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We’ve all been overwhelmed by streaming TV choices, only to give up and watch something you’ve already seen. But this curated list of the best shows on Netflix is here to narrow down your choices and help you figure out exactly which titles you want to sample next.
The 25 best shows on Netflix to watch that will turn your weekend around
Anne With An E (2017)
Following her work as a writer on Breaking Bad, Moira Walley-Beckett took a wild right turn: she adapted Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 young adult novel into this family drama series. Matthew (R.H. Thomson) and Marilla (Geraldine James)—middle-aged, unmarried siblings living together on their family farm—arrange to adopt an orphan boy to help work the property. Matthew is not quite sure what to do when the orphan who arrives at the train station is Anne (Amybeth McNulty), a wildly imaginative girl. Fortunately, they eventually figure out how to be a family.
Babylon Berlin (2017)
In 1929 Germany, Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch) is a World War I veteran now working as a police inspector in Cologne. His assignment to unravel an extortion ring in Berlin is complicated by his use of morphine to dull his painful memories of the war; however, his efforts are soon aided by Lotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries), a sometime sex worker at one of the city’s hottest cabarets. Run, Lola, Run director Tom Tykwer is among the creative forces behind the show that debuted in 2017 but remains among the best shows on Netflix right now. Catch up now: Season 4 has already aired in Germany, and could be coming to Netflix any day now.
Belascoarán, PI (2022)
Hector Belascoarán Shayne (Luis Gerardo Méndez) is an engineer with a beautiful wife and a handsome home…but his soul yearns for something different. He sends away for a course to learn how to become a private detective, although, as the son of leftist political activists, he is careful to tell everyone whose path he crosses that he is actually an independent investigator. And in the Mexico City of the 1970s, there are plenty of people who can use help who may not get it through official legal channels. Each episode is a self-contained mystery, so if you’ve already run through all of Columbo and Poker Face on Peacock and are looking for a new show about a detective who’s kind of a mess, this could be your next Netflix binge.
Big Mouth (2017)
Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg went through puberty together as middle-school friends, went into comedy as adults…and then (with Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett) co-created this animated sitcom. About kids but not really for them, Big Mouth has become one of the most outrageous comedies on Netflix by delving into such sensitive topics as first periods, masturbation, and sexual identity, and using the filthiest words you’ve ever heard (and some you possibly haven’t) for body parts and fluids. The voice cast features Kroll in roles as varied as protagonist Nick Birch, his classmate Lola, their coach Steve, and a Hormone Monster named Morey; you’ll also hear John Mulaney, Fred Armisen, and Maya Rudolph, among many others — including, starting in Season 4, Ayo Edebiri, breakout star of The Bear, who is co-headlining Bottoms on the big screen now.
BoJack Horseman (2014)
The titular BoJack (voice of Will Arnett, currently lending his vocal talents to Peacock’s Twisted Metal) was, back in the ’90s, the star of a wildly successful family sitcom called Horsin’ Around. In the 2010s, he’s a has-been barely hanging on to his acting career. As part of a comeback attempt, he hires Diane Nguyen (Alison Brie) to ghost-write his memoir, drawing her into his world of substance use and depression. It really is a comedy! Paul F. Tompkins deserves special note for his work as BoJack’s one-time sitcom rival turned frenemy, a Labrador Retriever named Mr. Peanutbutter.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015)
As a teen, New York state resident Rebecca (Rachel Bloom, who also co-created the series with Aline Brosh McKenna) met Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III) at camp. Years later, when she’s a financially successful but personally miserable lawyer, she spots Josh on the street in Manhattan and decides to fix her life by moving to his hometown of West Covina, California. Original songs—most co-written by the late Adam Schlesinger—and production numbers illustrate the mental states of Rebecca and the other characters in her orbit. Consistently low-rated during its run on the CW, it lives on forever as one of the best comedy shows on Netflix. Watch it again—or for the first time—and then go catch her on her live tour, “Death, Let Me Do My Special.”
Dear White People (2017)
Haunted Mansion director Justin Simien had an indie hit in 2014 as the writer-director of the feature film Dear White People, following students of color at a predominantly white Ivy League college; he returned to the story in 2017, adapting his own work as a series that became one of the best dramedies on Netflix. Logan Browning stars as Samantha White, who delivers hard truths to her classmates via her college radio show, from which the series derives its name; Brandon P. Bell reprises his film role of all-American Troy Fairbanks; Giancarlo Esposito serves as narrator for the first three (of four) seasons.
