Top 20 Ranked: The Best Streaming TV Shows Ever

Mo. Basuony

Published: April 6, 2026 6:53 AM ET

Top 20 Ranked: The Best Streaming TV Shows Ever

The rise of streaming platforms reshaped film and television over the last decade. Originals from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV and others now reach global audiences.

Selection criteria

This list highlights television projects produced specifically for streaming services in the United States. Licensed series and broadcast imports were excluded.

Top 20 streaming originals, ranked

20. Cobra Kai — Began on YouTube Red before moving to Netflix. The revival follows Johnny Lawrence mentoring Miguel Diaz and reigniting his feud with Daniel LaRusso.
19. Ted Lasso — Apple TV series launched in 2020. Jason Sudeikis stars as an American coach who leads a British soccer team with empathy.
18. The Bear — FX on Hulu drama set in a Chicago beef sandwich shop. Jeremy Allen White plays Carmy Berzatto as the kitchen shifts toward fine dining.
17. Our Flag Means Death — HBO Max comedy about piracy in the early 18th century. Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi lead a swashbuckling romantic send-up.
16. The Morning Show — One of Apple TV’s early flagship dramas. Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell and Reese Witherspoon portray life inside a morning news program.
15. Mayor of Kingstown — Paramount+ crime drama from Taylor Sheridan. Jeremy Renner plays Mike McLusky, a mediator in a prison-centered Michigan town.
14. Poker Face — Peacock mystery-comedy by Rian Johnson. Natasha Lyonne stars as Charlie Cale, a woman who can detect lies while traveling the country.
13. The Mandalorian — Disney+ series set five years after Return of the Jedi. Pedro Pascal’s bounty hunter protects Grogu and broadened Star Wars on television.
12. For All Mankind — Apple TV alternate-history about the Space Race. Joel Kinnaman stars as NASA expands missions after the Soviets reach the moon first.
11. Invincible — Prime Video animated series from Robert Kirkman. Steven Yeun voices Mark Grayson as he faces the dark truth about his father.
10. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners — 2022 Netflix anime set in Night City. The story follows David Martinez and Lucy against corporate power and desperate extremes.
9. Peacemaker — HBO Max spin-off from The Suicide Squad. John Cena’s Chris Smith battles parasitic aliens and explores personal trauma across seasons.
8. 1883 — Paramount+ Yellowstone prequel released in 2021. Sam Elliott stars as Shea Brennan leading a wagon train to Montana.
7. The Handmaid’s Tale — Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel. Elisabeth Moss leads a dystopian drama about women under a theocratic regime.
6. BoJack Horseman — Netflix animated series that began in 2014. Will Arnett voices a washed-up sitcom star horse grappling with addiction and mental health.
5. Mindhunter — Netflix psychological crime thriller from 2017. Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany interview incarcerated killers; David Fincher directed seven of 19 episodes.
4. Squid Game — 2021 Netflix Korean series that became a global phenomenon. Lee Jung-jae stars as a gambler who enters lethal games to win huge cash prizes.
3. The Boys — Prime Video’s subversive superhero series from 2019. Karl Urban, Jack Quaid and Antony Starr expose celebrity-powered heroes and corporate corruption.
2. The Haunting of Hill House — Mike Flanagan’s Netflix horror drama. Loosely based on Shirley Jackson, it alternates between 1992 and decades later to tell a family story.
1. Stranger Things — Netflix cultural phenomenon set in 1980s Hawkins, Indiana. Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven faces monsters and secret government experiments with a tight ensemble cast.