What to watch on Netflix: 36 best TV shows streaming right now

Stars: Jessica Walter, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat, Tony Hale, David Cross

Number of seasons on Netflix: 5

Arrested Development follows the dysfunctional Bluth family, who go broke after patriarch George Sr. is arrested. The iconic comedy was ahead of its time when it premiered on Fox. While Netflix’s reboot doesn’t come close to the show’s original run, it still makes for a long, strange funny binge, thanks to an ace comedic cast, Ron Howard’s narration, and endless running gags: the banana stand, the chicken dance, “Her?” Honestly, we could go on.

Stars: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, David Choe, Patti Yasutake

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

Beef, starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as two Angelenos whose lives spiral out of control after a road-rage incident, is one of the most exciting TV shows to debut this year. As Saloni Gajjar put it in her review: “Beef’s endearing crux isn’t the suspense, which does keep you on the hook until the end. It’s the daring script that’s elevated by flawless performances from both actors.”

Stars: Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, Giancarlo Esposito

Number of seasons on Netflix: 6

It’s kind of incredible to think that Bob Odenkirk hadn’t even heard of Breaking Bad when he was asked to take on the role of shady lawyer Saul Goodman. (He says he caught up with the series on the plane ride over to New Mexico before shooting season two.) Since that flight, the character has become iconic and the namesake of this excellent BB prequel, which over six remarkable seasons proved to be more patient but just as beautifully shot as the aughts masterpiece from which it sprung, not to mention a real testament to how flesh out a character that at first felt like comic relief.

Stars: Annie Murphy, Salma Hayek, Myha’la Herrold, Aaron Paul, Zazie Beetz, Anjana Vasan

Number of seasons on Netflix: 6

Charlie Brooker’s bleak anthology series (we ranked its most gut wrenching episodes) returned after a four-year break to drop its sixth batch in June. As Kayleigh Dray put it in her review: “It’s the sort of TV that demands you put away your phone and pay attention, quite frankly. And, after the show’s divisive fifth season (which prompted many to accuse it of overstaying its welcome), we are genuinely relieved to see it back on form.”

Stars: Will Arnett, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, Aaron Paul, Amy Sedaris

Number of seasons on Netflix: 6, plus a special

BoJack Horseman, the brilliant animated dramedy about a has-been ’90s sitcom star who also happens to be an anthropomorphic horse, might just be the deepest series Netflix has ever produced, tackling alcoholism, drug addiction, death, depression, fame, childhood trauma, betrayal, failure, and on and on and on. As Les Chappell put it in his review of the finale: “You can always screw it up, and you can always make it better. No show on television understood that better than BoJack Horseman.” The series is also, we should add, very, very funny.

Stars: Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley, Adjoa Andoh, Ruth Gemmell, Polly Walker, Nicola Coughlan, Claudia Jessie, Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Julie Andrews, Ruby Barker

Number of seasons on Netflix: 2

Based on Julia Quinn’s novels of the same name, Netflix’s Bridgerton elevated Regency-era romance to an unprecedented level of bingeability. Each season of this sparkling series from Shonda Rhimes centers on a couple looking for love under the eyes of the scrupulous Queen. Applying signature Shondaland finesse, this seemingly staid premise soon gives way to sexy and scandalous adventures that are quite addicting.

Stars: Rachel Bloom, Vincent Rodriguez III, Santino Fontana, Skylar Astin, Donna Lynne Champlin, Pete Gardner, Vella Lovell, Gabrielle Ruiz, David Hull, Scott Michael Foster

Number of seasons on Netflix: 4

Creator-star Rachel Bloom delivered an episodic musical for the ages in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. This cheekily named romantic comedy follows Rebecca Bunch, an unhappy lawyer who moves to suburban California on a whim. As sweet as it is smart, the story delivers critical representation for mental health awareness and some of the outright funniest lyrical turns in modern memory. Come for the promise of killer songs, stay for the great tale that strings them together.

