Your new favorite binge-watch awaits you on Netflix — you just have to know where to look.
From streaming originals to network and cable classics, the platform has so many incredible shows that it can be difficult to know where to start.
Thankfully, picking the best shows to watch is the Watch With Us team’s bread and butter.
We’ve rounded up a list of five, almost-perfect shows on Netflix that would make for a great binge.
Our first selection is I Think You Should Leave, the popular and widely memed sketch comedy series from SNL alum Tim Robinson.
‘Dark’ (2017-2020)
A young boy disappears in the small, close-knit German town of Winden while cutting through the dark wilderness with his friends one night; a seemingly cut-and-dry case of a missing child. But in the desperate search to find him, the otherwise normal residents of Winden and their families find their tightly-held secrets being exposed alongside their town’s dark history — a history that connects all of them in a terrifying plot with grave consequences for the world. Past, present and future collide in a supernatural story about trauma and time, as the consequences for the town of Winden bear a mark across generations.
Dark is an incredible blend of crime drama, sci-fi, mystery and family drama, but it’s more than just a compelling and ambitious genre hybrid. The show is a deeply complex puzzle box with twists upon twists that somehow make sense, all tied together by rich thematic explorations. Despite the expansive, time-hopping nature of the narrative, the writers do a terrific job keeping things clear for the audience while casting perfect young and old matches for the various characters. Ultimately, Dark is an atmospheric and philosophical thrill ride that completely pulls you in.
‘I Think You Should Leave’ (2019-Present)
Has this ever happened to you? Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin bring their particular brand of surreal, absurdist comedy to I Think You Should Leave, a sketch show about the most embarrassing situations you can imagine being taken fifty steps too far. From trying to put the perfect denouement on a job interview by following through on an erroneous claim that a door “goes both ways,” to going for broke during a haunted house ghost tour for adults where you can “say whatever you want,” to trying an unorthodox method of keeping yourself from talking about your kids too much at a work function, I Think You Should Leave is all about pushing things to their absolute limits — and then some.
I Think You Should Leave became just about an instant hit on the internet shortly after it debuted in 2019, with images and lines of dialogue from the various absurd sketches being shared as memes on social media ad infinitum. The show hasn’t lost its momentum in the subsequent two seasons, and while a fourth has yet to be greenlit due to the busy schedules of Kanin and Robinson (they now have a hit HBO Max show added to their pedigree), it’s worth returning to the short, six-episode first three seasons again and again. I Think You Should Leave is simply demented, laugh-a-minute perfection.
‘Arrested Development’ (2003-2019)
Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) wants nothing more than to finally cut ties with his dysfunctional family — unfortunately, that’s when they need him the most. His father, George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor), has been arrested for white-collar crime, and it’s up to Michael to keep everyone together. Michael’s mother, Lucille (Jessica Walter), is a narcissist, his three siblings (Will Arnett,Portia de Rossi and Tony Hale) are deeply chaotic, and his brother-in-law Tobias (David Cross) is something else entirely. Michael struggles to instill good family values in his son, George Michael (Michael Cera), while cleaning up his family’s mess.
Arrested Development is a defining sitcom of the 2000s, not only frequently considered one of the best comedy shows of all time, but one of the best shows of all time. The Russian nesting doll nature of the show’s densely layered joke-writing warrants repeat viewings, but the fantastic writing wouldn’t be quite the same without the show’s perfect casting. From top to bottom, the comedy performances are brilliant, and you may find yourself torn over who gives the best one (our pick is Cross). But guest stars (including Liza Minnelli, Ed Begley Jr. and Charlize Theron) are just as perfect, too.
‘The Great British Baking Show’ (2010-Present)
The Great British Baking Show is the comfort watch of a lifetime, as viewers bear witness to twelve talented amateur bakers going under the hallowed gingham tent and competing in several baking challenges over the course of ten weeks, at the end of which a winner is crowned the Bake-Off champion. The competition is judged by veteran bakers Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith (Leith replaced the show’s original co-judge, Mary Berry, in season 8), while current presenters Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond provide entertaining color commentary and encouragement to the competitors throughout the challenges.
The Great British Baking Show provides a cozy and good-natured alternative to the rough rigor of American cooking shows like Top Chef or the abusive vitriol of Gordon Ramsay (who is, ironically, British). If you’re skeptical at first, you will likely find yourself sucked into the show before you know it — the many challenges are mesmerizing to watch, the judges are funny and supportive and the contestants are always fascinating people to get to know. There’s no contrived reality show drama, yet the show is plenty dramatic. Have you ever seen what happens when a whole Baked Alaska gets dumped in the trash?
‘Too Much’ (2025)
Still coping with the aftermath of her traumatic breakup from ex-boyfriend Zev (Michael Zegen) — who quickly moved on to Instagram model Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski) — commercial producer Jessica Salmon (Meg Stalter) decides that there’s no better time than the present to accept a work transfer to London and completely change everything in her life. But the boy troubles don’t stop in England, and on her first night, she has a sexual encounter with a musician named Felix (Will Sharpe). The one-night stand ends up becoming something more, and a romance starts between them. However, they’ll need to contend with their respective traumas and hangups if they hope to make it work.
Too Much marks the grand return to television for Girls creator Lena Dunham, and this series carries much of the same exceptional narrative and character development that Dunham executed so gracefully on her previous show. Too Much finds the sweet spot between humor, heartache and complete chaos, as Dunham gives Jess such a refreshing and realistic color in how messy and complicated she is. Stalter and Sharpe have great chemistry, but Stalter’s performance in particular shows that she can be more than just a comedy actress.
