This Week on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Viceland: An Oscars Replay and Seven Other Movies and Shows to Watch

2-27-17 Trevor Noah
Trevor Noah's new stand-up comedy special, titled "Afraid of the Dark," is now available for streaming on Netflix. Cara Howe

If the Oscars on Sunday seemed like they went on for hours on end, that's because they did. For those who are ready to spend the rest of the week watching something else, there are plenty of recently added series, movies and stand-up comedy specials with which to cleanse the palate.

Here are some suggestions for streaming this week:

Trapped (Viceland, starting February 19)

Viceland makes its first foray into scripted drama with the Icelandic series Trapped, which first aired in its home country in 2015. A dismembered torso is pulled out of the sea near a remote town, and the local police are on their own as a storm approaches and prevents detectives from Reykjavík from arriving to help with the investigation. The show airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.

Trevor Noah: Afraid of the Dark (Netflix, February 21)

Trevor Noah stepped out from behind his Daily Show desk this past November to film his stand-up comedy special for Netflix. He performed at the Beacon Theatre as part of the New York Comedy Festival just a few days before the election. Contemplate the notion that the Noah onscreen—who according to Netflix "ponders the absurdity of colonialism and muses over the challenges a black James Bond might face"—didn't yet know which president he'd be taking on week after week back at that desk.

Patriot (Amazon, February 24)

This new Amazon original series is both a spy thriller and a dark comedy. There's a spy named John who takes a mid-level job at a Midwestern industrial piping firm as a cover as he works to "prevent Iran from going nuclear." Reviews have compared elements of the show to Fargo, Mr. Robot, The Americans, Burn After Reading and Breaking Bad.

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (Netflix, February 24)

"Everyone is an asshole," Ruth (Melanie Lynskey) says in the trailer for the new Netflix original I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore. And she wants them not to be. She's a nursing assistant "suffering through a crisis of existential despair" who enlists the help of her neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood) after her house is robbed and her grandmother's silver stolen.

Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes (Netflix, February 28)

In the trailer to his new stand-up comedy special, Mike Birbiglia describes a recent visit to his urologist. "If you're a comedian, how come you're not funny now?" he recalls the doctor asking him. "What I wanted to say is I'm going to take this conversation we're having and then repeat that to strangers. And then that's the joke. You're the joke, later."

Taken: Series Premiere (Hulu, February 28)

NBC's new show serves as the prequel to the movie series by the same name. It tells the origin story of Bryan Mills going back about three decades, taking a closer look at how and why he became a CIA operative. Clive Standen steps into the role of a younger Mills, who is played by Liam Neeson in the films.

When We Rise: Series Premiere (Hulu, February 28)

The cast for this new ABC mini-series about the history of the modern gay rights movement includes Mary Louise Parker, Guy Pearce, Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie O'Donnell. The Los Angeles Times called the series, which begins with the Stonewall Riots of 1969, "a history lesson wrapped in a human drama."

The Oscars (Hulu, February 27)

Finally, if you missed the Oscars on Sunday and feel way out of the loop, or if you're more upset than the rest of us that awards season is finally over, Hulu has both the ceremony and red carpet footage available for viewing starting on Monday.

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About the writer


Stav is a general assignment staff writer for Newsweek. She received the Newswomen's Club of New York's 2016 Martha Coman Front ... Read more

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