The 50 Best Netflix Original Series of All Time

“Outer Banks” is a thriller about a group of teenage misfits who stumble upon a treasure map and the complications that ensue. A third season is in the works.

The prolific Judd Apatow was one of the creators of this three-season rom-com that ended in 2018 about a couple dealing with the complications of a relationship. The series has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating among critics.

“Messiah,” about a CIA officer investigating a charismatic person who’s drawing many followers, lasted only one season. It had a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 88%, 42 percentage points higher than the Tomatometer critics score.

Ellie Kemper (“The Office”) plays Kimmy Schmidt, a cult survivor who goes to New York and connects with an aspiring actor. Tina Fey helped create the series, which has a 96% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating.

The fantasy-adventure centers on a young woman who must confront the dark forces after she reveals a magical power that will benefit her world. The series has a score of 88% among Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences.

Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) helped create this series about the life and times of a first-generation Indian girl in the United States. The series is based on the experiences of Kaling. In a curious bit of casting, the show is narrated by tennis legend John McEnroe. The series has a 95% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating among critics.

A boy who’s half-human and half-deer tries to survive with other hybrids after the apocalypse. The series is based on a DC Comic.

A series reboot of the movie about the tragic tale of three orphans stars Emmy winner Neil Patrick Harris as the nefarious Count Olaf. It enjoys a 96% Tomatometer score from Rotten Tomatoes.

Thsi series about a real estate agent (Drew Barrymore) who goes through a dark transformation that leaves her feeling better about herself is critic and audience favorite on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring 89% and 93%, respectively.

“Russian Doll” is a comedy-drama with echoes of “Groundhog Day,” about a woman who keeps dying and returning to a party held in her honor, and her efforts to break the loop. It holds a 97% Tomatometer score from Rotten Tomatoes.

A blind woman who had gone missing seven years prior returns and can now see. Some consider this as a miracle, while others fear her. “The OA” has an 84% Tomatometer score from Rotten Tomatoes.

A family’s black sheep (Ben Mendelsohn) returns home and forces them to face secrets from the past. A strong cast features Linda Cardellini and Sissy Spacek

An animated series whose creators include Nick Kroll (“The Oh, Hello Show”) deals with a character going through puberty. The series has a 99% Tomatometer score from Rotten Tomatoes.

Krysten Ritter plays Jessica Jones, a former superhero adjusting to her new life as a private investigator. A cast of bold-faced names includes Rebecca De Mornay, Carrie-Anne Moss, and John Ventimiglia.

Comedian Bill Burr helped create this ribald animated comedy about life in the 1970s as experienced by the Murphy family. The series has a 92% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Alison Brie (“Community”) stars in this series about the lives of female professional wrestlers in Los Angeles during the 1980s. “GLOW” (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) holds a 92% Tomatometer rating.

A black comedy that works well because of the teaming of Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as polar opposites brought together by tragedy. “Dead to Me” has an 89% Tomatometer and audience score from Rotten Tomatoes.

This is an action-adventure series about the famed 13th-century explorer who traveled to China and Mongolia from Italy. It was a hit among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, which gave it a score of 93%.

“Altered Carbon” is a futuristic crime-drama series based on a noir novel by Richard K. Morgan. The plot involves a soldier hired by a wealthy businessman to solve a murder.

In “The Umbrella Academy,” seven young people, born to women who had shown no signs of pregnancy, are brought together by a billionaire who prepares to save the world.

The seven-season series is about a public relations executive (Taylor Schilling) whose past catches up with her and gets her thrown into a women’s prison. The series holds a 90% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating, and is buoyed by a strong cast, including television series veterans Kate Mulgrew (“Star Trek: Voyager”) and Laura Prepon (“That ’70s Show”).

This reboot of the 1970s series of the same name features the lives of three generations of a Cuban-American family. The series enjoys a 99% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating, and the cast includes the ageless Rita Moreno as the family’s matriarch.

A spacecaster visits different worlds using his universe simulator and addresses questions about life and death by interviewing those in dying cultures. The animated series was created and stars Duncan Trussell. It has a Tomatometer rating of 91%.

“American Vandal” is a satire of the true-crime genre. Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer gives the series a 98% rating, while 91% of audiences at RT liked it.

Michael Douglas helped create and stars in this series about an older acting coach trying to stay relevant in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. The series is buoyed by the casting of Alan Arkin as the acting coach’s agent. Successful TV series creator Chuck Lorre (“Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory”) developed “The Kominsky Method,” which has a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critics rating of 93%.

The megawatt star power of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin highlights the comedy “Grace and Frankie,” about rivals whose husbands fall in love with each other and want to get married. With their lives upended, the women lean on each other for support. TV veterans Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”) and Sam Waterston (“Law & Order”) play the husbands.

