After seeing how big of a boost Breaking Bad gave Netflix during the final season’s giant hiatus, you’d think they would always aim to bring a series’ most recent season to audiences in the weeks preceding its new season. But it doesn’t always happen that way, which is the case with the first series in the spotlight this week. If that proves anything, it’s that I’m absolutely clueless on the legal side of streaming deals. (Sad trombones.) Now sit back on your motorcycle-shaped couch and catch up on shows both old and new, because streaming doesn’t give you Ebola.
If you’re not watching Sons of Anarchy’s corpse-heavy final season, then I’m going to assume it’s because you missed a few of the final episodes in Season 6, as any other reason would be unjustified. Season 5 violently turned a few pages in the SAMCRO storybook that can never be turned back. It brought viewers into the lives of Jimmy Smits’ O.G. badass (and Gemma-wooer) Nero, Donal Logue’s vengeful maniac Lee Toric, Peter Weller’s dirty ex-cop Charles Barosky and also brought Walton Goggins’ fan favorite Venus Van Damme back into everyone’s lives for a pair of dark episodes. The shocks come fast and hard, and it's a wonder that something so dark and inherently depressing is so addictive.
All six seasons of Sons of Anarchy can be found on Netflix Instant, as well as Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime.
With Amazon Studios’ Transparent coming out recently and earning itself a massive amount of critical acclaim, there has been a noticeable lack of fanfare accompanying the Season 2 release for the satirically poignant comedy Alpha House. Is it just me, or is it absolutely nuts that a series with John Goodman in it isn’t more widely discussed? Inspired by a real life quartet of D.C. peeps, Alpha House centers on a set of Republican U.S. Senators (Goodman, Clark Johnson, Matt Malloy and Mark Consuelos) who live together in Washington D.C., and was created by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau. Season 2 includes a return cameo from Bill Murray, as well as Penn Jillette. It’s a completely different side of the political spectrum than Veep or Scandal will give you, and all ten episodes can now be binged upon.
Both seasons of Alpha House are currently available on Amazon Prime.
Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible
Hulu offered up a wealth of treasures for fans of Steve Coogan, and I went with the most Halloween-appropriate choice to lead this off with. Created by Graham Duff, who wrote the 2001 series with Coogan, Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible was a pretty amazing comedy horror anthology series in which each episode was a spoof of the lavish productions of Hammer Films and others like it. (Hang Man Chan!) It pairs nicely with Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, also on Hulu, and utilizes just as quality a cast. Also added to the streaming site are two Alan Partridge series, showcasing the career paths of Coogan’s famed narcissistically awkward show host character. You can find all six episodes (and the Christmas special) for Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, as well as all twelve episodes of I’m Alan Partridge. If that's not enough, you can top it all off with Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, the big screen effort that hit Netflix a while back.
All three Coogan shows can be found on Hulu Plus.
And when you’re done with all of these, hit the next page to find more new-to-streaming shows that might be up your alley.
