The 100 Best TV Shows on Netflix Right Now

Prepare for a top-notch binge. These are the absolute best shows on Netflix right now.

Author:
Samuel R. Murrian
Updated:
Apr 2, 2024

Here's some good news: there's no shortage of popular entertainment on Netflix to stream from the couch. If watching television shows helps you relax and destress, look no further than our list of the very best shows you can watch on Netflix right now.

We know scrolling through the massive selection on the streaming service can be daunting, so we've rounded up the best of what's on. We've included selections for audiences of all ages, with something for all tastes. There are family-friendly TV shows to enjoy with the kids, classic comedies and prestigious dramas, faith-based shows, Hallmark comfort food, thought-provoking science fiction, illuminating documentaries, addictive reality shows, scary horror programming and so much more. This list covers Netflix original series and network/cable imports.

This list is regularly updated as shows come and go from Netflix's library.

Here are the 100 best TV shows now streaming on Netflix for binge-watching.

Best shows on Netflix right now

1. Bridgerton

Shondaland's period drama follows the lives and loves of eight Regency era siblings of a powerful clan. From its Christmas 2020 premiere, Bridgerton was an instant hit. Season 2 dropped in 2022, with a spinoff series Queen Charlotte arriving in 2023.

2. The Queen's Gambit

One of the best dramas of 2020. Emma and The Witch star Anya Taylor-Joy gives an awards-ready performance as a drug-addicted, orphaned chess prodigy with the goal of becoming world champ. Cold War-era period design and brilliant characterizations make this adaptation of Walter Tevis' 1983 novel a new jewel in Netflix's crown.

3. Arrested Development

Despite critical acclaim, Fox's serialized dysfunctional-family comedy starring Jason Bateman was canceled in 2006. Netflix revived the show in 2013. All five seasons are now steaming.

4. Breaking Bad

Is this the best television drama of all time? Grip your armrest and settle in for all five heart-pounding seasons of Vince Gilligan's masterpiece about a terminally ill teacher (Bryan Cranston) who starts cooking and dealing meth. Netflix's original film sequel, El Camino, premiered fall 2019.

5. Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

Very much in line with the auteur's fantasy and horror filmography, Guillermo Del Toro's eight-part horror anthology series features episodes directed by the man himself, as well by other distinguished genre directors including Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), Panos Cosmatos (Mandy) and Vincenzo Natali (Splice).

6. Bojack Horseman

The popular, well-reviewed animated sitcom stars the voice of Will Arnett as a washed-up, self-loathing alcoholic 1990s TV star. All six seasons are now streaming.

7. The Good Place

Starring Ted Danson and Kristen Bell, NBC's Peabody Award-winning fantasy opens in a Heaven-like utopia. All four seasons are now streaming on Netflix.

8. Big Mouth

If you're looking to laugh til it hurts, a great choice is this raunchy animated comedy about teenagers...and their hormones (it's a cartoon but it's definitely not for little kids!). Starring the vocal talents of Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Jordan Peele and more, Big Mouth is the most comically horny show on television. It's eighth and final season is forthcoming.

9. Stranger Things

It isn't hyperbolic at all to call the Duffer Brothers' nostalgia-heavy, kid-centered sci-fi/horror/mystery hybrid one of the most popular television shows of the modern era. After stumbling a bit in Season 2, the confident, relentlessly entertaining season three broke Netflix viewership records and left fans yearning for more. Season four is now streaming.

10. Sweet Magnolias

The Hallmark crowd will fall for this sugary sweet romantic drama based on the Sweet Magnolias novels by Sherryl Woods. JoAnna Garcia Swisher leads the cast of "South Carolina women, best friends since childhood, as they shepherd each other through the complexities of romance, career, and family." Three seasons are now streaming, with Season 4 on its way.

11. Gilmore Girls

Years before she swept the Emmys with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Amy Sherman-Palladino created the WB's (and later the CW's) beloved drama centered on a mother (Lauren Graham) and daughter (Alexis Bledel) in Connecticut. Melissa McCarthy costarred (Gilmore Girls' initial run wrapped up in 2007, about five years before she became one of the most bankable stars on this planet). All seven seasons of the show, as well as Netflix followup Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, are now streaming on Netflix.

12. Grey's Anatomy

Initially aired as a mid-season replacement on ABC (hard to believe now), Shonda Rhimes' diverse medical drama starring Ellen Pompeo is now the longest-running scripted primetime show on the network.

13. Shameless

Nine seasons of the longest-running original scripted show in Showtime history, starring William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum, are on Netflix. Why has this series endured and stayed so popular across the country? Is it the sex and skin on display? The drugs? Shameless is so popular because, at its best, the comedic drama is one of the most accurate TV depictions of what's actually going on in struggling American households.

14. Sex Education

Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson star in the critical and commercial hit about a socially awkward teen and his mother—who's also his sex therapist. All four seasons are now streaming on Netflix.

15. Chappelle's Show

Dave Chappelle got paid (after publicly complaining on SNL) and one of the funniest sketch/variety shows is back on the streaming service. From Rick James to Samuel L. Jackson, all the iconic impersonations are here.

16. Fuller House

The second half of the fifth and final season of the Tanner family's wholesome continued adventures aired in 2020. Every episode is streaming now.

17. Better Call Saul

Six seasons of AMC's brilliant satiric crime prequel to Breaking Bad are now streaming on Netflix. Bob Odenkirk stars in the Peabody award-winning show that lives up to its iconic predecessor.

18. Peaky Blinders

Steven Knight's popular British series follows the exploits of the criminal Shelby family in Birmingham, bookended by two World Wars. All six seasons are now on Netflix.

19. The Great British Baking Show

Best of luck not falling head-over-heels for the personalities and confections on display in the search for Britain's best amateur baker.

20. Elite

Lots of sex, cutting-edge themes and even murder are among the hooks of this popular Spanish teen thriller soap-opera centered on prep-school students.

21. House of Cards

Based on the 1990s British series and Michael Dobbs' book of the same name, this D.C.-set political thriller is the first web-only series in history to receive major Emmy nominations. When star Kevin Spacey was disgraced in light of the #MeToo movement, his character was killed off between seasons, and the focus shifted to his wife (Robin Wright).

22. The Witcher

Based on the Polish book series of the same name, this medieval-inspired adult fantasy proved to be a big hit in its first season. With plenty of gore, some sex and nudity, The Witcher is highly entertaining schlock, and a committed performance from star Henry Cavill elevates all of it.