The 25 best shows you can stream right now

An Amazon Prime Video original, "The Boys" is based on the comic book of the same name by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson and developed by “Supernatural” creator Eric Kripke, and it follows a group of vigilantes (the titular Boys) on a mission to take down the corrupt superheroes (the Seven) of the world. Karl Urban stars as Billy Butcher, the leader of the Boys and a former CIA operative. The show is set to return for its second season this summer, giving you plenty of time to invite "The Boys" into your life.

When it comes to shows to stream, you truly can’t get any better than “Buffy.” Or “Angel.” Or, of course, both “Buffy” and “Angel.” There’s a reason people still talk — at length — about both of these shows to this very day. Both series make for the perfect binge-watching experiences too, because you can either watch from the beginning, pick and choose or mix and match episodes. Just remember one thing: “Beer Bad” is good, actually.

A Hulu original, for four seasons, “Casual” was regularly an under-the-radar and underrated gem of a series that often got lumped in with the type of un-funny “comedies” about privileged people with no real problems. However, that type of dismissal caused people to miss out on a charming show about intimacy and loneliness. Even worse, they missed out on its lovable, broken core trio — and yet another great Michaela Watkins performance.

This one is an Amazon Prime Video original and created by, written by and starring Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney. The official description of “Catastrophe” calls it “a comedy following an Irish woman and an American man who make a bloody mess as they struggle to fall in love in London.” Yep, that’s the show. (Horgan is the Irish woman and Delaney is the American man, of course.)

 “Champaign ILL” is a YouTube Premium original and the type of sitcom you watch to fill the “Happy Endings” hole in your heart (but don’t just want to rewatch “Happy Endings” again.) And it makes sense, as it was by created by Jordan Cahan (“Marry Me” writer, “Black Monday” co-creator), David Caspe (“Happy Endings” and “Marry Me” creator, “Black Monday” co-creator) and Daniel and Matthew Libman (“Happy Endings,” “Marry Me,” and “Black Monday” writers). Starring Sam Richardson and “Happy Endings” alum Adam Pally, “Champaign ILL” focused on how two members of a rapper’s crew could survive when they were no longer part of a rapper’s crew. (Jay Pharoah played Lou, said rapper.) In true “Happy Endings”/”Marry Me” fashion, the series relied on rapid-fire jokes, specific pop culture references and surprising heart in the face of absurdly shallow characters.

This prestige legal thriller has fallen out of the pop culture lexicon, but it really shouldn’t have. Glenn Close. Rose Byrne and a laundry list of impressive actors rounded out the supporting cast each season, including: Tate Donovan, Željko Ivanek, Ted Danson, Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Olyphant, William Hurt, Martin Short, Dylan Baker, John Goodman and Ryan Phillippe. Then there’s the recurring cast, with people like David Costabile, Darrell Hammond, Lily Tomlin, Chris Messina, Victor Garber, and Judd Hirsch. And that’s not even close to all the notable names.

A Netflix original, Christina Applegate came out of retirement for this dark comedy about two women (played by Applegate and Linda Cardellini) who bond during grief therapy. Full of twists, turns and the brilliance of Applegate and Cardellini, “Dead to Me” was renewed for a second season, set for sometime this spring.

An Apple TV+ original, Hailee Steinfeld stars as poet Emily Dickinson in this period dramedy with a modern tone and sensibility. (Wiz Khalifa plays Death. It’s actually really good.) It’s worth noting, while certainly a coming-of-age story, “Dickinson” is not a teen dramedy, as much as way too many reviews tried to classify it as. The series was also renewed for a second season just a few days after Apple TV+ launched.

An Amazon Prime Video original. You’ve heard all the hype, so it’s really only a matter of time until you give into Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s two-season heartbreaking (and funny) work of staggering brilliance.

Take a break from “Friends” and “The Office” and branch out to another Must See TV staple, one that holds up extremely well—especially for a series that premiered in 1993. Seriously, we all know at this point how poorly “Friends” holds up, but nobody is talking about much—surprisingly—”Frasier” does. Nor are they talking about just how smart of a comedy it was, even in a 2020 lens.

A Netflix original. Inspired by the real-life story of G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), “GLOW” is a 1980s-set dramedy set in the world of women’s wrestling. Starring Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, a surprisingly charming Marc Maron, and a talented supporting cast, “GLOW” is one of those Netflix shows that only leaves you wanting more with each passing season. Unfortunately, it’s been announced the upcoming fourth season will be “GLOW’s” final season.

