Freakish / Image by Hulu
While Netflix is known for its groundbreaking shows, there are also fantastic Hulu original series for anyone looking for something great to watch.
Hulu has not been making original series as long as Netflix so there is some catching up to do. However, when looking at what Hulu has produced since 2011, there is a lot of great episodes to choose from.
Here is a look at the 20 best Hulu original series of all-time, ranked.
20. Freakish
Released in 2016, Freakish is a horror Hulu original series that came out right before Halloween that year. The series is about a group of high school students battling for their lives after a chemical plant explodes, turning people into mutated monsters.
The lure of the show originally was that it starred a number of social media stars mixed with celebs, with names like Liza Koshy (YouTube, Vine), Hayes Grier (Vine), Meghan Rienks (YouTube), Aislinn Paul (Degrassi: The Next Generation) and Leo Howard (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) among the cast.
Freakish lasted for two seasons and 20 episodes, a lightweight horror series that was more of a teen drama than an outright horror original series. When it comes to modern-day zombie television, Freakish left many fans wanting more.
It is also a very short series, as every episode is less than 30 minutes, so a full season checks in at just five hours so it is a quick and easy binge watch for fans.
Freakish was canceled by Hulu after the second season ended.
Shut Eye / Hulu
19. Shut Eye
In 2016, the Hulu original series Shut Eye premiered. It had one big thing going for it at the start. Jeffrey Donovan was the lead in the series following his extremely successful run as the lead in the USA Network series Burn Notice.
Donovan played Charlie Haverford, a failed magician who works as a fake psychic. However, things get strange when he starts to have real actual visions. It is almost like if Psych had Shawn actually become a real psychic.
The con-man got a bump on the head that caused him to start seeing things and he wasn’t sure if it was real or hallucinations. However, at the same time, there is a crime family involved with Charlie and that puts him in a whole world of danger.
The first season was not great, a flimsy effort at mixing something like Psych and The Dead Zone but from the point-of-view of not nice people. However, season 2 really strengthened the story and turned out to be a solid drama.
The problem is that a slow first season can cause the second season to already be on the bubble and Hulu canceled this original series after that second season, which aired in 2017.
The real problem with the show was that it never really pulled the trigger to dive into the insanity of Charlie’s abilities. It was a good drama but the synopsis could have called for so much more.
Dimension 404 / Image by Hulu
18. Dimension 404
The biggest problem with Dimension 404 is that the show brings about way too many comparisons with the superior Netflix series Black Mirror.
Created in 2017, Dimension 404 is a science fiction anthology series that has each episode as a short TV movie. While compared to the brilliance of Black Mirror, it is clear that both shows owe their existence to The Twilight Zone.
The first season was six episodes in length and had a whos-who of acting talent in the individual episodes. Included in the casts were Lea Michele (Glee), Joel McHale (Community), Patton Oswalt (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), Constance We (Fresh Off the Boat), Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) and Tom Noonan (Manhunter). Even bigger, Mark Hamill narrated the series.
The episodes, which aired in April 2017, included themes like dating apps, 3D movies, ’90s cartoons, video games, supercomputers and energy drinks. As with The Twilight Zone before it, the shows then take these typical everyday things and twists them into unrecognizable forms.
This was not a bad anthology series at all, but when compared to something like Black Mirror, the episodes seem almost too light. However, that could make Dimension 404 a good alternative for people who don’t care for the darkness of the Netflix series.
The series is a fun watch but don’t expect anything deeper than a “what if” scenario from this science fiction Hulu original series.
Hard Sun / Photo Credit: Hulu/BBC
17. Hard Sun
When it comes to Hard Sun, this is a Hulu co-production with BBC One in the United Kingdom. This is an interesting series as it is a pre-apocalyptic thriller as opposed to the typical post-apocalyptic thrillers.
However, this also causes some problems because fans are used to getting into the action and after the apocalypse, everyone is struggling to survive and stay alive and that brings tension to every moment.
With Hard Sun, the entire story involves an apocalyptic event that is coming and the work of two detectives to try to crack the case and maybe save the world. Sadly, since the show was canceled after just one season, fans will never witness the apocalypse.
As Show Snob revealed in the Hard Sun review, “Hard Sun is officially an apocalyptic show and the first season is simply a prequel to the real story.”
The story follows mismatched police detectives, Charlie (Jim Sturgess) and Elaine (Agyness Deyn), as they stumble upon proof that the world will be destroyed in five years. The problem is that they are all alone in trying to stop it since the government is actively hiding the secret to keep order.
