Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
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Yes, the effects show their age and some of the science has become outdated in the four decades since it originally aired on PBS. Still, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage remains one of the great science-focused documentary series ever produced. Created and hosted by writer, astronomer, and turtle-neck enthusiast Carl Sagan, the thirteen-episode series covers several scientific subjects in an informative but approachable style as we go on a fantastical journey in the “Ship of the Imagination.”
Perhaps it’s Sagan’s unique voice and teacherly demeanor, or the pure vibes of the Vangelis score, but Cosmos was ASMR content before they invented the genre. It’s a great late-night program to drift you off to sleep.
Last Stop Larrimah
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Last Stop Larrimah is a criminally underrated and underseen crime docuseries that was released on HBO in 2023. This bite-sized two-part series is ostensibly about the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty and his dog, but that’s simply an entry point into a deep dive into the lives and grudges of the handful of residents who call this dying remote town in the Northern Territory of Australia home.
As the story unfolds we meet a small but fascinating collection of strange personalities whose lives are intertwined and connected through their shared community and the increasingly obvious fact that every person in town has a valid reason to be considered a suspect in the crime.
The Way Down
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A funny thing happened while director Marina Zenovich was editing the first episodes of her HBO Max mini-series The Way Down. No spoilers, but there is a shocking if not karmically appropriate twist to the story of series subject Gwen Shamblin Lara and her Remnant Fellowship that forced the filmmakers to take a nearly year-long break between the release of episodes three and four.
The series itself is a look into Shamblin Lara who managed to turn her Weigh Down Workshop diet program into a wildly successful Christian megachurch in Brentwood, Tennessee.
For maximum shock value, it is best not to look up anything about the subject matter and go completely fresh.
The Last Dance
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A co-production of ESPN Films and Netflix, The Last Dance captured the imagination of the sports world at the height of the COVID lockdown when fans were desperate for new sports content and the one thing most people had was an inordinate amount of free time.
The ten-episode series follows the highs and lows of Michael Jordan’s final year in the NBA and features nearly 100 interviews as well as an incredible amount of never-before-seen footage giving viewers an unprecedented look inside the Chicago Bulls locker room during that storied 1998 Championship run. It’s an easily bingeable ten-episode experience.
Wild Wild Country
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Wild Wild Country is a gripping six-part Netflix series that won the 2018 Emmy in the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series category.
This story spans decades, focusing on Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his many followers and their clash with the residents of Antelope, Oregon, and later the State and Federal government, when they attempted to build a Rajneeshpuram commune on the outskirts of the small town.
It is all quite complicated. There are no heroes here, and there are multiple perspectives on the events even among individuals from the same side of the conflict. It is a wild story.
Planet Earth
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The BBC Studios Natural History Unit produces some incredible work. The original Planet Earth remains among their best documentary series, though you would be well in your rights to put whichever is your favorite on this list instead. This series alone spawned two equally impressive sequel efforts.
Narrated by David Attenborough, the eleven-episode series features some of the most beautiful, stunning nature photography ever captured on video. Each episode explores a different habitat or biome, and when viewed as a singular piece it feels as comprehensive a look at life on Earth as was possible to put together in the mid-2000s.
The Beatles: Get Back
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Even if you aren’t a major fan, The Beatles: Get Back is a stunning, must-see documentary series. Directed by Peter Jackson and built from the hundreds of hours of unused footage shot for the 1970 documentary Let It Be, Get Back is an engrossing look into the creative process of these legit musical geniuses as well as the building pressure and personal drama that would ultimately lead to the break up of the band. It’s very, very long, but worth every minute.
The only negative to watching this series is that it might burn you out on hearing “Don’t Let Me Down” for a few months.
O.J.: Made in America
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Technically, O.J.: Made in America is a single, seven-and-a-half-hour film that won the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. However, it was also released in five parts on ABC and ESPN and won an Emmy as a limited series so it still qualifies for this list.
The documentary is as much about O.J. Simpson and his infamous murder trial as it is about the convergence of race, celebrity, sports, and class in America. It’s an incredible achievement by Director and Producer Ezra Edelman and the best thing ever produced by ESPN and their amazing 30 for 30 label.
The Civil War
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You could put any Ken Burns documentary series on this list. Heck, you could make an argument that the entire list should be composed entirely of Burns’ work. Baseball, Jazz, Prohibition, The War, The American Buffalo, The Vietnam War… on and on it goes.
There’s something about The Civil War, though, that stands out from the rest. Something about Burns’ proclivity toward charming anecdotes and whimsical moments of great historical irony that blends perfectly with the sense of tragedy and inevitability inherent to the American Civil War.
Yes, the series isn’t perfect. Shelby Foote’s presence alone is something of a red flag — but it’s still an incredible watch and a great entry point into one of the most important events in American history.
The Jinx
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Andrew Jarecki’s true crime series stands alone as the best of its kind. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst is shocking, funny, infuriating and addictive. Once you start the first season you won’t be able to stop. It’s a total roller coaster that builds to a final moment that is among the most jaw-dropping ever captured on film.
As a central character, Durst is as fascinating as he is repulsive. The fact that he was essentially the one who set the entire documentary series in motion, either out of vanity or stupidity or a mix of the two, adds another layer of weirdness to the entire sequence of events
