The End of the F***ing World / Image Credit: Netflix
Netflix original series have become some of the top critically acclaimed episodic television shows airing today.
With everything from comedies and dramas to foreign language series and adult animated series, there is something there for everyone.
With so much to choose from, we counted down the 25 best Netflix series ever made to help you plan out your binging needs.
25. The End of the F***ing World
The End of the F***ing World is a British dark comedy that came out in 2017 in the U.K. and then hit in January 2018 as a Netflix original series. What makes this a Netflix original series is that it was co-produced by the streaming service with the agreement for a short window for it to air on All 4 in the U.K. first.
Based on a graphic novel by Charles Forsman, the show is about a teenage psychopath named James (Alex Lawther) who has been killing animals but is growing bored and wants to see what it is like to kill a human.
His target is a female classmate baned Alyssa (Jessica Barden) who is mouthy and rebellious and decides she wants to run away with James to have adventures away from her home life.
While on the road together, James’ plans to kill Alyssa take a wrong turn when the two starts to have a relationship and end up on mishaps on their road trip across England.
There were complaints about how the season ended without actually showing the audience what happened, but that is part of the brilliance. This is a show about two kids who have nothing and no one finding each other and understanding what that means.
It never needed a Butch and Sundance moment.
13 Reasons Why / Image Credit: Netflix
24. 13 Reasons Why
Easily the most controversial Netflix original series on this list is the adaptation of 13 Reasons Why — a show that was accused of triggering kids who might be contemplating suicide.
The Netflix original tells the story of Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), a girl who took her own life and left behind 13 tapes to explain why she did it — blaming everyone that she perceived to be responsible for her actions.
The hero of the series is Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette), a friend from her high school who actually liked her and becomes obsessed with learning why she chose to end her life. it is Clay who helps bring these tapes to the forefront.
While many people accused 13 Reasons Why of “glamorizing” suicide, there is nothing glamorous at all about the moment in the series that Hannah takes her own life, a disturbing and horrific moment.
The show, despite its detractors, was a huge success and Netflix gave it a second season that followed up on the hints that Tyler (Devin Druid) might be planning a high school shooting due to an excess of bullying.
Once again, it was controversial as protestors complained that high school shootings should not play out on a scripted series. However, 13 Reasons Why chose to play out the angle, believing it is better to attack this controversial situation than to just sweep these horrible occurrences under the rug and pretend that they never happen.
Netflix has greenlit a third season of 13 Reasons Why, as the second season ended on a cliffhanger.
Dark – Image: Netflix
23. Dark
Dark is the first German-language Netflix original series to air on the streaming service. The series came out in December 2017 and was slightly compared to the more popular Stranger Things.
The Netflix series tells the story of children disappearing in the small German town of Winden. The disappearances then start to tear the town apart as secrets and double-lives of four of the families there rise to the surface.
Dark then takes on the task of telling the story over three generations of the families — the years of 1953, 1986 and 2019 — which is where the mystery actually began.
This is a science fiction-fantasy series that also involves time travel. There is a wormhole in a cave in the town under a nuclear power plant. Some of the characters start to move between the time frames to figure out what it behind the wormhole and the disappearing children.
The first season has 10 episodes and reviews compare it to both the absurdity of Twin Peaks and the science fiction moments in Stranger Things — although much darker and a lot more in depth.
The end of the season could have been a great conclusion (ala, the original ending of the movie Army of Darkness) or it could open up a new plotline for the second season taking place in a post-apocalyptic 2052 — a yet unseen fourth generation for the families.
The good news for fans of Dark is that Netflix has already greenlit a second season of the original series.
Everything Sucks / Image Credit: Netflix
22. Everything Sucks
Just like Stranger Things had Easter eggs by the dozen for children of the ’80s, Everything Sucks was made as a love letter to children of the ’90s.
This Netflix original series is a comedy-drama that follows the students at Boring High School in Oregon in 1996. The main characters are the misfits in the drama club and the A/V club.
The entire series is about the kids coming of age and figuring out who they are and what their purpose in life is. This includes themes of sexuality, identity, family relationships and more.
