The 20 best Netflix original series

Even for animation fans, BoJack Horseman is an acquired taste in its aesthetic style and content. It is, after all, a show about a depressed, alcoholic, anthropomorphic horse who used to be a television star. The show can be bleak and absurd in equal measure, and it provided a distinct programming style you couldn’t get anywhere else.

Do you like the ripping of bodices? Then "Bridgerton" is for you. It's, ostensibly, a show about the wealthy in 1800s London. Really, though, it's about what if attractive people dressed in fancy old-timey ways but then took their clothes off and they were all in really good shape. Shonda Rimes knows what the people want.

The Crown is a bit more straightforward than BoJack. It’s your typical British royalty drama, brought to us by Peter Morgan, who wrote The Queen. The guy seems to have a knack for chronicling this family. This show is an Emmys darling, having won 21.

Before Disney+ took over the Marvel TV show landscape, we had Netflix. As time has gone on, we’ve heard less and less about Netflix’s gritty Marvel shows, save for people making fun of Iron Fist. We had to represent this era, though, and Daredevil was a clear choice. It was the most successful of the bunch.

Disenchantment isn’t The Simpsons or even Futurama. Of course, there’s no shame with Matt Groening’s fantasy comedy not being on the same level as two of the best shows ever. This is a show with similar sensibilities but with an ongoing story fitting for the streaming era when seasons drop all at once.

If only we could have gotten that fourth season of GLOW that COVID-19 canceled. It could have taken a great show out on a high note. Fortunately, the three seasons we got out of this show about an upstart women’s wrestling show were already good, headlined by Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin.

Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin were already legends, but they didn’t want to rest on their laurels. Instead, they starred in a sitcom that ended up streaming for seven seasons. They clearly had not lost a step decades into their careers, much to the happiness of 9 to 5 fans, we’re sure.

The Haunting is more of an anthology series, as we got a season of The Haunting of Hill Manor followed by a season of The Haunting of Bly Manor. Each rendition was creepy as all get out. Mike Flanagan has a way with atmospheric horror.

Lady Dynamite was one of the first Netflix shows to get canceled. It is, indeed, pretty out there. Maria Bamford has distinct sensibilities, and she’s not for everybody. This is a bizarre, vulgar, and even trippy comedy. If you get on its wavelength, though, it’s quite the ride.

Limited series still count as series, so Maniac makes the cut. After all, had it not been limited, they probably couldn’t have gotten Emma Stone and Jonah Hill to star. They are both great, and Maniac looks striking as well.

Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari mixed traditional sitcom storytelling with fresh ideas in the first two seasons of Master of None . They could do stories about love, dating, race, and sexuality that really resonated. A third season focused on Lena Waithe’s character, giving the show another dimension.

We didn’t include shows that moved to Netflix to continue their runs, like Arrested Development. However, Netflix’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 felt more like a reboot than a continuation. After all, there was a new human host, new voices for the robots, and new Mads. Also, we got an episode on “Mac and Me,” which made it all well worth it.

It’s so impressive how Nailed It! threads its needle. The show mines humor out of amateur bakers falling short, but it never feels like punching down. Everybody seems to be in on the fun. That includes host Nicole Byer, who is fantastic.

Making a crime drama about drugs is well-worn at this point, and that’s even true of stories centered on Pablo Escobar. Narcos could have felt generic. Instead, it really popped and reminded people that just because the territory has been tackled before doesn’t mean you can’t create something good out of it.

In time, people seemed to sour on Orange is the New Black. Maybe it overstayed its welcome. That being said, in the early days of Netflix, it was perhaps the original series that got the most attention. Although, it’s weird that the Emmys classified it as a comedy instead of a drama.

"Ozark" is kind of a poor man's "Breaking Bad," but admittedly also its own thing. Also, "Ozark" had plenty of its own positive qualities, of course. The show, which ran for four seasons, focused on a family laundering money for a drug cartel. It got several Emmy nominations, but Julie Garner proved the darling of the awards bloc, as she won three times. Now, if only somebody could have gotten them a light or two to use.

Anna Taylor-Joy doing drugs and playing chess? That’s all we needed to get hooked into The Queen’s Gambit. Taylor-Joy (primarily) plays chess prodigy Beth Harmon in this limited series that won the Emmy for that category. In a way, it’s like the most artistic sports movie we’ve ever seen. But, you know, a series.

We wish that Russian Doll was also a limited series. It would have been perfect as a one-season wonder. Alas, a second season happened. The first season was excellent. Natasha Lyonne plays a woman in a more-violent, darker version of Groundhog Day, where she keeps dying and waking up in the same bathroom at a party. While the second season isn't as good, it's not without its charms.

The South Korean dystopian drama "Squid Game" proved a hit, even across the ocean. In America, "Squid Game" became a true phenomenon. It was even nominated for Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys, making it the first non-English show to earn that distinction.

In terms of Netflix’s original series, none has had the cultural impact of Stranger Things. It’s truly massive. The sci-fi show indebted to the movies and television of the ‘80s has drawn adoration — and millions of viewers — for four seasons now. Stranger Things made the likes of Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard into stars. Hell, they even made adult actor David Harbour a star.

Netflix has plenty of non-fiction programming, though it is admittedly not served well on this list. Hey, with dozens of originals on Netflix, many of them would miss the cut. Ugly Delicious is the best of these documentary-style shows. David Chang’s food show somehow manages to feel fresh in a world where there have been so many food shows. Give it a shot, even if you don’t think a food-centric show can possibly do anything new.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt isn’t just hilarious. It’s also a key piece of the rise of Netflix. Tina Fey’s sitcom was greenlit by network television, but they blanched at the subject matter. Netflix agreed to take it on, and they got a brilliant joke machine of a sitcom out of it. Soon enough, Netflix took on shows from more traditional avenues left and right. Ellie Kemper should have won at least one Emmy.

Charles Addams, wherever you are, your vibe is super popular again. Well, maybe it is more Tim Burton's vibe, which is a surprise. His film career took a turn into mediocrity, but "Wednesday" is rich in Burton's essence, and it became a massive hit. Jenna Ortega is now a true-blue TV star. Or true-black TV star, as it were.

Like The Haunting, there are two distinct stories based in the world of the cult movie Wet Hot American Summer . First, we got a look back at the first day of the camp where the movie was set. Then, we got a season where everybody (save for Bradley Cooper) reunited 10 years later. Just like with the cult film, the jokes are dumb, but we laugh anyway. It was a world worth returning to twice over.