This means that while the detectives are trying to uncover the truth to try to save the world, MI5 operatives are out to make sure they don’t learn anything at all. Thanks to the cancelation, no one will learn anything more about this apocalypse.
Deadbeat / Image by Hulu
16. Deadbeat
Deadbeat is an interesting Hulu original series — a supernatural comedy. There have been great television shows in this genre, with Reaper as a highlight. When it comes to Deadbeat, it is an acquired taste but is great for those with a more off-color sense of humor.
Tyler Labine was one of the key actors in Reaper, so he knows what his role in this series is. He plays Pac, a slacker and a medium who hires himself out to anyone who has “issues.” His goal is to help ghosts move on to the afterlife.
The fact that he does this with the assistance of his best friend Roofie (Brandon T. Jackson), who also happens to be his drug dealer, should tell you everything you need to know about this Hulu original series.
While there are a lot of critics who don’t like the series, that is likely because the humor often edges to dark and risque areas with glee. Despite those critics, the show had enough fans to come back for three total seasons, airing from 2014-2016.
The first season had Pac competing with a fake medium that was scamming people. The second season had the fake medium take a job as a TV host who blackmailed Pac into working as her bodyguard.
The third season moved on from that with new stories including a new character named Clyde, played by Harold & Kumar actor Kal Penn.
Danielle Vega and Gabriel Chavarria on the set of East Los High 3 Thursday, April 2, 2015 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Hulu)
15. East Los High
Believe it or not, East Los High was the first ever Hulu original drama series — although it is one that not as many people talk about.
East Los High is a teen drama that takes place in an East L.A. high school. Not only is this Hulu’s first original series but it is notable for having an all-Latino cast and crew — filmed in East Los Angeles. The show also worked hard with local communities to tell stories that encourage Latino youths to make positive life choices.
The series lasted for four complete seasons and then instead of a fifth season, Hulu ordered a feature-length series finale that wrapped things up in December 2017, also making it the longest-running Hulu original series of all-time as well.
The first season was actually independently shot and produced before Hulu picked it up to air. The success of East Los High is what really propelled Hulu to attempt more original series, so its legacy is a lot more than just what is shown on the screen.
With that said, the idea of a teen series that is focused entirely on the Latino community should never be underestimated and this series did so much to bring a positive light to stories and situations that young people find themselves in living in today’s world.
East Los High was also an Emmy-nominated series for Hulu and proved that they could compete with Netflix when it came to quality original programming.
I Love You, America / Image by Hulu
14. I Love You, America
Released in 2017, I Love You, America was a political talk show starring Sarah Silverman. The series premiered in 2017 as a Hulu original series and came back in September with the second season of 11 episodes.
The idea behind this show is that Silverman wanted to bring people on to talk about various topics — whether they agreed with her opinions personally or not. Her goal was to show interest in others and not take anything on the show too seriously.
Just like all other talk shows, this has the opening monologue, interviews and taped segments. However, Silverman didn’t use the format to attack anyone like her contemporaries, talking instead about herself and using current topics to talk about how they affect her life.
The first season saw Silverman talk to names like Al Franken, Patton Oswalt and Rosane Gray. As the series is a weekly series, unlike the Netflix format of dropping everything at once, there has only been four episodes to date for season 2, with the most impressive guest being Bernie Sanders.
Silverman has received an overwhelmingly positive response for her talk show from critics, with her being both earnest and sarcastic, but never stooping down to the name-calling of other talk show hosts. It might be the most sincere thing that Sarah Silverman has ever done.
The Looming Tower / Image by Hulu
13. The Looming Tower
Released as a miniseries in 2018, The Looming Tower was a Hulu original series based on the novel by Lawrence Wright.
The book was a non-fiction account of the manner in which the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization formed and came into being. That means this was a background look at what ended up leading to the September 11 attacks.
It also showed how the refusal of the FBI and CIA to work together prevented the United States from uncovering the September 11 plot in time to save lives.
The Hulu original series starred Jeff Daniels as John O’Neill, the chief of the New York FBI Counterterrorism Center. Taking place in the ’90s, he believes that the United States is targeted for an attack by the Al-Qaeda organization but no one takes him seriously.
The 10 episodes in The Looming Tower shows O’Neill’s organization and the CIA both racing through the world trying to get information while fighting behind-the-scenes with each other. Despite this, both groups have the same goal of preventing a possible attack on U.S. soil.
As everyone knows, they failed. By the final episode, the 9/11 Commission hearings are underway and those responsible for delaying the investigation are lying under oath about the fact that they were to blame for not acting quicker.
