Top 5 Favorite Binge Worthy PBS Shows (Nerd Alert!)

Remember when you were a kid and your Mom refused to let you watch anything unless it was a PBS show?
Oh, your Mom let you watch whatever you wanted? Ok, so I guess that was just my little Korean Mama.

For quite some time I was only allowed to watch Nova (BORING!), Any PBS kids shows (321 Contact!) Or Masterpiece Theatre. The last being super intriguing and fun to watch as a tween (insert sarcasm here). My Mom would try to get me to watch Masterpiece and I was like, yeah…no.

But then…I grew up and was like “WHAT is this magical television experience called Masterpiece Theatre and why haven’t I been watching it FOREVAH!” Sorry Mom. I was late to the game.

So I have for you my top 5 favorite PBS shows or miniseries. (Spoiler Alert: They are all British shows because if you didn’t know I’m OBSESSED with all things UK) so here we go:

1. Victoria.

Let me start by telling you how freaking obsessed I am with Queen Victoria. I mean she may have been a spoiled little Queen but damn she was a badass who outlived all of her female predecessors and her husband (RIP Albert). Jenna Coleman does a glorious job of portraying the Queen (albeit, and no offense to QV but definitely a prettier version. This is TV after all.) One of my favorite English actresses who was in the first three seasons is Nell Hudson. You may know Nell from her role as the deliciously evil Laoghaire Mackenzie in my super obsession binge show, Outlander. Anywhoo, and back to Victoria, it’s a splendid feast for the eyes as far as Victorian era costumes and historical elements. I’m super excited for Season 4.

1. Downton Abbey.

C’mon, seriously if you didn’t binge watch all seasons of Downtown we may not be friends. Matt bought me the whole DVD set at Sam’s Club and we proceeded to binge watch the heck out of it. We were both super invested and obsessed and when he went out on the road for a spell I had to wait for him to come home to keep watching. Murder I tell you! This show is filled to the hilt with gorgeous English period sets and costumes from the early 1900’s through the mid 1920’s. The storyline throughout is a little English soapy but such great actors and some of the plot lines will have you hooked. You guys I just can’t with this one. If I think too hard about it I start having withdrawals from this show. But guess what friends…the movie is coming out this fall!!! I. Can’t. Wait!!!!

3. Call the Midwife.

This is based on the book. At least the first couple of seasons are. They are currently in season 10, I believe and I continually love watching birth after birth because, well, I LOVE babies and I love births and I think women are bad ass super heroes and especially the women who birthed in really crappy, poor conditions before epidurals or even happy gas was invented. Yes, pro epidural. Don’t send me hate email. We’re all different. This drama is about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The storylines for the characters on this show are why I’m so invested.

4. Les Miserables.

Ok, Lily Collins as Fantine was what sucked me in because I think she is beyond beautiful and a brilliant actress but let me just say that teeth pulling scene!!!!! Holy hell balls I was literally hiding behind a pillow. It was intense and horrific and sad and so well done. The whole cast was great. I’ll be honest, I don’t know that I could sit through the musical of Les Miz (again, no hate mail, we are all different!) but I’d be interested in delving in to the book. This was a beautifully done and kept me entranced. It’s just a 6 part miniseries so it’s a quick binge watch. It was just released on PBS here in the U.S. this late spring so I’m sure when it will be released on DVD. Sometimes PBS replays shows late at night so I’d check your DVR.

Mr. Selfridge.

This was a binge watch when it showed up on Amazon. I randomly found it and was hooked because of the always charismatic Jeremy Piven who portrays Mr. Selfridge. This story is based on the department store magnate, an American who decided to open up a department store, which at the time in England was unheard of. You want shoes, you go to the shoe shop. You want a dress you go to the dressmaker. This type of department store shopping was not only more convenient but his goal was to make things affordable for everyone. Now he was a bit of a gambler and a womanizer which is why this was a fun televisions series drama. But what a visionary!

And there you have it kids! Ok so my 13 year old self is like…”are you being serious right now? Your’e blogging about freaking PBS? Um oookkkaayyyyy.” That poor, dumb kid didn’t know what she was missing out on.

I encourage you to run out right now and buy crumpets and the best English tea you can find and BINGE watch the heck out of these shows. Pip pip cheerio and your’e welcome!

xo, Sj