There’s something ‘Evil’ in Paramount+’s 10 best TV shows
There’s something ‘Evil’ in Paramount+’s 10 best TV shows
Skydance’s Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition is complete, but we’re still waiting to see what happens to the streaming services.
Things are getting really interesting over at Paramount+. Of course, I’m talking about its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which brings Paramount+ and HBO Max under one roof… and the roof will be called Skydance. It sounds like the two streaming services will eventually combine into one, but there’s no timeline for when that will happen or what the service could look like. And while there are no immediate changes to the Paramount+ library, we do know that HBO’s programming chief, Casey Bloys, was named co-chair and chief content officer of Skydance’s streaming division. So, he’ll now oversee original programming across HBO Max and Paramount+. Change is in the air… it just may be a while before we see it. In any case, here are my picks for the 10 best TV shows streaming on Paramount+ right now.
Top 10 all-time TV shows streaming on Paramount+:
No. 10: ‘Tulsa King’ (2022) | Crime drama
The setup for “Tulsa King” is pretty simple, and honestly, that’s part of the fun. Sylvester Stallone plays Dwight Manfredi, a New York mobster who finally gets out of prison after decades behind bars, only to be sent off to Tulsa like the family doesn’t quite know what else to do with him. Once Dwight realizes the old crew has basically carried on without him, he decides to build something of his own. So now you’ve got this old-school gangster trying to run his usual playbook in a city that doesn’t work the way he expects.
Stallone makes the whole thing go. Dwight could’ve been nothing more than another hard guy in a nice suit, but Stallone gives him humor, charm, ego, and just enough sadness underneath it all. The show has plenty of crime and danger, but it never becomes a miserable slog. It’s loose, funny, a little ridiculous, and really easy to watch. That combination helped turn it into one of the biggest shows of the Taylor Sheridan era on Paramount+, and it’s still going strong.
Tulsa King
New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi is released from prison after 25 years and exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew.
No. 9: ‘Landman’ (2024) | Western drama
“Landman” knows Billy Bob Thornton is the main attraction, and it wisely gets out of his way. He plays Tommy Norris, a fixer working in the West Texas oil business, where almost every conversation feels like it could end with a deal, a threat, or somebody completely losing it. The show throws you into a world full of fast money, giant egos, family drama, and people making very expensive decisions under pressure.
Thornton is perfect for it. Tommy spends most of his time trying to keep a dozen different problems from exploding at once, whether they involve billionaires, workers, relatives, or people you really don’t want showing up at your door. The show has the big, rough energy fans expect from “Yellowstone,” but it doesn’t feel like the same story moved next to an oil field. It’s about ambition, survival, money, and the exhausting job of holding everything together when the whole world feels one bad move away from disaster.
Landman
Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West-Texas and a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs, the series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires that are fueling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.
No. 8: ‘South Park’ (1997) | Animated comedy
“South Park” has been around forever, and somehow it still feels like the show most likely to say the thing everyone else is nervously avoiding. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have spent decades using four kids from a tiny Colorado town to make fun of politics, celebrities, religion, pop culture, and basically anything else that enters the conversation. Some episodes age better than others, sure, but when the show is locked in, there’s still nothing quite like it.
The move to Paramount+ has also turned “South Park” into one of the biggest comedy draws on the service. Paramount’s five-year deal brings the full library and new episodes under one streaming roof, and the company later called the show its top subscriber-acquisition driver for the third quarter of 2025. So this isn’t just a classic Paramount happens to have lying around. It’s still active, still getting people to sign up, and still making everybody mad on a pretty regular basis. That feels worthy of a spot.
South Park
This vulgar animated series follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
“South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” is a must-see movie if you enjoy this series. It shows off the musical inclinations that would later lead the creators to make “The Book of Mormon.” You’ll also enjoy the behind-the-scenes documentary, “6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park.”
No. 7: ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ (2021) | Crime drama
“Mayor of Kingstown” has quietly become one of the most reliable serious dramas on Paramount+. Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon set the show in a Michigan town where prisons don’t just keep the local economy moving. They pretty much run the whole place. Jeremy Renner plays Mike McLusky, the guy everyone calls when things get messy between cops, inmates, gangs, criminals, and politicians. Which, in Kingstown, is basically all the time.
What makes the show work is how nobody ever really gets out clean. Every favor creates another problem, every deal comes with strings, and Mike spends most of his life trying to keep the entire town from blowing up. Four seasons in, the series has only gotten darker and more intense, and Renner’s return adds even more weight to it. It’s heavy, stressful, and packed with strong performances, but that’s exactly why it’s become such an important show for the service. Oh, and with the fifth season set to be the last, it’s a perfect time to start watching.
Mayor of Kingstown
In a small Michigan town where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry, the McClusky family are the power brokers between the police, criminals, inmates, prison guards and politicians in a city completely dependent on prisons and the prisoners they contain.
No. 6: ‘Evil’ (2019) | Supernatural horror
Give a psychologist, a priest, and a tech expert a case involving a possible demon, and you’re going to get a lot of differing interpretations on what’s really going on here. That’s the fun of “Evil.” Katja Herbers plays Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychologist hired to help the Catholic Church investigate a bunch of weird stuff like possessions, miracles, and everything else they can’t explain. She’s joined by David Acosta (Mike Colter), who sees everything through the lens of his faith, and Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi), who just wants to see some dang evidence.
