Let’s be honest. With so many streaming platforms, there are almost too many options. It can be difficult to pick something to watch because there’s too many shows and movies to choose from. The perfect series exists, but you have to know where to find them. Here are the Black shows that caught their second wind when they began streaming on Netflix. 

First Wives Club

“First Wives Club”, the series loosely based on the 1996 film, made waves when it first dropped on BET +. The show had A list actors like Michelle Buteau, Jill Scott, Ryan Michelle Bath, RonReaco Lee. Add that to the excellent wardrobe and storyline of messy marriages. The show was a hit! But with BET + still trying to establish itself in the streaming space, it didn’t get all the attention it deserved. But when the show aired on Netflix in November, it quickly landed in the platform’s top 5 series. 

Insecure

It may seem like “Insecure” just aired its final season a minute ago. But that’s because many of us are still grieving its absence. The truth is the Insecure finale aired nearly two years ago. Thats quite a bit of time in the fast-paced world of entertainment. Thankfully, for those suffering from withdrawal or those who might not have caught it on HBO, Netflix scooped it up this past summer. Its presence on the platform has allowed folks to rewatch and reanalyze all the 2016 drama. It holds up. People are still binging Issa and the crew.

Top Boy

It can be frustrating to learn that our favorite shows, featuring some of our favorite characters, were way ahead of their time and didn’t get the love it deserved. Such was the story of “Top Boy”…or so it seemed. The British crime drama, originally aired in the UK, was canceled in 2014. But the show had one very influential fan on their side: rapper Drake. He expressed interest in keeping it going. Three years later, the show was acquired by Netflix with Drake and his team producing. The show recently ended this fall after more than ten years on air across two different countries.

College Hill-Celebrity Edition

For years, the people of the internet have been demanding that BET “put ‘College Hill’ on Netflix.” Many referring to the episodes from the early 2000s, where we watched students from across the country and world matriculate through various HBCU campuses. The show was a classic back in the day, and folks would love the chance to relive it now. BET hasn’t released that footage. But they did provide the people with a new and updated version. “College Hill-Celebrity Edition” originally aired on BET+. Earlier this month, it made its way to Netflix. For those who doubted the concept, the celebrities chosen to participate in the show make this series quite entertaining. It even manages to tug at your heart strings sometimes.

Half & Half

“Half & Half” was underrated and didn’t get the respect it deserved, in my opinion. The series was canceled abruptly after four years in favor of other programming on the network. The decision not to renew left fans hanging with a bitter taste in their mouths. Not to mention, we never got to know if Mona chose Chase or Lorenzo to be her man. We’re still left wondering. But Netflix picked up this show in October of 2020, and not only provided some comfort watching it during the pandemic, but reminded us all how comedically brilliant Big Dee Dee (Valarie Pettiford) and Phyllis Thorne (Telma Hopkins) were together. The show is no longer on Netflix, but you can catch it on several other platforms.