The 50 best Netflix shows of all time
From Stranger Things to Midnight Mass and Heartstopper to Bridgerton, here are the 50 best Netflix shows ever
TV Features Netflix
It’s hard to believe that the first Netflix original series started streaming just 11 years ago, given the sheer volume of content Netflix has pumped out in the intervening years. That first show, Lilyhammer, also represented a bizarre problem of Netflix’s own making that still hasn’t been solved today: while the streaming service marketed Lilyhammer as a Netflix original series, it was, in fact, simply a Norwegian show that they licensed for the U.S. market. So is it still a Netflix original?
It’s something we had to reckon with when putting together this list of the best Netflix shows of all time. It’s much harder to define what a Netflix show is as opposed to, say, an NBC or CBS show. We were going to limit the qualifications for inclusion to only shows produced by Netflix, but then we thought: What about Money Heist? Black Mirror? Is it really fair to exclude those shows because of some technical murkiness?
In the end, we decided to take our cues from Netflix itself. If they consider a show a Netflix original, it counts for our list, regardless of its origin. Here, then, are the 50 best Netflix shows ever.
Looking for more rankings? Check out our list of the 50 best HBO shows.
89 Comments
Dead to Me and Money Heist are waaaaaaaaay too low. I would also like to nominate Kyle Mooney’s SMASH (Saturday Morning All-Star Hits) for an honorable mention.
I’ll second S.M.A.S.H.
One Day at a Time is NOT a “Latinx-focus” anything, you fucking dorks. Latinx is not a thing. When will white people stop trying to make it a thing?
Derry girls is my favorite but how much was really netflix and how much was it really a BBC channel 4 tv show that netflix streams for the US? not sure.
It’s just a Channel 4 show, nothing to do with the BBC.
Thanks. I was not sure other than it was not an Netflix orginial.
Nothing to do with Netflix either.
The OA is still the weirdest, coolest thing I’ve seen on Netflix. Is it better than some of the shows on this list?…yes.
It’s better than most of the things on this list. It’s not for everyone, though, is it?
…it is not.
Each to their own, but the ‘OA’ is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the worst shows to blot a TV screen. I finished the first season angry that I had spent my time on it.
Why was it the worst?
Pretentious, dull, maudlin, and there’s a school shooting scene that is both the climax and essentially a throwaway at the same time.
That’s cool. It’s okay to be wrong and boring sometimes.
The OA certainly felt so.
Damn, that was weird, but addictive and enjoyable. We don’t have enough shows with strong female leads like that, imo. I did not like the meta-ending for the last season, though. I guess we’ll never know if it might have succeeded.
I think the only 2 shows in the top 15 I have seen are Stanger Things and Haunting of Hill House. I loved them both so much.I also think Dead to Me is great.
What about Babylon Berlin? I believe it’s marketed in the U.S. a Netflix original. That’s a great show.
Sex Education is worth it just for Gillian Anderson.
When it was coming out, I was interested mostly because of her. I’m so glad, because, while she’s great, the show itself is amazing.
Unbelievable and When They See Us should both be way higher. Godless is also surprisingly missing, especially since it has the same creator as The Queen’s Gambit.
“Top Boy” and “Borgen” both belong in the top five.
Per the caveat in the intro, it looks like Netflix doesn’t label those as “Originals” (at least not the first Top Boy seasons).
Raphael Bob-Waskberg’s animated comedy may be simultaneously the funniest and the saddest—and, in the opinions of many A.V. Club writers, the all-time best—of Netflix’s originals.
*Bob-Waksberg
I cannot believe Arcane isn’t on this list. Emmy winner, great show, on IMDB it scores higher than Bojack with more reviews. Having seen about 1/5 of the this list I would have at LEAST put it top 15.
seriously. idk who is running the Vox suite of websites but it seems their list curation is almost as bad as their spell-checking.
Am I blind or is Dark not even on this list?
We’re all blind apparently, because Dark has to be somewhere on this list.
I can’t believe Dark isn’t on this (or Santa Clarita Diet) but OITNB is in the top 10 and “Dead to Me” is on it at all.
Likewise, this whole site is working overtime to pretend that Sandman never happened.
