The 35 Best Binge-Worthy TV Shows
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When did people start binge-watching television? Does indulging in a West Wings marathon on the USA Network count? If so, I've been binge-watching since I was a baby in the '90s. Maybe it was when TiVo took over the world in 2004. Who among us doesn't know someone who recorded and saved every episode of the final season of Friends for a rainy-day marathon? Or, how about when Netflix premiered all 13 episodes of House of Cards—the streaming behemoth's first original series—at once in 2014? Fast-forward a decade, and binge-watching has become most people's preferred method of media consumption.
But, as I eventually discovered while attempting to binge-watch a 12-episode docuseries on the Soviet grain procurement crisis of 1928, not everything goes down smoothly all at once. Some shows are too intense to watch multiple episodes of in an afternoon. Others are too slow. Also, enough needs to happen to keep us hooked, but not so much that we get lost in the plot. And while any television genre can make for a great binge-watch, the most binge-worthy shows tend to fall into one of two categories: familiar, feel-good comedies that make us forget about our problems, or disturbing, addictive dramas that make us feel better about our problems. You think your family's got issues? Might I recommend the final season of Succession?
The point is that life is hard. Binge-watching makes it better. So grab your snacks and settle in for Esquire's guide to the series worth clearing your calendar for.
Bad Sisters
In this dark comedy from Apple TV+, a tight-knit group of sisters are suspected of murdering their abusive brother-in-law. It's a modern spin on the classic whodunit that's so good you'll wish you could keep watching long after the mystery is solved.
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Big Little Lies
Starring a powerhouse cast led by Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies dissects the glamorous façade of the California elite with sharp dialogue—cut to Laura Dern screaming, "I will not be rich!"—and a suspenseful plot that proves it's always the prettiest people with the most skeletons in their closets.
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30 Rock
Did you know that the guys who developed Viagra were actually trying to create a drug to treat high blood pressure? Well, the writer and comedian Tina Fey described the process of creating her NBC comedy, 30 Rock, as the exact opposite of the discovery of Viagra. "We were trying to create a hit," she wrote in her 2011 memoir, Bossypants, "but we ended up with Sildenafil." The joke refers to 30 Rock's failure to achieve the same level of popularity as The Big Bang Theory despite it being a critical hit. Anyway, if you're a fan of fast-paced satire and blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes about corporate media culture, 30 Rock is your best bet.
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The Office
This breezy 30-minute sitcom about the delusional boss of a mid-sized paper company and his bewildered employees is the ultimate cringe comfort show. Put it on in the background while you make dinner, and be grateful that you never had to work for Michael Scott.
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Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad isn't just a show; it's a life lesson about how much more money you can make as a drug lord than a high-school chemistry teacher. The show follows a cancer-stricken teacher (Bryan Cranston) and his former student (Aaron Paul) through five explosive seasons featuring enough moral decay and nerve-wracking hijinks to keep you constantly perched on the edge of your couch cushion. Binge it to see a guy in tighty-whities become a criminal mastermind.
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Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot is the perfect show for our increasingly dystopic times. Starring Rami Malek as a vigilante hacker, this cyber-thriller explores the darker corners of society and the mind. It's a great watch for those who like their protagonists brilliant, broken, and possibly hallucinating.
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Mad Men
This Emmy-winning series from AMC is prestige TV at its very best. Starring Jon Hamm as Don Draper, a genius ad exec with a shadowy past, Mad Men explores the glitzy Madison Avenue scene in the 1960s while also diving deep into the stories of the many characters in the show's ensemble cast.
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Only Murders in the Building
Only Murders in the Building mixes a true-crime obsession with a quirky sense of humor. Follow three nosy neighbors turned amateur sleuths as they slice through suspects and stereotypes, proving that the modern road to solving a murder is paved with podcast episodes.
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Mare of Easttown
In the HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown, Kate Winslet plays a gritty detective in a town where everybody knows everybody's secrets—at least they think they do. Watch it for the plot twists and Jean Smart cameos; stay for Winslet's Philadelphia accent, which is so thick you'll start saying "wahr-ter" in your sleep.
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Workaholics
This workplace comedy about three stoned slackers is the perfect show for unwinding after a long day of climbing the corporate ladder. If you've ever accidentally shit-talked a client on a conference call, Workaholics is for you.
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The Larry Sanders Show
There would be no Curb Your Enthusiasm without the massively influential The Larry Sanders Show. It pioneered the comedy style of celebrities playing exaggerated versions of themselves, with the stand-up comedian Gary Shandling making Larry David look calm and reasonable by comparison. It also spawned the "show about a show" trend, so we have it to thank for 30 Rock as well. Binge it to discover why every comedian considers it the greatest show ever.
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Stranger Things
The OG Netflix sci-fi series Stranger Things follows a group of kids in Hawkins, Indiana, riding bikes as they befriend a girl with a bloody nose and try to figure out why everyone in their town keeps disappearing. Fans of Winona Ryder, government conspiracy theories, and Dungeons and Dragons are sure to enjoy it.
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Game of Thrones
Look, I'm gonna be honest, I couldn't get through the first season of Game of Thrones. The incest really bummed me out. But everybody else loved Game of Thrones, so you probably will, too. Binge it so you can be a part of the cultural phenomenon and nod along knowingly whenever someone says, "Winter is coming."
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The Sopranos
The Sopranos may be the only show to have been a cultural phenomenon twice—once when it originally aired and again 20 years later when bored millennials binge-watched it during the Coronavirus lockdowns. What makes the HBO drama about a New Jersey mob boss and his family so utterly captivating? James Gandolfini's and Edie Falco's spellbinding performances as Tony and Carmela Soprano.