The Looming Tower picked up three Primetime Emmy Awards nominations, including Outstanding Actor for Jeff Daniels, Outstanding Supporting Actor for Michael Stuhlbarg and an award for Outstanding Directing for that finale.
Future Man / Image by Hulu
12. Future Man
Future Man is yet another original science-fiction comedy series from Hulu. This one is about a janitor who gets called on to save the world.
The lead character of Josh is played by Hunger Games actor Josh Hutcherson, who is not only a janitor but is a slacker and is very underachieving. One day when he is playing his favorite video game, the two main characters from the game come to life and ask him to save the world.
Apparently, the video game Biotic Wars is about to cause an attack on the real world.
The first season, which also starred Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings), Derek Wilson (Preacher) and Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere) had 13 episodes that featured time travel and was produced by the team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Preacher).
As expected from Rogen and Goldberg, Future Man features adult humor and risque situations, and it is all grounded in a TV show that pays homage to everything from Groundhog Day to Back to the Future and Terminator.
The main problem with Future Man is that it spends so much time paying homage to these other movies that it doesn’t do much original in its own Hulu original series.
There are some fun cameos, like Haley Joel Osment and Keith David, and there is hope the show picks up in its second season, which will be for an additional 13 episodes..
The Path / Image by Hulu
11. The Path
The Path premiered as a Hulu original series in 2016 and featured the next drama series for former Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul.
Joining Paul in the cast is Michelle Monaghan and Hugh Dancy, with the story focusing on a fictional religion called Meyerism. The show has been a success for Hulu with 36 episodes over three seasons and a fourth season on the way.
Paul plays Eddie Lane, a man who lives in New York with his wife Sarah (Monaghan) and their two children. They are all members of the Meyerist Movement — which is a fictional religion that takes aspects from New Age mysticism and Scientology and is named after its founder, Dr. Stephen Meyer.
When Eddie was sent to Peru for a “spiritual awakening” that would help him move up the ranks of the Church, he returns with doubts causing him to question his faith in Meyerism. Meanwhile, a friend of Sarah named Cal (Dancy) is trying to expand the religion’s influence.
What the first three seasons of the show reveal ios life inside a religious cult that demands complete obedience, and how that can destroy people’s sanity and their families.
The lead performances are all great, and this is a slow burn series so be prepared for that if planning to binge. However, the story is great and the show is worth the watch.
Castle Rock / Image by Hulu
10. Castle Rock
Stephen King has written almost all of his novels to exist in one world. The central hub of the Stephen King universe is easily the creepy Maine town of Castle Rock.
Carrie took place close to this town. Cujo and Needful Things took place in this town. Shawshank Redemption is located close to the town.
In this Hulu original series, J.J. Abrams brings Castle Rock to the forefront in a show that is wholly original and is not based on any of King’s original works. However, there are a lot of things dropped into the show from King’s stories, including Shawshank Penitentiary itself and Sheriff Alan Pangborn.
In Castle Rock, a mysterious man with no past is imprisoned at Shawshank Penitentiary named The Kid (Bill Skarsgard) and calls for an attorney who has a history with the town named Henry Deaver (André Holland) to help him.
The show is a huge mystery with a supernatural twist and the ending brings more questions than it answered.
The cast is amazing with roles for Sissy Spacek (Carrie), Melanie Lynskey (Heavenly Creatures), Jane Levy (The Evil Dead), Scott Glenn (Silence of the Lambs) and Terry O’Quinn (Lost).
There will be a second season of Castle Rock but don’t expect answers to the first season’s questions as this will be an anthology series for Hulu in the form of Fargo.
The Wrong Mans / Image by Hulu
9. The Wrong Mans
The world has fallen in love with James Corden, but how many people know that America met the charming funnyman thanks to the UK TV series that became a Hulu original in American called the Wrong Mans?
Corden teamed up with Matthew Baynton for this series as Phil and Sam, two hapless guys who end up answering a ringing phone they find at a car crash. That one wrong move thrust them into a world of crime that neither man was capable of dealing with.
The entire humor from this series is an “in over their heads” type of comedy that gives both men a chance to really showcase their comedic talents and chemistry.
The first season consisted of six episodes, seeing the two men on the run from people who want them dead and law enforcement officials. There was a second season as well that consisted of two episodes, with Hulu breaking it up into four parts for its release.
While there were only eight total episodes, The Wrong Mans told an entire story from start to finish, which is more than most TV series get a chance to do in today’s media world.
The Wrong Mans was funny, charming and was a nice mix of thriller and comedy for a quick and fun binge-watching experience.