Stars: Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce, Lesley Manville, Jonny Lee Miller, Dominic West

Number of seasons on Netflix: 5

Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake) takes on Queen Elizabeth in the ’90s in the latest chapter on the royal family, which also includes the likes of Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret, and Dominic West as Prince Charles. Lauren Chval recapped every episode, so be sure to check out her insights as you plow through the most recent season, which came out in 2022.

Stars: Diane Morgan

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1 

This British import, which originally aired on BBC Two last year, is one of the funniest series to hit the streamer in quite a while. Diane Morgan, showcasing an incredibly deft comedic timing, plays our out-of-her-depth host, Philomena Cunk, who sits down with people who actually know what they’re talking about to take us on on a journey through world history. If you’re a fan of Da Ali G Show and any of the Alan Partridge stuff, this Charlie Brooker-created mockumentary is for you.

Stars: Christina Applegate, Linda Cardellini, James Marsden, Max Jenkins, Sam McCarthy, Luke Roessler

Number of seasons on Netflix: 3

Dead To Me, the black comedy starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as odd-couple friends, bit the dust in 2022 with an unusually tender third season. As Saloni Gajjar put it in her review: “In hindsight, it’s not surprising that a show about remorse and heartbreak wraps up in a tear-jerker series finale. It’s more overly sentimental and predictable than expected, sure, but Jen and Judy’s undying love was always the driving force. And Applegate and Cardellini sell the hell out of it, balancing comedic and emotional beats.”

Stars: Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan, Louisa Harland, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Dylan Llewellyn, Siobhán McSweeney, Tara Lynne O’Neille, Tommy Tiernam

Number of seasons on Netflix: 3

Lisa McGee’s electric Irish-teen comedy Derry Girls is specifically set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, but it has a universal appeal in how it portrays the coming-of-age years of its central heroines. The show follows a group of Catholic school girls as they navigate school, faith, crushes, and family dynamics, all while being ridiculously funny. The third and final season dropped in 2022.

Stars: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Taylor Kitsch, Jesse Plemons, Aimee Teegarden, Gaius Charles, Adrianne Palicki, Michael B. Jordan

Number of seasons on Netflix: 5

A series that transcended both high-school and sports shows (and seemed to be almost tailor-made for viewers who don’t particularly like those genres?), Friday Night Lights has a lot going for it: some charming young talent, a strong aesthetic thanks its three-camera-and-minimal-blocking setup, an authentic-feeling small-town backdrop, a very good score and soundtrack, and, as just about everyone who enjoys the show has commented, maybe the best married couple on TV in the form of Coach and Tami Taylor. Those locker-room speeches are pretty damn good, too.

Stars: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Scott Patterson, Milo Ventimiglia, Keiko Agena, Sean Gunn, Melissa McCarthy

Number of seasons on Netflix: 7, plus reunion miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life

No place on television feels like home quite the way Stars Hollow feels like home. Set in a quaint Connecticut town, Amy Sherman-Palladino’s most iconic TV hit follows a young mother-daughter duo navigating the pressures of girlhood and womanhood in tandem. In the periphery, a lovable cast of neighbors ebbs and flows to create a warm snowglobe-type effect that never fails to produce the warm and fuzzies.

Stars: Tim Blake Nelson, Peter Weller, Eric André, Sofia Boutella, Kate Micucci, F. Murray Abraham, Guillermo Del Toro

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

The ace anthology horror series Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet Of Curiosities dropped just in time for Halloween, offering freaky tales helmed by the likes of Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), and Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight). As Manuel Betancourt put it in his review: “As he’s proven time and time again, the Oscar-winning director Del Toro is just as much a student as a master of horror, and here he is once more allowing audiences to revel in its many possibilities with a slew of entrancing and an times all too timely stories.”

Stars: Joe Locke, Kit Connor, Yasmin Finney, William Gao, Olivia Colman, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan

Number of seasons on Netflix: 2

Alice Oseman’s adaptation of her own graphic novels has a lot going for it: Heartstopper is at once a cute, coming-of-age rom-com and deep drama, tackling weighty issues with realism and, yes, heart. We dare you to stop smiling as Charlie (Locke) and Nick (Connor) find love against all odds. The show features a talented young-adult ensemble as it tenderly explores queer romances. And, as always, Olivia Colman steals every scene she’s in. Plus, there’s more good news: Netflix has already renewed the series for a third season, which will premiere in 2024.

