Image via Netflix/Scott Patrick Green
Whether or not television purists would define them as "TV shows," the best Netflix original shows are engaging, well-acted, and feature beautiful set design. These shows often have the power to reach viewers who might not consider themselves fans of a specific genre or type of story. Stranger Things, for example, took the nation by storm when it first premiered, entrancing even non-sci-fi heads. BoJack Horseman and Big Mouth have contributed to an animated series revival, and Black Mirror has made an entire social media-dependent audience scared shitless of their own smartphones and computers.
The streaming platform has made binge-watching these must-watch shows easier than ever, too, thanks to their tradition of dropping an entire new season at a time. When a new installment of Orange is the New Black is released, you know it's a problem. Even series canceled too soon (*cough* American Vandal) are immortalized forever on both the Netflix website and the unofficial Netflix Hall of Fame. These Emmy-winning shows continue to prop up Netflix as the GOAT streaming platform, so much so that services like Hulu and Amazon Prime are serving up their own original content to compete.
No matter your taste, there's something for everyone. These are the best Netflix original series.
Russian Doll
Maybe Russian Doll keeps popping up in your recommended Netflix titles, and each time it does, you think, “I’ll get to it eventually.” Before you put the series on the back burner again, know that each episode is just around 30 minutes, so even if you binge it, it’s really more like an extra long movie than a full series. If that’s not enough to convince you to squeeze it in, know that it stars patron saint of Big Dick Energy Natasha Lyonne as a foul-mouthed New Yorker named Nadia. I can’t tell you much else without spoiling the entire series, but honestly, what more do you need to know? It’s funny, sad, and a little spooky, and is held together by a knockout performance from Lyonne.
Sex Education
Teen drama Sex Education is all about, well, sex. But rather than being just another show focused on horny teenagers, the objects of their horniness, and their horny antics, the series offers multiple perspectives, including that of its main character, Otis (Asa Butterfield), whose attitude about sex is relatively inconclusive, especially compared to that of his friends. That attitude, however, makes him the perfect partner for a business started by his classmate, Maeve (Emma Mackey), who recruits him to help her make money by offering sex and relationship advice to their peers. Gillian Anderson stars as Otis’ mother, Dr. Milburn, an actual sex therapist who wants to connect with her son and talk about all things sex. The heartwarming and hilarious show tackles topics like queer sexuality and abortion with seriousness and empathy, without reducing them to trauma porn. Last month, Netflix announced that the show has been renewed for a second season.
Big Mouth
Similar to Hulu’s PEN15, Netflix’s animated Big Mouth is a hilarious and wholesome look at adolescence—with a much heavier emphasis on the physical aspects of puberty. Created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin, and Jennifer Flackett, the series follows a group of teens as they navigate their changing bodies and budding sexuality, with the help of a hormone monster (Kroll) and monstress (Rudolph). Kroll voices a number of characters, including Nick, whose best friend Andrew is voiced by John Mulaney. Jessi Klein, Jason Mantzoukas, Jenny Slate, Fred Armisen, and Jordan Peele also lend their voices to the show, which balances the over-the-top outrageousness of an animated series with the relatable storylines that permeated all of our pre-teen and teen years. Come for the nostalgia, stay for the pregnant pillow (seriously).
American Vandal
Canceled but never forgotten, American Vandal blends the best elements of mockumentary style, true crime doc, and millennial drama to create a masterful comedy. The first season follows Dylan Maxwell (Jimmy Tatro), a class clown accused of vandalizing his teachers’ cars, and two fellow students, Peter (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam (Griffin Gluck), who launch an investigative documentary to try and uncover the truth. The second season finds Peter and Sam teaming up again to solve a case involving laxatives and cafeteria lemonade at another high school. The series is brilliant and spot-on in its portrayal of the impact of social media in both high school drama and actual crime, as well as of the way the teenagers of today interact with and react to each other. Season two drops off a little bit, but season one is nearly flawless and worth your watch.
