Snowed in? Here's what to binge-watch

The weather outside is frightful — but the DVR is so delightful.

While we let it snow, let it snow, let it snow — 2 to 3 inches in some parts of North Jersey, 8 to 10 in others, are expected Saturday night into Sunday — there is no better distraction than curling up in front of the TV for 10 hours of binge-watching.

Now might be the time to catch up on that show everyone was talking about last year. Or to re-watch an old favorite. Or to cram previous episodes, in preparation for the new ones that are just about to drop.

You may never have a better opportunity. Winters have been getting pretty mild these days.

'The Sopranos'

The late great James Gandolfini of Westwood is TV's Helen of Troy — the face that launched a thousand miniseries. And "The Sopranos" is the big bang of long-form television. When this drama about a New Jersey crime family made its HBO debut in 1999, the whole game changed. Because of it, stories are longer, themes are darker, and cable — not the networks — is where the action is.

So if for some inexplicable reason you live in New Jersey and haven't seen it — sounds almost unpatriotic, doesn't it? — now's your chance. The Sopranos is on Hulu, HBO Max, YouTube TV, Xfinity or DirecTV; you can see it for free on Hulu with an HBO Max one-week free trial.

Garden State: These are the best movies and shows filmed or set in New Jersey

'True Detective'

The new season, "True Detective: Night Country" is about to drop Jan. 14. So you can get the drop on it — so the speak — by streaming the previous seasons of this compulsively watchable HBO crime series, which just happens to take its name from a pulp magazine created years ago by Englewood's resident millionaire publisher and kook, Bernarr Macfadden.

As you probably know, each season of "True Detective" is its own, self-contained story, with its own stars — so you can pick and choose.

The coming one, starring Jodie Foster and Kali Reis, is set in Iceland. Of the previous ones, season 1 starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and season 3, starring Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff, are the best — while season 2, with Colin Farrell and Rachel McAdams, is the weakest. Available on Max, HuluPremium, YouTubePrimetime, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu.

'The Crown'

If crime is not your thing, how about the British monarchy? Though some, like Mohamed Al-Fayed — father of the Dodi who died with Diana in the car crash — have gone on record as saying they are a crime family.

The final episodes of "The Crown," which just wrapped up its sixth and last season on Netflix, don't have the punch of the earlier ones dealing with Diana — in death as in life, she'll always upstage everyone. But season 6, which deals with Princes William and Harry, and Queen Elizabeth facing her own mortality, are an elegant and elegiac closer. Available on Netflix and Netflix Basic.

'Reservation Dogs'

This FX show is a charmer. Also a sleeper, in that it found an audience without much fanfare. Over three seasons (the last wrapped in September), "Reservation Dogs" takes us into the lives of some very funny, resilient teens living in an Oklahoma reservation — a "Stand by Me" cross-section of Native American kids, who come of age as they learn about life, family and responsibility. Watch on Hulu.

'The Americans'

TV cable drama has been dominated by the "Next Door" trope. The Gangsters Next Door ("The Sopranos"). The Drug Kingpin Next Door ("Breaking Bad"). The Terrorist Next Door ("Homeland"). But "The Americans," about The Soviet Spies Next Door, may be the best-sustained show of its type, with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as the suburban power couple who don't let the stabbing of an asylum seeker, the poisoning of an unfortunate witness, or the murder of an innocent busboy get in the way of morning breakfast with the kids (Holly Taylor Keidrich Sellati).

There are six seasons of this. All great — but it's a commitment. Be prepared to keep on watching until the next blizzard. Available on Hulu, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, Amazon Prime.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Here's what to binge-watch during the snowstorm