5 TV shows to binge-watch to beat the heat this weekend

Kelly Lawler

It's officially too hot to go outside.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of summer fun to be had with barbecuing, hiking, swimming and more. But at a certain point in July (like right now), the weather in many parts of the U.S. becomes far too warm, too sticky and too gross to brave outdoor activities.

So while you're hiding inside with the air conditioning on full blast and no real desire to get off the couch, consider watching these five TV series that will either make you glad you're not on an island with a bunch of singles or remind you of cooling waters and the sweet relief of winter.

If you love a hot, salacious dating show: 'Love Island' (U.K.)

Sometimes its fun to watch other people frolic and sweat in the sun while you stay perfectly comfortable inside. This U.K. reality sensation has plenty of heat, both weather-wise and romantically, as the typical "singles in a house together" formula gets messed around with by audience intervention and recoupling surprises. CBS just launched a nightly U.S.-version, which had a solid start (well, from a watchability perspective, not so much with the ratings). But the U.K. version has the upper hand because of its ability to be far more explicit.

Stream it on Hulu.

If you love something hot, but far less salacious: 'Hawaii Five-0'

Almost equally full of attractive people in swimsuits, this CBS crime procedural is far more on the family-friendly side of things than "Love Island." A reboot of the late 1960s TV series, the new version of the series stars Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park and Jorge Garcia (Park and Kim left after Season 7) as the elite state police task force solves crimes in the tropical state. You don't have to pay too much attention, but when you do, you'll enjoy the beautiful settings and sometimes cheesy (in a fun way) dialogue.

Stream on CBS All Access. (You can catch the original there, too.)

If you want to dive into the cool abyss: 'Blue Planet II'

Wading into the Earth's ocean life is a perfect way to escape the sun and also learn a thing or two. BBC America's exquisite "Planet Earth" documentary series has visited the oceans twice, but the 2017 follow-up "Blue Planet II" is possibly the best entry in the series, both beautiful and galvanizing, as it explores how pollution and climate change have affected our oceans.

Stream it on Netflix.

If you want to be cold and scared: 'The Terror'

If you would rather be in the middle of a snowstorm instead of a heat wave, enjoy the Arctic-set "Terror," a period horror show about a Victorian expedition looking for the fabled (and nonexistent) Northwest Passage. No one knows what happened to the crews of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in real history, but the series, starring Jared Harris and Ciarán Hinds, offers a mystical, and quite terrifying, explanation.

Stream it on Hulu.

If you are worried about it leaving Netflix: 'Friends'

Any time of year is a good time to spend with your "Friends." If you were worried by the news this week that "Friends" will be leaving Netflix at the end of this year to head to the new HBO Max streaming service in early 2020, now might be a good time to finally finish re-watching it like you planned to. Cuddle up on your couch to hang with Monica (Courtney Cox), Rachel (Jennifer Aniston), Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Chandler (Matthew Perry), Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Ross (David Schwimmer) and catch a few dozen of the 236 episodes in the series.

Stream it on Netflix.

More to binge-watch:

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Summer TV: Beat the heat and binge-watch 'Love Island' and 'Friends'