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Boycott Black Friday with these 10 addictive series and movies

Cape Town - For the shoppers, salespeople, mega-wealthy fashionistas, entrepreneurs, shop-lifters and grifters in these series and movies on Showmax, Amazon Prime, Netflix and DStv Now, it’s all about the money. And unlike the offers in those Black Friday mailers you keep getting, if you’re an internet TV subscriber, your shopping-themed binge session won’t cost you a cent.

1. Superstore, Seasons 1-2 (Showmax)

Where in the world is the phrase “more is more” truer than in the American mega-store? In this quirky hit comedy series, we get to see behind the scenes at superstore Cloud 9, run by a group of oddball employees. Seasons 1 and 2 are now on Showmax, giving you the easiest, funniest hit of retail therapy ever.

2. HBO's Sex and the City, full boxset (Showmax)

Carrie Bradshaw is the ultimate shopaholic, splurging on her beloved designer outfits and shoes on a surprisingly regular basis, considering her job as a writer. In Season 6, episode 9, when she’s forced to remove her Manolos at her friend Kyra’s baby shower, they go missing, and she’s devastated. Kyra offers to pay her back for them, until Carrie tells her how much they cost ...

3. Rich Kids, Season 1 (Showmax)

Ever wondered how the rich live? This fascinating series takes you behind the doors of the fabulously wealthy youngsters of SA, showcasing their #NiceLifeProblems. It’s all about sports cars, designers shoes, R1 million watches and the next big bash for these loaded teens and twentysomethings.

4. Keeping Up with the Kardashians (Showmax)

Seasons 1-12 are currently on Showmax, with Season 13 coming in December: that season, where a visit to Paris ends in Kim being robbed. But it’s not all bling, drama and cat fights for the Kardashian klan - they’re also ruthless entrepreneurs. Binge on all 12 seasons to get the business secrets that have made the DASH stores and the Kardashian brand such a success. (Spoiler: If you’re like Kris, a mom with five daughters and zero scruples, you’re golden.) 

5. HBO’s How to Make It in America (Showmax)

Everything is still possible in America - if you know how to hustle. Ben and Cam are best friends, tired of seeing the world go ahead without them. They set their sights on New York’s competitive fashion scene, making up for their lack of knowledge with their street smarts, clever schemes and a bit of help from their friends. When the pair stumble upon a shipment of high-class denim material, they decide to create a line of high-fashion jeans. Hey, if you're going to do something, go big! 

6. Suidooster (Showmax)

Three Cape Town families, the Octobers, the Samsodiens and the Du Plooys, make their living in the shopping centre Suidooster, in the fictional suburb of Ruiterbosch. This soapie is about a multicultural community and their challenges and triumphs. Seasons 1 and 2 of this popular kykNET soap are on Showmax.

7. Shameless, Season 8 (DStv Now)

The new series of Shameless is now on DStv Now. It brings with it a fresh new start for Frank, who’s making amends to everyone he wronged while he was under “Monica’s spell”; for Carl, who’s home for the summer from military school; for Lip, who’s finally sober and trying to get his life back on track; for Debbie, who’s “leaning in” by going to night school; and for Fiona, who’s made her biggest purchase ever - a run-down apartment block in an up-and-coming neighbourhood. Will becoming a real estate mogul satisfy her desire to keep moving’ on up?

8. Girlboss (Netflix)

Based on Sophia Amoruso’s autobiography #Girlboss, this is the story of Sophia, a directionless fashionista who doesn’t know what to do with her life - until she starts hawking vintage designer gear on eBay under the name of Nasty Gal. She works days as a campus security guard at an art college in San Francisco, and spends her free time hustling, scouting consignment stores for the next item that’ll help her rake in the bucks.

9. Clerks (Netflix)

“Just because they serve you, doesn’t mean they like you.” So goes the tagline for this 1994 Kevin Smith black-and-white cult comedy classic. The film centres on one day in the life of two convenience and video store clerks while on duty, and it was shot, interestingly, in the stores where Kevin Smith worked in real life. It gives an authentic view of an utterly mundane middle-class life in America of the 90s, and, for a small indie film, was a huge success at the box office.

10. Seinfeld (Amazon Prime)

Everyone’s heard of this sitcom, but what you might not realise is that it’s where Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (six-time Emmy Award winner for her role in Veep) got her start - and she won an Emmy for her role as lead character Jerry’s ex Elaine in this series, too. The Writers Guild of America named it the second-best written TV series of all time (second only to The Sopranos), and one of its most renowned episodes takes place in a shopping mall. In Season 3, episode 6, The Parking Garage, the gang loses Kramer’s car in the mall parking garage, and Jerry desperately needs to pee. It’s like Waiting for Godot, in 90s-sitcom form, and if you’re only going to watch one episode from all nine seasons of Seinfeld, make it this one.


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