Netflix remains the undisputed leader in streaming television thanks to its best-in-class app and constant flow of fresh shows. New additions to our list of the best shows to watch on Netflix right now include AMC’s tech industry dramedy The Audacity and One Hundred Years of Solitude, a magical adaptation of the classic Colombian novel. They join Netflix hits like Harlan Coben adaptation I Will Find You, twisty murder mystery His & Hers, and many more notable shows.
This list is weighted toward the best shows to watch on Netflix right now, which means recently released Netflix Originals take priority, though you’ll find legacy Netflix shows further down the list. These are only the most relevant and worthwhile shows to watch on Netflix.
Last updated Aug. 21; newer additions are at the top.
The Audacity
The hubris of Silicon Valley gets sent up in this satirical drama starring Billy Magnussen (Road House) and Sarah Goldberg (Barry). He plays the egomaniacal, over-leveraged founder of a tech company that’s about to go public, who needs the stock price high and will do anything to get it there; she plays his class-envious therapist, who is using insider information clients inadvertently reveal during sessions to trade stocks. When he finds out what she’s doing, he blackmails her into an uneasy partnership. The impressive supporting cast includes Meaghan Rath, Simon Helberg, and Zach Galifianakis. A second season is in the works at AMC, where this first aired/streamed. -Liam Mathews[Trailer]
Outer Banks
The golden-hued adventure drama Outer Banks is one of Netflix’s most popular teen shows, and one of the only ones that isn’t supernatural (though there are fantastical elements like buried treasure). The kids grow up in Season 4, though, as there’s a plotline that revolves around paying property taxes. What’s the point of finding buried treasure if you have to pay taxes on it?! The fifth and final season is streaming now. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
One Hundred Years of Solitude
This well-received Colombian series is a two-season adaptation of Gael Garcia Marquez’s classic novel of the same name. It’s a sweeping tale of love, war, and magic, following several generations of the Buendia family as they live their lives in the enchanted town of Macondo. It’s a faithful adaptation of the most famous and beloved Colombian novel, with beautiful craftsmanship and lovely performances. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
The Hawk
In the 2000s, Will Ferrell starred in four sports comedy movies in four years: Kicking & Screaming, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, and Semi-Pro. Now, Ferrell isn’t as big of a draw as he was because comedy doesn’t do as well at the box office as it used to, so there’s a bit of a meta element to The Hawk, in which he plays a golf superstar who peaked in the 2000s, and it’s a Netflix series, not a movie, because that’s where comedy lives now. Lonnie “The Hawk” Hawkins is trying to make a comeback, which puts him in competition with his son Lance (Jimmy Tatro), whose own career is on the ascent. It’s vintage Ferrell meets Eastbound and Down, but the real scene-stealer is Fortune Feimster as Lonnie’s caddy Sam, who doesn’t know anything about golf. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Little House on the Prairie
The beloved novel series by Laura Ingalls Wilder — that was the basis for an equally beloved 1970s television series — gets a fresh adaptation for the Netflix generation. Imagine living with no phone, no internet, no running water, no nothing, in the middle of nowhere on the frontier with just your family and your neighbors to rely on. Sounds pretty good, right? It would be extremely difficult, but the love and excitement and freedom you’d feel would be worth it. This is one the whole family can enjoy together. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
I Will Find You
Netflix has had great success with limited series adaptations of novels by Harlan Coben, and this one is notable for being its firstAmericanCoben series (most of them, like Stay Close and Run Away, are British productions, though Coben himself is American). This one stars Sam Worthington (Avatar) as David, a father wrongly convicted of murdering his own son, Matthew. When his ex-sister-in-law Rachel, a former investigative reporter (Britt Lower in her first prominent non- Severance role), gets a tip that Matthew may still be alive, David and Rachel set out to find him. With a cast that also includes Milo Ventimiglia and Madeleine Stowe, it’s easily the most star-studded Coben adaptation to date. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Michael Jackson: The Verdict
