Binge an East End-Set TV Series for Thanksgiving Weekend

Did you know Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things wasn’t always set to take place in Hawkins, Indiana? In fact, the show was originally going to be titled, simply, Montauk, in deference to it being so inspired by the sinister legends and lore surrounding Long Island’s easternmost point and the now-defunct military base, Camp Hero, that remains there today, albeit slowly crumbling back into the earth.

In celebration of Stranger Things fifth and final season having kicked off this week on Wednesday, November 26, we’re taking a deep dive into some of the most interesting scripted shows (we’ll save the Hamptons reality TV quagmire for another article) with connections to the East End. Whether filmed here or set here, or connected some other way, like in the case of Stranger Things, Hamptons and North Fork television fans won’t want to miss this perfect opportunity to find your Thanksgiving weekend binge.

Revenge (2011-2015)

Perhaps the mother of all Hamptons-set shows, ABC’s Revenge offered four seasons loaded with hilarious inaccuracies that made it as vexing as it was fun to watch for real locals who know the area. Loosely based on Alexandre Dumas classic, The Count of Monte Cristo, and filmed far away from Long Island, the show follows Emily Thorne (Emily VanCamp) as she infiltrates Hamptons society and befriends the powerful Grayson family in order to get back at them for destroying her family and putting her father away, for a crime he didn’t commit, 20 years earlier. The Grayson grand dame, Victoria, is played deliciously by Madeleine Stowe, and the absurd fun ramps up as the show progresses. Among the most outrageous inaccuracies: People get around the Hamptons, from Southampton to Montauk, and even to New York City, in no time — even taking a quick jaunt to Manhattan and back before lunch, and then going back to the city again, without a helicopter. The writers also seem to have no idea that modern-day Montauk is actually wildly expensive and not just populated by hardworking blue-collar people. Check out DansPapers.com for oodles of Revenge content, including dozens of episode recaps, top five lists and more. The show is currently streaming on Hulu.

The Affair (2014-2019)

This Showtime series set in Montauk actually did a much better job of representing The End as it truly is over five seasons, and a great deal of it was filmed locally. Starring Dominic West, Ruth Wilson, Maura Tierney and Joshua Jackson, the show gets rolling when happily married summer visitor Noah Solloway (West) has a sexy dalliance with grieving local Alison Bailey (Wilson), who is also married. Episodes are split into two parts, each showing events from one character’s points of view. The device, which explored the fragility of memory and perspective, made for some really interesting television and unique storytelling that earned The Affair a Golden Globe for Best Television Series – Drama in 2015, and Tierney won the Globe for Best Supporting Actress the following year, after her character’s perspective was added in the second season. The show’s success seemingly forced the creators to continue it beyond what was a smart but simple idea, and bring it to places it probably never needed to go — including a move to Los Angeles in Season 4. Still, there’s plenty worth watching, and it’s fun to see real Hamptons spots, like LUNCH, aka The Lobster Roll, Deep Hollow Ranch, Montauk Lighthouse, and the Montauk LIRR station, to name a few. Stream it on Paramount+.

The Shrink Next Door (2021)

Based on a jaw-dropping, and totally true, Wondery podcast of the same name from 2019, this often cringe-inducing Apple TV+ miniseries stars Paul Rudd as Dr. Isaac “Ike” Herschkopf and Will Ferrell as his wealthy, pushover patient, Martin “Marty” Markowitz. In the podcast, the show — and in real life — Herschkopf takes advantage of the vulnerable Markowitz, convincing his patient to hand control of his life and money over to him, including Marty’s luxury home in Southampton, which all feels pretty spot-on when it comes to accuracy. Herschkopf digs his hooks in deeper and deeper, further isolating and manipulating Markowitz as the story progresses. It’s pretty enraging to watch, but the series is great TV and proves the old adage: Truth is stranger than fiction. The cast also includes Kathryn Hahn as Marty’s sister Phyllis Shapiro, and Casey Wilson as Bonnie Herschkopf, Ike’s wife. Watch it on Apple TV+.

Royal Pains (2009–2016)

USA Network’s hit Hamptons-set show Royal Pains ran for eight seasons as it followed the adventures of Dr. Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein), a wrongly discredited surgeon who loses his job after a hospital benefactor dies in his care. Later, while visiting the Hamptons on vacation, he saves a man’s life, which leads Boris, a wealthy German businessman, to ask him to stay and work as a concierge doctor for the South Fork’s most wealthy and powerful residents. Hank is joined by his accountant brother Evan (Paulo Costanzo) and they start HankMed, with Evan handling promotions in ways that often make Hank uncomfortable. Lots of Royal Pains was filmed in Georgia and other locations, but it did also film locally in Southampton, Westhampton Beach and other parts of Long Island. Throughout the show’s run, one could regularly find calls for extras to film in the Hamptons, and they even got Khloé Kardashian and Scott Disick to guest star as themselves (the same year they shot their own show in the Hamptons) during the Season 6 finale at Dockers Waterside Restaurant & Marina in East Quogue. Also in the show, Reshma Shetty played Divya Katdare, Hank’s physician assistant; Brooke D’Orsay played Evan’s wife, Paige Lawson; and Henry Winkler recurred as the brothers’ dad, Eddie Lawson. Stream it on Prime Video, but you’ll have to pay.

Emergence (2019-2020)

Another ABC series, this time moving from the Hamptons to the North Fork, this science-fiction series set in Southold only lasted one, 13-episode season. In it, Southold Police Chief Jo Evans (Allison Tolman) investigates a small plane crash on the beach and finds a little girl (Alexa Swinton) who is not injured but clearly traumatized and suffering from amnesia. Unusual things begin to occur after the crash and discovery of the girl, including fake NTSB agents clearing the plane from the beach overnight. Jo takes the girl, who she calls Piper, into her care, and her family grows close with her. As the odd events mount, Jo works with investigative journalist Benny (Owain Yeoman) to figure out Piper’s story, and why a shadowy tech company is after her. The show was mostly filmed in New Jersey, but there is real footage sourced locally in Greenport, and a fictionalized version of Claudio’s restaurant is mentioned and visited. Emergence didn’t make the cut, but it’s rare to find a North Fork-centric show, which makes this a fun series to see. Buy the entire season streaming on Prime Video for $19.99.

The Black Hamptons (2022– )

This BET+ drama, set in the historically Black Sag Harbor enclave and based on Carl Weber’s 2022 Black Hamptons novel, explores its elite residents and a feud between two powerful families — the old-money Brittons and the newly wealthy Johnsons — in the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Beach Subdivisions (SANS). Starring Lamman Rucker (Anthony Johnson), Vanessa Bell Calloway (Carolyn Britton), Elise Neal (Sydney Johnson) and Blac Chyna (Karrin), the show focuses on the Johnsons’ rise, led by self-made tech CEO Anthony Johnson (Rucker), whose presence disrupts the Brittons’ sense of order and tradition. Originally conceived as a limited series, The Black Hamptons was popular enough to warrant a second season, and a third is not yet off the table, though it hasn’t been announced either. Stream it on BET+.

Stranger Things (2016-2025)

The much anticipated fifth and final season of Stranger Things is set to be released in three volumes across the holiday season. This series — which took inspiration from the Montauk Project and Camp Hero legends about inter-dimensional and time travel, teleportation, and kids being used in unethical experiments in a subterranean base — returns to Netflix with the first four episodes on November 26, the day before Thanksgiving, followed by three more episodes on Christmas, and the finale on New Year’s Eve.