Stars: Tim Robinson, Patti Harrison, Tim Heidecker, Conner O’Malley, Sam Richardson

Number of seasons on Netflix: 3

We love this inventive show so much that we ranked every sketch from the series’ first two seasons. As for season three, which dropped in 2023? That received the coveted A grade in our review, with Meredith Hobbs Coons writing the following: “It’s not all screaming and big reactions that populate these sketches, although those may stand out most after your first watch. Upon subsequent viewings, be sure to catch the tiny nods, the looks of embarrassment that sweep across the characters’ faces, lines of background dialogue, and the polite group chuckle that swells after each half-joke delivered by workshop leaders, tour guides, and the like.”

Stars: Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, Jay Ellis, Y’Lan Noel, Alexander Hodge

Number of seasons on Netflix: 5

In a big first for Netflix, the streamer acquired HBO’s charming hit Insecure, which left an indelible impact on the small screen thanks to its Black representation. Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore knocked it out of the park in adapting Rae’s web series, Awkward Black Girl, into a TV show that tracked Issa’s evolution and navigated multiple love stories. The show’s real draw, though, was the central friendship between Issa and and Molly (Orji). There’s no heartbreak bigger than a BFF breakup, and Insecure understood that really well. Plus, Rae’s raps are always a fun time.

Subjects: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, Phil Jackson

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

Tiger King may have been the docuseries that first took over the culture at the start of the lockdown in spring 2020—but it wasn’t the best. That distinction goes to this instant classic, which felt like a necessary watch whether or not you cared about the Bulls, Chicago, Michael Jordan, the NBA, very-’90s fashions, or even the notion of organized sports. Packed with never-before-seen footage, the series, which centers on the team’s championship 1997-1998 season, is expertly crafted, engaging and addicting. We could have watched another 10 episodes, truth be told.

Stars: Ruby Stokes, Cameron Chapman, Ali Hadji-Heshmati, Michael Clarke, Ivanno Jeremiah, Luke Treadaway

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

This supernatural thriller, developed by Attack The Block helmer Joe Cornish, chronicles a crew of teenage ghost hunters in the U.K., including one played by standout newcomer Cameron Chapman. As Jenna Scherer put it in her review: “All in all, Lockwood is an appealing blend of noir-tinged detective tale, horror, and lowkey teen drama with just the right amount of witty banter. Both grim and cozy, it’s the TV equivalent of a strange old bookshop hidden down a London side street.”

Stars: Margaret Qualley, Andie MacDowell, Anika Noni Rose, Nick Robinson, Traci Villar, Raymond Ablack, Billy Burke

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

Based on Stephanie Land’s memoir, Maid is a hypnotic miniseries about single mother Alex Langley overcoming her struggles. Here’s an excerpt from The A.V. Club’s review: “Maid is the kind of TV drama that stays with you for a long time. The 10 episodes are unflinching in their portrayal of Alex’s poverty, isolation, and fragile emotional well-being. It is also unabashedly hopeful; the show and its protagonist forge ahead with resilience and poignancy.”

Stars: Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv, Hannah Gross, Stacey Roca

Number of seasons on Netflix: 2 

As if Zodiac didn’t already make the case, with Mindhunter, David Fincher reminds us that if he only made titles about serial killers and the stiff-suit-wearing investigators chasing them going forward, that would be just fine by us. The director has helmed seven episodes of the show, which follows odd-couple agents (Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany) and a psychology prof (Anna Torv) in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, and revives a lot of his visual and thematic hallmarks.