Henry Cavill, who played Superman, trades in his cape to play a monster hunter who finds people more problematic than the beasts he battles. The series had more than 369,000 IMDb votes, one of the highest totals on the list.

A team including Baz Luhrmann (“Strictly Ballroom”), Oscar-winner Catherine Martin, OG rapper Grandmaster Flash, Pulitzer-winning playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, and hip-hop historian Nelson George collaborated on this series about the rise of hip-hop in New York City in the late 1970s.

The animated series, inspired by a video game, is about a man who tries to keep Eastern Europe from being wiped out by Dracula and his army of vampires. The series, which has a 94% rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, features the voices of Richard Amitage (“The Stranger”) and Jessica Brown Findlay (“Downton Abbey”).

Aziz Ansari helped create and stars in this series about an aspiring actor in New York seeking to find out what he really wants professionally and personally. The series has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating.

“Atypical” is about a young man on the autism spectrum who wants to start dating, prompting family members to seek a better understanding of him. The cast includes Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Road to Perdition”) and Michael Rapaport (“True Romance”). The comedy was created and written by Robia Rashid and Academy Award-winning producer Seth Gordon. Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 91%.

Eight strangers from different countries are linked by their thoughts and behavior. They band together after a clandestine organization seeks to destroy them. The thriller series was the first TV venture for the filmmakers Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski (“The Matrix Reloaded”).

A teen whose mom (Gillian Anderson) is a sex therapist sets up an underground sex-therapy clinic to help classmates deal with their sexual anxieties. The comedy-drama holds a 95% Rotten Tomatoes critics score and 91% of RT audience members liked the series.

In the animated series “The Dragon Prince,” two princes forge an alliance with an assassin sent to kill them to try to bring peace between their warring kingdoms. The series holds a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes critics rating, and 93% of audiences liked the animated series.

The fantasy series whose characters owe their origins to puppet master Jim Henson includes the voices of British actors Taron Egerton and Helen Bonham Carter and Irish actress Caitriona Balfe. The series enjoys a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The latest installment in the searing series about drug smuggling in Latin America depicts the rise of Mexican drug cartels and the wars that ensued. The series holds a 90% Rotten Tomatoes critics rating.

British comedian Ricky Gervais (co-creator and star of the British version of “The Office”) plays a man whose pleasant demeanor is changed forever by the unexpected death of his wife. Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave the dark comedy an 86% score, much higher than just 49% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Ozark” has returned for its fourth and final season. The tense, entertaining series stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as parents of a family trying to stay on the right side of a drug cartel.

“Queer Eye” is a Netflix reboot of the series that started more than a decade ago about five gay cultural influencers. In the latest version, they leave New York for other American environs to impart their insight on fashion, diet, grooming, and home furnishings.

This documentary tells the story of a man exonerated for one crime who finds himself a suspect in another. Filmed over a 10-year period, the series earned a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

This animated series features short stories in a variety of genres such as science fiction, horror, and comedy. Among the creators is David Fincher, whose credits include the thriller “Se7en.”

Jon Bernthal plays ex-Marine Frank Castle who seeks revenge after his family is murdered. Later he tries to thwart a vast underworld conspiracy in New York City.

The documentary series looks inside the high-speed world of Formula 1 racing – the drivers, crews, and the owners all vying to be No. 1.

“The Crown” traces the tenure of Queen Elizabeth, the longest-serving sovereign in British history. The queen is played in sequence by renowned British actresses Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, and Imelda Staunton. The series holds Rotten Tomatoes scores of 90% or higher among critics and audiences.

The crime drama series looks at how FBI agents get inside a criminal’s head to solve crimes. The series holds a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 97% and 95% of audiences liked the series.

“Daredevil” is based on the Marvel Comic character Matt Murdock, a blind attorney who uses his heightened senses to combat crime on the streets of New York at night. The series enjoys a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 92%.

Voiced by stars Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, and Aaron Paul, “BoJack Horseman” is an animated series about a washed-up humanoid horse that was once a star in sitcoms and is now seeking a comeback in show business. The series holds a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of 93% and 95% of audiences liked the series.

Winner of seven Emmys, “House of Cards,” starring the now-disgraced Kevin Spacey, is a cynical look at how business gets done in the nation’s capital. It has an audience score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it has almost 485,000 Internet Movie Database user reviews, the second-most on this list.

The disappearance of a boy in a small Indiana town leads to paranormal occurrences. “Stranger Things,” starring Winona Ryder (“Beetlejuice,” “Black Swan”), enjoys a 93% Rotten Tomatoes critics rating and a 91% audience score. The series has more than 939,000 Internet Movie Database user reviews, the most of any series on this list.

“Narcos” traces the rise of the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and the Colombian drug cartels, their ability to corrupt society’s institutions, and the inability of law enforcement to stop them. The series holds a 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.