Welcome back to FlixWorthy, your weekly guide to Netflix streaming. Yet again we're bringing you a handful of new or notable selections from Netflix's streaming catalogue. Some will be classics, some will be little-seen gems, some will be shows you might have missed, and some...some will be crap so awful they simply has to be seen to be believed. Here's what's FlixWorthy this week, kids.
(1999 - 2009, TV-PG, eight seasons available)
Ah, Family Guy. The show that wouldn't die. Bane of the Parents Television Council. The template for pretty much everything Seth MacFarlane has created since. You either love it or hate it, but there's no question that Family Guy has become a genuine phenomenon. South Park quite accurately mocked its short-attention-span style of cutaway humor (going so far as to suggest the show was written by manatees), and it's a style that can be annoying as hell if that's not your thing. Fortunately I fall more into the "I just snorted milk out my nose" camp than the "I want to kill Seth MacFarlane with a shovel" camp, so I'm happy to see that Netflix has added eight seasons of Family Guy to its streaming catalogue. It may be uneven and formulaic, but the adventures of the family Griffin have brought me to tears many a time over the years, and now they're on call on my 360 whenever I want to revisit them.
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(2005 - 2008, Not Rated, five seasons available)
And in good news for my wife, Netflix has also added five seasons of American Dad, which my wife still insists is the superior series. I hated the show for the first few episodes, but it's definitely grown on me and found its own identity over the years. Hell, it's worth it just for the Rapture episode.
(1983, Not Rated, 197 min.)
The reimagined V series lost my interest about halfway through its freshman season, but every nostalgic bone in my body is itching to revisit the original. The original miniseries is still remembered as one of the most iconic TV moments of the '80s, launching the story of the too-good-to-be-true alien Visitors and the humans determined to reveal their sinister true motives to the gullible human populace. By most accounts, the full series and the Final Battle miniseries that followed lacked the impact of that original installment, but my memories of them are so vague that I'm curious to see how everything holds up. Honestly, after all these years the most vivid memory I retain about the show is the moment where the homeless guy watches one of the Visitors swallow a rat. "Here, mousey mousey..."
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(1997 - 2006, Not Rated, 10 seasons available)
Last week I mentioned that Netflix had added every Stargate series but the original. Clearly, I spoke too soon. All 10 seasons of SG-1 are now available, so you've got the makings of an ass-crippling Stargate marathon if you're up for it. Just remember to stock up on food and water, and move around now and then so you don't get bed sores.
(1995 - 1997, Not Rated, two seasons available)
Some of you might remember an oddball, short-lived ABC series called Kingdom Hospital. Set in and around a Maine hospital with a history of tragedy and an infestation of the paranormal, the show was mainly notable for having Stephen King's name attached to it and for featuring a rather intimidating talking anteater. What you might not know is that Kingdom Hospital was actually based on this Danish drama created by auteur director Lars von Trier. Like its American remake, The Kingdom examines themes of science vs. supernatural as the doctors and staff of the hospital are confronted by inexplicable phenomena. While Kingdom Hospital was often more odd than affecting, it had its charms and I was sorry to see it go and leave behind lots of unanswered questions. Maybe I'll finally find some answers by checking out the original. If the first series floats your boat, the second is available as well.
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(2006 - 2008, Not Rated, two seasons available, HD)
Slightly less ominous, considerably more dashing, Torchwood examines a different group of folks who confront the paranormal head on -- namely the super-secret Torchwood organization, under the leadership of the unflappable, sexually omnivorous Captain Jack Harkness. Both seasons of this Doctor Who spin-off are available streaming, as well as the Children of Earth miniseries. Catch up before the show makes its move to Starz for the new season.
Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures
(2001, Not Rated, 84 min., HD)
For those of you who have never gained the acquaintance of inventor and cheese aficionado Wallace and his loyal, long-suffering dog Gromit, you're in for a treat. Created by animator Nick Park, the various adventures of Wallace & Gromit are unabashedly charming and fun, bringing out all the character their squishy, claymation origins can provide. This set includes three of the duo's short adventures: A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave, and finds W & G traveling to the moon, battling evil penguins, and dealing with a robotic sheep dog. Wrong Trousers and Close Shave both won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, and A Grand Day Out was nominated for the same award but lost out to Creature Comforts...also, coincidentally, the creation of Nick Park.
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Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death
(2008, Not Rated, 30 min., HD)
This recent Wallace & Gromit outing has the pair opening a windmill-powered bakery, but then having to put on their crime-solving caps when other local bakers begin disappearing.
(1990, Rated R, 117 min., HD)
As part of Hollywood's continued ransacking of not-too-distant film and television history, Luc Besson's 1990 action thriller La Femme Nikita is being repurposed into a CW action series starring the delightfully multicultural Maggie Q (not to be mistaken for Jackie Q). The original film casts Anne Parillaud as Nikita, a junkie who is transformed into a killer by a secret government organization. How much resemblance the new series (now dubbed merely Nikita) will bear to the original source material remains to be seen, although both have already shown a fondness for leggy shots of the lead in their promotional materials. For historicity's sake, it should also be noted that the movie has already been adapted for the small screen once before, as the mid-'90s USA Network series adapted by 24 co-creator Joel Surnow and starring Peta Wilson as Nikita. Regardless of how well the new series turns out, the original film is an action classic for a reason.
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(1985, Rated R, 102 min.)
If you're wanting to dig into the Besson deep cuts, you can follow Nikita up with this 1985 cult classic starring erstwhile Highlander (and unconvincing Scot) Christopher Lambert as a safecracker named Fred who moves into the Paris Metro tunnels while blackmailing his former boss' wife with some incriminating documents.
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