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Hulu isn’t as crowded as, say, Netflix is, when it comes to finding a new show to binge, but it can be a challenge. Hulu also has a mix of series lengths in its catalog too; you’re not going to be able to binge all of, say, 24, in a weekend. Hulu does have many shorter offerings, however: here’s a guide to ten fantastic shows you can definitely binge in a weekend.
1) The Great
Elle Fanning‘s triumphant turn as an ahistorical but still awesome Catherine the Great kicks off this list. There are 30 episodes total, which are, at most, an hour a piece, so you could theoretically binge it in a weekend, and once you start the dark comedy, you probably won’t want to start. Superman’s Nicholas Hoult does great supporting work as a version of Peter III, Catherine’s husband. The Great is filled with clever characters, political backstabbing, and a whole lot of swearing. Huzzah!
2) Harlots
Hulu has a surprising amount of historical dramas in its catalog; most of them are exports — i.e., Hulu bought the rights to distribute them in the United States — but that doesn’t change their high quality. Harlots tells the story of prostitution and brothels in 18th century London, led by Jessica Brown Findlay, supported by a host of great British character actors. Liv Tyler also becomes a regular in the second season. The show has 24 episodes, each about an hourlong.
3) Last Days of the Space Age
Hulu’s stock of originals also includes a lot of miniseries; a whole list could be made just of their bingeable miniseries. This list has a mix of full series and their smaller counterparts, though; Last Days of the Space Age is relatively recent export from Australia. It’s primetime soap material, crossed with the interesting historical moment when the space station Skylab fell from the sky and ended up scattering debris from the Indian Ocean to Western Australia in 1979. The Space Age itself has provoked plenty of TV shows in recent years, including The Right Stuff on Hulu’s sister streamer, Disney+, but most of the shows do tend to focus on astronauts, not ordinary people. Last Days of the Space Age decides to subvert that trend.
4) Faraway Downs
“Wait,” you might say. “That looks like a screengrab from Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 epic and sort-of flop, Australia.” You would be absolutely correct; Luhrmann, the constant editor and filmmaker he is, recut Australia into a six-part miniseries and renamed it Faraway Downs. He apparently had hours of footage left over from the original shoot, and with some post-production magic… it found its American streaming home on Hulu, and it is worth it to check it out if only for sheer curiosity’s sake. Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman circa 2008 are fun to revisit, too.
5) Say Nothing
Say Nothing is a rare example of an adaptational triumph. Based on the non-fiction book by Patrick Radden Keefe and dealing with the difficult history of the Northern Ireland Troubles, Say Nothing manages to tell a concise, tight story, over nine tense episodes. It certainly could’ve been easy to get lost in the weeds when telling this story for television, but that never happens. It’s incredibly well acted, too. Say Nothing got an Emmy nomination for Best Writing for a Limited Series, for its finale.