This three-part documentary series revisits Michael Jackson’s 2005 child molestation trial, at which the pop star was found not guilty on all counts but which nevertheless added more controversy to public opinion about Jackson’s strange life, which ended just four years later. This was the trial where Jackson infamously danced on top of a car for his supporters after entering his not guilty plea. More than anything else, though, the documentary is about the media circus that surrounded the trial, which was clearly a sordid affair no matter how you feel about Jackson himself.-Liam Mathews[Trailer]
Sweet Magnolias
This special brand of small-town drama is a fan favorite for its coziness, following the daily goings on of female friends Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Helen (Heather Headley), and Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott) in the made-up town of Serenity, South Carolina. Expect some obstacles — but nothing too over the top — as the women navigate big and small issues with romance, careers, and family. It goes down like a cold glass of sweet tea. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
The Four Seasons
Tina Fey is the main draw to this grown-up comedy series — she co-created it and stars in her first regular TV role since 30 Rock — but she’s just one member of a stacked ensemble that also includes Colman Domingo and Steve Carell (in Season 1). They’re all members of a group of college friends who take quarterly vacations together, and the series follows them over the course of a tumultuous year. It’s different than Fey’s usual joke-packed style, and has more in common with the well-heeled, middle-aged milieu of Nancy Meyers, but it’s a smart, funny, and unexpected series overall. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Nemesis
Power creator Courtney A. Kemp leaves New York for Los Angeles for her new show that follows two men on either side of the law who are engaged in an obsessive cat-and-mouse game. Coltrane Wilder (Y’lan Noel) presents as a successful businessman, but Det. Isiah Stiles (Matthew Law) is convinced he’s a professional thief who leads the crew that killed his partner. Stiles will stop at nothing to bring Wilder down, and Wilder will do anything to avoid getting caught. It has a lot of cliches, but only ones that work.-Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Man on Fire
This action-packed thriller isn’t exactly a TV series remake of the 2004 Denzel Washington movie of the same name, but it also kind of is. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays John Creasy, a depressed former CIA agent who finds a couple of things that give his life meaning again: Taking care of a girl who needs his help (Billie Boullet), and getting revenge on people who wronged him. It’s a standard action thriller, but it’s not bad. -Liam Mathews [Review|Trailer]
Running Point
Kate Hudson stars in this Mindy Kaling -produced comedy series as the ambitious yet overlooked Isla Gordon, who becomes president of the fictional NBA team the Los Angeles Waves after a scandal forces her brother (Justin Theroux) to resign. It’s sort of like if Shiv Roy got dropped into a Ted Lasso situation. The Other Two‘s Drew Tarver also stars. Two seasons are currently streaming. – Allison Picurro [Trailer]
Trust Me: The False Prophet
This harrowing docuseries is a follow-up to Netflix’s 2022 series Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey about Mormon extremist Warren Jeffs. After Jeffs went to prison for sex crimes, a man named Samuel Bateman became his heir apparent, and he committed horrible crimes against his followers and their children. Enter cult psychology researcher Christine Marie and her videographer husband Tolga Katas, who found out about what Bateman was doing and infiltrated his sect. Under the guise of making a straightforward documentary about Bateman and the FLDS community, they secretly gathered evidence of his crimes. This documentary uses much of their footage. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Love on the Spectrum U.S.
