, Rebecca (Emily VanCamp).
Brothers & Sisters was nominated for four Golden Globes, with Sally Field at her best, taking home a Primetime Emmy for her starring role as Nora Walker.
Cybill
Another Chuck Lorre comedy, Cybill is a hysterical series set in Hollywood, California about Cybill Sheridan (Cybill Shepherd), a twice-divorced single mother of two and struggling actress in her 40s, who’s forced to take bit parts, character roles, and commercials because of her age.
Cybill’s best friend is the wealthy, booze-guzzling divorcee, Maryann Thorpe (Christine Baranski). When Maryann is not torturing or pranking her ex-husband, she spends lavishly, drinks excessively and has a clearly co-dependent friendship with Cybill.
In 1996, Cybill won The Golden Globe for Best Television Series. Shepard nabbed a Golden Globe and Baranski won an Emmy for their performances as Cybill and Maryanne. Together the pair is comedy gold!
The Streets of San Francisco
Back in the 70s, a pair of homicide detectives, Lieutenant Mike Stone (Karl Malden) and Inspector Steve Keller (a young and very sexy Michael Douglas) were known to keep the Streets of San Francisco safe.
That’s right, Douglas wasn’t always a movie star, first gaining recognition for his role on the small screen as a rookie cop teamed up with 20-year veteran Stone in the City By The Bay. The two men develp a father-son relationship as Keller learns the rigors and procedures of detective work.
The other star of the show is, of course, San Francisco itself.
The Bionic Woman
In this spinoff of The Six Million Dollar Man, Tennis Pro Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) is almost killed in a skydiving accident, until the U.S. Government uses bionic parts to save her. Both of Jaime’s legs, one of her arms, and one of her ears are bionic, which gives her a number of super powers.
Jamie works and lives in Ojai, California as an agent for the Office of Scientific Investigations battling spies, mad scientists and aliens, with her cover being a teacher in a middle school. Despite practically being a Cyborg, Jamie is feminine, glamorous and human.
Wagner won a Primetime Emmy in 1977 for her bionic role as Jammie Sommers, not only for her acting but for all the running, jumping, and llifting she did around the Hollywood Hills.
Pitch
For the first time in history, a woman, Ginny Baker (Kylie Bunbury) takes the mound in the major leagues at the San Diego Padres Petco Park! She’s a fighter with a killer pitch doing it for her team and for women everywhere.
Oh, you guys, we hate to bring up this sore spot given how much we love this show and how sad we are that Pitch didn’t get the love it deserved. Sure, there’s only one season of this series to binge, but if you love San Diego, Kylie, and baseball, it’s a homerun. Long Live Ginny Baker!
Private Practice
You didn’t think we were going to forget Addison Montgomery’s launch into Private Practice, did you? Working in Santa Monica and living in Malibu only makes Addison’s stories darker and steamier and we still miss her in LA!
A spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice feaures Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) on leave from Seattle Grace as she joins a private practice at Seaside Wellness Center in Los Angeles. The series revolves around Addison getting acclimated to California living and befriending her new co-workers who may not immediately welcome her with open arms.
Addison’s greatest challenge is difficult to overcome no matter where she lives. Struggling to find the balance between befriending the doctors at her new practice and being the best neonatal surgeon she can be, while still making time for all the sexy lovin’ she can handle is hard. And it only gets harder and HOTTER in California!
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Contributor’s note: Which series on this list are YOUR favorites too? Which are you going to binge? Any best of the West Coast I missed?
