JuicyTalk
If you’re sitting around with your parents wondering which show everyone of all ages can enjoy, these four on Netflix should suit your needs. We’ve all been there. You go to visit your parents, and after dinner, you all decide to throw on a TV show, preferably one no one has seen yet.
One has good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, so you put it on. Within five minutes, everyone in the room is awkwardly looking at their phone during a gratuitous sex scene, or getting up to do dishes after some unsettling violence, or bemoaning the experimental choices a showrunner has made.
While romance, gore, and unique TV-making styles all absolutely have their place, it’s just not at 8 pm on a Saturday with people of multiple generations trying to relax. If you’re desperate for a show that everyone is going to enjoy without fear of anyone being repelled, you won’t go wrong choosing these four Netflix series.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-2020)
It’s a rare comedy that can appeal to people of every generation. It’s shows like The Office, 30 Rock, and Friends that can claim to be for everyone, and their status as some of the best comedy series ever is a testament to that. Well, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt should be included in the conversation.
The series from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock stars Ellie Kemper as Kimmy Schmidt, who, in eighth grade, was kidnapped by a cult leader and kept underground for 15 years, convinced a nuclear apocalypse had left her and the few people in the bunker as the last remaining people on Earth.
After being rescued, Kimmy decides she wants to start a new life in New York City and experience everything that was kept from her all those years. It’s charming, sweet, and very, very funny. It’s a show that always chooses a joke over a dramatic moment, just what everyone’s looking for in a comedy when your parents are around.
Ripley (2024)
Another mistake people make when choosing which show to watch with their parents is choosing something that is too sleek, modern, and confusing. Some TV shows require an inordinate amount of attention, attention that’s hard to give when you haven’t seen loved ones in a long time.
Still, thrillers, mysteries, and psychological stories are extremely popular for a reason. Therefore, you need something like Ripley to bridge the gap between comprehensible and exciting. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1995 crime novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley, this miniseries is a riveting neo-noir.
Andrew Scott stars as Tom Ripley, a con man living in 1960s New York who is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy and get his son, Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), to return home. Measured and meticulous, people of all ages will find themselves gripped by Mr. Ripley’s fantastic crimes and cons.
The Crown (2016-2023)
Historical biopics used to be a safe choice when it came to watching a TV show with your parents. However, the genre has become increasingly lurid over the years. TV shows like Bridgerton, The Great, and The Empress are excellent, but I’m not sure I want to watch every scene with my mother.
The Crown, on the other hand, features all the pomp and circumstance of royal life, but does away with the lingering sexuality of some of those other historical biopics, yet still features some of the most moving romantic plotlines you’re going to find on television.
As a result of The Crown depicting the better part of Queen Elizabeth II’s life, there is something in the six-season series for everyone. Do you like the ins and outs of ruling and politicking? You’ve got. Difficult family relationships? Plenty. History brought to the modern world and considered from an unbiased perspective? Every episode.
Kingdom (2019-2021)
Now I know I said you don’t generally want to watch uber-gory TV shows with your parents, but zombie-horror gore is a little bit different. There’s something just slightly ridiculous about it, which makes it a kind of violence that’s a little easier to stomach, particularly when it’s warriors who are being eaten. They sort of signed up for it.
If your parents are horror fans of any degree, they’ll love Kingdom, a period horror series that’s part-Game of Thrones, part-Shogūn, and part-World War Z. It’s thrilling, mysterious, heroic, and just the right amount of scary. Zombies wearing ornate Korean headgear are cooler than they are frightening.
The Netflix series is set in 17th-century Joseon, which would later come to be known as Korea. A political battle between the crown prince and his conniving stepmother is interrupted by a zombie outbreak that threatens to overrun the countryside. It’s beautifully shot, masterfully told, and a whole lot of fun.