This heartwarming series is an American edition of the Australian reality documentary series following the dating lives of people on the autism spectrum. Like the original, the U.S. version is empathetic and deeply moving as it follows these lovable young people on their journeys to find love. Over the course of three seasons, you’ll become incredibly invested in their journeys. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program in 2022. It’s maybe the least exploitative reality show ever made. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen
This lightly surrealistic horror limited series hails from creator Haley Z. Boston and follows Rachel Harkin (Camila Morrone), who is about to get married to Nicky Cunningham (Adam DiMarco) at his family’s house when she gets the unshakeable feeling that if she goes through with it…something very bad is going to happen. And wouldn’t you know, she’s right! It’s a fun show with some strong performances and some memorably gross horror imagery. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
One Piece
Netflix’s YA-ish adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s long-running manga series (which has also been adapted into an almost as long-running anime series) follows the Straw Hat Pirates, a group of lovable rascals led by rubber-limbed adventurer Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) who sail the seas in search of the enigmatic One Piece treasure. They encounter eccentric characters and strange lands, picking up new crew members and deepening their friendships along the way. It’s a whimsical, candy-colored adventure. -Liam Mathews[Review|Trailer]
Virgin River
Do you like it your TV to feel like one long Hallmark movie? If that’s the case, you should know that few other shows are currently doing that better than Virgin River. In this adaptation of the novels by Robyn Carr, Alexandra Breckenridge stars as Mel, a nurse practitioner from Los Angeles who, after having her heart broken one too many times, starts a new life in a remote Northern California town. As these things go, she quickly meets Jack (Martin Henderson), a bartender who makes her want to love again. This show really has everything: long lost twin brothers, bombshell pregnancies where it’s a mystery who the father is, and main characters getting shot by mysterious gunmen. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]
The Night Agent
TV creator Shawn Ryan has produced some great shows — The Shield, Timeless, Terriers — and while his latest, The Night Agent, might not be on the same level of his other hits, it’s an easy binge that stays in Ryan’s lane. The political action-thriller is based on Matthew Quirk’s book, following a low-level FBI agent who mans a secret phone line in the basement of the White House. His job is a bore… until the phone rings! Then it’s all about uncovering a conspiracy that goes — say it with me — all the way to the top. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model
This documentary series looks back at the various scandals and controversies around America’s Next Top Model, the long-running, 2000s-defining reality competition — and there are enough of them to fill three episodes. The show covers allegations of racism, not taking sexual assault seriously, and various instances of poor judgement and poor taste. Creator and host Tyra Banks is interviewed and makes some apologies for her part in some of the controversies. Other ANTM participants include former judges Nigel Barker, Miss J, and Jay Manuel. You’ll never smize the same way after watching this. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Southland
This gritty crime drama originally ran from 2009 to 2013 on NBC and then TNT, and is now experiencing a second life on Netflix. It follows Los Angeles police officers through the vicissitudes of their professional and personal lives. The ensemble cast is led by Ben McKenzie, Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, and Regina King pre-Emmy and Oscar wins. The series was created by Ann Biderman, who went on to create Ray Donovan, and executive-produced by John Wells, the versatile and high-achieving producer of many great shows, including ER, The Pitt, and Shameless. It’s one of its era’s hidden gems. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Bridgerton
This hit drama is based on the novel series by Julia Quinn and executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes, who knows how to make romance TV better than anyone. It follows various members of the Bridgerton family through their romantic adventures in an aspirationally diverse rendering of Regency-era England. Bridgerton has managed to stay one of Netflix’s most popular shows for four seasons despite — or perhaps because of — changing its main characters every season. The most recent fourth season follows Benedict Bridgerton’s (Luke Thompson) relationship with Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha). -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials
In this adaptation of genre-defining mystery writer Agatha Christie’s 1929 novel The Seven Dials Mystery, a young woman named Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent (Mia McKenna-Bruce) investigates the suspicious death of the man she fancied. It was ruled a suicide, but who adjusted the dials on the seven clocks in his room, and why? Bundle is going to find out, no matter how much trouble she gets into. McKenna-Bruce is a charming breakout performer, the supporting cast includes Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman, and the story gets told in three zippy episodes. It’s the Jazz Age, baby! -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
