TV: Soup for the Stressed, College Soul

With the semester getting underway, things are going to start becoming hectic. Amid all the stress, papers, tests, and mundane reading assignments, there is a solace: mind-numbing television. Watching back to back episodes of a beloved television show can be just the quick, relaxing break you need from your school work. Don’t think of it as a distraction from your tasks, but a form of a well-deserved break time in your busy schedule.Fortunately, Netflix (and other sites like it) offer a variety of different shows that you can watch from the very beginning and free of commercials!

Here are a few popular guilty pleasure shows that have enough available seasons on Netflix to keep you entertained.

Pretty Little Liars

Seasons: 4 and running (3 on Netflix)

Genre: Teen Drama, Mystery

Actors: Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Troian Bellisario, Shay Mitchell

Shows Like It: Twisted, The Lying Game, Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries

Former friends Hanna, Aria, Spencer, and Emily reunite after their mutual friend, Alison, who went missing a year earlier, is found dead. The girls team up to try and discover what happened to Alison, but are soon blackmailed by an unknown source who happens to know all of their secrets. 

Supernatural

Seasons: 9 and running (7 on Netflix)

Genre: Drama, Sci-fi Fantasy, Mystery

Actors: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles

Shows Like It: Angel, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr. Who

In an attempt to find their demon-hunting dad, brothers Sam and Dean travel all over the country fighting supernatural beings.

30 Rock

Seasons: 7 (6 on Netflix)

Genre: Comedy

Actors: Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer

Shows Like It: The Office, Arrested Development, Parks and Recreation, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia

This delightfully witty sitcom follows the not-so-ordinary life of Elizabeth Lemon, a writer for the fictional NBC sketch-comedy show “TGS”.

Desperate Housewives

Seasons: 8

Genre: Dramedie

Actors: Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross

Shows Like It: Ugly Betty, Nip/Tuck, Grey’s Anatomy, Army Wives

The lives of Wisteria Lane residents Lynette, Bree, Susan, and Gabriella are far from perfect as these suburban women deal with an array of problems from relationship and parenting troubles to dark secrets and deadly duplicity. 

Friday Night Lights

Seasons: 5

Genre: Teen Drama

Actors: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Aimee Teegarden, Taylor Kitsch, Jesse Plemons

Shows Like it: Greek, One Tree Hill, Dawson’s Creek, Brothers and Sisters

High school football is all that matters in this rural Texas town, and the local Dillon High Panthers seem like they might make it to the play-offs for the first time in 15 years. This drama series looks in to the ups and downs of the Panthers on and off the field.

Lost

Seasons: 6

Genre: Action Adventure, Mystery

Actors: Matthew Fox, Terry O’Quinn, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews

Shows Like It:  Heroes, Jericho, Breaking Bad, 24

After their plane crashes on a mysterious island, this assorted group struggles to get along, adapt to their new surroundings, and survive. 

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