Derry Girls (2018)
The Troubles, as experienced by residents of Derry, Northern Ireland, is the backdrop of this sitcom set in the mid-1990s. Primarily, though, it’s about four teenaged girls (and one English boy mistakenly enrolled in their all-girls’ school) getting up to typical teen shenanigans: trying to raise money for a school trip to Paris; battling censorship at the school paper; and sneaking out of town to see a boy band. Keep an eye out for Nicola Coughlan, one of the many Barbies of the big-screen Barbie.
Élite (2018)
Gossip Girl and Euphoria are so local. If you’re looking for a scandalously sexy teen drama, you need Élite. Set at and around fictional high school Las Encinas, in Madrid, the show follows three scholarship students as they mix and mingle with their rich peers. And if you also miss Pretty Little Liars, good news: there’s a mystery story, too. The first six seasons are streaming now, with the seventh arriving October 20.
From Scratch (2022)
Getting chosen for Reese Witherspoon’s book club has smoothed the path for series adaptions—Tiny Beautiful Things, The Last Thing He Told Me, and Daisy Jones & The Six are all success stories from this year alone—and so it was with Tembi Locke’s bestselling memoir From Scratch: A Memoir Of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home. Zoë Saldaña stars as Amy Wheeler, who’s relocated to Florence to find her voice as an artist; her path is redirected when she meets and falls in love with Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea), a sexy chef. The result? One of Netflix’s most delicious romances.
Giri-Haji (2019)
If you’ve finished your Emmy-nomination prep and are looking to dive deeper into the careers of The White Lotus’s Season 2 cast, start with Giri-Haji. The limited series, the title of which literally means “Duty/Shame,” revolves around Kenzo (Takehiro Hira), a Tokyo police detective who travels to London to try to find his brother Yuto (Yōsuke Kubokoza) before suspicion that he has killed the relative of a yakuza member touches off a gang war. Will Sharpe (who played Ethan in The White Lotus opposite Aubrey Plaza’s Harper) appears in a supporting role as Rodney, a sex worker who becomes part of Kenzo’s investigation; no spoilers, but here he definitely never worries that his wife is cheating on him with a charismatic frenemy!
Girlfriends (2000)
One of the shows that put UPN on the map and survived to the CW era, Girlfriends—created by award-winning Moesha producer Mara Brock Akil—revolves around four friends in Los Angeles. Lawyer Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross) is the hub to whom the other characters are all connected. Toni (Jill Marie Jones) is a real estate agent who’s been Joan’s friend since high school; Lynn (Persia White) roomed with Toni and Joan at UCLA, and despite her five post-graduate degrees has struggled to zero in on a career; and Maya (Golden Brooks) starts out as Joan’s assistant. If you’ve never watched the show, or just haven’t revisited it since its series finale in 2008, dig in: there are eight big seasons of this outstanding comedy series waiting for you.
Godless (2017)
The same year that saw the release of Logan, with a screenplay by Scott Frank, Netflix dropped one of its best crime shows, Godless. Frank wrote and directed the series, and also re-teamed with executive producer Steven Soderbergh, who had directed Frank’s screenplay for Out Of Sight nearly 20 years earlier) The seven-episode miniseries is set in La Belle, a Colorado town mostly peopled by women following a catastrophic mining accident that killed most of La Belle’s male residents; further crisis ensues when an outlaw on the run is pursued to La Bell by his former gang. Frank would receive further acclaim a few years later with his next Netflix miniseries: The Queen’s Gambit.)
Heartstopper (2022)
Adapted by Alice Oseman from her graphic novel of the same name, Heartstopper tells the story of British high school students Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor). Charlie has been out—and not by his own choice—for the past year before meeting Nick, and since Charlie believes Nick is straight, the two start as platonic friends…but over the course of the first season, their relationship evolves. Catch up as fast as you can: Season 2 drops August 3, with the third already in the works.
Insecure (2016)
If you’re curious about President Barbie’s exploits before she took office, look no further than this HBO original sitcom, recently arrived on Netflix. Issa Rae adapted her web series, Awkward Black Girl, into this sitcom about Issa (Rae), a non-profit staffer stumbling through her post-college years in Los Angeles. Yvonne Orji, currently on Hulu in Vacation Friends 2, is Issa’s best friend Molly, who seems to have her life together as a successful attorney, but still has as much to learn about love as her less polished pals.