His & Hers
Tessa Thompson and Jon Bernthal star in this murder mystery two-hander. They play estranged spouses — she’s a news reporter, he’s a homicide detective — who reenter each others’ lives when they’re both investigating a brutal murder in their North Georgia hometown. They both knew the victim, and they both had a motive. It only gets twistier from there, culminating in the craziest ending for a Netflix thriller limited series since Behind Her Eyes. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Stranger Things
After nine long years — 10 if you count the year they spent making Season 1 — Stranger Things is over. You watched these kids grow up and battle progressively more fearsome foes while the production value got higher and higher. When it started, it was a Winona Ryder comeback vehicle. Now, it’s something Winona Ryder needs a comeback from. It’s Netflix’s most culturally impactful show ever, and it’s now available to watch to completion (there’s no secret episode, sorry). -Liam Mathews [Review | Trailer]
A Man on the Inside
For his first show since The Good Place, star comedy writer-producer Michael Schur linked back up with one of the stars of that beloved series, Ted Danson. Their reunion is only natural, because Schur is fond of saying that Danson is the greatest TV actor of all time, so why wouldn’t he want to work with him again? Danson stars as a lonely widower who goes undercover to solve gentle mysteries that are really about the community he finds along the way. It’s a sweet and poignant comedy inspired by the Oscar-nominated Chilean documentary The Mole Agent, which you can also find on Netflix. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Death by Lightning
While other streaming services are retreating to tried-and-true formulas, Netflix is still occasionally making risky, surprising shows like Death by Lightning, a limited series that dramatizes a truly forgotten story from American history: the assassination of President James Garfield by a random kook named Charles Guiteau. The four-episode series has a murderer’s row of beloved character actors, with Michael Shannon playing Garfield and Matthew Macfadyen playing Guiteau, and supporting performances from Nick Offerman, Shea Whigham, and Bradley Whitford, plus the great Betty Gilpin as First Lady Lucretia Garfield. Watch it and learn something. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Nobody Wants This
The producers knew what they were doing with this rom-com’s ironic title. Two of TV’s most likable actors, Kristen Bell and Adam Brody in lead roles supported by scene-stealers like Timothy Simons, Justine Lupe, Sherry Cola, and Tovah Feldshuh? A culturally specific story — in this case, an agnostic woman falling in love with a Hot Rabbi — that feels fresh? Genuinely funny jokes? A pleasant atmosphere where the drama isn’t overly dramatic but not so low-stakes that it feels meaningless? A pace that moves so fast you’ll say “wait, they’re doing this already?” Everybody wants this. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
The Diplomat
The Diplomat has become Netflix’s smartest and most entertaining political drama over its three-season run, and Season 3 may be its best yet. The show follows Kate Wyler (Keri Russell), an American diplomat who becomes the ambassador to the United Kingdom and becomes embroiled in some conspiracies that go all the way to the top. Just as complicated is her marriage to her husband, Hal (Rufus Sewell), a politician willing to do anything for his job, even if it destroys his relationship with Kate. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch
Even though we’ve overcome the curse of video game TV adaptations being hollow and uninspired cash grabs (thank you Fallout and Season 1 of The Last of Us!), I’m still surprised when one comes along and is pretty good. Netflix, in particular, has been good with its animated vidya adaptations (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Castlevania, etc.), and its latest, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, continues that trend. Ubisoft’s stealth espionage game starring the company’s best known character not named Lara Croft gets turned into a paranoid action thriller with Liev Schreiber voicing the enigmatic (and now almost geriatric) superspy Sam Fisher, a man who can get into any building without so much as making a squeak, yet always leaves it guns a-blazin’ or snapping necks in hand-to-hand combat. Deathwatch nails the action and adds a solid conspiracy story on top of it, and it’s all told with a perfectly serious tone that doesn’t belittle the gaming audience. If this were live-action and on dad-show central Prime Video, it would be a massive hit, but it should still be popular for a niche audience. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Dark Winds
