Because of its massive reach and selection of original content, Netflix can offer a little
something for everyone.
There's more to watch every month, making it difficult to keep track of the best offerings.
With that in mind, here are some of the best series made by Netflix, for Netflix.
13 Reasons Why
One of the saddest teen-oriented shows in recent memory is also one of the best.
Based on the novel by Jay Asher, 13 Reasons Why is a provocative, often unsettling examination
of bullying, mental illness, assault, trauma, and suicide.
The "13 reasons" of the title refer to audiotapes recorded by a high school student named Hannah,
with each side detailing a different reason why she took her own life.
It's not for the faint of heart, but 13 Reasons Why is definitely a must-watch.
Orange Is the New Black
"Women in prison" used to be the domain of seedy movie theaters and late-night Cinemax.
Not anymore: Orange Is the New Black is one of the most wholly original and feminist series
in TV history.
Based on Piper Kerman's memoir about being an upper-middle-class white woman jailed for
a drug crime, the show has evolved into a vast ensemble drama with a lot to say about
gender, race, and economic issues.
It tells the stories of incarcerated women as people, not just "criminals," and how they
form new families and learn more about their own identities while locked up.
Clear your schedule, because once you start you'll be binge-watching for hours.
Stranger Things
It's no small feat that a show about children in grave danger somehow gives viewers the
warm and fuzzies.
That's the power of nostalgia.
A wholly original science-fiction series with its own deep mythology, rules, and a range
of fleshed-out characters, Stranger Things is loaded with references to '80s sci-fi and
horror, in part because it's set in the '80s.
More than anything, it feels like another entry in that so-'80s genre of entertainment
about adventurous kids that adults could enjoy too: inventive, dark, and completely entertaining.
Never say die.
BoJack Horseman
This is a cartoon set in some kind of alternate universe where all kinds of animals have human
qualities and live among humans.
Its main character is BoJack Horseman, a washed-up actor who starred in a terrible '90s family
sitcom called Horsin' Around.
Yet in spite of all of this zaniness, BoJack Horseman provides one of the most accurate
and heartbreaking portrayals of depression ever put to screen.
BoJack is a sellout who wants to make art, but isn't sure if he can, and always self-sabotages
his own successes.
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
While the 2004 adaptation of the kiddie goth book series Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate
Events was certainly delightful, the problem is that there was only one.
There are multiple bestselling books about the forever-doomed Baudelaire orphans, and
now they all finally get to come to life via a Netflix original series.
Neil Patrick Harris stars as the wicked Count Olaf, an actor by trade who uses his access
to wigs and makeup to worm his way into the lives of the kids so he can steal their inheritance.
The versatile Harris is perfectly cast as Olaf, and he also sings the theme song, warning
the viewer to stay away from the show because it's just too bleak and troubling.
The dark and playful humor is balanced with whimsical, dreamlike imagery, making a show
that's guaranteed to entertain all ages.
Arrested Development
In 2013, Netflix aired its first revival of a show originally produced on another network,
making quite a statement in the process: If Arrested Development, a critically adored
cult hit that lurked near the bottom of the ratings when it initially aired on Fox, could
be revived, then anything could.
It also proved Netflix was a major player in entertainment, as an Arrested Development
revival had already been discussed at big places like HBO and Showtime, with Netflix
ultimately winning out.
The show reunited the entire main cast to create what's really a 13-episode movie.
Each episode focuses on the backstory of a different main character and what they've
been up to in the past decade or so.
It's ridiculous, multi-layered, self-referential—and astonishingly good.
If you only watch one episode, watch the one about Gob, in which he confuses the first
friendship he's ever had for romantic attraction, gets himself locked in a fake rock, tries
and fails to raise bees, and becomes part of the entourage of a pop star who writes
a song about how awful Gob is.
Flaked
How many Netflix shows is Will Arnett on, anyway?
He's the voice of the title character on BoJack Horseman, he plays a prominent figure in A
Series of Unfortunate Events, and he co-starred in the Arrested Development revival.
Arnett also co-created the quiet dramedy Flaked about a recovering middle-aged alcoholic trying
to put his life back together after killing another man while driving under the influence.
His recovery includes making stools, fighting with his best friend, and tooling around Venice,
California on his bike.
It's a sometimes poignant, sometimes funny show about a numb guy in paradise trying to
take action but never quite getting there.
Wait a second…is this just a live-action BoJack Horseman?
W/ Bob and David
Mr. Show with Bob and David ran on HBO from 1995 to 1999 and became one of the most highly
regarded sketch comedy shows of the '90s.
Many of its cast and writers went on to become comedy icons, including stars David Cross
and Bob Odenkirk, as well as Paul F. Tompkins, Tom Kenney, and Scott Aukerman.
Gathering all those talents together to make more top-notch sketch comedy after nearly
20 years apart seemed impossible, but Netflix was able to do it with the four-episode miniseries
W/ Bob and David.
Time has passed but the magic has not, and these sketches are worthy additions to the
Bob and David canon.
If you loved all the absurdity of the original, you'll definitely get a kick out of the revived
series.
Making a Murderer
Along with HBO's The Jinx, Netflix's Making a Murderer reignited the public's fascination
with true crime stories.
