Caught Up On ‘Outer Banks’ and ‘Heartstopper’? Check Out Netflix’s Best Original Series
There are tons of titles to binge on the world’s largest streamer, but our expert has picked out seven can’t-miss series.
With new seasons of “Outer Banks,” “Heartstopper,” and more, Netflix has had a busy couple of months with some of its top original series returning for brand-new seasons. More is on the way this month, including “Cobra Kai” and “Arcane,” so I am breaking down my favorite Netflix’s original series that you should add to your streaming queue — whether you’ve watched them already or not.
From existential surreal animated adventures to top true-crime dramas, Netflix has something for any kind of viewer (including a deep collection of unscripted originals). Ready to watch? Continue below for the best of what the streamer has to offer!
Top 7 Netflix Originals Streaming Right Now:
Honorable Mentions: Stranger Things (2016– ) + Squid Game (2021– )
There’s no best-of list without including Netflix’s two biggest series, which are so big at this point they feel unrankable. There’s also probably no list in general without “Stranger Things.” Four seasons and eight years in, the streamer’s flagship series has grown beyond Hawkins, Indiana, and has taken on a life of its own, with a full franchise of tie-in comics and video games, a stage show in London and New York, an upcoming animated spinoff series, and more. As big as production budgets have become, it’s hard to remember now that when it started, nothing looked quite like it, and now, everything else has to live up to it. The show holds two spots in the streamer’s Top 10 most-watched original programming list, with Season 4 coming in at number two. The fifth and final season will premiere next year.
Stranger Things
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.
Netflix didn’t necessarily need another renaissance when “Squid Game” premiered, thanks to its other powerhouse series like “The Crown,” “Bridgerton,” and others. But it got one, anyway. The Korean survival drama, which stars Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun (a.k.a. Player 456), a very-down-on-his-luck gambling addict who enters the deadly game to win the W45.6 billion prize, is as strong as an indictment on capitalism and class struggle as you can get produced. (Does Netflix, which followed up the series with a game show, fully get the message? No comment.) Everything about it, from its colorful, dramatic set design to its big, bright suspended piggy bank, makes the show alluring. Combine it with the constant gut punch of violence, character development, acting performances, and social commentary, and it’s unmissable TV. The first season made awards history over and over, becoming the first non-English series to be nominated for and win Golden Globes and Emmys for its actors and the show as a whole. It still remains Netflix’s most-watched original series; Season 2 comes next month.
Squid Game
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children’s games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits — with deadly high stakes.
No. 7: GLOW (2017–2019) | Comedy-Drama
A ten-bell salute is in order for “GLOW.” Initially renewed for a fourth and final season, the streamer reversed it after the production shutdown, leaving the stories of Zoya the Destroya, Liberty Belle, Junkchain, Machu Picchu, and the rest of the wrestling circuit unfinished. We’re all still holding out hope for one more match. Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Sydelle Noel, Britney Young, and Marc Maron lead the cast of the dramedy, giving the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling their time center ring. Not only does the series contain all the big hair, bright colors, and excess you want from a wrestling show set in the ‘80s, but you’ll find it hard to find a cast having more fun.
GLOW
In 1980s LA, a crew of misfits reinvent themselves as the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
No. 6: BoJack Horseman (2014–2020) | Adult Animation, Comedy-Drama
I’m not quite sure what the right mood to watch “BoJack Horseman” is… probably either rock bottom or mountain high and nowhere in between. Will Arnett voices the eponymous anthropomorphic horse, a washed-up 1990s sitcom star trying to return to relevance with help and hindrance from his autobiography ghostwriter, his biggest career rival, his ambitious agent, and his own mental health. The six-season tragicomedy ranges from dark satirical comedy to psychological surreal terror— TV-for-escapism viewers, steer clear, but for all the rest, you’ll probably find something you really, really need in it. Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F. Tompkins, Aaron Paul, Kristen Schaal, and Stanley Tucci are just some of the big hitters making up the voice cast.