The great Zahn McClarnon leads AMC’s under-the-radar thriller Dark Winds, based on Tony Hillerman’s Leaphorn & Chee novel series. McClarnon plays Leaphorn, a Navajo Tribal Police officer in the 1970s grieving a personal loss while investigating twisted cases that always seem to put him in harm’s way. He’s joined by Kiowa Gordon as Chee, his new deputy, and Jessica Matten as Bernadette, a razor-sharp sergeant. Dark Winds is a consistently likable and tense mystery series that’s capable of gorgeous detours into the surreal; a third season episode that finds Leaphorn hallucinating while fighting for his life in the desert is a series highlight. And it’s worth noting that the late Robert Redford is among its executive producers. Redford’s last on-screen role was a cameo appearance in Season 3; look for him playing chess opposite his fellow executive producer George R.R. Martin. – Kelly Connolly [Trailer]
Interview with the Vampire
Interview with the Vampire — which TV Guide named the best show on TV in 2024 — is a wholly unique experience: a deeply felt romantic drama combined with Grand Guignol vampire horror. A reimagining of Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles novels, the series follows Louis de Point du Lac (Jacob Anderson) through over 100 years of his afterlife as he recounts his life story to cynical journalist Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian): his relationships with volatile Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), who turned him into a vampire, and caring Armand (Assad Zaman), as well as his surrogate daughter, Claudia (Bailey Bass in Season 1 and Delainey Hayles in Season 2), who is cursed to be 14 forever. AnytimeInterview with the Vampirehas the opportunity to go for it, it takes it. -Liam Mathews[Trailer]
Alice in Borderland
Alice in Borderland, adapted from the manga series of the same name, follows Arisu (Kento Yamazaki) as he finds himself in an alternate Tokyo where most humans have disappeared. He has no idea what happened, but must enter the mysterious competitions in order to earn “visas” that will prevent him from being executed. Along the way, he crosses paths with Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), a rock climber who becomes Arisu’s partner in figuring out what is going on. -Kat Moon [Trailer]
Black Rabbit
Jason Bateman (who also directs the first two episodes) and Jude Law star in this gritty New York City crime thriller as two brothers who own a nightlife hotspot and are in serious financial trouble. As they try to come up with the cash to pay off the very dangerous people they owe, their toxic, codependent bond threatens to bring them down together. It’s very intentionally trying to be Ozark meets Uncut Gems. It’s imperfect, but it’s watchable; the tension never lets up and the cinematography is great. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Orphan Black
This sci-fi series starts when Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany) witnesses the suicide of a woman who looks exactly like her. She assumes the woman’s identity — she was a detective — and discovers that they’re both clones. They were made as part of a secret, illegal program, and there are many more of them throughout the world — and someone is after them. It’s a Canadian-made series that premiered in 2013 on BBC America stateside. Maslany won an Emmy in 2016 for her performance, which is really five-plus totally distinct performances. If any show deserved to get a Netflix bump a decade later, it’s this one. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Long Story Short
The new animated comedy from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg follows the three adult siblings of the Schwooper family— Avi (Ben Greenfield), Shira (Abbi Jacobson), and Yoshi (Max Greenfield) — as they face the ups and downs of life and look back at their very religious Jewish upbringing. “The point of Long Story Short is to depict, through the prism of one multigenerational family, nothing less than the breadth of human experience: the raising of children, the evolving relationships with siblings, the struggles with spirituality, the decisions to build and unravel marriages, and the trauma we unwittingly inflict on the people we love the most,” Jen Chaney writes in her rave review. —Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Wednesday
From Stranger Things to K-Pop Demon Hunters, most of Netflix’s biggest hits are at least somewhat unexpected. When Wednesday premiered in 2022, everyone expected it would be successful, thanks to star Jenna Ortega’s charismatic performance as droll teenage goth Wednesday Addams and director Tim Burton’s knack for finding his own whimsically macabre take on old material (in this case, The Addams Family). But no one expected that it would become Netflix’s biggest English-language show ever. Ortega’s dance number had to go viral on TikTok for that to happen. The show follows Wednesday as she investigates murder mysteries at her Hogwarts-like school while navigating life as a social outsider.-Liam Mathews [Trailer|Review]
WWE: Unreal
This pro wrestling documentary series does something unprecedented: it breaks kayfabe, which is the illusion that everything that happens in and around the ring is real. It takes fans behind the scenes and even inside the WWE’s writers’ room, which would have been unthinkable even a few years ago, when the company was still run by now-disgraced former chairman Vince McMahon. But now Triple H is in charge of content, WrestleMania is on Netflix, and things are different. Because here’s the thing: even though wrestling isn’t “real,” the people putting on the show are. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
The Hunting Wives