While the monster-of-the-week setup may seem trivial, there’s a lot more underneath the surface that elevates “Evil” to greatness. Creators Robert and Michelle King are as interested in questions about faith, religion, technology, doubt, and how otherwise smart people can believe some very strange stuff as they are in terrifying you. And the show only gets better the deeper you go (it moved from CBS to Paramount+), with Seasons 3 and 4 elevating it to something truly original.
Evil
Skeptical forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard joins priest-in-training David Acosta and technology expert Ben Shakir as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordinary occurrences to assess for a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work.
No. 5: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ (2022) | Sci-fi adventure
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” feels like modern “Star Trek” remembering that space exploration is supposed to be fun. Set about 10 years before the original series, it follows Anson Mount’s Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew as they bounce from one new mission to the next. The show is hopeful without getting cheesy, thoughtful without feeling like homework, and honestly just a really good time.
The case-of-the-week setup is a huge part of the appeal. You get a full adventure in each episode, while the relationships between the crew keep growing in the background. That puts it much closer to “The Next Generation,” “Voyager,” and “Deep Space Nine” than some of the more heavily serialized Trek shows. With newer titles like “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” also joining the lineup, Paramount+ clearly isn’t slowing down on “Star Trek.” “Strange New Worlds” is the best proof that the franchise still has plenty left in the tank. Season 4 started dropping July 23, to be followed by the final season coming in 2027.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Follow Captain Christopher Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.
No. 4: ‘Dexter: Resurrection’ (2025) | Crime thriller
I’ll always have a soft spot for the original “Dexter.” The story went off the rails here and there, sure, but Michael C. Hall was always impossible to look away from as Dexter Morgan. That’s a big reason “Dexter: Resurrection” works as well as it does. After the brutal ending of “New Blood,” Dexter wakes up from a coma and somehow gets one more chance to deal with the giant mess he’s made.
This time, Harrison gives the story a much stronger emotional center. Dexter isn’t only hiding from the law or getting pulled toward another killer. He’s trying to find his son, and that makes everything feel more personal. The cast is also kind of ridiculous, with Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage, Neil Patrick Harris, and David Zayas helping expand the world around him. It’s dark, tense, and more interested in Dexter’s head than ever. Honestly, it’s a much better comeback than I expected.
Dexter: Resurrection
Dexter Morgan awakens from a coma to find Harrison gone without a trace. Realizing the weight of what he put his son through, Dexter sets out for New York City, determined to find him and make things right. But closure won’t come easy. When Miami Metro’s Angel Batista arrives with questions, Dexter realizes his past is catching up to him fast. As father and son navigate their own darkness in the city that never sleeps, they soon find themselves deeper than they ever imagined - and that the only way out is together.
No. 3: ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987) | Sci-fi drama
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” will always mean a little more to me because it was the first show I got to stay up late and watch with my parents, from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. That kind of memory sticks. Pretty quickly, the Enterprise stopped feeling like just a cool spaceship and started feeling like somewhere I got to visit every week.
The great thing is, the show still works. Picard, Data, Worf, Riker, Troi, Beverly, and Geordi feel like people you know after only a handful of episodes, and the series tackles huge ideas without ever losing its warmth. Patrick Stewart gives the whole thing a steady moral center, and Picard is still one of the best leaders TV has ever given us. For anyone wondering why “Star Trek” has lasted this long, this is still the first show I’d point them toward.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds.
No. 2: ‘Ghosts’ (2021) | Sitcom, supernatural comedy
“Ghosts” has one of those premises that sounds like it might run out of gas fast. A woman inherits an old house, nearly dies, and suddenly realizes she can see all the spirits living there. Simple enough. But instead of becoming the same joke over and over, the show turns into this really sweet ensemble comedy full of characters you actually care about.
And those ghosts are the whole reason it works. There’s a Viking, a jazz singer, a finance guy with no pants, and a bunch of other people from totally different eras who are now stuck sharing the same house forever. The writers keep getting fresh stories out of their old grudges, unfinished business, clashing personalities, and bizarre little friendships. It’s quick, warm, and very easy to settle into. In a time when sitcoms don’t always get the chance to grow, “Ghosts” feels like a rare one that keeps getting better.
Ghosts
Samantha and Jay throw caution to the wind when they convert their recently inherited country estate into a bed-and-breakfast. Call it mislaid plans. Not only is the place falling apart, but it’s also inhabited by spirits of previous residents — whom only Samantha can see and hear.
No. 1: ‘Key & Peele’ (2012) | Sketch comedy
“Key & Peele” is still the standard I use for modern sketch comedy. It could be smart, ridiculous, uncomfortable, and insanely quotable, sometimes all in the same sketch. The famous bits are obviously great, but what really stands out is how often the show hits. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele kept finding weirdly specific ways into race, pop culture, masculinity, identity, and everyday social awkwardness, and they made it look almost too easy.
Everything they did afterward only makes the show more impressive. Jordan Peele went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for “Get Out,” while Keegan-Michael Key became one of those actors who makes pretty much anything funnier just by showing up. But “Key & Peele” is still the thing that feels magical. It’s not only one of the best comedies on Paramount+. It’s also one of the easiest shows on the service to throw on for 20 minutes and immediately remember why everyone was quoting it.
Key & Peele
Key & Peele is an American sketch comedy television show. It stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, both former cast members of MADtv. Each episode of the show consists of several pre-taped sketches starring the two actors, introduced by Key and Peele in front of a live studio audience.