A CBS All Access original. “The Good Fight” is a bonkers show, with a level of strangeness of which “The Good Wife” (the show from which it was spun-off) only ever scratched the surface. That “The Good Fight” somehow pulls off its ever-increasing bizarreness—simultaneously existing in the “real world” while doing everything it can to navigate the depths of surrealism—is an impressive feat, that unfortunately is rarely discussed because of the fact that it airs on CBS All Access. At the same time, it’s easily and regularly in the “best show on TV” conversation.

Take a break from “Friends” and “The Office” and branch out to true hangout comedy and comedy ensemble perfection. With each passing year, "Happy Endings’" legacy becomes greater, with people realizing just how lucky we were to have it on the air and just how stupid we were to never fully treasure it at the time. The jokes per minute ratio of the show is one that will live on in infamy.

A Hulu original. Believe it or not, Zoe Kravitz as “High Fidelity’s” Rob works. Like, a lot. Hulu’s adaptation of the 1995 Nick Hornby book and the 2000 film starring John Cusack works well on multiple levels, even when it doesn’t seem like it should. “High Fidelity” the series is familiar enough to its source material that viewers will still recognize the story, yet it’s enough of its own thing that it’s able to stand on its own.

If you’re looking for an alternative to “Black Mirror”—one that is able to play with different genres, hasn’t been as Americanized, and is also a much shorter viewing experience per episode—then “Inside No. 9” is the perfect anthology series. The series mostly falls under the (very) dark comedy genre, though it plays around with genre enough that it’s not all just more of the same. A series of brilliant twists in bottle episode form—as, like HBO’s “Room 104,” each episode is set in one place, labeled with the number nine—“Inside No. 9” hasn’t lost its novelty or its ability to surprise from episode-to-episode. (Pro-tip: While Hulu only has the first two seasons, BritBox has the first four seasons and the 2018 Halloween special. Season 5 just aired in the UK.)

An Apple TV+ original. Based on the first-person photo essay feature of the same name from Epic Magazine, “Little America” is a slice of life series that dramatizes real-life immigrant stories. The series goes beyond current events headlines “to look at the funny, romantic, heartfelt, inspiring and unexpected lives of immigrants in America, at a time when their stories are more relevant than ever.” It’s also pretty darn charming.

A note for everyone bingeing “Friends”: “Living Single” premiered before “Friends.” Just saying. Respect Queen Latifah.

A Netflix original. If you watched “Childrens Hospital,” then you know what you must do: You must watch its spin-off, “Medical Police.” If you did not watch “Childrens Hospital,” then this is still a good, absurd comedy to stream… you just have to know what you’re getting yourself into. Again, emphasis on the “absurd” part.

An Apple TV+ original. You can also stream “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” on Hulu, but this is highlighting the new original streaming series from Rob McElhenney (who also stars), Charlie Day, and Megan Ganz. This comedy series "follows a team of video game developers as they navigate the challenges of running a popular video game,” and yes, McElhenney’s character is quite the challenge. “Mythic Quest” has also already been renewed for a second season.

You don’t have to choose a hangout sitcom; you can watch as many (of the good ones) as you want! "New Girl" is another one of the good ones, and as a bonus, it actually has seven seasons and a conclusion that allowed it to end on its own terms. It’s always nice to have assurances that your binge-watch won’t end on a cliffhanger, you know?

An Amazon Prime Video original. “Patriot” was a little-seen quirky dramedy, but those who saw it, really loved it. Starring Michael Dorman as a U.S. intelligence officer suffering from PTSD and depression, “Patriot” was a lot funnier than that character description would suggest. In a dark way, but still, funny.

A Netflix original. Natasha Lyonne. A “Groundhog Day” scenario. Does anything else need to be said? (Seriously, does anything else need to be said? “Groundhog Day” scenarios are already the best TV gimmick. This show takes it to the extreme.)

A Netflix original. If you want to know what tossing a coin to your witcher is all about, you have to actually watch this show. That’s just the rules. In a post-”Game of Thrones” world, “The Witcher”—based on the book series of the same name—is everyone’s fantasy drama obsession.

There’s a scene in “New Girl” where Schmidt says that one of his “desert island books” is “any of the scripts from the first season of ‘Vampire Diaries.’” Oddly specific, right? Wrong. “The Vampire Diaries” was mad watchable. In fact, the way the series burned through seasons’ worth of plot in just a few episodes (in a good way!) actually makes it the perfect type of show to binge-watch, one where the binge is seamless and not at too rocky, despite being a show that originally aired on a week-to-week basis.

A Netflix original. It’s pretty much impossible that you’ve missed the buzz on “You” by this point. Now is the time to let everyone’s favorite homicidal sociopath into your streaming queue. And while you can start from the beginning, the series is set up in a way where you can just dive right into the recent second season if you want, without too much confusion.