Difficult People / Image by Hulu
8. Difficult People
Difficult People is one of those shows that some people will love and others will absolutely hate. It seemed to remain popular, though, as it lasted for three seasons and 28 episodes.
Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner star as Julie and Billy, two aspiring comedians in New York City. The two lead characters are an acquired taste — two comedians who seem to hate everyone except each other.
It shares a similarity with another New York-based comedy — Seinfeld. The two leads are often cruel and hateful, but they seem real and brutally honest as well. The characters are really narcissistic monsters but this Hulu original series also knows that it needed to be very funny to survive.
To its credit, Difficult People was very, very funny.
Thanks to the great humor, it makes these very unlikeable people instantly likable (similar to what Seinfeld was able to accomplish). The two leads were so oblivious at how horrible they really were that it made them almost impossible not to like in the end.
The first season premiered in 2015 and it lasted for three years before Hulu finally pulled the plug and canceled it. The end came with the two leaving New York, which was probably for the best anyway.
The Mindy Project / Image by Hulu
7. The Mindy Project
This is a slight cheat. The Mindy Project did not start out as a Hulu original series.
The Mindy Project began as a sitcom on Fox and that is where it aired from 2012-2015. After those three seasons, Fox canceled the series and then Hulu picked it up, making the final three seasons a Hulu original exclusive.
The series starred Mindy Kaling as a gynecologist named Mindy who is trying to find balance in her work life and her personal life. She is surrounded by her co-workers at a small New York City medical practice and Kaling said that the show was inspired by her own mother.
The first three seasons on Fox were the length of a typical network show, with 67 episodes between the three seasons. After Hulu picked it up, they tried one season in that format with 26 episodes but then went to the basic Hulu format after that, with a 14-episode season 5 and a 10-episode season 6.
The Mindy Project received mostly positive reviews with season 4 being one of the highest rated, with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, showing the transition from network TV to Hulu was the right move.
The series picked up numerous award nominations throughout its run, although most of them came while it still aired on Fox. These included numerous NAACP Image Award nominations, including three in 2015 alone.
The Mindy Project has 117 episodes total with 50 of them coming after it became a Hulu series.
Chance / Image by Hulu
6. Chance
Chance started out with a bang.
It starred Hugh Laurie, fresh off his long run as the beloved and cranky Dr. Gregory House on House. The first two episodes were directed by Lenny Abrahamson, who was an Oscar-nominated director for the movie Room.
With those two men, the new Hulu original series started off with high expectations when it aired in 2016.
The story was based on the novel by Kem Nunn, who also helped create the Hulu series. It received a two-season, 20-episode order and that was all that Hulu produced of the series.
Laurie played Dr. Eldon Chance (kind of a stereotype to play a doctor again in a show named after his surname). He was a forensic neuropsychiatrist who lived in San Francisco and ends up pulled into a patient’s life of police corruption, manipulation and abuse.
It is the case of a man pulled into a dark and dangerous world that he may not be ready for.
He tries to save his patient, who he has also fallen in love with, from a dirty cop who is abusing her. He then enlists a furniture restorer named Carius (Ethan Suplee) to help him in the criminal underworld to achieve these goals.
This might be Suplee’s best role to date. This isn’t House but the chemistry between Lauri and Suplee is amazing and makes this a fun show to binge watch.
11.22.63 / Image by Hulu
5. 11.22.63
The second Stephen King adaptation on this list is 11.22.63. It is also the second miniseries that was never intended for more than just the one season.
11.22.63 tells the story of a school teacher who is convinced to travel back in time to try to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
James Franco takes the lead role in the series as Jake Epping, who walks through a door and finds himself back in 1960 when an old friend (Chris Cooper) convinces him that time travel is real.
Cooper explains that he has been traveling back in time to try to stop the assassination of Kennedy to try to make the world a better place. He has gone back a few times, but every time he returns and then goes back again, it undoes everything that he accomplished before.
However, he knows that they have the ability to change history now and he needs Jake to do it because he can’t go back again. The Hulu original series then sends Jake back to 1960 where he starts to lay down the plans to stop the assassination that took place on 11.22.63.
The entire theme is that going back to change tragic events might not always have the results that most people might expect.
11.22.63 won the Saturn Award for Best Television Presentation. It ran for eight episodes.
Harlots / Image by Hulu
4. Harlots
Harlots was a Hulu original series that was made in co-production with ITV Encore in the United Kingdom. This was a historical drama that aired for two seasons, from 2017-18.