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The Bear
In The Bear, kitchen chaos meets personal drama when a fine-dining chef is forced to take over his dead brother's sandwich shop. FX's hit series is an intense, heartfelt drama that will change how you see a beef sandwich.
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House of Cards
The show that started the binge-watching movement! In Netflix's House of Cards, politics is a cruel, twisted game, and no one plays it better than Francis and Claire Underwood, the power-hungry couple at the center of the show's six seasons. I guarantee you'll be hooked after the first episode.
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Succession
This HBO juggernaut is technically about a fictional media company and the twisted family who runs it, but I see it more as a story about what happens when you don't resolve your daddy issues before you turn 40 and you have way too much money. If you're in the mood to see someone self-sabotage, Succession is the show for you.
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Veep
This satirical deep dive into the messy, petty world of American politics is brought to you by the same guys who made the hit British comedy In The Loop. Featuring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Vice President Selena Meyer, Veep is a masterclass in one-liners and insults that'll make you wonder just how incompetent our elected officials really are.
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The Americans
Cold War drama meets domestic bliss in The Americans, where the biggest threat to marriage might be your spouse's secret identity as a Russian spy. It's thrilling, it's emotional, and the show's wigmaker deserves all the Emmys.
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True Detective
True Detective dives into the darkness with detectives who have seen too much. Each season unwraps a new mystery like a disturbing gift, with philosophical musings and eerie settings that look like places you visit in your nightmares. The first season, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and the most recent season, led by Jodie Foster, are peak, must-watch TV.
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Severance
Starring Adam Scott and Zach Cherry, Severance is a mind-bending thriller from Apple TV+ that follows employees of a major, mysterious corporation who voluntarily undergo a procedure to separate their work and personal lives. What could possibly go wrong?
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Curb Your Enthusiasm
Larry David's misadventures are a cringe-comedy goldmine in Curb Your Enthusiasm. Wince as you watch David pull from an endless grab-bag of social faux pas across 12 seasons, just don't expect him to learn any lessons along the way.
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Top Chef
With 21 seasons, Top Chef is what you put on when you're looking for a marathon binge. Less of a show and more of a multiverse, Top Chef gives viewers plenty of material to seek their teeth into. From kitchen drama to Padma Lakshmi schooling someone about curry, Top Chef is full of must-watch moments that'll leave you wanting more.
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The Great British Baking Show
Behold the sweetest, most heartwarming cooking competition on television. Best for bingeing when you're in knead (sorry!) of a pick-me-up.
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Twin Peaks
David Lynch's cult classic follows FBI Agent Cooper (played by a young Kyle MacLachlan) around the Pacific Northwest as he tries to solve the murder of the local Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer. It's a weird, wild, fever dream of a television show. Try it if supernatural shows like The X-Files are your thing.
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Barry
HBO's Barry mixes dark comedy with bursts of violence in a show that asks, can you really leave your past behind? Binge to witness Bill Hader turn in a career-best performance as a disillusioned assassin-turned-actor navigating the absurdities of both the criminal underworld and Hollywood.
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The Night Agent
The Night Agent was Netflix's most-watched show in 2023, and for good reason. The fast-paced political thriller is pure adrenaline, with perfectly spaced plot twists and lots of stylish camera shots that make you feel like you're part of the action.
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Suits
Four years after wrapping its run on the USA network, the legal drama Suits arrived on Netflix and immediately started smashing streaming records. Want to know why this glossy procedural about a college dropout who conned his way into a law firm became such a runaway hit? Watch and find out! (Hint: The answer rhymes with Beghan Barkle.)
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I Think You Should Leave
I Think You Should Leave isn't your average sketch show. It celebrates uncomfortable situations, bizarre characters, and absurd outcomes that only the show's creators, Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin, could dream up. Watch it when you're in the mood to laugh at another man's expense.
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Peaky Blinders
Netflix's gritty post-World War I drama stars Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, a gangster turned businessman who wheels and deals his way through Birmingham, England. Known for its sharp dialogue and stylish execution, Peaky Blinders is more than a show; it's a whole mood.
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Seinfeld
Seinfeld is the iconic show about nothing that spun everyday absurdities into legendary comedic moments. Watch it once for laughs and twice to pick a favorite George Costanza quote. "It's not a lie if you believe it!" gets my vote.
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The West Wing
Walk and talk your way through the halls of power with The West Wing, the Emmy-winning political drama penned by Aaron Sorkin and starring Martin Sheen as President Josiah Bartlet and Alison Janney as the plucky press secretary, CJ Cregg. It's the rare show about politics that'll leave you both entertained and, dare we say, inspired.
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Yellowstone
Kevin Costner leads the cast (or, maybe, led) this massively popular Western drama. Yellowstone follows the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in the United States, as they navigate conflicts with land developers, local tribes, and Yellowstone National Park. Watch if you've ever considered moving to Wyoming or registering as a Libertarian.
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The Wire
Widely considered one of the greatest shows of all time, The Wire is a gritty, realistic portrayal of life in Baltimore. Over five seasons, it explores the complex relationships between law enforcement, drug dealers, politicians, schools, and the media. The show can get pretty heavy, but it's so good that it's hard to stop watching once you've started. Binge it so you can argue with your friends over which season is best. (It's season 2).
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Better Call Saul
Before he was Saul Goodman, he was Jimmy McGill—and that's where Better Call Saul begins. This Breaking Bad prequel, starring Bob Odenkirk, traces Jimmy's transformation from a struggling lawyer to the morally flexible Saul we all know and love. With a slow-burn approach to storytelling, Better Call Saul is a must-watch for any fan of prestige television.
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