Stars: Mindy Kaling, Ike Barinholtz, Chris Messina, Ed Weeks, Xosha Roquemore, Adam Pally, Beth Grant, Fortune Feimster, Garret Dillahunt

Number of seasons on Netflix: 6

After writing for and starring in The Office for eight seasons, The Mindy Project marked Kaling’s first as a series creator. She plays Dr. Mindy Lahiri in this workplace comedy, which survived shifting from network to streaming, as well as a roster of cast changes. While it’s true that Danny Castellano’s character arc still hurts, at least we’ll always have the surprise Christmas dance he did for Mindy. TMP remains an overall hilarious sitcom (featuring several notable guest stars, from Bill Hader to Ana Ortiz to Timothy Olyphant). Kaling established herself distinctive comedic voice and as a leading lady during its six-season run, which also marked the first time a South Asian actor starred in their own primetime sitcom.

Stars: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Richa Moorjani, Darren Barnet, Jaren Lewison, Lee Rodriguez, Ramona Young, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Niecy Nash

Number of seasons on Netflix: 4

Mindy Kaling and Louie Lang’s Never Have I Ever is the rare fun teen dramedy centering on an Indian American family that also subverts South Asian stereotypes. Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is a high schooler struggling with grief after her father’s death. NHIE handles her coming-of-age issues with relatable vulnerability and relieving bouts of humor. Plus, Ramakrishnan is just an ingenious breakout star. The fourth and final season of the show dropped in June.

Stars: Iñaki Godoy, Emily Rudd, Mackenyu, Jacob Romero Gibson, Taz Skylar

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

The streamer’s live-action take on Eiichiro Oda’s popular manga series, which was already adapted into a beloved anime show, thankfully doesn’t drop the ball and instead—as Kayleigh Dray put it in her review—“feels whimsical and fantastical, with healthy doses of cartoonish violence thrown in for good measure.” Later, she noted: “Even a cursory glance makes it abundantly clear that a lot of love and care has gone into all of its lush world building, and don’t even get us started on those gorgeously choreographed fight scenes.”

Starring: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner, Sofia Hublitz, Skylar Gaertner, Lisa Emery, Charlie Tahan, Janet McTeer

Number of seasons on Netflix: 4

Ozark isn’t quite the prestige drama it aspires to be, but it’s still an incredibly engaging and intense crime thriller. It follows the Byrdes, who move to the Ozarks to launder money for a Mexican cartel, promptly creating deadly havoc in the small town. Julia Garner delivers a gut-wrenching, two-time Emmy winning performance. Here’s The A.V. Club’s review of the the final episodes, which came out in 2022.

Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Bill Camp, Moses Ingram, Harry Melling, Rebecca Root

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

Based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name, this coming-of-age dramedy chronicles the evolution of the (regrettably fictional) chess prodigy Beth Harmon. Combining the pulsing intensity of ambition with the intense interiority of strategy games, The Queen’s Gambit was one of those pandemic sensations that holds up stunningly well in the metaphorical light of day. At just seven episodes, it’s a tight story assault with a flourishing finish you won’t soon forget.

Stars: Natasha Lyonne, Charlie Barnett, Yul Vazquez, Elizabeth Ashley, Greta Lee, Rebecca Henderson, Dasha Polanco

Number of seasons on Netflix: 2

In this killer series, Natasha Lyonne stars as Nadia, a snarky New York City woman who finds herself trapped in a Groundhog Day-style time loop. This puzzle box of a show show delivers a never-ending treasure trove of questions to be answered and matches that surface-level satisfaction with some real emotion. Check out our review of Russian Doll’s exquisitely trippy second season from last year.

Stars: Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander

Number of seasons on Netflix: 9

Yes, it’s the most successful “show about nothing” ever written. Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, this iconic American sitcom follows four friends living in New York City who—for better or worse—kind of just hang out. Stupidly funny and timelessly recognizable, Seinfeld continues to set the bar for comedy years since it last aired. So double-dip that chip. Revel in the joy of Festivus. Take counsel from Sagman, Bennett, Robbins, Oppenheim, and Taft. It’s never too late or early for a Seinfeld watch.