What ifThe Real Housewives of Dallas were killers? That’s something like the premise for this sexy, scandalous soap. Brittany Snow stars as Sophie, a woman who moves from Cambridge, Mass. — where Harvard is, of course — to Texas, where she falls in with a friend group of rich and intimidating housewives, led by Margo (famously Swedish actress Malin Akerman). They seem fun at first, but they have dark secrets they’ll do anything to keep hidden. The cast also includes Jaime Ray Newman, Chrissy Metz, and Dermot Mulroney. -Liam Mathews[Trailer]
Squid Game
Who remembers playing childhood games for fun on the playground? Who remembers playing them FOR YOUR LIFE? The unexpected hit Korean drama Squid Game is more the latter, as a group of people in bad need of money are taken in by a secret organization that has them play games — like Red Light, Green Light — for money. The catch? They lose, they die. Violently. What separates this from something like Saw is the humanity given to the characters. You’ll care about some of these people… and then they will die. It’s Netflix’s biggest show; scratch that, it’sthe world’s biggest show. All three seasons are now streaming. – Tim Surette [Trailer | More shows like Squid Game]
Blindspot
This action series that premiered on NBC in 2015 and ended in 2020 is the latest old show to enjoy a Netflix bump. Jaimie Alexander stars as a woman who wakes up naked in a duffel bag in Times Square with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Her body is covered in tattoos, each one of which represents a different clue to solving the mystery of who she is and the conspiracy she’s part of. She’s helped by FBI Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton), who later becomes her husband. It ran for five seasons and exactly 100 episodes, and features some of the most fun action ever seen in primetime. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Dept. Q
This detective drama comes from The Queen’s Gambit creator Scott Frank. It transports the psychologically-driven police procedural style of Nordic noir to Edinburgh, Scotland, where prickly detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) has been put in charge of a ragtag cold case unit. As they investigate the case of a lawyer (Chloe Pirrie) who vanished without a trace four years earlier, the members of the squad face down their own demons. It’s a slick, well-executed mystery that looks great and has a great cast of characters, including motormouthed deputy Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne) and stoic investigator Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov), who was a policeman in Syria before he fled to Scotland. Scott Frank is one of the best at stuff like this. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Forever
An adaptation of Judy Blume’s book of the same name, Mara Brock Akil’s Forever tells the story of two athletes becoming each other’s first love. The series is directed by Regina King and stars Lovie Simone and Michael Cooper Jr. as the lead characters Keisha Clark and Justin Edwards, respectively. The young adult romance has excitement, agony, confusion, passion — all the feelings that come with a first love. -Kat Moon [Trailer]
Black Mirror
This dystopian sci-fi anthology is one of Netflix’s longest-running shows. Over the course of 14 years and seven seasons (and counting), Black Mirror has been slightly exaggerating real social problems caused by technology to show how badly it’s messing up our souls. It dares to ask the question, ” What if phones but too much?” -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Ramy fans don’t need an introduction to comedian Mo Amer, and they probably won’t need any introduction to Mo, either. But for everyone else (is there anyone else?), here’s the scoop: This two-season Netflix comedy, created by Amer and Ramy Youssef and produced by A24, stars Amer as Mo Najjar, a Palestinian refugee living in Houston with his family and hustling to support them. If you like Ramy, you’ll like this, and if you don’t like Ramy, you haven’t watched it. – Kelly Connolly [Trailer]
XO, Kitty
Return to the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Cinematic Universe (the TATBILBCU) with this series spun off from the hit Netflix films. XO, Kitty, created by Jenny Han (who also wrote the books that inspired the movies), follows Kitty Covey (Anna Cathcart) as she moves to Seoul to attend the same boarding school her late mom went to. It doesn’t hurt that her long-distance boyfriend, Dae (Choi Min-young) goes there, too. But when that relationship hits a snag, Lara Jean’s younger sister has to figure out what she really wants. – Kelly Connolly [Trailer]
Black Doves
Keira Knightley picked a good show for her first TV series. She stars as Helen, a deep cover spy working for a private espionage agency known as the Black Doves. When her lover is murdered, she goes on a mission to find out who did it and why, and if she’s next. Helping her and protecting her is Sam (Ben Whishaw), a professional assassin with demons of his own. Black Dovesis a slick, darkly funny thriller that makes great use of Knightley and Whishaw’s considerable charms. -Liam Mathews [Trailer|Review]
Detroiters