This exhaustive and extraordinarily compelling series analyzes every possible aspect of the
2005 murder case for which Wisconsin man Steven Avery was charged—and as the series shows,
a lot of things don't quite add up.
Was evidence planted?
Were police out to frame Avery because he was suing them for wrongful conviction and
imprisonment for an earlier crime?
Did police coerce a confession out of Brendan Dassey, Avery's accomplice and nephew?
Making a Murderer is equal parts riveting and enraging, and its real-world struggle
is guaranteed to get you hooked.
House of Cards
Based on a British miniseries, House of Cards details the slow, methodical, and deadly path
by which Southern politician Frank Underwood seeks out and obtains the power he's so obsessed
with.
Over the course of several seasons, cold-blooded Frank does whatever he needs to do to ascend
the government ladder.
Even if political dramas aren't usually your thing, House of Cards is bound to suck you
in.
Master of None
Less a serial comedy series and more an anthology of standalone episodes, Master of None is
definitely a unique addition to the Netflix library.
Comedian, actor, and writer Aziz Ansari and his writing partner Alan Yang won an Emmy
for this series, which is probably the first to really capture the millennial point of
view.
It's thoughtful, wise, and even legitimately touching—but also hilarious, because Ansari
can't help being funny.
The Crown
Quiet, slow-building stories about British monarchs are nothing new to television—it's
the bread and butter of PBS and the BBC, after all.
And yet The Crown is something entirely different.
Shot at a cost of $100 million, the most expensive series in Netflix history, it's an extraordinarily
ambitious project that aims to tell the complete life story of Queen Elizabeth II, from childhood
to coronation to the present day, as she struggled to keep England together in the post-war years
and learned how to be a stateswoman from the incomparable Winston Churchill, portrayed
by John Lithgow.
Keep in mind that Elizabeth is still alive—but she'd find it hard to be offended.
It's all done with an empathy and humanity not generally given to larger-than-life figures,
especially ones that can seem as cold and distant as English monarchs.
We see her grieve, we see her insecurities, we even see her getting flirty with her husband
Prince Phillip.
The Crown is also absolutely gorgeous—the set and costume design is so lush and spot-on
that you could swear it was shot right in Buckingham Palace.
The OA
This sci-fi show is about a mysterious young woman who re-appears after disappearing for
seven years...
Only now she's covered in scars, calls herself "The OA," and can see even though she used
to be blind.
It's a dark, labyrinthine series about death, the afterlife, science, violence, conspiracies,
and human spirituality.
In short, it gets deep, and it gets weird.
It's a good thing that Netflix doesn't charge by the hour, because we'd all rack up huge
bills trying to figure out The OA.
Black Mirror
A dead TV series returning to life thanks to rapidly spreading technology?
That sounds like an episode of Black Mirror!
Netflix revived Charlie Brooker's creepy British sci-fi anthology series for six new stories.
They're all vaguely set in the very near future and, like the original series, examine the
often damaging effects of the place where humanity and technology intersect, and how
that relationship affects our humanity and dignity…for better or for worse.
Santa Clarita Diet
Yeah, there are a lot of zombie shows on TV right now, but Santa Clarita Diet has them
beat.
First of all, it's just as gory and disgusting as The Walking Dead, but it's a lot funnier.
Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star as Sheila and Joel Hammond, Southern California
real estate agents who hit a bit of a rough patch in their marriage when Sheila turns
into a zombie with an insatiable desire for human meat.
Naturally, she must turn to murder, but Joel is on board, as is their teenage daughter
Abby and their macabre-obsessed neighbor.
Sheila taking a huge bite out of life is a great metaphor for choosing to live life to
the fullest, but this is still a zombie show, so there are plenty of gross-out moments.
No spoilers, but this is probably your only chance to see the star of Never Been Kissed
barf up a swimming pool's worth of sludge.
"That was a crazy amount of vomit."
"Well, I'm not a medical expert.
So I can't say what the proper amount of vomit is."
"It was a HUGE amount."
Daredevil
By day, Matt Murdock is a lawyer.
By night, he cleans up New York's Hell's Kitchen with his fists and fighting skills.
The action sequences are intense, and Daredevil lays waste to every thug he faces despite
his blindness.
Those scenes are almost as terrific as the ones with Vincent D'Onofrio as the terrifying
villain Kingpin.
Put it all together, and you have one of the best original action series on Netflix.
Even a blind man could see that.
Jessica Jones
Is Jessica Jones the first superhero psychological drama?
It's a comic book and superhero show without the usual trappings—you rarely see Jessica
exhibit her amazing abilities.
Instead, it focuses on the ramifications of how she's used those powers in the past.
In many ways, it's less of a superhero show and more about a young woman trying to forge
her own identity while struggling to leave her past behind.
She just happens to be super-strong.
Luke Cage
This show marks Netflix's first spin-off, focusing on the character portrayed by Mike
Colter on Jessica Jones.
It's another Marvel series that reflects the real world and its culture, history, and race
relations.
Luke Cage is a human story about a superhero trying to navigate a world in which he sometimes
feels like he doesn't fit in, which makes a great allegory about a young man trying
not to get swallowed up by the underbelly of urban society.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!