That you’ve probably never seen.
Like many things on Facebook that aren’t unwanted memes from relatives, Facebook Watch is hard to find. Did you even know that Facebook has original unscripted and scripted shows? If the answer is no, not before I clicked on this article, you’re in the majority. In the interest of giving people more (free!) things to watch while entertainment outside the home isn’t an option, we’ve compiled a list of the best shows on Facebook Watch, along with direct links.
Remember MTV’s reality dating shows from the mid 2000s? Fetch Me a Date and I Want My Stuff Back, both produced by Studio71, follow in that tradition. Fetch Me a Date is hosted by Jonathan Bennett (Mean Girls) and Dorothy Wang (Rich Kids of Beverly Hills), and, in each episode, they help singles make IRL connections. For those who have fallen out of love, there’s I Want My Stuff Back, which features Motoki Maxted as a kind of relationship broker between newly separated couples. In each episode, he helps exes cut through the awkwardness of a breakup and reclaim their belongings so they can move on.
Think of Sunk & Found as a more action-packed version of Antiques Roadshow. In each episode, Dallas Rowley, the treasure hunter diver behind YouTube channel Man + River, helps people who have lost prized possessions to the depths of rivers and lakes. In each 30 minute episode, Rowley recovers everything from tanked drones to diamond rings and bracelets.
Note: Fetch Me a Date, I Want My Stuff Back and Sunk & Found are nominated for Reality Television Awards this year. If you watch and enjoy them (and think more people should be tuning in), cast a vote for your favorite any time between now and May 31 at 6pm PST at voting.rtvas.com/s3/7th-Annual-Reality-TV-Awards-Public-Vote.
Ladies First is an intimate, talk show hosted by actress and influencer Grace Helbig that features authentic conversations with bold, boundary-breaking women including comedian Margaret Cho, three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings and Nicole Maines, who played TV’s first transgender superhero on the CW’s Supergirl. If you’re looking for real talk with extraordinary women, this is your show.
On What Just Happened, host Motoki Maxted puts attention to detail to the test. The show is a modern take on hidden camera shows like Candid Camera and Punk’d where the stakes depend on real people’s ability to stay focused in our age of mass distraction. If these unsuspecting participants can keep it together through whatever gets thrown at them, they stand to win cash.
Have you ever wondered if photogenic foods pass the taste test? On I’ll Have What You’re Having, YouTube comedian Alonzo Lerone answers that question for you as he samples dishes from all the Instagram-worthy restaurants of Los Angeles and gives his real take on whether they’re good enough to eat, or if they’re just a feast for the eyes.
And if you’re more into fictional fare, here are our picks for the best scripted series available to binge now:
Sorry for Your Loss, which stars Elizabeth Olsen as a young widow who reevaluates the relationships in her life after her husband’s death, ran for two seasons. It was critically acclaimed (so you may have actually heard of it!) but little-watched. Here’s your chance to correct that. If you’re looking for an authentic show about grief that’s also funny and well-acted, this is it. Also features Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars).
The Real Bros of Simi Valley, despite its name, is a scripted series starring Jimmy Tatro (American Vandal) about four best friends living ten years out of high school who realize it’s time to grow up. It plays with the genre conventions of reality television, satirizing series like Jersey Shore and The Real Housewives franchise. Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Facebook Watch now, and Season 3 (trailer here) is forthcoming. *(Studio71 produced)
Limetown is based on the hit 2014 podcast and stars Jessica Biel as a public media reporter investigating the disappearance of over 300 people in a Tennessee neuroscience research community. Stanley Tucci and Marlee Matlin also appear in this creepy, sci-fi mystery. Though it was canceled after one season, the 10 episodes at 30 minutes apiece will satisfy your craving for a slow-burn, X-Files-style drama.
Sacred Lies is a YA-targeted mystery anthology series from Blumhouse Productions, the studio behind cult horror films from the past few years including Paranormal Activity, Get Out, and, most recently, The Invisible Man. Season 1, based on a YA novel The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes, (itself inspired by the Grimm Brothers fairy tale “The Handless Maiden”) is available to watch now. Season 2, which is currently streaming with new episodes on Thursdays, is inspired by Grimm tales “Cinderella” and “The Singing Bone” and stars Juliette Lewis as an amateur investigator who breaks open a cold case.
Strangers stars Zoë Chao (Downhill, Where’d You Go, Bernadette) as a twenty-something who breaks up with her boyfriend and starts renting out a room in her house on an Airbnb-like platform (“Where–I–Wanna–BNB”). Through a rotating slate of characters/guests (including Jemaine Clement, Jemima Kirke and Shiri Appleby), she discovers her bisexuality.