Everything Sucks did not gain overwhelming positive reviews, with some critics pointing out overuse of specific tropes and unrealistic situations, but at the end of the day, it is a heartwarming, funny and nostalgic look at life in the ’90s for those in high school at the time.
The music is a perfect fit for anyone who grew up in the ’90s and while a lot of the cast ended up as underwritten, the performances by Jahi Winston (Luke) and Peyton Kennedy (Kate) was universally praised.
The Netflix series also received praise for its portrayal of a coming out story and the struggles of teens when faced with these life-changing situations.
While Everything Sucks looks like a ’90s version of the popular network sitcom the Goldbergs, there is a lot more under the surface here when it comes to drama and life-altering storylines that are both honest and respectful.
Gillian Jacobs and Paul Rust (Love Season 2) / Image Credit: Netflix
21. Love
Love is a romantic comedy Netflix original that premiered in February 2016. The show has been a success and has spawned three seasons, with the most recent airing in March 2018.
Created by Judd Apatow, this Netflix series is described as a “down to Earth look at dating” and takes on both the male and female sides of the relationships. The stars are Gillian Jacobs as Mickey and Paul Rust as Gus.
The pilot episode starts off with Gus breaking up with his girlfriend after she cheats on him and blames him for it. Mickey is dating a drug addict.
The two of them are going through hard times and then meet at a store where they choose to have coffee and start a friendship that leads to uncomfortable and awkward places through the three seasons.
One of the hardest parts of watching the episodes is that the characters are very realistic — which is often hard to sympathize with on fictional television shows but if you can relate to these characters, there is a lot here to love.
The Netflix series ended after three seasons and the final episode had possibly the perfect conclusion considering what Gus and Mickey went through to reach that point. For many television shows that end before their time, Netflix allowed Love to finish with a perfect finale.
Santa Clarita Diet / Image Credit: Netflix
20. Santa Clarita Diet
One thing that Netflix has achieved in its original series was bringing in some huge names to star in the shows. In the case of Santa Clarita Diet, it was Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant in a TV show that was unlike anything they had previously appeared in.
Drew Barrymore is Sheila, a suburban real estate agent who ends up turning into a zombie.
Now, this isn’t The Walking Dead-kind of a zombie but instead more like the IZombie sort of zombie that can still talk and fit into society but has an insatiable hunger for flesh.
Helping her get through this is her husband Joel (Olyphant). After turning in an amazing performance as Raylan Givens in Justified, Olyphant turns up the humor here as the hapless husband who works hard to get his wife what she needs while covering up the random deaths that occur thanks to the possible zombie outbreak.
There are also some great supporting actors involved including Andy Richter, Thomas Lennon, Portia de Rossi and Nathan Fillion — who ends up as a severed head that talks to the couple.
Santa Clarita Diet premiered on Netflix in February 2017 and had a second season hit the streaming service in March 2018. There will be a third season as well, as Netflix renewed the series to continue on in 2019.
Black Mirror / Image Credit: Netflix
19. Black Mirror
In the memory of classic anthology horror and science-fiction series, the Netflix original series Black Mirror might be the best series to tackle this format since the original Twilight Zone.
Unlike Twilight Zone, which dealt mostly with horror and fantasy stories in its anthology series and The Outer Limits, which was all about science fiction stories, Black Mirror takes a strong look at speculative horror surrounding modern technology.
While Twilight Zone was all about making people think about philosophical questions, Black Mirror showed how technology meant to help humans could go very wrong and work to destroy humanity.
Think of the speculative science fiction of Philip K. Dick — Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly.
Black Mirror was a huge success as an Netflix original series, picking up eight Emmy nominations for its fourth season, which was critically considered its best.
If you are looking for a place to start, watch the season three episode San Junipero, which won a Primetime Emmy Award and then just fill in your time watching the rest.
However, you need to be warned that this is not a good Netflix series to binge watch. This series really slams home the fears of technology and watching too many in a row can cause a person to start to doubt everything and see danger around every corner.
The good news is that the fifth season of Black Mirror is coming in 2019.
Big Mouth / Image Credit: Netflix
18. Big Mouth
One thing that Netflix has mastered is their original animated series. They have great stuff for the kids (Trollhunters by Guillermo del Toro is a great example) and adults (Bojack Horsemen) as perfect examples.