I think you should leave… whatever you’re watching and binge Tim Robinson’s excellent sitcom Detroiters, one of the greatest products of Comedy Central’s golden era of the 2010s. Detroit native Robinson and real-life bestie Sam Richardson star as Detroit natives and besties Tim and Sam, who are the creatives at a small-time advertising firm in the Motor City. I said “bestie” twice in the previous sentence because it’s important to hammer home that the series is all about the duo’s friendship, an unconditional bromance that’s as wholesome as their adventures are wacky. Don’t worry, you’ll get some snippets of Robinson’s uber-popular sketch series I Think You Should Leave in Detroiters as Tim hatches ridiculous schemes, gets trapped in awkward situations, and screams, but it’s the kindness and diversity of Detroiters that really makes it work. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Penelope
This coming-of-age series, which comes from Mel Eslyn and Mark Duplass, follows disillusioned 16-year-old Penelope (Megan Stott) as she heads into the Washington wilderness to find herself and hug some trees. It’s a quiet series about finding yourself, sort of like a YA Into the Wild, and it’s the self-reflection and calmness of the show that makes it such a treasure in a day when the loudest shows make the most noise. The slow shots of the Pacific Northwest will make you want to pack a rucksack and hop on the nearest freight train to wherever fate takes you. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
The Perfect Couple
Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) was about to have the wedding of the season. She’s marrying into the richest family on Nantucket, and her future mother-in-law Greer Garrison Winbury (Nicole Kidman) is known to be the hostess with the mostest. But planning for the celebration comes to a halt when a dead body appears on the beach. Amelia, along with the Winburys, find themselves in the middle of an investigation that threatens to uncover far more than the truth behind the death. Also joining the star-studded cast are Liev Schreiber, Billy Howle, Dakota Fanning, and Meghann Fahy. – Kat Moon [Trailer]
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
If there’s anything the BBC does well, making engrossing thriller shows is it — and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which has been licensed to Netflix in the U.S., is the latest solid example of this phenomenon. This story follows a teen girl (Wednesday‘s Emma Myers) who gets in over her head investigating a murder that happened five years earlier that everyone else thought had been solved. This is the sort of vibey and intense mystery that sucks you all the way in. -Phil Owen [Trailer]
Parasyte: The Grey
This South Korean sci-fi horror TV series from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho is a live-action spin-off of the manga by Hitoshi Iwaaki, and depicts all the awful things that happen when parasitic organisms from outer space come to Earth and turn humans into killing machines. What’s more, all sorts of disgusting tentacles and tendrils pop out of the host bodies’ heads like jack-in-the-boxes. The story isn’t too complicated, but the action sequences will keep you glued to the screen. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Ripley
What if the story of The Talented Mr. Ripley was depicted as it truly is: a chilling tale of a sociopath whose lust for deviancy leads to a murdering spree? Creator Steven Zaillian takes Patricia Highsmith’s story and turns it into a polar opposite of the popular 1999 Matt Damon and Jude Law movie, filming everything in stark black and white and spending more time getting in the head of con man Thomas Ripley (played exquisitely by Andrew Scott) while he heads to Italy to convince a wealthy layabout to return home to America at the request of the father. Ripley has divided viewers, with some saying Scott is too old and the pacing is too slow, but I loved the tension and the careful character examination. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
3 Body Problem
This adaptation of Cixin Liu’s epic sci-fi novel comes from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and True Blood‘s Alexander Woo. Set across multiple timelines and in different countries, 3 Body Problem is a global thriller about scientists attempting to thwart an impending alien invasion. Unlike its peers in the genre, 3 Body Problem is heavily rooted in science, and the invasion will take 400 years to arrive, so it plays with theoretical solutions rather than building a big gun. Though its heady approach is not for everyone, you should at least watch through Episode 5 to see what happens to a boat carrying pro-alien cultists. It’s rad. – Tim Surette [Trailer] [Review]
Girls5eva
One of TV’s best comedies of the 2020s had the distinct disadvantage of being a Peacock original, but with a new life on Netflix, it’s turning in some of its best work ever. Girls5eva follows a semi-successful ’90s girl group that tries to make a comeback in the 2020s, with age, a changed entertainment business landscape, and a disinterested population getting in the way. It’s produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock and created by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt‘s Meredith Scardino, so it’s packed with rapid-fire jokes and has its sights dead set on pop culture. The main cast — Sara Bareilles, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Busy Philipps, and Paula Pell — is phenomenal, and a steady stream of well-known guest stars and original songs keep it fresh. Both Peacock seasons are now on Netflix, as is an all-new Netflix-exclusive Season 3. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
One Day
