By: Katherine Coble || News Editor
Netflix shares keep shooting up in value and its video streaming numbers appear to be at an all-time high because of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent quarantine. Maybe you’ve already run through all the items on your list during this extended spring break and feel exhausted from scrolling through your recommendations. You might want to start looking ahead to April instead of scrambling for something else to re-watch for the tenth time. Here are three television shows and three movies new to Netflix this month, so that you never have to worry about getting bored between those 8 AM Zoom calls and virtual “labs.”
Community: All six seasons of this iconic NBC sitcom will be released on Netflix this April 1. Community originally aired from 2009 until 2015, becoming a cult classic in the meantime for its unparalleled writing and irreverent humor. The show centers on a group of misfit community college students and their adventures as a study group. Once you meet these characters, they’ll never leave you: from Jeff, the playboy lawyer with a falsified bachelor’s degree (Joel McHale) to film nerd Abed (Danny Pudi) and his best pal Troy (played by Donald Glover of Childish Gambino fame). The cast is rounded out by anarchist Britta (Gillian Jacobs), type-A Annie (Allison Brie), and selfish millionaire Pierce (Chevy Chase). These actors are golden together, combined with one of the greatest writing teams of television history. If you don’t want to watch the six seasons – although I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t! – the episodes “Modern Warfare” and “Cooperative Calligraphy” show the best of Community’s charms.
Sunderland ‘Til I Die: Season two of this docuseries will also be released on April 1. If you’ve watched every episode of Last Chance U and ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, you’ll love this British take on a sports docuseries. The show follows a misfit group of soccer players from the gritty northern town of Sunderland as they struggle to fight back to the Premier League after a stunning fall from grace. If you aren’t the most technical sports fan, fear not: Sunderland ‘Till I Die is equally about the struggling community of Sunderland as the players on the pitch. There’s something for everyone to appreciate here.
Never Have I Ever: The first series of this coming-of-age show will be released on Netflix this April 27. The comedy from Mindy Kaling (of The Office and The Mindy Project stardom) is sure to be a hit. It follows Devi Vishwakumar, “your favorite Hindu girl in the San Fernando Valley” as she quips in the series trailer. Devi is ready to take on the world and is sure to make you laugh while doing so. These are stressful times, so Never Have I Ever is the perfect show to take your mind off how much you actually kinda miss the first floor of Shad.
Don’t have the attention span for a whole series? Fret not. There are several great films coming to Netflix this month.
The first is The Death of Stalin, out April 1, one of the best dark comedies to come out of the past few years. It centers upon the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and the power scramble that comes with finding a replacement. The humor here is undeniably black, as only a comedy about Soviet power struggles could be, but well worth the watch.
Academy Award winner The Social Network will also be out the same day. The biographical drama, considered one of the best films of its decade, enters upon the founding and intense rise of Facebook and its polarizing creator Mark Zukerberg (a fantastic Jesse Eisenberg). It’s worth the watch if you haven’t seen it already… but even if you have, a rewatch in light of recent events is sure to be interesting. The film’s original tagline, “You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies” is perhaps only more accurate now that Facebook hit two billion users in 2017.
Craving a coming-of-age flick? Check out The Perks of Being A Wallflower. This film adaptation of a new classic is a near-perfect high school movie. Use the chrome extension Netflix Party to watch it with your friends while social distancing. You’ll laugh, cry, and relive the highs and lows of high school all the way through.
Senior Katherine Coble is the News Editor. Her email is kcoble@fandm.edu.