From Yellowjackets to Shrink Next Door: Best TV shows to stream right now

Stuck for what to stream at home this summer? Look no further than this rundown of five of the best shows streaming right now.

While 2021 continues to throw us curve balls, there is at least one thing we can be sure of: there is no shortage of quality shows consistently being released for our streaming pleasure.

Perhaps with so much of the world being cooped up for so long, we as viewers have demanded that production companies upped the ante with the standard of shows they’re releasing and thankfully they’ve delivered.

Here is a rundown on some recently released shows which have earnt their weight in ratings gold and will make excellent conversation topics if you find yourself in need of an icebreaker, when you’re back working in the office.

THE SEX LIVES OF COLLEGE GIRLS — BINGE

In The Sex Lives of College Girls the real degrees are the friends you make along the way.

Don’t let the title throw you — while the plotlines follow what the name suggests, the series is a feel-good, coming of age, gal pal kind of comedy, that is quickly being hailed as the next Sex and the City.

Taking the tried and tested formula of four female friends living it up in their twenties, the series navigates all the ups and downs of university life and the awkwardness that comes with it, however unlike its predecessors, The Sex Lives of College Girls manages to do so in a way that’s a lot more fresh, worldly and in touch with reality

One of the biggest triumphs of the show is the genuine likability of each character, and despite the vastly different uni experience between America and Australia, any one of the girls could very possibly be someone you’d be paired with in a group assignment.

This show is at the same time squeaky clean, cheeky and feel good.

If you want to relive the ups and downs of university life behind the safety of a screen, The Sex Lives of College Girls is your go to viewing.

YELLOWJACKETS — PARAMOUNT PLUS

While this show is also centred around young women and their friendships, it takes a much darker tone than The Sex Lives of College Girls. Instead of navigating boys, parties and dating, these young ladies are tossing up whether or not they should eat each other in a bid to survive.

In what could perhaps be best described as The Babysitters Club meets Lord of the Flies, the series follows an undefeated girls soccer team from suburban New Jersey named the Yellowjackets whose plane crashes on the way to soccer camp, leaving them stranded for 19 months in the wilderness.

The cast of Yellowjackets, available to stream on Paramount Plus.

The series flashes between events leading up to the plane crash, the girls’ time in the wilderness and then fast forward into the future where they are trying to live normal lives but are still haunted by what went down in the forest, namely sacrifice, cannabilism and primitive violence.

Soccer training turns into a test of survival of the fittest in Yellowjackets.

So if Squid Game left you with a craving for more high stakes dystopian drama, this is for you.

This show is haunting, eerie and not for the faint-hearted — you’ll find yourself thinking about it long after the final credits roll.

Be warned there is no shortage of gore and just creepy moments.

THE SHRINK NEXT DOOR — APPLE TV

Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell star alongside each other in this ‘dramedy’ about a calculating doctor who manipulates his way into taking over his patient’s entire life.

It’s a plot line which while engrossing, is a LOT to process and is not feel good TV, so don’t expect Ted Lasso-style laughs.

In fact Will Ferrell even said prior to making the series he ‘hadn’t cried since 1975’, which is a pretty clear indication that it packs some punch.

The series itself is based off a hugely successful true crime podcast about the bizarre 30-year relationship between Dr Isaac Herschkopf and his patient Martin Markowitz, who first met in 1981.

In the show’s remake Rudd takes the role of sociopathic, calculating psychiatrist and Ferrel is his naive, unwitting patient who, by trying improve his life in going to therapy actually ends up ruining it.

What happens when your shrink isn’t who you think?

This show is dark and has the potential to be upsetting for some viewers as its subject matter deals heavily with mental illness.

THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES — BINGE

In what is a very highly anticipated new addition for Australian viewers, season one of The Righteous Gemstones just dropped on Binge with brand new season two tipped to premiere early next year.

The series follows the world famous ‘Gemstone’ family, evangelical Christians who certainly do not practise what they preach.

Led by their ruthless patriarch Dr Eli Gemstone and his less successful and bumbling offspring, the family’s made for TV mega church is built on greed, corruption, deceit, oh and some charity work.

Dr Eli Gemstone giving one of his world-renowned ‘televangelical’ sermons.

The opening scene of season one introduces us to Dr Eli and his two sons taking part in a 24 hour mass baptism event in China, who couldn’t seem less reverent as they fling passive aggressive insults back and forth while dunking their baptisees into a swimming pool.

Impossibly rich and powerful, the Gemstone family travel the world in private jets and Mercedes Benz trucks to spread the word of their mega church, sort of like an Evangelical Christian equivalent of The Kardashians, but dressed in shiny technicolour clothes and probably more conniving.

Season two promises to up the level of drama and scheming, as outsiders threaten to ruin the Gemstone televangelical empire.

Sibling rivalry is taken to a whole other level in the Gemstones’ multimillion dollar mega church.

This show occupies a space between being cringe-worthy silly yet almost sinisterly dark and takes on an irreverent tone not dissimilar to the musical the Book of Mormon.

BARRY — BINGE

Another very dark comedy on the list, this award-winning dramedy follows the journey of the titular character, an army veteran-turned-hitman who is lonely and dissatisfied with his life as a professional executionist.

While on a ‘work trip’ to Los Angeles — on a mission to get somebody whacked — he discovers the true meaning of human connection and friendship by stumbling upon a charming community theatre group.

While this might sound like a grim, yet heartwarming redemption tale, Barry then decides to pursue a career in acting and sets his sights on becoming a star, because clearly Marine-turned -hitman isn’t a diverse enough resume for current times.

Despite his tendency to commit heinous crimes you can’t help but like Barry Berkman.

What ensues is two seasons of our tortured thespian who, no matter his best efforts always winds up doing the wrong thing, in this case murdering people for money.

From the start it’s obvious that Barry is grappling with demons, the first time the audience are introduced to him is after he’s just shot someone point blank in the temple.

Despite such grisly first impressions, he makes for a sympathetic character, playing the part of a brooding tortured soul who has no choice to murder for a living. It’s this characterisation that makes the callousness with which he carries out his killings stomachable.

The dry, awkward moments of humour interspersed with unexpected scenes of gratuitous violence will keep you on high alert and have you paying attention through all fifty minutes or so of each episode.

This show is character-driven and as the series evolves the comedy gives way to more intense drama and underlying themes of morality. You’ll find yourself wondering which would be a scarier gig, a hitman or a struggling actor trying to make it in Los Angeles. This show asks the big questions.