Ten best TV shows to watch with your dad
Watching these shows will give you something to talk about long after Father’s Day is over.
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Father’s Day is a day to celebrate things that dads like to do — and few things come higher up that list than watching television.
To honour all dads out there, Insider has come up with a perfect list of shows that feature fathers and families. These are perfect whether you want to stream these shows with your dad, or with your teenage children if you’re a dad who wants to earn some “cool” points (and, goodness knows, those are hard to come by). Best of all, this will give you something to talk about for the rest of the year.
PEAKY BLINDERS
It’s time to throw in a few jokes about dad’s age as we go back to post-World War I Birmingham and the Shelby family, who run one of the most ruthless gangs in the city. Returned soldier Thomas Shelby battles other gangs, a determined police inspector imported from Belfast and even his own family at times to rule the city. It’s vicious, gritty and addictive. And it will make you look at what dad keeps in the brim of his bowls hat in a whole new light.
Watch on Netflix
SUCCESSION
The brilliant Brian Cox stars as Logan Roy, head of the world’s biggest media company. But when he refuses to step down on his 80th birthday, all hell breaks loose among the family. It is packed with drama, humour and very clever plot twists. Best of all,
it puts the squabble over whether to go to Aunt Joan’s or Cousin Dave’s for Christmas back into proportion.
Watch on Foxtel
BLACK MIRROR
Get ready to have your mind blown by this crazy series that takes all our deepest fears about technology and makes them real. Whether it is having a life that is dependent on scoring likes from strangers around you or being blackmailed into crimes by your laptop, Black Mirror is at turns scary, funny and crazy. It’s going to make some of those conversations about screen time much easier to have — but perhaps stay away from the associated movie Bandersnatch, which lets you choose your own ending. Because the only happy ending is if you kill your father ... perhaps not the message for the day.
Watch on Netflix
GAME OF THRONES
Yes, the full-frontal nudity could make for some awkward moments with dad/the kids, depending which generation you are. But this was the biggest TV show on the planet for a reason. The first six seasons in particular are some of the best TV ever made. And you get to compare yourself favourably to the dads in this show like Tywin Lannister, crossbowed to death on the dunny by his dwarf son Tyrion. Kind of puts those dodgy socks and jocks into perspective, doesn’t it?
Watch on Foxtel
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE
If you like cop shows then you are going to love this one. Not because of its clever twists and turns and criminal skulduggery, but because it takes all the cliches from these shows and skewers them beautifully. A dysfunctional New York precinct filled with dimwitted detectives gets a new boss — a dedicated, intelligent, gay, black man. From there, things just get very funny. The characters are all great and, with each show just 22 minutes long, there isn’t time to get tired of their antics. And you could use the way Detective Jake Peralta keeps his desk to persuade the kids to tidy their room.
Watch on Netflix
SCHITT’S CREEK
The ultra-rich and spoiled Rose family loses all its cash and has to move to this tiny town that they once bought as a joke. Naturally neither they nor the bemused locals are happy with the situation. But there’s also a family that begins to come together under adversity. And there won’t be any complaints about pocket money after this, either.
Watch on Netflix
DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW
Now for a change of pace and a truly wacky sci-fi/superhero mashup. Legends Of Tomorrow does not take itself seriously, which makes it brilliant and is easily enough to ignore the sometimes low-budget special effects. And, at its heart, is a powerful story for Father’s Day. A Time Master called Rip Hunter saw his family destroyed by an evil supervillain called Vandal Savage. So he travels back in time to assemble a ragtag team to stop Savage and save his family. It’s ridiculous but the actors are all so committed to the characters that you can’t help but love the wackiness. Plus every dad needs to wear a cape now and again.
Watch on Foxtel
STRANGER THINGS
If nothing else, this fantastic comedy-horror series will make you fall in love with the 1980s all over again. Initially fathers are not portrayed too positively but the growing relationship between chief of police Jim Hopper and Eleven, the mysterious girl with the amazing powers, is a beautiful thing. The show begins when a boy goes missing and his friends begin to suspect the strange government facility at the edge of town could have something to do with it. The fear and horror is given a heavy dose of humour and bad hairstyles won’t seem such a problem, either.
Watch on Netflix
Originally published as Ten best TV shows to watch with your dad