The weekend is upon us, and as much as we hope to be productive, truth is we often just stay indoors doing nothing.
You’ve watched every interesting series out there, and your DVD guy keeps recommending some boring stuff. You are not a football person, and if you are, there are still many more hours of no football action. You’ve been on social media the whole day till it gets boring.
We’ve all been in such a situation… but now there’s hope.
Last week I told you of my experience with Showmax.
Read: I Tried Showmax and It Blew My Mind… It Has No Match
If we are being honest here, we can admit to have seen a Showmax commercial either on TV, newspaper, billboard or wherever. Your first thought may have been ‘well, it’s not Netflix’, and then you decided to ignore.
That’s human nature, and no one is blaming you.
My biggest lesson during this time of discovering and trying out Showmax has been to always approach things with an open mind, and be open to new ideas.
It’s almost two weeks now, and I’m yet to scratch the surface of the movies and series on offer. Mind you, these are not low budget kind of films.
Like myself, if you briefly browse the Showmax site, you will be blown away. Big titles that have never set foot in Netflix are the norm here.
Now, if you are the guy with no plot for the weekend, keep reading because your next two days just got booked.
Here are 7 binge-watchable shows on Showmax.
Game of Thrones
Swords, sandals, costumes, war, medieval architecture, kings and queens were never my thing. That was until I watched Game of Thrones (GOT).
If you’re in the 1% who have never watched this once in a lifetime show, don’t despair. I know it can be embarrassing to ask your movie guy for season 1.
Showmax has the entire six seasons. There’s not much I can say to convince you to watch Game of Thrones, that you’ve not already heard.
But maybe this video of the Queen’s guards at Buckingham Palace playing the now almost ubiquitous GOT theme song will convince you.
One last piece of advice. If you decide to binge Game of Thrones this weekend, make sure you sleep on time on Sunday to get to work on time. It’s easier said than done.
Billions
If you loved Damian Lewis in the early seasons of Homeland, you will love him more on Billions.
This show is not only entertaining, but also quite informative on how investment banking works. Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) fight with the feds on matters insider trading makes this a very binge-watchable show.
If you watched the movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, you can look at Billions as a longer version of the same.
The Good Wife
When asked what is the best legal drama, most people would reply Suits. I’ve got news for you. Most people would be wrong.
The Good Wife came to end last year after 7 seasons. It was so good that they made a spin-off, ‘The Good Fight’, that is currently running.
I have to admit, the title of the show at first made me think this is another of those ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ things. I thought it was the kind of show ladies might find enjoyable, but not men.
Once again, I was wrong. The show is purely a legal drama, with a hint of US politics.
Perhaps the title was not the most appropriate, but most who have watched it agree that this show is better than Suits. Partly because it went for 7 seasons without slowing down or becoming boring. Most shows become unwatchable after 2 or 3 seasons.
But if you still would like to watch Suits, which by the way is also one of the best legal dramas ever, Showmax have got that one too.
Veep
Here’s a comedy you should have watched by now.
It’s no secret that HBO makes the best shows on television, and Veep is more testament to this.
The show has been running for 3 seasons, with the 4th starting in April. It’s so good that the lead actress has won an Emmy or Golden Globe every season.
US Vice President Selina Meyer has a non-existent relationship with the President, and she hates being second-in-command. The result is a show that will keep you on the edge of your seat every time.
I look at Veep as that show you can squeeze in between long episodes of Game of Thrones or other 1-hour episodes.
Mr. Bean
90s kids loved this, and there’s no reason your kids should not love it too. Children nowadays are notorious for watching ‘grown-up’ stuff. Why don’t you show them this classic comedy gold.
It may have been released in 1990, but we all know Mr. Bean is a timeless piece of TV history. Keep your kids within sight this weekend by having them binge-watch Mr. Bean.
The animated Mr. Bean is also available on Showmax.
The Newsroom
One of the most underrated TV shows ever. Despite its stellar rating on IMDB, The Newsroom did not generate a lot of buzz. Which is quite sad because I still think it’s one of the greatest TV shows ever.
The show looks at the preparation of news at the fictional Atlantis Cable News.
To give you a sneak peek of how high energy the show is, here’s the opening scene. Anchor and managing editor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels – Dumb and Dumber) explains why America is not the greatest country. You may have encountered this clip on social media and wondered what show this is.
Strike Back
We have different tastes for different times. Sometimes you want a good comedy, other times you are in for some drama.
Sometimes you want the good old swords and sandals, other times you want some modern military warfare. That’s where Strike Back comes in.
This British spy adventure follows the military operatives in Section 20, a covert branch of the Defense Intelligence service.
Britons do not get many movies or TV shows right, but they have perfected the art of making action films. Strike Back is one the best.
All 3 seasons are available on Showmax.
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Showmax is available in two packages. Select going for Sh330 per month and Premium going for Sh880 per month.
You can try it free for 14 days.