This. I mean come the f*ck on Bridget, I get why 1899 didn’t make the cut but Dark deserved to
How is Edgerunners and Arcane not on this list?
Cobra Kai being this low is a goddamn travesty. It’s a top 10 show.
This thread will just be gripes about what should be where, but I’d be interested to see where some would have been had they not been cancelled, like ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters’ or others that were either incomplete or had worn out there welcome, like ‘Orange is the New Black’. I’d also differentiate, sometimes, between quality and zeitgeist. Our family enjoys ‘Outer Banks’ which I consider a pretty bad show, but entertaining for everyone.
I feeking LOVED ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters” it was fantastic!!! I also liked “Cursed”
My gripes have more to do with the fact that several shows on the list are no longer available on Netflix (and never will be) as well as the fact that there’s also shows on this list that never got a proper ending/were cancelled early.
You’re kidding me, right?
Goddamn I got to number 3 on the list and I was like, “Wow, I didn’t think AVClub would put Dark at number one or two”. I just assumed that Dark would be SOMEWHERE on the list. But nope, apparently there are 50 shows that are better than Dark. How could I have been so stupid?
Maybe the list skipped foreign shows that Netflix didn’t produce, but only bought the US rights to.
Dark is a Netflix original production. The first German language one, in fact.
Well then never mind, no excuse
They included Derry Girls
The absence of Dark is absolutely unforgivable. Frankly, I’m surprised that Sacred Games didn’t make the cut either. Reading through the list, I was like, “Damn, somebody really hates subtitles, huh.”
“The Defeated” is really good!
i don’t think Netflix has 50 good shows, but if we’re ranking 50 i think Love and The Last Kingdom (it’s silly but extremely entertaining) should be on this list. Of the ones I’ve seen, I don’t really disagree with the top 10.
Love was an odd one, but I did like it alot. It would make my 50
It’s a crime that this list (like so many) misses the absolutely brilliant Maniac with Jonah Hill and Emma Stone. I think anyone who likes Russian Doll will like Maniac and maybe like it even better. For me it’s one of the best shows ever and the only show I’ve rewatched inn the last 20 years (although I really need to rewatch Rilakkuma and Kaoru)
I loved ‘Russian Doll’ but couldn’t get into ‘Maniac’ at all. I think I finished the first episode and just couldn’t see a reason to keep watching.
Oh interesting. They had me at “popcorn problems”.
Oh you didn’t make it to the elevator scene. From there it shifts into another gear and hold the pedal down till the end of the series.give it another shot you won’t be disappointed.
“I think anyone who likes Russian Doll will like Maniac and maybe like it even better” You thought wrong. I love Russian Doll, but found Maniac to be a mess.
I thought Maniac was a huge waste of time, def more on par with the insufferably stupid Archive 81 vs Russian Doll
I for one did like Maniac better than Russian Doll. (But I wasn’t very high on Russian Doll to begin with.)
Don’t really have a problem with Black Mirror being on the list, but three of the four episodes mentioned feature the brain downloaded into a computer plot device, which is getting super played out.
You misspelled Dark on the list.
Want to make this list mean something… make it a top 20 at most.
It’s weird that it feels like The OA exists in an entirely parallel universe. That’s fine, I guess. When I find fans of The OA, I know I’m among my people.
I guess “Centaurworld” is zeroth.
Let me add my voice. This list is invalid without Dark. I got to the top 10 and thought, “wow, they’re actually going to put it where it belongs”. Then I kept being more and more impressed that they were going to put it so high until I realized it was just not there. Sorry, but it’s the best show Netflix has produced.
I have to echo some of the others on here. Where is Dark? I think this list needs a re-do.
Not only did you completely miss Dark, but, good lord, what did Sandman do to this site (and all of the sister sites) that you consistently pretend that it never happened?
Well, Bojack Horseman is in the right place, I won’t quibble about the rest.
Trailer Park Boys reboot brought me in way back when, and incredibly fun Korean dramas and rom-coms such as Extraordinary Attorney Woo keep me around.Not seeing either on the list reminds me of my first thought about Netflix: Having a subscription is like holding a secret key to the world’s shittiest video store.