One of the most recent series that walked that line more on the side of adult and older young-adult animation is Big Mouth. Created by Nick Kroll (The League) and Andrew Goldberg (Family Guy), this Netflix animated original is about their tweenage years.
The first season aired in 2017 and focused on two seventh grade friends named Nick and Andrew who are trying to get through puberty. The show is adult oriented, with a lot of talk about sex — including shoulder angels who are based on hormone monsters.
This series is also very quirky with a lot of absurdist humor, including the boys communicating with Duke Ellington’s ghost and a Statue of Liberty that has a French accent.
This show is in no way geared towards children, but older teenagers might find humor in the absurdist sexual situations that remind them of the problems that they are currently dealing with in their own lives.
The critical reviews have been exemplary across the board. While the humor is “scatological,” its humor really has brains and is empathetic to adolescent insecurities.
This is one Netflix original animated series that might have slipped by some people due to the simple-looking animation but it deserves an audience.
The good news is that the second season of Big Mouth is coming to Netflix on Oct. 5.
Altered Carbon / Image Credit: Netflix
17. Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon is a dystopian sci-fi series that is based on the novel by Richard K. Morgan. The series takes place 360 years in the future in a future version of San Francisco called Bay City.
The idea of this Netflix original series is that a person’s memories are placed into a disk called a cortical stack that is implanted in the back of a person’s neck. They are alien designed and are meant to allow some people to theoretically live forever.
Basically, human bodies are known as “sleeves” are used to transfer the cortical stack to after death to allow a person to continue their life in a new body. The only way to really kill someone is to destroy their cortical stack.
The first season of Altered Carbon sees a former mercenary (Joel Kinnaman) have his stack pulled out of prison after 250 years by one of the richest men in the world (James Purefoy) and placed into a new sleeve.
The reason is that someone killed the wealthy man and he wants to hire the merc to find out who did it.
The show wears its cyberpunk influence on its sleeves and is never boring, with an amazing world built for fans to lose themselves in.
Because the cortical stack is placed into new bodies, it meant that Netflix could bring back Altered Carbon for a second season and allow them to recast the lead, which they did with Anthony Mackie (Falcon from the Marvel Cinematic Universe).
Photo Credit: BARRY WETCHER – © 2014 Netflix, Inc. All rights reserved.
16. Daredevil
With the Marvel Cinematic Universe becoming the most successful movie franchise of all-time, Marvel decided to see what it could do on the small screen. While the ABC shows have been good, they have not set the television world on fire.
However, with Marvel teamed up with Netflix for original series set in the world of street-level heroes, they enjoyed tremendous success. It all started, slightly surprisingly, with Daredevil.
What makes this a slight surprise is that some Marvel fans still consider Daredevil a disappointment when it comes to the movie adaptation of the protector of Hell’s Kitchen.
While the director’s cut was honestly great, most people still remember the theatrical version and its terrible sequel Elektra.
However, with Daredevil being a character that almost all fans know thanks to that movie, and Netflix delivering great originals, it was a good choice to try to start the new Marvel Netflix world.
And it was fantastic.
Charlie Cox was great as the new Daredevil while both Deborah Ann Woll (Karen Page) and Elden Henson (Foggy Nelson) were superb as his friends. Add in the best villain in Marvel — movie or TV — in Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, and this was a series that hit on all levels.
There have been two seasons, the second of which introduced Elektra and The Punisher, and a third season on the way on Oct. 19.
Narcos / Photo Credit: Netflix
15. Narcos
Netflix has really gone all-in on crime dramas. They have not only created some great fictional originals but they also have some great documentaries as well. When it comes to their Netflix originals on the fiction side, one of the best is Narcos.
Narcos is a crime drama filmed in Colombia and tells the story of real-life crime drug lord Pablo Escobar, who became a very rich man thanks to his cocaine business. The show dealt with his interactions with the DEA, other drug lords, and opposition in other areas.
The first season aired in 2015 and dealt with the life of Escobar from the ’70s all the way to 1992 through the perspective of a DEA agent working on Colombia. That season ended with Escobar escaping from prison.
The second season dealt with Escobar still enjoying success despite his previous arrest. He is buying off the general public, who actively help him remain in hiding. This season ends with the assassination of Escobar.
