Arctic weather is keeping vast swaths of people indoors. It’s going to be like this for a minute, so why not kick back and relax this weekend with some of the new offerings at Netflix?
There are exactly three new Netflix originals coming to the service this week. The pickings may be slim, but at least that means you won’t have to click through endless options wondering what to watch.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a fun Game of Thrones show that’s too faithful for its own good
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is so faithful to the source material by George R.R. Martin it almost does itself a disservice.
Mike Epps: Delusional (January 27)
Netflix remains the kind of comedy (specials)
At some point, Netflix replaced HBO as the number one place to go for stand-up comedy specials. Just in the past couple of months, they’ve aired high-profile specials from the likes of Dave Chappelle and Marcello Hernández. Now they’re inviting back veteran comedian Mike Epps for his fifth Netflix special, Delusional.
Epps has said that he became successful thanks to a lot of hustle and a little delusion, hence the title. Epps has a reputation as the kind of comedian who can make his jokes sound off the cuff, even if he’s written and rehearsed them long beforehand. He’s great at playing with the crowd and is extremely comfortable on stage. And he should be, since he’s been at this since the days of Def Comedy Jam in the ’90s.
You might also recognize Epps from his roles in the Friday or Hangover films, but stand-up comedy is where he got his start, and it’s still what he does best. At an hour long, Delusional should make you laugh hard enough to forget the cold.
- Watch Mike Epps: Delusional on Netflix
Take That (January 27)
That’s the name of the band, not a command
Take That is a British boy band that started in the early 1990s. They became huge successes, broke up in 1996, reunited 10 years later, and have been making music pretty consistently ever since. They’ve had 12 number one singles in the U.K., and 56 around the world, dozens of number one albums, and in the mid-2010s were getting paid more than acts like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber. There’s an unofficial jukebox musical about them, they played the closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic Games, and they’re the most successful boy band in UK chart history (not counting the Beatles, FYI). Take That is lauded for their high-energy live performances, beloved by people around the globe, and I have to admit that I have never heard of them.
But that ends now! There’s a new Netflix documentary all about the group, tracing their explosive start through their breakup, through their reunion, and their continued success. The doc includes never-before-seen footage and tells the story in the words of the band members themselves. If you’re already a fan of Take That, this will be an opportunity to traipse down memory lane. If you haven’t, apparently, you should have, because they are big. Now’s your chance to catch up.
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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David Soutar
Bridgerton season 4, Volume 1 (January 29)
Bridgerton does Cinderella
Comedy specials and documentaries are nice, but by far the biggest ticket item of the weekend will be the fourth season of Bridgerton, Netflix’s Regency romance series about the members of the influential Bridgerton family. Each season focuses on a new member who will inevitably find love amid the trappings of the upper-crust British social season. This time it’s Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the rakish second son of the family who’s loath to settle down. But at his mother’s masquerade ball, he becomes enamored of a mysterious woman known only as the Lady in Silver (Yerin Ha). In reality, she’s a resourceful maid named Sophie Baek who snuck into the ball, but he doesn’t know that. After it’s over, Benedict becomes determined to track her down.
There are some definite Cinderella vibes to this season, which is based on the Bridgerton book An Offer from a Gentleman by Julia Quinn. This season looks to offer more of what Bridgerton fans expect: sumptuous period aesthetics, sweeping romance, sexy shenanigans, and clever dialogue. You can argue about whether Bridgerton is the best historical fiction series on Netflix, but it’s great at what it does.
The first four episodes of Bridgerton season 4 will drop on Netflix on Thursday, January 29. The final four will come on a month later on February 26.
- Release Date
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December 22, 2020
- Network
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Netflix
- Directors
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Tom Verica, Tricia Brock, Alex Pillai, Alrick Riley, Bille Woodruff, Cheryl Dunye, Sheree Folkson, Julie Anne Robinson
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Luke Thompson
Lady Violet Bridgerton
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Ruth Gemmell
Benedict Bridgerton
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Nicola Coughlan
Eloise Bridgerton
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Claudia Jessie
Penelope Featherington
Not everything has to be brand new
If none of the new content appeals to you, Netflix has a deep well of other stuff to watch. The streaming service is home to fantastic fantasy shows like The Sandman, best-in-show detective series like Mindhunter, and much more. You never need to worry about whether there’s something else to watch when you have Netflix. There is.
Also, we should note that there are some new non-Netflix exclusive shows and movies hitting the streamer this weekend. On January 31, you’ll be able to watch all eight seasons of Black-ish, a terrific comfort food sitcom about a Black family living in the suburbs. And on February 1, Netflix will get all three Night at the Museum movies, about what happens when the exhibits at the Natural History Museum come to life with only Ben Stiller around to deal with them.
