Summer Lovin'

Oh, Summer. You fickle bitch.

As a kid, we waited with breathless anticipation for Summer to roll around and free us from chains of public education. But as adults...it means arriving at work having sweat through your clothes on the walk from the subway, trying to remember to slather yourself in sunblock so you don't look like Baba Yaga, and realizing that there is nothing good on television.

Sure, over on BBC America you've got Orphan Black and In the Flesh. And True Blood will be starting up again over on HBO. But not everyone has BBCA or HBO. But most people have Netflix streaming these days, right? So I humbly make the following suggestions for you to help take away the sting (if not the swelter) of those Summer nights.

--Orange is the New Black, obviously (the just released second season or heck, rewatch the first).

--The original version of House of Cards. I actually prefer the British miniseries trilogy to the current Kevin Spacey one (though I love it too).

--Alias. The wigs. The kicking of ass. Bradley Cooper before he was famous. And the inevitable slide into a plot so convoluted and confusing that even watching the episodes back to back you won't know what the hell is going on. But it will be a fun ride.

--Friday Night Lights. It may not be football season until the Fall, but you can get your fix here--whether it's for football or an amazing drama and one of my personal faves.

--Freaks and Geeks. Because, duh.

--Lillyhammer, another Netflix original you might not have heard of. An ex-gangster moves to Norway and awesome is the result.

--Ally McBeal. Is she as skinny and crazy as you remember? Yes.

And that's just the tip of the ice berg. I just spent some time scrolling through the Netflix offerings and saw TONS of good stuff. On my personal viewing list this summer: Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, and then maybe something lighter to break up all that violence and angst. Perhaps Ugly Betty?