GLOW
A rare sports-centered series about women, GLOW is loosely based on the story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, a syndicated women’s professional wrestling circuit from the 1980s. The show follows Ruth Wilder (Allison Brie), a struggling actress who auditions for GLOW, and the personal and professional lives as the rest of the gang of misfits. The series has earned Primetime Emmy Awards for its production design and stunt coordination, but its performances are strong, too, particularly Betty Gilpin as Debbie “Liberty Belle” Egan.
Stranger Things
We’d be surprised if you haven’t watched Stranger Things by now. The show first took the world by storm in summer 2016 with its supernatural Steven Spielberg-esque vibes and its homage to all things ‘80s pop culture. It set the stage beautifully and intriguingly for its second season, which kept 4 million viewers enticed. Stranger Things is a little bit of everything—nostalgia, horror, comedy, suspense—making it prime binge-watch material.
Black Mirror
So you wanna feel a little existential? Look no further than the Twilight Zone of the modern age, Black Mirror. Each standalone episode delves into the various outcomes that the future of technology might yield, and while there are a few that promise hope, the rest are suspenseful dystopian nightmares (the best kind for compelling TV). The most recent installment, a single episode titled Bandersnatch, offered viewers a Choose Your Own Adventure experience, continuing the fascinating and frightening exploration of the prospects of the not-so-distant future.
Orange Is The New Black
Orange Is the New Black is Netflix royalty. It’s one of the O.G. streaming shows, and has been a fan favorite since day one. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and scream, but most of all, it’ll make you think. Few shows challenge racial and gender stereotypes the way Jenji Kohan’s writer’s room does, and we’re all better because of it.
BoJack Horseman
BoJack Horseman is a serious look at existentialism, mental illness, and human interaction, masked as a cartoon about a horse named BoJack who used to be a ‘90s sitcom star. After partying too hard in Hollywood, BoJack attempts to fix his image, and throughout the series realizes just how, well, shitty he actually is. He copes with these realizations in great and not-so-great ways, posing important questions about the ways we treat each other.
Making A Murderer
Question: Where were you during the 2015 holiday season? Answer: Binge watching every episode of Making a Murderer season 1 in one sitting. At the time, the popularity of true crime stories was on the rise; the podcast Serial was all the rage, and The Jinx had just wrapped on HBO. Then Making a Murderer stepped in just in time and blew the true crime door wide open with its fascinating, heartbreaking look at the U.S. judicial system. In 2018, the platform dropped a second season, following up and sharing recent developments for everyone who became invested in the case three years prior.
Love
Love tells the story of modern romance, and boy, does it get the details right. It’s real. Like, it’s a little too real at times. It portrays the ups and downs of dating so precisely, we can’t watch too many episodes in a row before needing a break. The show ended in 2018, but remains just as relevant, and is a good reminder of just how stupid and cursed dating really can be.
Marvel's Jessica Jones
Jessica Jones is the superhero the world needed, and Krysten Ritter is the actress we needed to portray her. She plays the role honestly, unapologetically, and bravely, and with a fresh helping of sarcasm. Jessica Jones doesn’t shy away from themes of rape and domestic abuse, and though that can make it hard to watch at times, audiences applaud Netflix for talking about the subjects openly and honestly.
Dear White People
Before Dear White People was a series of episodes streaming on Netflix, it was a satirical film (which, incidentally, was also streaming on Netflix). In both the show and the movie, “Dear White People” is the name of a college radio show hosted by Sam, a black student at a predominantly white Ivy League college. Her frankness and wit in criticizing white people are constantly causing a stir—and teaching audiences that the world isn’t as woke as we’d like to think it is.
Narcos
Watching Narcos is like watching a documentary and an intense drama all in one. It follows the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar, the infamous Colombian drug lord. Not only does Narcos tell a gripping story, but it also includes real news footage to illustrate just how much the Colombian drug trade infiltrated the U.S. in the ‘80s.
The Crown
Speaking of historical retellings, The Crown offers another inside look at a fascinating figure—this time, Queen Elizabeth II. The series explores her rise to power, her relationship with her husband Prince Phillip, and her ability to stay in the people’s good graces for decades. Actress Claire Foy plays such a convincing Queen Elizabeth II, she was awarded for her work with the Golden Globe statue for Best Actress in a Television Series—Drama.