3 best Netflix shows to watch this weekend (October 30

Unsurprisingly, audiences are loving Nobody Wants Thisseason 3, one of Netflix’s new releases in October. The rom-com starring Kristen Bell and Adam Brody has been a hit across three seasons, and I expect the show to return for a fourth season. If you haven’t watched Nobody Wants This, then consider throwing it into your rotation.

As for this weekend, Netflix has three shows released in the U.S. within the past two weeks that might pique your interest. The first show is a comedy based on a popular YouTube series. The next show is a reality series modeled after a controversial experiment from the 1970s. Finally, my top selection is a sensational adaptation of a landmark novel.

Minimum Wage

American High Shorts comes to Netflix

Netflix wants to be more like YouTube, or at least chip away at the platform’s massive lead in streaming viewership. First, Netflix started offering video podcasts as a way to take audiences away from YouTube. Now, Netflix is developing shows based on popular YouTube series. The streamer has teamed with American High Shorts to adapt one of its short-form series, Minimum Wage, into a Netflix show.

Created by Jeremy Garelick and Will Phelps, Minimum Wage follows a group of teens who work at a pizza place. The cast includes Grace Reiter as Grace, Ryan Micho as Ryan, Julia DiCesare as Julia, Tommy Armstrong as Tommy, Aidan Micho as Aidan, Hyde Healy as Hyde, Luke Burke as Luke, and Randall Park as Mr. Sylvester. The employees get themselves into some hilarious situations, including a group sleepover, a TV commercial, and a “no phones” policy.

Minimum Wage started off as a series of quick webisodes, so the Netflix episodes feel like multiple shorts compacted into one episode that runs between 12 and 20 minutes. Netflix is releasing the 28-episode series in two parts, with the first 14 episodes available to stream now and the remaining 14 arriving later. It’s a witty and low-stakes show that you can fly through. It’s also fun to see Reiter before she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live.

The New Stanford Prison Experiment

Does power corrupt?

To understand The New Stanford Prison Experiment, you must first understand the original Stanford Prison Experiment. In 1971, Stanford psychology professor Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment in which he recreated a prison environment with 24 college students—half were assigned as guards, and the other half were inmates. The guards began abusing the prisoners, and after six days, Zimbardo ended the controversial experiment.

Netflix has decided to run back the experiment as an unscripted series called The New Stanford Prison Experiment. In this simulation, 30 participants from diverse backgrounds enter a real prison, with 22 assigned as prisoners while the rest become guards. To improve safety, the show introduced a safe word that participants could use to leave the experiment. The experiment was filmed around the clock using robotic cameras. Three experts—psychologist Alison Wood Brooks, journalist Trymaine Lee, and former federal corrections professional Michael Cantrell—observed the experiment and reported their conclusions.

Nothing will ever come close to what happened during the real experiment. Netflix’s version happens in a safer and much more controlled environment. There are some eyebrow-raising moments, especially involving the guards, that make viewers consider what they would do in this situation. If you’re still interested in the experiment, check out 2015’s The Stanford Prison Experiment, a dramatization of the events, which is now streaming for free on Tubi.

East of Eden

John Steinbeck’s novel comes to life

When I think of East of Eden, two things come to mind. The first is the seminal novel by John Steinbeck, which is widely considered a masterpiece. The second is the 1955 feature film adaptation directed by Elia Kazan. The Oscar-winning movie is probably best known as James Dean’s first leading role and the last film he starred in before his tragic death.

One of the biggest criticisms of Kazan’s movie is that it only adapts the final quarter of Steinbeck’s book. In 2026, Elia Kazan’s granddaughter, Zoe Kazan, adapted the entire novel for Netflix as a riveting seven-episode series. While the movie primarily focuses on Dean’s Cal Trask, Zoe Kazan’s series puts Cathy Ames (Florence Pugh) as the complex antihero. Cathy meets the half-brothers Adam (Christopher Abbott) and Charles Trask (Mike Faist), and this moment sets off the transformational journey the family will go on.

East of Eden spans decades, from the Civil War to World War I. It’s a story about good versus evil and family trauma. Do children inherit the sins of their parents? Netflix’s East of Edenis the sweeping adaptation that Steinbeck’s novel deserves.

More Netflix shows and movies to check out

With Halloween this weekend, I’m looking for shows and movies that deliver scares. The Menuis an exciting thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. As for spooky season, The Black Phoneand The Babysitterare two movies that could be in your rotation for the holiday.