The show was inspired by the novel The Covent Harden Ladies by Hallie Rubenhold.
The story takes place in 1763 in London with many women making a lot of money selling sex, with the choices either to make money as a prostitute or to use sex to marry into money.
Samantha Morton (Minority Report) stars as Margaret Wells, a cruel businesswoman who runs a brothel, while Lesley Manville (All About My Mother) stars as Lydia, a former prostitute for Margaret who now runs her own high-class brothel.
Margaret is fighting to improve her life and fortune in her brothel while Lydia caters to the rich and powerful in London. At the same time, the religious crusaders set out to try to close down all brothels and get law enforcement to help them in brutal raids.
The series has aired for two seasons and should have a third on the way, with 16 episodes to binge watch so far. The most interesting thing to note is that Harlots is written, directed and produced by women — so this is in no way exploitive.
Unlike shows that use sex to titillate, on Harlots, Hulu uses the series to show how women can establish power over men and sex is simply used as a weapon.
Runaways / Photo Credit: Hulu
3. Runaways
Netflix seems to have the market cornered on critically acclaimed comic book adaptations for streaming with Daredevil and Jessica Jones leading the way. However, there is also a Marvel original series on Hulu.
Runaways was a Marvel Comics book created by Brian K. Vaughan in 2003 about a group of kids who learn that their parents are actually secretly supervillains.
While their parents are villains, the world does not know it and they hold power as the kids witness their parents pulling off a brutal murder. As a result, the kids steal some resources from their parents and run away from home.
These kids also have powers, either naturally or through the resources they stole, and they end up on the run from the police, reported as runaways, and from their parents who want to get them back.
Hulu brought Runaways to the small screen after its attempt to become a movie fell through. The kids are fresh and not stereotypical at all and this is not only a great superhero series but is something that fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer might fall in love with as well (plus, James Marsters (Spike) is one of the bad guys).
The first season hit in 2017 and the second season is coming to Hulu this December, so there is plenty of time to catch up on the first 10 episodes now.
CASUAL — “Polytropos” – Episode 406 – Following a day of misguided decisions, Alex, Valerie, and Laura begin their overdue pilgrimage to Dawn’s. But when their road trip takes an accidental turn, each faces an obstacle that tests their willpower in different ways. Alex Cole (Tommy Dewey), Laura Meyers (Tara Lynne Barr) and Valerie Meyers (Michaela Watkins) shown. (Photo by: Greg Lewis/Hulu)
2. Casual
Casual premiered as a Hulu original comedy series in 2015 and had a powerful name behind the camera. Jason Reitman, who was nominated for an Oscar for directing Juno and Up in the Air directed the series.
The lead in this Hulu original series is a divorced single mother named Valerie, played by Michaela Watkins. The actress was a former Saturday Night Live cast member who was fired after one season.
Casual proves that she is more talented than that bit of trivia makes it sound. It took her six years, but her role in this Hulu series is fantastic.
The show has been compared to Transparent and Parenthood and it deserves those accolades.
After a family scandal, she moves her and her daughter into her brother’s (Tommy Dewey) house. What results is a comedy series that really hits all its marks without being overly showy.
It is heartwarming and honest and one of the best shows that Hulu has ever produced, not to mention one of the best shows on any streaming services — Netflix included.
Casual lasted for four seasons and 44 episodes and finally wrapped up its series this year. From start to finish, this was an honest series about real life, pulled very few punches, and kept its viewers smiling (with those occasional tears) to the end.
Handmaid’s Tale / Image by Hulu
1. The Handmaid’s Tale
It is no surprise to see the top Hulu original series on this list. The most successful show for the streaming service is easily The Handmaid’s Tale.
This is a dystopian tale that is more relevant now than ever before.
The show is based on the book by Margaret Atwood — but where that book was short and to the point, The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu really takes the ideas and runs with them.
In a very different America, a totalitarian group has overtaken the government and when infertility is on the rise worldwide, all women have lost their freedom and those remaining fertile are taken to a place called Gilead and forced into servitude.
These women are then forced into homes where they are raped by their male masters based on their interpretation of the Biblical scriptures. The women are also regularly physically abused and none of them have any rights under the law.
The Handmaid’s Tale is also the golden egg for Hulu, winning the Best Drama Series at the Emmy Awards — the only Hulu original series to achieve that feat.
The show aired its second season in 2018 and the third season is on the way in 2019.
That wraps up our list of the 20 best Hulu original series of all-time. Do you agree with the list? Are there any shows we missed that you think needed to be included? What is your number one choice for a Hulu original series?
Let us know in the comment section below.