Looking for an epic binge-watching sesh? These are the longest TV shows to keep you occupied in lockdown 2.0
OK, so going out (other than for exercise or work) might be off the cards for a month BUT let’s just see this time as an opportunity to enjoy snuggling up and taking some time out ahead of a (hopefully) busy festive period.
After all, now the days are darker and chillier, the thought of spending weekends and evenings binge-watching a new TV series never felt more tempting. And now, more than ever, we want a show that will please our marathon-watching cravings, one that will keep us busy for a least four weeks and maybe even longer. This isn’t the time for a short TV series, especially the ones that were scrapped after one or two seasons, what we want is a show with 9+ seasons, that will keep going for as long as we want it to.
The good news is, there definitely isn’t any shortage of long TV shows and right now Amazon Prime and Netflix are teeming with them.
Whether you’re after some classic comedy gold, there’s the 11 season-strong Will and Grace, the US sitcom about two pals, interior designer Grace and her best friend, Will, a gay lawyer. Or there’s 9 seasons of How I Met Your Mother, one of our all-time favs, based around a group living in New York – it is sort of the Friends of the 2010s. The protagonist, Ted Moseby is telling the story of, you guessed it, how he met his future children's mother.
If you’re after some medical drama with handsome doctors galore, you may want to get stuck into ER (George Clooney in a white coat, you’ll melt) which ran for a whopping 11 seasons, or Grey’s Anatomy with 16 seasons and counting.
Those who want some top-notch drama, now is the time to catch The X Files starring Gillian Anderson - there’s 11 seasons to get through. Oh, and Silent Witness, with Emilia Fox, is a brilliant gritty crime-scene drama to binge if you don’t mind a bit of gore, with 23 seasons so far.
Here are the best longest TV shows with 9+ seasons to keep you entertained during Lockdown 2.0...
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Seasons: 21 (and counting)
Addicted to a gritty crime drama? You might want to start on the 21-season Law & Order: Special Victims Unit where a special victims unit of NYPD detectives solve cases based on real crimes. At the same time, they try not to let the dark side of investigation affect their personal lives. It’s VERY gripping.
Watch: Amazon Prime
The Big Bang Theory
Seasons: 12
This has become a cult show thanks to its wit and loveable characters. It’s a comedy about brilliant physicists, Leonard and Sheldon, who are the kind of "beautiful minds" that understand how the universe works. But none of that genius helps them interact with people, especially women. All this begins to change when a free-spirited beauty named Penny moves in next door.
Watch: Netflix
Grey’s Anatomy
Seasons: 16
Grey’s Anatomy first landed on screens in 2005 and has become ABC’s longest-running scripted primetime show. The Medical drama, starring Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl and Patrick Dempsey, follows the life of Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), the daughter of esteemed general surgeon Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), starting from her acceptance into the surgical residency program at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital.
Watch: Amazon Prime
Friends
Seasons: 10
Everyone knows the basic story line in Friends, and while you may be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t seen all 10 series of the show (Comedy Central plays them on a loop), there are actually a rare species of human out there that hasn't ever seen a single episode. Cue shocked faces. All you need to know is, Rachel and Monica are school friends, Rachel and Ross were actually not on a break and well, yeah, the rest you can pretty much pick up.
Watch: Netflix
The X Files
Seasons: 11
Fans of Gillian Anderson will want to see her in sci-fi classic, The X Files, which follows the careers and personal lives of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Mulder is a talented profiler and strong believer in the supernatural. He is also adamant about the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and its presence on Earth.
Watch: Amazon Prime
Will and Grace
Seasons: 11
Will & Grace is set in New York City and focuses on the relationship between Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, a Jewish woman who owns an interior design firm. Also featured are their friends Karen Walker, a demonically alcoholic socialite, and Jack McFarland, a flamboyantly gay actor.Grace temporarily moves in to Will’s apartment after her marriage breaks down but ends up staying permanently.
Watch: Amazon Prime
Family Guy
Seasons: 19
Another one of our favourite adult animated comedies, Family Guy is set in a crazy Rhode Island town and is about a family who try to deal with everyday life as they are thrown from one crazy disaster to another. There’s husband and wife, Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian.
Watch: Amazon Prime
Dr Who
Seasons: 12
This BBC drama has been taking over Saturday nights since 1963, chronicling the adventures of an eccentric time-traveling scientist from the remote planet Gallifrey, home of the Time Lords. The Doctor, a Time Lord himself, travelled through time and space in his unique craft, the TARDIS, an acronym for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.
Watch: Amazon Prime
Silent Witness
Seasons: 23 (so far)
If you don’t mind a bit of gore, this BBC drama series follows the lives of a forensic pathology team as they investigate various crimes, giving viewers an insight into the work which goes on behind the scenes of a crime scene. The show – which initially focused on Amanda Burton as Dr. Sam Ryan – now stars an ensemble cast including Emilia Fox and David Caves. It can be very dark at times - just a warning.
Watch: BBC iPlayer
How I Met Your Mother
Seasons: 9
This easy-watching comedy is based around a group living in New York – it is sort of the Friends of the 2010s. The protagonist, Ted Moseby is telling the story of, you guessed it, how he met his future children's mother. In the series, he is joined by Neil Patrick Harris who plays a womanizing bachelor Barney Stinson. It’s hilarious AND on Netflix.
Watch: Netflix
ER
Seasons: 15
If hot young doctors are your thing, watching ER from the start might be just the ticket (George Clooney in a white coat will make you melt).The series follows the day to day lives of those working at the fictional Chicago hospital emergency room. Each episode tells the tale of another day in the manic ER and there’s always lot of drama
Watch: Channel 4
The Simpsons
Seasons: 32
It’s been going since 1989 so if you’ve never fully watched a season of the Simpsons, we reckon there is no better time. This hit animated series focuses on the eponymous family in the town of Springfield in an unnamed U.S. state. The head of the Simpson family, Homer, is not a typical family man, with his blue-haired wife Marge, troublemaking son Bart, overachieving daughter Lisa and baby Maggie.
Watch: Disney+