True love doesn’t happen overnight, despite what romantic dramas would lead you to believe, and in this adaptation of David Nicholls’ book, it takes decades. Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod will make you believe in love at 1000th sight, as we follow Dexter (Woodall) and Emma (Mod) on one day each year from the late ’80s to the ’00s, with all the ups and downs in between. The 14-episode limited series may seem intimidating at first, but the abbreviated run times (about 30 minutes each episode) make this a breezy binge. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Boy Swallows Universe
Australian author Trent Dalton’s debut book Boy Swallows Universe gets adapted for Netflix in this seven-episode limited series that’s for anyone looking for a coming-of-age story with a dash of crime and a warm heart. It follows Eli Bell, a young teenager whose mom is a former drug addict, stepdad is a heroin dealer, brother is mute, and father is in prison, as he stumbles into a life of crime to help out his family. Despite that setup, it’s a warm family drama with plenty of humor to keep it humming. Look out for strong performances from Travis Fimmel and Phoebe Tonkin, as well as a star-making turn for young Felix Cameron. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Blue Eye Samurai
Netflix is on a hot streak with animation — just look at the next few entries on this list — but the best of the bunch might be Blue Eye Samurai, a French-American co-production about a half-white half-Japanese female samurai (Onna-musha) in 17th century Japan on a quest for vengeance against four men. The critically acclaimed series features the voice talent of Maya Erskine, Darren Barnett, Masi Oka, George Takei, and Brenda Song. It ain’t for kids though; in addition to digit-severing violence, there’s nudity that would make your mom blush. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
Heartstopper
This cute and gentle British teen drama is based on a webcomic-turned-graphic novel that’s beloved by fans of romantic coming-of-age stories. Heartstopper follows Charlie Spring (Joe Locke), an openly gay secondary school student who develops an unlikely friendship with Nick (Kit Connor), a jock with a kind heart who invites Charlie to join the rugby team. And their friendship just might be developing into something more. It’s a sweet little show that keeps some comic book-inspired stylistic flourishes. Fans of the comic, and teen drama in general, will love it. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
Never Have I Ever
Mindy Kaling’s warm, wickedly funny spin on a classic high school comedy stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Vishwakumar, a high achiever desperate to reinvent herself after the sudden death of her father (Sendhil Ramamurthy, joining the ranks of TV’s hot dads even in flashbacks). As she navigates a love triangle and denies the depth of her grief, short-tempered Devi’s inner life is narrated, hilariously, by tennis legend John McEnroe. Who knew we all needed to hear John McEnroe say “thirst trap”? The series also ends with solid finality; Devi doesn’t tiptoe around her feelings. – Kelly Connolly [Trailer]
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
Sometimes what you want is to see your id, your most base animal instincts, the unhinged thoughts you definitely have but rarely voice, reflected on screen. You may or may not remember Tim Robinson from his time on Saturday Night Live; honestly, they didn’t really know what to do with him over there, and in retrospect it’s clear that what he needed was something of his own where he could really let his freak flag fly. That’s I Think You Should Leave in a nutshell! It’s a madcap roller coaster of a sketch series that features Robinson playing a host of weirdo characters with big personalities and strong convictions about things that don’t really matter, such as his highly memeable hot dog mascot who refuses to admit he was the one who crashed his car into a storefront. Like anything that’s really, truly hilarious, it’s sort of impossible to describe. You just have to watch it to understand. -Allison Picurro [Trailer]
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is one of the defining shows of the era when Netflix was ascendant — its first season came out the same year as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black — and now it’s over. The sixth and final season of the Netfflix/BBC collaboration is now streaming, alongside the previous five seasons. It’s a stylish crime drama starring Cillian Murphy as antihero Tommy Shelby, the leader of the titular gang consisting of his relatives, as they rise to the top of the criminal underworld in interwar Birmingham. The costumes are glamorous, the anachronistic PJ Harvey-heavy soundtrack is cool, and the supporting performances from big stars like Tom Hardy and Anya Taylor-Joy are entertaining. If you never got around to Peaky Blinders, there’s no reason to not start now. -Liam Mathews [Trailer]
The Baby-Sitters Club
There’s a tween girl inside all of us who just wants to watch a charming show about young girls trying to start a baby-sitting business. Embrace your inner Emily or Jayden or Madison and watch The Baby-Sitters Club, a true safe space in a world that wants to keep you down. Season 2 adds a few more members to the club, but the care to flesh out all its characters is still there. – Tim Surette [Trailer]
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