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3 Netflix Shows You Need to Binge This Weekend (Sept. 18-20)
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Published Sep 18, 2026, 11:53 PM EDT
Go deep on classic sci-fi, epic anime, and a hidden Netflix gem.
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It’s September, and depending on where you live, still hot. Summer is almost over, but a heat wave in New York has us cranking the AC and binging Netflix inside. Apple picking or whatver can wait until next week. Fall isn't going anywhere... yet.
This week’s recommendations: a cult-favorite that should have become one of Netflix’s recurring anthology series, a near-perfect anime that still has more to come, and a sci-fi classic that never goes out of style.
1
Maniac
Number of episodes: 10
Netflix’s critics like to point out that the streaming giant is short on popular franchises. Sure, there are Stranger Things and Squid Game, but both of those are over! The company recently scored a major hit with KPop Demon Hunters, which it reportedly plans to milk for all its worth, but if Netflix needs any more original IP to run into the ground, there’s an obvious option hiding in plain sight: Maniac.
The miniseries from Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) and Patrick Somerville (Station Eleven) debuted on Netflix in 2018, and tells the story of Annie (Emma Stone) and Owen (Jonah Hill), two mentally troubled people living in a retrofuturistic version of New York. Both agree to participate in the same mind-altering phramaceutical test, and the drug sends them careening through a series of situations ranging from suburban Long Island to a Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy realm. The overarching plot of Maniac isn’t really the point. It’s more about seeing these two great actors get dropped into increasingly absurd situations, which is why, seven years later, I’m still hoping for a sequel.
But assuming that never happens, there’s no harm in rewatching the original season of Maniac on Netflix right now.
—Jake Kleinman
2
Jujutsu Kaisen
Number of episodes: 59
Action anime fans rejoice: Jujutsu Kaisen’s third season, The Culling Game Part 1, is headed to Netflix on July 22. The first two seasons of the show and the prequel movie Jujutsu Kaisen 0 are already on the service.
The third season of the popular battle shonen series aired from Jan. 9 to March 27 for 12 episodes. It was quite good. After Mappa’s adaptation of the Shibuya Incident arc left fans a bit divided — while it had jaw-dropping stretches like Episode 37, “Red Scale,” there were big drops in animation quality to the point where even the people who worked on it complained — the latest run was much more consistent. [Read more]
— Elijah Gonzalez
3
Stargate SG-1
Image: Amazon MGM/SyfyNumber of episodes: 214
SG-1’s allure comes from the way it filled a void specific to the 2000s’ science fiction TV landscape. Massive genre franchises like Star Trek started to display signs of fatigue after the millennium, and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica wouldn’t materialize to boost interest in sci-fi prestige television until 2004. SG-1 arrived in a lull for science fiction TV and capitalized on an impassioned online fandom culture while benefiting from the enduring blockbuster status of Roland Emmerich’s foundational film. [Read more]
— Debopriyaa Dutta