While that looked like it could mark the end of Narcos, Netflix continued the series with a third season that saw the show focus attention on the United States’ effort to take down the Cali cartel, which starts to enjoy great success after the elimination of their opposition in Pablo Escobar.
A new series will air on Netflix in conjunction with the series called Narcos: Mexico, which will be set in the ’80s. That show will premiere on Nov. 16.
The Crown / Image Credit: Netflix
14. The Crown
The Crown is a historical drama that focuses on the reign and life of Queen Elizabeth II.
This Netflix original series is very unique because it goes from her marriage to Philip in 1947 through the present day. This means that the series recasts the roles with older actors and actresses as the series wears on.
The Netflix series was born out of the movies The Queen and the stage play, The Audience — both by The Crown showrunner Peter Morgan. It was also planned as a six-season, 60-episode series.
Thanks to the great critical acclaim, it will likely get to play out that story.
The first two seasons starred Claire Foy as Elizabeth and Doctor Who actor Matt Smith as Philip. The first season started with the marriage to Philip and ended when Winston Churchill resigned as the Prime Minister.
The second season dealt with the Suez Crisis in 1956, the Profumo affair scandal and the birth of Prince Edward in 1964.
The third season will air in 2019 with the cast changing. Olivia Coleman will take over the role of Queen Elizabeth and will focus on Harold Wilson’s run as Prime Minister and will also introduce Princess Diana, who will be the focus of the fourth season.
Photo Credit: Jessica Jones/Netflix
13. Jessica Jones
While Daredevil really helped launch the Marvel Netflix original series to huge success, it was Jessica Jones that sits on top of the mountain as the best show of the entire run.
While Marvel had never attempted a female-centric movie to that point (and still won’t until Captain Marvel) finally hits next year, it did bring some to life on TV.
While Marvel’s Agent Carter was a critical success with its first season, it wasn’t until Jessica Jones that Marvel saw a female-led series reach both critical and commercial success.
Based on the comic book Alias, the Netflix original series Jessica Jones tells the story of a private investigator who a level of superhuman powers who deals with some very strong personal problems (anger management and a love of alcohol) while also trying to help those around her.
The villain from the first season — The Purple Man — might be the scariest bad guy in all Marvel entertainment, movies or TV, and brought out a story that was brutally difficult for the hero, and she proved to be the strongest of them all when she made it through victorious.
The second season, which dealt with some family problems, was not as critically beloved as the first but as a character, Jessica Jones is still possibly the best in the Marvel Netflix line.
The third season of Jessica Jones is coming in 2019 and Marvel looks to continue its success on Netflix.
Ozark / Credit: Netflix
12. Ozark
When someone thinks of a crime drama, possibly the last name that comes to mind as the leading star is Jason Bateman. However, that is exactly what the star of Arrested Development has found himself starring in on Netflix.
Ozark is a Netflix original series that follows Bateman’s financial planner Marty and his PR manager wife Wendy (Laura Linney). The family moves to the Ozarks and Marty gets involved in a money laundering scheme that goes very bad.
After this, Marty finds a Mexican drug cartel convincing him to set up an even bigger money laundering scheme in the Ozarks to make amends for the first one falling through. When local criminals in the Ozarks get involved, Marty finds that he and everyone he loves are in great danger.
The first season premiered in 2017 and proved to be a surprise success. Bateman picked up Golden Globes, Emmy and SGA nominations for his role in the series and it ended up as a critical success and was picked up for a second season.
That second season saw the stakes raised as the dead bodies started to pile up around Marty and Wendy. That season ended with a sign that the danger is nowhere near close to ending and it is almost assured that Netflix will greenlight a third season.
Ozark has been positively compared to HBO’s The Sopranos and the strong female cast has been a huge reason for its success.
One Day at a Time / Image Credit: Netflix
11. One Day at a Time
In 2017, Netflix greenlit a reboot of the series for One Day at a Time.
The original series aired from 1975-1984 and featured a family living in an apartment complex. Bonnie Franklin starred as a divorced mother and this was the breakout roles for Valerie Bertinelli as one of her daughters.