BoJack Horseman
Meet the most beloved sitcom horse of the 90s - 20 years later. BoJack Horseman was the star of the hit TV show “Horsin’ Around,” but today he’s washed up, living in Hollywood, complaining about everything, and wearing colorful sweaters.
No. 5: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2019) | Comedy
What a weird, wonderful world Tina Fey’s mind is. After NBC’s unbeatable “30 Rock,” the actor-writer-comedian (with co-creator Robert Carlock) followed it up with Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” starring Ellie Kemper fresh from the doomsday cult and adjusting to life in New York City. The early days of streaming were kind to drama but a little bleak for situational comedy; what a relief it was to see the unabashedly weird and silly “Unbreakable” warts and all break through the seriousness. Kemper shines as the cock-eyed optimist Kimmy, but it’s the co-starring holy trinity of Tituss Burgess, Carol Kane, and Jane Krakowski that make the show endlessly rewatchable (and quotable).
Watch (or rewatch) and then choose your own adventure with the 2020 interactive sequel special “Kimmy vs. the Reverend.”
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
When a woman is rescued from a doomsday cult and lands in New York City, she must navigate a world she didn’t think even existed anymore.
No. 4: Mindhunter (2017–2019) | Crime Thriller
Another gone-too-soon casualty for the streamer (blame David Fincher’s busy schedule). Broadway baby Jonathan Groff plays the straight man in the true-crime thriller as FBI Agent Holden Ford, who helped found the Behavioral Science Unit and the beginning of criminal profiling. No one can claim that there aren’t enough true-crime and procedural series on TV—Netflix alone had its hands full at the same time with “Making a Murderer” and “The Confession Tapes” as well as the excellent parody series “American Vandal,” among others—but through its narrative and performances, “Mindhunter” felt like a reinvention of the genre.
MINDHUNTER
An agent in the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.
No. 3: When They See Us (2019) | Crime Drama
Redemption is the antidote in Ava DuVernay’s moving and harrowing four-episode miniseries based on the true story of the Central Park jogger case. Jharrel Jerome (the Emmy winner for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie award), Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, and Marquis Rodriguez lead the cast as the Exonerated Five, all putting in 2019’s best performances. Where “When They See Us” succeeds best is its lack of glitz and flash. The road of injustice is usually long and infuriatingly quiet. Hate doesn’t always exist in spectacle—- unless somebody takes out a full-page ad calling for the death, that is. As you’re reminded one of the two U.S. presidential candidates led a campaign of hate and terror against the marginalized and innocent in New York long before he ever grifted his way onto a ballot, “When They See Us” demands to be seen.
When They See Us
Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they’re falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park.
No. 2: Beef (2023– ) | Comedy-Drama
As a professional grudge holder, I couldn’t be more thrilled to see “Beef” get the love and attention it deserves. Steven Yeun and Ali Wong lead the cast of the first season as two strangers involved in a road rage incident that escalates into long-term antagonism. It’s a 10-course table of pettiness, but you never get full: Yeun and Wong’s complex individual performances and chemistry together instead remind you that anti-heroes deserve empathy, too. Season 2 is on the way with “Inside Llewyn Davis” duo Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, Cailee Spaeny, and Youn Yuh-jung joining the grudge match.
BEEF
A road rage incident between two strangers — a failing contractor and an unfulfilled entrepreneur — sparks a feud that brings out their darkest impulses.
No. 1: The Queen’s Gambit (2020) | Drama
While Anya Taylor-Joy had already found breakthrough success in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” and “Glass,” it was Netflix’s coming-of-age limited series, based on the novel of the same name, that launched her into the mainstream. Anchored by her focused but righteously angry performance as Beth, a young chess prodigy on the rise while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency, the series as a whole was a beautifully made adaptation that nailed the details, satisfying chess amateurs and professionals alike. At the time, it was Netflix’s most-watched limited series, and viewers were watching every move with purpose. Following its debut, chess signups and set sales were on the rise, especially among girls and women. One season is all Netflix needed for the checkmate.
The Queen's Gambit
In a 1950s orphanage, a young girl reveals an astonishing talent for chess and begins an unlikely journey to stardom while grappling with addiction.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.