Surprise: 2019 is halfway over. Another six months of your life have slipped by, and you were doing... what? Spending time with loved ones? Participating in humanitarian efforts? Pursuing higher education and enlightenment? Hey, no judgment here... hippies.
I know what you weren't doing: watching enough TV. All that content isn't going to consume itself — here are five of the best streaming series you've missed so far in 2019.
Doom Patrol (Season 1 on DC Universe)
You'll never subscribe to the DC Universe streaming service, I get it — I'm urging you to sign up for the seven-day free trial, binge Doom Patrol, and bail. This twisted tale of misfit "superheroes" is more talk than fight, more emotion than logic, and Robotman (Brendan Fraser) regularly asking "what the f—-?!" for all of us. It's welcome anarchy in the age of corporate comics.
Fleabag (Seasons 1-2 on Prime Video)
As "Fleabag," show creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a horny, angsty and directionless Londoner who narrates her hilariously tragic mess of a life directly to the camera, almost daring you to look away. Which is impossible — she's as magnetic as she is luckless. Fleabag's 12 brief episodes careen like an all-night bender, finally wrapping up perfectly (and hangover-free).
Russian Doll (Season 1 on Netflix)
On the night of her 36th birthday, brassy New Yorker Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) dies, reappears at her party, dies again (differently), reappears, dies (differently again), reappears, etc. Despite the perpetual story reset, Russian Doll surprises at every turn, propelled by Lyonne's dizzied-to-dogged performance and the story's subtle time-loop clues. It's Happier Death Day.
Good Omens (Season 1 on Prime Video)
The unlikely bromance between angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and demon Crowley (David Tennant) is interrupted by the coming of the Antichrist and Armageddon — rude. Good Omens is clever, breezy fun in the face of impending doom, not to mention Tennant's most triumphantly ridiculous performance ever (sorry, Doctor Who). Bonus: Christian groups were appalled.
PEN15 (Season 1 on Hulu)
Thirty-something actresses Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play their early-2000s selves alongside actual 13-year-olds so that we may all relive middle school... thanks? PEN15 — yes, the title is the joke you think it is — is at first silly AF, then Erskine and Konkle blend into the characters and the pain becomes as pronounced as the laughs. Anybody remember AOL Instant Messenger? ♦
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