Dark has already had a few callouts, so I’ll dedicate my rage post to The Sandman.
Yeah, that, too.
I’m being fussy here, but how about “shows and movies?” And maybe add more movies?
I’m just glad Bojack is no. 1 (and that GLOW is there)
Where’s Cunk?
I’m not sure that Cunk knows where she is.
Sense8.
Jeez you really do hate Lockwood and Co don’t ya 😀
You guys put Big Mouth and American Vandal on there and leave off Dark Crystal and Dark? What are you smoking in your offices?
Criminally missing A Series of Unfortunate Events. Cobra Kai and Umbrella Academy are way too low. Russian Doll is way too high. Season 1 was great, but no way the show as a whole is top 5.
The Get Down Deserves to be on the list. And an argument can be made (by me) that Santa Clarita Diet does as well.
A 50-slide presentation? No thx.
This would be a better list if it stuck to original programming. Black Mirror seems disingenuous since there are a few season that exist prior to Netflix nd just about all of those episodes are superior compared to the watered-down Netflix run. Some shows that I think are missing here in favor of some popular choices that were chosen over quality or originality. Maniac (2018): this was such a bizarre, compelling, and poignant miniseries that is so starkly different than the usual generic stuff Netflix pumps out. Are you really saying The Witcher is a better show? Love Death + Robots (2019): sci-fi anthology series with some really original ideas and swath of varied animation styles? How is this not here? Others have mentioned Dark which goes without saying here. I’d even place the With Bob and David or the Wet Hot American Summer series in the bottom 10 over Shadow and Bone or the Babysitter’s club.
I LOVED One Day at a Time. It was a leeetle forced-cute to start, but I ended up loving it very quickly.I started up Dead to Me one night when I needed brain popcorn, and I found I enjoyed it way more than I expected – it’s a little wacky, but it had a lot of interesting things to say about grief. Same thing with Sex Education – there was a lot of food for thought under all the goofiness.I liked GLOW better when they finally let Alison Brie really start chewing the scenery.
Bravo for putting Bojack Horseman on top of the list! One of the few shows that didn’t outstay it’s welcome and stuck the landing, with penultimate episode “The view from halfway down” being one of the most haunting and brilliant things I‘ve seen.
Nope. I can see an argument for Hill House being better than Midnight Mass, but there is no world where Bly Manor should be above MM. Entire list invalid.
Naming BoJack Horseman #1 is the most AVClub thing that AVClub has ever done.
I genuinely don’t understand what people like about Orange is the New Black.Also, unpopular opinion but I didn’t find Bojack Horseman even mildly funny, well-written or deep.
I don’t understand how you can not understand that. It could be wildly uneven but it was a female led cast that showcased a bunch of diversity that isn’t often seen on tv. It had a pulpy feel to it, with twists and turns that were often so wild they hooked you into one more episode, and lots of comedic beats as well. But it could also tell grounded and emotional stories that felt real. All of this delivered against a pretty timeless fish out of water premise.But Jesus, all of that is probably wasted on you if you didn’t find anything to like in Bojack either. Like, shit dude.
Remember HBO’s Oz? A female version of that, but with a more humorous spin was a novel idea when it first came out. I was really drawn to Orange is the New Black, at least for the first couple seasons. The more Piper faded to the background, the less interested I became. As much as some current shows are getting critisized for doing that to lead characters, OITNB was an early example of the trend, and even then I didn’t care for it.
No Trailer Park Boys?Get fucked.
As many others have said, leaving Dark off this list is a serious oversight. I am also going to bat for I am Not Okay With This. I was also going to suggest that The End of the F***ing World was the best show Netflix ever aired but not sure if it was considered an Amazon original.
Bit fast and loose with “Netflix show”, don’t you think?
So we’re not at the point where Daredevil and Luke Cage are reassessed as having good starts but mediocre seasons overall, huh? (I honestly thought that happened pretty early with Luke Cage.)
I can only presume that the reboot of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” came in at #51.
Personally, I think Stranger Things is terribly overrated. I Think You Should Leave should be higher. But I respect your Bojack #1.