However, most fans remember the character of Snyder — the building maintenance man played by Pat Harriongton Jr.
The reboot of the series faced a lot of obstacles, as most reboots are instantly dismissed. However, Netflix took it in a different direction and their version of One Day at a Time made the family Latino and that instantly made it topical in today’s social landscape.
The new series focused on a single Latino mother who is also an Army veteran dealing with PTSD.
It featured her kids and her own Cuban mother and dealt with everything from mental illness and sexism to immigration, racism and homophobia — social issues Latinos face in the United States every day — as well as issues facing U.S. veterans.
It was an instant success, making the top 10 on many lists of the best TV shows of 2017 and went on to pick up an Emmy Award nomination and a Critics’ Choice Award for Rita Moreno.
The second season received even higher praise with a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes when it comes to critics’ reviews.
A third season is coming in 2019.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt / Image Credit: Netflix
10. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Tina Fey (Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock) helped conceive the sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for NBC ut the network ended up passing on it and Netflix picked it up as a two-year commitment.
Unlike many Netflix original series of its time, Kimmy Schmidt was a short sitcom-styled series and debuted in 2015 and former Office actress Ellie Kemper was an immediate sensation.
Kempler starred as Kimmy Schmidt, a woman who was kidnapped and held hostage with three other women by the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne (Jon Hamm) for 15 years before her rescue.
The women were told the world had ended and they were the sole survivors, but when they learned it was not true, it was time to try to start new lives.
This made Kimmy very innocent, sincere and clueless — and it is a testament to Kempler that she portrays those traits and still remains a character that viewers could fall in love with.
Add in a great supporting cast that includes Kimmy’s flamboyantly gay roommate Titus (Tituss Burgess) and socialite former boss Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski). Add in cameos from everyone from Tina Fey to Lisa Kudrow and Jeff Goldblum, and this is a show that offers up a lot to love.
Season 4 aired its first half in May 2018 and will conclude the series starting in January 2019.
House of Cards / Photo Credit: Netflix
9. House of Cards
House of Cards was the first Netflix original series, the first season released in February 2013. The series was an adaptation of a BBC series of the same name released in 1990.
It was a calculated risk but one that paid off immensely. The first season of the series received nine Emmy nominations, the first web-only series to ever pick up any at the Primetime Emmy Awards. This opened the door for the success that has come to Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video and more.
The success was partially thanks to the great cast — especially Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Spacey played a Congressman that was passed over for the Secretary of State position and chose to hatch a scheme to attain power with the help of his wife.
It also helped that the series brought in some big-time names to direct episodes, the best of which is clearly executive producer David Fincher (The Social Network, Fight Club).
However, while Spacey was a key in the show’s immediate success thanks to his fantastic performances, he also is a key cause for the struggles of the final season — which is coming in November — due to his sexual misconduct allegations that resulted in Netflix terminating his contract.
Regardless of any behind-the-scenes problems, House of Cards remains a captivating and fascinating series whose take on politics is only overshadowed by the current political climate in Washington.
Glow / Credit: GLOW season 2 – Erica Parise – Netflix
8. Glow
In 1980, the WWF exploded onto televisions across the United States when Vince McMahon Jr. took his father’s company and expanded it into a global empire. Trying to capitalize on that audience. a man named David McLane started his own wrestling promotion based in Las Vegas known as G.L.O.W. — Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
Unlike the WWE, which had legitimate professional wrestlers, GLOW had actresses, stuntwomen, models and dancers — all hoping this TV show could help them get a break in show business.
GLOW lasted for six years, during which McLane got a Las Vegas hotel and casino on the Strip to host the shows and picked up a television syndication deal.
In 2017, the Netflix original series GLOW premiered and told the story of the rise of this wrestling promotion. The show followed a struggling actress named Ruth (Alison Brie) as she got a break and earned a spot on the GLOW roster.
The series also cast a number of real professional wrestlers in cameo and small roles, including Awesome Kong, Johnny Nitro, Tyrus, Joey Ryan, Alex Riley and Chavo Geurrero Jr.
It also received praise from the most famous professional wrestler to come out of GLOW — a woman who wrestled by the name Tina Ferrari who went on to become WWE Hall of Fame superstar Ivory.
