Streaming services are known for having award-worthy series but also plenty of duds. Our guide to the best TV shows on Netflix is updated weekly to help you know which series you should move to the top of your queue. They aren’t all surefire winners—we love a good less-than-obvious gem—but they’re all worth your time, trust us.
Feel like you’ve already watched everything on this list that you want to see? Try our guide to the best movies on Netflix for more options. And if you’ve already completed Netflix and are in need of a new challenge, check out our picks for the best shows on Hulu and the best shows on Disney+. Don’t like our picks or want to offer suggestions of your own? Head to the comments below.
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Black Rabbit
The Black Rabbit is on its way to being New York’s hottest restaurant, an ultra-cool eatery that’s one glowing New York Times review away from blowing up. Proprietor Jake Friedken (Jude Law) has poured everything into it—so it’s the absolute worst time for his screw-up brother Vince (Jason Bateman) to crawl back into his life. On the run from a hit-and-run in Reno, and with long-standing debts to the mob hanging over him, Vince’s reappearance threatens to drag Jake down, and pushes brotherly love to lethal limits. Created by writers Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, this eight-episode limited series blends The Bear and Breaking Bad into a deliciously tense thriller that leaves you wanting a second course.
Wolf King
Based on the Wereworld books by Curtis Jobling, this animated fantasy adventure follows young farmer Drew (Cel Spellman), whose life is thrown into chaos when he learns he’s actually the hidden son of the lost Wolf King. Being the Wolf King's hidden son means he's also the last threat to the rule of King Leopold, the werelion who has stolen the throne. Joined by reluctant allies Whitley (Nina Barker Francis) and Hector (Chris Lew Kum Hoi), Drew is thrust into a quest to master his lupine powers and claim the crown he’s destined for—if they can evade Leopold’s forces. While the animation style won’t be for everyone—a pseudo-stop-motion approach—Wolf King will capture fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Dragon Prince, and its balance of swords and sorcery and savage werebeasts gives it just enough bite for parents and older viewers.
Long Story Short
Adult animation is awash with family sitcoms—The Simpsons, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, on and on—but they’re all stuck in the perma-present, mixing outlandish events with a never-changing status quo. Not so for Long Story Short, the latest series from BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg. The show follows the thoroughly pedestrian antics of the Schwoopers, jumping between the 1950s and 2020s as it does so. As it ricochets through the lives of parents Naomi and Elliot, and their children Avi, Shira, and Yoshi, it proves itself as a series that balances finding comedy in the mundane—from chaotic bar mitzvahs to anniversaries-turned-interventions—with Waksberg’s penchant for the poignant woven throughout, all brought to life by a fantastic voice cast including Ben Feldman, Abbi Jacobson, and Nicole Byer. Already renewed for a second season, this is one story Netflix hasn’t cut short.
Hostage
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