Madam Secretary (2014)
The current political landscape can be…let’s say “frustrating.” Perhaps you’d like a wish-fulfillment fantasy about an American government run by intelligent people who are actually trying their best? The titular official, the U.S. Secretary of State, is Elizabeth McCord (Téa Leoni), and is surrounded by the likes of Bebe Neuwirth (as Elizabeth’s Chief of Staff) and Tim Daly (as Elizabeth’s husband). If you hang on to Season 4, you’ll even get to see Sara Ramírez — Che Diaz themself! — as one of Elizabeth’s policy advisors.
Mo (2022)
Comic Mo Amer re-teamed with Ramy Youssef—the star and creator of Ramy, in which Amer plays the titular Ramy’s cousin—to co-create Mo. In this semi-autobiographical dramedy, Amer plays Mohammed “Mo” Najjar, a Palestinian refugee seeking asylum as a path to U.S. citizenship, and navigating life in Houston, Texas. As with Ramy, Mo comes from beloved indie production company A24.
Narcos (2015)
How did Pablo Escobar go from a comparatively low-level smuggler to one of the world’s most notorious drug kingpins to…uh, his death at the hands of an international law enforcement task force (spoiler)? Steve Murphy—a real DEA agent, since retired, who worked on the case—is portrayed here by Boyd Holbrook, who also narrates the story of the DEA’s investigation into Escobar (Wagner Moura); Murphy’s DEA colleague Javier Peña is played by future Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal. The series was followed by a companion series, Narcos: Mexico, in 2018.
Never Have I Ever (2020)
Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) is a brainiac at her high school; the highly supervised daughter of Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), a first-generation Indian immigrant, dermatologist, and recent widow; and possibly the horniest teenager Sherman Oaks, California has ever known. When we first meet her at the start of her sophomore year of high school, Devi has resolved not only to have sex, but for her first partner to be Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet), unquestionably the coolest and most desirable boy at her school. Devi’s carnal ambitions evolve quite a lot over the show’s first three seasons, as does its most important love story: the one that develops between mother and daughter. The show’s final season drops in June, so make sure you’re caught up to see how one of the funniest and sweetest family sitcoms on Netflix wraps up its run.
Sex Education (2019)
Most high school students are unambiguously compelled by the idea of sex. Not so British secondary school student Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield): as the son of sex therapist Jean (Gillian Anderson) — who, despite being determinedly sex-positive, hasn’t always set a great example for how to comport oneself in relationships — Otis’s feelings are more complicated. The supporting cast features Barbie alums Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, and Connor Swindells, among many other luminaries. And with the fourth and final season arriving September 21, there’s never been a better time to get on board one of Netflix’s most daring dramedies.
Shameless (2011)
On Chicago’s South Side, negligent and substance-addicted Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) has plenty of time to feed his worst impulses and very little for his many children. Thus, the job of raising them primarily falls to the eldest, Fiona (Emmy Rossum). The supporting cast includes future Conners star Emma Kenney, future Gotham star Cameron Monaghan, and future V.F. Hollywood cover star Jeremy Allen White.
Suits (2011)
Missed The Summer Of Suits? Don’t worry: you can still make it an Autumn Of Attorneys by starting it now. The show revolves around Mike (Patrick J. Adams), who uses his photographic memory to take — and ace — legal exams for less talented students. Through a series of unlikely events in the pilot, Mike ends up taking a job at a prestigious New York law firm, despite having never attended law school and having been expelled from college. It’s in this capacity that Mike meets Rachel (Meghan Markle), a gifted paralegal who’s as bad at taking tests as Mike is effortlessly brilliant.
Treason (2022)
When his boss is poisoned and hospitalized, Adam Lawrence (Charlie Cox) is promoted from deputy to Chief of the British spy agency MI6. Adam’s excitement about his new position is soon replaced with suspicion when he deciphers a code and arrives at a meeting to find Kara (Olga Kurylenko), a Russian spy he knows quite well, and who has a secret mission for Adam to complete during his tenure.
The Ultimatum (2022)
Following the wild success of Love Is Blind, series creator Chris Coelen came to Netflix with The Ultimatum. In the newest season, which premiered in August, five established couples enter the process: in each case, one partner wants to get married, while the other isn’t sure. To clarify matters (or, at least, that’s the conceit), the couples part; each person pairs up with a new one from a different couple and live together for eight weeks to see what happens. Who will find their way back to each other?!
Wynonna Earp (2016)
Based on Beau Smith’s comic book series of the same name, Wynonna Earp introduces viewers to the titular character (Melanie Scrofano) on her 27th birthday: that’s when she learns that she now has the power to destroy the reincarnated miscreants originally killed by her famous ancestor, Wyatt. So basically what we’re dealing with here is a contemporary supernatural western that also happens to be loaded with hot queer characters. What’s not to like?
First published on vanityfair.com
