What’s a Geek! Presents 2017 in TV Series
Okay, so there are a LOT of shows you can watch these days. Anything from your weekly serials to shows that are only available via streaming platforms, there’s always going to be something you can watch out there.
However, how exactly do you narrow the list down? You don’t, because everyone’s got their preferences for shows to binge watch. To get you started though, here’s What’s A Geek! and our 2017 in TV series.
2017 in TV Series
Perhaps a tricky part in determining highlights for 2017 in TV series is the sheer quantity of options to choose from. We see one genre after the other releasing quite a lot of shows to binge-watch, and we don’t have enough website space to accommodate everything.
Here’s some of the most interesting releases this year, and feel free to include your own suggestions for us to check out!
Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light
Where to Watch: Netflix
Parents usually have a hand in the hobbies their kids acquire. But kids grow up, and the distance between them and their parents get wider. Some still hope that their parents would join them for a game, though. In Dad of Light, we’ve got a father and son duo who used to bond over Final Fantasy. They drift apart as they age, at least until the father retires.
It’s lovable, and a little weird, because when Akio (Yudai Chiba, Goseiger) suggests that his newly retired father Hakutaro (Ren Osugi) try out the MMORPG, it’s all part of his plan to re-ignite their bond. The less straightforward part of the entire plan is that Akio’s avatar is a girl, and hilarious (and heartwarming) hijinks ensue.
Black
Where to Watch: Netflix
So what happens when the Grim Reaper decides to play detective? Black, apparently. The surface of the trope is familiar, but the reality is much, much more. Black is the kind of story that mixes several tropes we’ve seen lately in mainstream media, and a few callbacks to certain Anime that also involved death.
That said, it’s an engaging show. I’m actually not kidding when I say that it reminds me of Garo, but with more romance, and sometimes better writing. The titular “Black” is a Grim Reaper (there’s more than one, natch) possessing detective Han Moo-gang (Song Seung-heon, Winter Sonata). He’s joined by Kang Ha-ram (Go Ara, Dance Subaru), who can predict someone’s death.
It sounds like a cheesy procedural, but for the duo, it’s a quest to save as many people from dying while uncovering a conspiracy.
Stranger Things Season 2
Where to Watch: Netflix
Two seasons in, and of course it makes this list. If you haven’t seen it yet, maybe the holidays is the perfect time?
Like any good 80’s coming of age uber-adventure, Stranger Things’ primary focus is the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, where hardly anything ever happens. At least, that’s what you’ve been told, and that’s how you’ve lived. Even the Hawkins National Laboratory has been around forever and that’s not shady at all, right?
For a bunch of misfit kids, everything gets turned on its head when one of their own goes missing. What hooks you might be the low-tech of it all, or in the case of some, nostalgia for the simpler pleasures. What makes you stay is every twist and turn.
Dark
Where to Watch: Netflix
Viewers of German-produced Dark may compare it (favorably or unfavorably) to Stranger Things and It. Like the former two it’s set (partially) in the 80’s, there’s a shady government lab, and people going missing.
It veers away from any further similarities after that. Where Stranger Things is firmly rooted in the 80’s, Dark jumps between then and 2019, where the mystery behind the people who’ve gone missing, and their connection to the lab begin to unravel.
It’s got crime, mystery, and supernatural elements that should keep you engaged, if not completely hooked.
Buzzfeed’s Unsolved
Where to Watch: YouTube/Facebook/BuzzFeed
Now, you know BuzzFeed isn’t exactly the best at the things it likes to try out. Some things take off, and ensure that the people who started them are well supported. Others fizzle out and eventually fade into obscurity. Unsolved creator and host Ryan Bergara is definitely not one of those people.
Where The Try Guys is a show that entertains through experiencing things once, Unsolved tickles the amateur detective bone that lies within us all. If you choose to binge on this one, you’ll have two versions of Unsolved to sift through on YouTube.
True Crime naturally deals with unsolved or cold cases, Supernatural tackles the things that go bump in the night. Sports Conspiracies is a Facebook-only series that deals with the hushed up goings-on in the world of sports.
Trollhunters
Where to Watch: Netflix
Disney and Pixar are all right when it comes to GC-Animated films, some would crown them the best of the best. Personally, I think they do good work. Dreamworks, on the other hand, knows how to pick something with a lot of recall and staying power – look at the entirety of Dragons.
Like the Dragons series, which spun out of Cressida Cowell’s How to Train Your Dragon books, Trollhunters is based off of the books of the same name by Guillermo Del Toro and Daniel Kraus.
Underneath the sleepy town of Arcadia is a secret civilization of Trolls, protected by the titular Trollhunter from prying eyes. But when the amulet of the Trollhunter is found by 15-year-old Jim Lake, everything changes. At its core, it’s a coming-of-age adventure story, one that’s currently two seasons in.
The voice cast is no less star-studded, including the late Anton Yelchin, who voices Jim Lake throughout the first two seasons.
Designated Survivor
Where to Watch: Netflix
This Netflix series centers around the presidential line of succession in the United States. A designated survivor is a member of the cabinet who is physically removed from any event that gathers all members of the country’s governing body.
In this case, it falls to Thomas “Tom” Kirkman to become the President after a catastrophic bombing wipes out the entire line of succession at the State of the Nation address. What follows is a political drama that calls on Kiefer Sutherland’s acting chops, which are phenomenal.
The Magicians
Where to Watch: Netflix/iFlix
If Narnia were more about sex, drugs, and tutting, it’d be The Magicians. Based off of Lev Grossman’s novels, the series follows Quentin Coldwater as he discovers and attends a college for magic-users. He finds that even in a world full of magic, nothing is as it seems.
The show’s two seasons in, with its third season coming in January 2018 – now’s the perfect time to watch Quentin’s story unfold. But be warned, this show isn’t all sunshine and rainbows – some of the subject matter that gets tackled in later parts is, in a word, difficult.
Castlevania
Where to Watch: Netflix
When this one got announced, the skepticism and general lack of faith from some corners was palpable. There hasn’t been much by way of TV or Film versions of video games that actually pleased both critics and the audience.
The four-episode first season takes us through the beginning of Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, gussied up and given the trappings of Japanese Anime with a Hollywood Budget. I’m not even kidding, because Trevor Belmont totally has Uchiha Sasuke hair.
The final product (thus far – season two premieres in 2018) is a wonderfully bloody, very gothic tale that attempts to have us feel for Dracula, but not enough that we’d feel that Trevor’s quest is unjust. It’s good for a quick watch in traffic, or for long road trips.
Okay, okay, why is this here? Because it doesn’t exactly fall under Anime despite being produced and animated by acclaimed anime studio Mad House.
2018 and to more binge-watching!
If you think we’re here to support your New Year’s resolution of getting off your screens, you’re very wrong. If there’s anything 2017 in TV series has shown, it’s that there’s so much wonderfully-crafted worlds out there for us to explore. And hey, maybe next time, one of these shows will motivate you to help make your concepts come to life!
Here’s to another year of binging!