The first season of GLOW received glowing praise from critics and Netflix quickly picked it up for a second season, which earned an Emmy for the stunt coordination. A third season is now on the way and will air in 2019.
Stranger Things / Photo Credit: Netflix
7. Stranger Things
While there have been some great Netflix original series to hit the streaming service, nothing has gotten as much positive word-of-mouth as the science fiction/horror series Stranger Things.
Compared to The Goonies, this Netflix series hit in 2016 and saw a group of small-town boys in the ’80s deals with the loss of a friend and a mysterious girl who walks into their lives.
When a young boy named Will disappears, it turns the entire town upside down. His mother (Winona Ryder) demands answers, the local alcoholic sheriff puts his job on the line to look into the missing person’s case, and Will’s group of friends set out on their own to figure out what happened to him.
Meanwhile, a mysterious young girl known only as Eleven (or El) shows up in town with limited vocabulary and no known family. When she shows to have psychokinetic powers, the investigation starts to look into Hawkins Laboratory and the idea that Will might still be alive — but in a world known as the Upside Down.
While some people criticized it, one of the things that really excited fans was the constant references to the ’80s, from Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg movies to Stephen King references and more, this movie was full of fun nostalgic moments.
Season 2 dealt with Will trying to deal with the trauma faced in the Upside Down and introduced more characters that might have dealt with these supernatural occurrences. While not quite as impressive as the first season, a third season is coming soon.
American Vandal / Photo Credit: Netflix
6. American Vandal
Netflix hit it big in 2015 when they released the documentary series Making a Murderer, which looked into the conviction of Steven Avery, a man who served 18 years in prison for a prison he did not commit, although he was convicted later of a second murder, which he also claims innocence for.
There are a ton of TV shows like this, including a new Netflix series called I am a Killer, which actually looks at convicted people who admit to their crimes.
It was ripe for a mockumentary and got one that just blew audiences away in American Vandal. The premise of the first season was two high school students who launch an investigation to determine if the class clown Dylan Maxwell was really guilty of drawing phallic images on faculty cars.
The Netflix original series is a perfect satire of both high school life as well as of the true crime documentaries that are so beloved and watched.
The second season had a lot to live up to but it succeeded by changing up the show. Instead of focusing on Sam and Peter investigating a crime concerning kids in their own school that they know, they are called to another school to investigate a prankster known as the Turd Burglar and the accused — who also claims to be innocent.
The second season seems a little less personal, but still delivers the gags, hilarious interviews with clueless high school kids and a surprising look at social issues that teenagers have to deal with.
Dear White People / Image Credit: Netflix
5. Dear White People
In 2014, Justin Simien directed the movie Dear White People, which focused on racial tensions at an Ivy League college. It took place from the perspective of several black students and was a huge success.
It picked up the 2014 Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent at the Sundance Film Festival and picked up Tessa Thompson a Breakthrough Actor award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
It then spawned a Netflix original spinoff series that premiered in 2017.
Director Justin Simien returned as the showrunner and the first season ran for 10 episodes. Each of the episodes centered on a specific character at the Ivy League school and the issues of race relations at the school.
The second season starts off big with Sam (Logan Browning) faced with the alt-right trolls who scurry around spreading their vile hate on social media. The second season also deals with a black student held at gunpoint by campus police who demand a “white student” vouch for him.
Dear White People is a show that is smart, provocative and is a perfect Netflix series to air in today’s toxic social climate. This is possibly the best show on TV concerning race relations in today’s America.
The great news is that this Netflix original series will be coming back for a third season, hopefully sometime in 2019.
Mindhunter / Image Credit: Netflix
4. Mindhunter
Mindhunter is an American crime drama created by Joe Penhall and executive produced by David Fincher.
This Netflix original series is based on the true crime novel Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit and premiered in 2017.
This series is set in 1977 during the beginnings of the idea of criminal psychology and profiling and focuses on two FBI agents — Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Trench (Holt McCallany) — as well as a psychologist named Wendy (Anna Torv) as they start the first FBI Behavioral Science Unit.
To perfect the unit, they interview serial killers who are imprisoned in order to understand why they did what they did so they can use this information to solve new cases in the future.
