Breaking Bad fans are signing up to the service to catch the latest episodes. What else does it have that's worth watching?

So you've just signed up for Netflix to watch new episodes of Breaking Bad. You're not alone. Breaking Bad is why most people I know have Netflix. It's why I have Netflix – after guzzling up the first four seasons on DVD in a dizzy, near-continuous, sleep-deprived, pizza-fuelled sitting at Christmas, I panic-subscribed because Netflix was the only place I could watch season five with any degree of legality (although the new episodes are also available on iTunes).

But now what? Perhaps it's time to explore Netflix a little more. The problem is that Netflix will try to recommend things for you to watch, based on your love of Breaking Bad.

By no means should you follow these recommendations. They are terrible. I'm looking at my Netflix recommendations now. Because I watched Iron Man 2, perhaps I'd like to watch Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj. Because I watched It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, perhaps I'd like to watch Serpico. Because I watched a John Hodgman stand-up set, perhaps I'd like to watch an image of David Hasselhoff topless under an unzipped leather jacket. Netfix's recommendations are so bad that there's even a Twitter account dedicated to listing the worst of them. You're probably much better off with my beginner's guide instead.

What to watch

Netflix excels at quality US imports. As well as Breaking Bad, there's Nurse Jackie, Edie Falco's criminally underappreciated Sopranos follow-up. And there's Justified and Sons of Anarchy, which both deserve bigger audiences. And if you want to rewatch classic old shows, but can't be bothered to walk over to your DVD shelf, there's 24, Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Firefly, Rome, Weeds and both versions of The Killing.

Netflix is also brilliant for comedy. It has a lot of Alan Partridge (including the otherwise hard-to-find Knowing Me, Knowing Yule Christmas special). It has the Peabody Award-winning Portlandia, which is superb, and every single incredible episode of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. It's also the best place outside of YouTube to watch stand-up. Sets by Louis CK, Aziz Ansari, Doug Stanhope, Reggie Watts, Russell Brand, Demetri Martin and Patton Oswalt are all easy enough to find.

Fans of feature-length documentaries are well catered for. There are hundreds to choose from. Like food? El Bulli: Cooking in Progress. Like environmental timelapse films? Chasing Ice. Like sad stories about what happens when hippies look after monkeys? Project Nim. Like staring open-mouthed at things that you can't believe were even allowed to happen, let alone be recorded? David Icke: Live at the Oxford Union Debating Society.

Original programming

Netflix's commitment to making its own shows started earlier in the year with House of Cards; a bold, slick, lavish, expensive-looking, David Fincher-produced US remake of the British series. It has made history by being nominated for several Emmys, which is thanks in part to Kevin Spacey's gloriously hammy performance as corrupt Congressman Frank Underwood.

Other Netflix shows have enjoyed differing levels of success. The fourth season of Arrested Development, for instance, was a letdown. Prison show Orange is the New Black isn't quite as good as people would have you think, possibly because it's more a checklist of Important Issues That Need To Be Addressed than gripping drama. Finally there's Hemlock Grove, Eli Roth's horror series. Do not watch Hemlock Grove. It's as stilted and wooden and dimwitted and interminable as anything else you're ever likely to see. Watching Hemlock Grove will just convince Netflix to make even more episodes (it has already started on a second season), and that would be a travesty.

What to avoid

Don't subscribe to Netflix for big recent films, because they aren't here. With the exception of The Hobbit – which I'm discounting because it's essentially three hours of some cartoon imps singing about washing up – and a handful of smaller films, everything here is at least two years old, which means you've probably already seen it at the cinema or on DVD or on Sky Movies or the like. But if you want to watch Paranormal Activity 2 or Hostel Part 3 or any number of forgettable rom-coms from seven years ago where Ryan Reynolds pulls a confused face on the poster, knock yourself out. As for me, Netflix recommends that I watch Did You Hear About the Morgans. No, Netflix. No.