Stars: Bae Doona, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai, Tuppence Middleton, Brian J. Smith, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Max Riemelt, Aml Ameen, Toby Onwumere

Number of seasons on Netflix: 2, plus a Christmas special

Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s global sci-fi drama unsurprisingly features labyrinthine mysteries. In it, eight strangers born on the same day in different parts of the world share a psychic connection. As they try to adapt to this new discovery, a sinister organization tries to hunt them all down. Engagingly complicated, Sense8 is beautifully shot and embraces authentic queer and diverse characters in exciting ways. As Caroline Siede aptly put in her review: “It’s unlike anything else on TV.”

Stars: Jessie Mei Li, Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Ben Barnes, Zoë Wanamaker

Number of seasons on Netflix: 2

This fantasy series, based on the YA Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo, dropped its filler-free second season in March. As Sarah Shaffi put it in her review: “It’s when most of the characters come together for a singular purpose that the show shines, and its middle trio of episodes—“Every Monstrous Thing,” “Yuyeh Sesh (Despise Your Heart),” and “Ni Weh Sesh (I Have No Heart)”—do just that.”

Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, HoYeon Jung, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

South Korean thriller Squid Game has evolved into one of Netflix’s most popular originals—and for good reason. The survival drama is full of shocks, fatal twists, and heartbreaks as 456 lower-class players risk their lives for a chance to win billions of dollars. But, as William Hughes writes about the show, “it hides bitter anti-capitalist satire beneath blood-soaked kids’ games.” Thankfully, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has confirmed a second season.

Stars: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink  

Number of seasons on Netflix: 4

The Duffer Brothers’ homage to the ’80s and childhood and movies made in the ’80s about childhood finally returned this year. The fourth season of the pop-culture phenom—sorry, Stranger Things 4—was released in two batches: The first premiered at the end of May, and the second, which includes two movie-length eps, “Papa” and “The Piggyback,” dropped in 2022.

Stars:Gillian Jacobs, Lucas Englander, Cory Michael Smith, Ralph Amoussou, Deleila Piasko

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1 

Gillian Jacobs leads this miniseries, a stylish chronicle of the effort to smuggle artists and intellectuals out of Nazi-controlled France. As Meredith Hobbs Coons put it in her review: “Historically, it was all there: Marseilles existed in 1940; high fashion was a thing that was definitely accessible to a rich girl from Chicago; surrealists were making art.. so why not tap into it? This show feels like an exercise in highlighting the good in an unquestionably dark time, without insensitively skirting around the danger and tragedy of it all.”

Stars: Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher

Number of seasons on Netflix: 3 

In June, our time-traveling superheroes got together again for a third season, which included the excellently handled story arc of Elliot Page’s character coming out as Viktor Hargreeves. In her positive review of the latest batch of episodes, Jenna Scherer wrote: “The Umbrella Academy never stops being a blast—a bright ball of chaos enclosed in a Dyson sphere of hard-won devotion from what Five defines as not so much a family as ‘an institute for snarky delinquents.’”

Stars: Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Blair Underwood, John Leguizamo, Christopher Jackson, Joshua Jackson

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

Ava DuVernay devastated audiences in 2019 with her painful yet poignant limited series dramatizing the infamous Central Park jogger case, the stain on the American justice system that saw five Black and Latino teenagers wrongly accused of assaulting and raping a woman in Manhattan in 1989. Their stories remain as prescient as ever, and DuVernay’s retelling delivers a uniquely gut-wrenching blend of sobering realism and cinematic sensationalism that will leave practically any viewer moved.

Subjects: Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, Ma Anand Sheela, Jane Stork, Philip Toelkes

Number of seasons on Netflix: 1

Brothers Chapman and Maclain Way (The Battered Bastards of Baseball) direct this six-part look at what happened when the followers of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh took over a tiny community in rural Oregon in the early ‘80s. It’s stranger-than-fiction stuff, full of, yes, wild details like assassination attempts and some very loud orgies. What’s more, the indie-leaning soundtrack (Bill Callahan, Kevin Morby, Damien Jurado) is ace, as is the Owen Wilson-starring Documentary Now! spoof it influenced.