All three of these characters are based on the real people who helped start the program in real-life and all the serial killers that they interviewed are based on real criminals and the dialogue used in the interviews were taken from actual interviews with the convicted killers.
There is also a character known as ADT Serviceman who is based on the real-life serial killer Dennis Rader, who went by the moniker the BTK KIller and murdered 10 people between 1974 and 1991.
The show was renewed for a second season that will follow the Atlanta murders of 1979-1981 that saw 28 kids, adolescents and adults murdered. It was the FBI profile team in that case that helped police catch a man dumping a body.
While the second season was greenlit late in 2017, there is still no word on when it will arrive on Netflix.
Bojack Horseman / Image Credit: Netflix
3. BoJack Horseman
When it comes to adult animated series, there are those that are adult-oriented because they contain R-rated humor and then there are those that are made for adults because of the themes.
When it comes to BoJack Horseman, the reason this Netflix original series is meant for adults is due to the fact that this is a very dark and mature television series — animated or not. The themes here are purely for adult audiences and might even be a little harsh for even some adults.
BoJack Horseman is about a former sitcom star who happens to be a horse. He wants to make a return to relevance by writing a tell-all autobiography and hires a ghostwriter to help him with that task.
BoJack Horseman is a show about depression, addiction, trauma, and self-destructive behavior. It is about how someone who is depressed and self-medicates deals with the world on a day-to-day basis and how it affects those around them.
The first season started out a little slow as it tried to find its footing but then really started to pick up when it showed that the main theme was BoJack and his ability to self-sabotage everything in his life.
The fifth season of BoJack Horseman premiered on Sept. 14 and continued to deliver some of the best dark comedy on television and it receives critical praise season-after-season and shows no signs of slowing down.
Master of None / Image Credit: Netflix
2. Master of None
In 2015, comedian Aziz Ansari brought an original comedy series to Netflix with Master of None and ended up creating one of the best television comedies of the modern era.
Master of None has Ansari star as a commercial actor who lives in New York and tries to navigate love, family, work and friends.
The first season received universal critical acclaim and that continued on in its second season, where the show moved through both New York and Italy.
Both seasons have a 100% approval ranking on Rotten Tomatoes and have picked up some major awards recognition as well. It won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe, including two awards for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
When it comes to Netflix original series, the comedies are usually broad, with examples like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. That is where Master of None stands out, as it seems to be a very personal and anecdotal comedy — one where Ansari wears his feelings on his sleeve.
With that said, there is a chance that the two seasons fans have to watch on Netflix will be all there is to Master of None. Ansari said that he doesn’t know if he can make a third season unless his life changes because he said everything there is to say about being single in New York.
Hopefully, the comedian can come up with something else, because this is one of the best Netflix originals — comedy or otherwise — to binge on the streaming network.
Orange is the New Black / Image Credit: Netflix
1. Orange is the New Black
Orange is the New Black is likely the most successful Netflix original series ever made. There have already been six seasons of the comedy-drama, and it seems like the seventh will end up as its swan song.
This Netflix original starts off with Piper (Taylor Schilling), a 30-something woman in New York City, sentenced to 15 months in the Litchfield Penitentiary for transporting a suitcase of drug money for her friend.
While her criminal offense had happened 10 years before, she received the sudden indictment and it threw her entire life into a turmoil. In prison, she meets up with her friend that she carried the briefcase for and then ends up trying to fit in and deal with the prison life.
The show deals with the corruption involved in the American prison system, including privatization, overcrowding, racial discrimination and guard brutality.
The social issues are also weighed out with the ethical concerns, as the crimes of the inmates play out in flashbacks. At the same time, it humanizes all the prisoners and doesn’t bother with stereotypes and introducing real characters living under horrific conditions instead.
The Netflix series also achieved critical recognition when dealing with LGBTQ issues, specifically involving actor Laverne Cox — a black transgender woman playing a transgender character.
While the fifth season dropped off slightly, the sixth season picked up again with quality and engaging storytelling. Orange is the New Black has received 12 Emmy Award nominations, winning four of them.
Did we miss any of your favorite Netflix original series? Di you have a different number one show? Let us know your favorites in the comment section below. Keep the conversation going in the comments section below.