There are too many supposedly-great new TV shows to keep track of. And that's coming from someone who tries to watch as much TV as he can (even covering shows I don't even enjoy watching). That said, as the fall TV season slightly slows on streaming (She-Hulk and Rings of Power both aired finales this week, House of the Dragon episode 9 was the penultimate installment), I figured it's time for my recommendation engine to rev back up.
So, we're using one of our favorite resources to back up some of our favorite shows at Tom's Guide. These nine shows impressed all of the critics, earning 100% Rotten Tomatoes scores, which is damn tough when you consider how many have aired multiple seasons. If you want a more personal set of recommendations, check out my article on the 5 shows on Netflix you should watch right now.
Want more reccs? We've also pulled the best Netflix shows rated 90% and up, the best Apple TV Plus shows rated 90% and up and the best Hulu movies with 90% and up.
So, let's dive into what we love about nine of the best damn shows you can watch online — so you can fill those cultural blind-spots.
Streaming senior editor Henry T. Casey calls himself "the streaming guy" for a multitude of reasons. He's obsessed with watching the latest buzzy shows, streaming devices and especially streaming services and what to watch. He's trying to manage his budget while worrying about the impending HBO Max and Discovery Plus merger.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022)
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which is forever linked to the extremely-buggy Cyberpunk 2077 video game earned a polar-opposite reaction from critics. And it's not hard to see why, as protagonist David's story of being obsessed with technology he and his single mother can barely afford as they live paycheck to paycheck is emotional and endearing. But then things go very wrong, as tragedy strikes. Soon, David has to take up some new jobs to survive in Night City. Oh, and Giancarlo Esposito provides voice-work too.
Seasons: 1 (10 episodes)
Genre: Animated sci-fi thriller
Stream it on Netflix
Freaks and Geeks (1999)
A whole slew of your favorite actors can be traced back to the critically-adored — but short-lived — Freaks and Geeks. Paul Feig's series tells the troubles of high school life in 1980, where one group of older teens (the Freaks) are too lazy and chaotic for their own good, and a younger set (the Geeks) are too nerdy for everyone else's taste. Watch immediately if you've never seen young James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Martin Starr, Linda Cardellini and many more familiar faces navigate the anxieties that only high school can create.
Seasons: 1 (18 episodes)
Genre: High school dramedy
Stream it on Hulu
The Bear (2022)
The Bear may have a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, but it's also not for everyone. That's because it's too good at capturing the chaos behind the scenes at a small family-owned restaurant in Chicago that slings hot Italian beef. After a tragedy in said family, successful chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) returns to steer the ship into the future. White brings an amazing tense mood to The Bear, as every little tic in his face seems like a deliberate reaction to the chaos cooking around him. Family friend Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) is often the one stirring up that nonsense, as he doesn't take kindly to the 'improvements' Carmy is making. Including the hiring of young culinary school graduate Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), to help run the shop.
The Bear crackles with a kinetic energy the likes of which you rarely get in TV, and its finale's big surprise still lives rent-free in my head. You gotta watch, cousin.
Seasons: 1 (eight episodes)
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Stream it on Hulu
Bad Sisters (2022)
A death in the family shouldn't be cause for celebration. However, the Garvey sisters are unlike most families. These five sisters survived the death of their parents, and took an oath to protect each other. And then Grace (Anne-Marie Duff) married John Paul (Claes Bang), who treats her terribly. So, when JP dies? The other Garveys immediately think it's time to pop bottles. Which makes you wonder, did they kill him? And this dark comedy is so sharp that you'll be laughing while you rarely pause to wonder if you're on the right side of history — cheering about a man's death.
The Garveys don't seem to be innocent at all, but they're so well fleshed-out as characters, with excellent chemistry between them, that you love them. And you'll spend its 10 episodes figuring out who's actually responsible, and how much John Paul deserved it.
Seasons: 1 (10 episodes)
Genre: Dark comedy/Mystery thriller
Stream it on Apple TV Plus
Yellowjackets (2021 - ongoing)
Yellowjackets seems to be soaring over the skeletons from Lost's Oceanic flight 815, or at least it did during its amazing first season that drew the 'perfect' critical consensus. In it, we meet a high school girls soccer team that's on their way to nationals, even with a ton of infighting and lack of trust. Except, you know, their plane crashes en-route, and they get stuck in the wilderness. A perfect place for teens who already have a problem with co-operating. And this is part of why Yellowjackets is a winner, as it demonstrates a mastery of using high school group dynamics to create stellar tension and drama.
It all looks bleak until Yellowjackets pulls another Lost, and flashes forwards to the lives that some surviving girls are living as adults. Adults with secrets from the time they spent after the crash. Built around a phenomenal cast, including Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey and Juliette Lewis in the fast-forward roles, Yellowjackets thrilled in its first season.
Seasons: 1 (10 episodes)
Genre: Drama/mystery/horror
Stream it on Showtime via Amazon Prime Video
Hacks (2021 - ongoing)
Jean Smart rules Vegas as comedian Deborah Vance, or at least she used to. In Hacks, Vance is now nearing the end of her career, seemingly making more selling items of questionable quality on QVC than performing her rather-broad comedy live. So, she needs help getting her act back on track. Luckily, her beleaguered manager Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) has just the right person: Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) a blacklisted writer who got banned for making the wrong edgy jokes about the wrong people.
While the two don't get along at first — as Deborah deftly insults everything about Ava, down to her hands — the two soon learn to help each other out. It's hard to stay mad at someone who's mocking you with actually good material. But the road towards career renaissances is tricky, especially when one sues the other. Or the whole thing about the bedding situation on the tour bus. Still, much like women have to do in the entertainment world, Hacks is constantly proving itself.
Genre: Comedy/drama
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Stream it on HBO Max
Fleabag (2016 - 2019)
Ever feel like your life is so messy you could simply narrate a show about it? Phoebe Waller-Bridge's TV series (which is adapted from her one-woman-show) is so messy that she named it Fleabag. Throughout two seasons of hilariously funny moments mixed with serious emotional lows, we never actually hear someone call her character by a name (the show's script dubbed her Fleabag), which is odd considering she goes through all of the ringers.
Whether she's dealing with the gross disaster that is dating men or her godmother (Olivia Colman) who is dating her father, you'd think someone would address her by her name at some point. Fleabag is a perfect show, shadowing her character for two seasons, and leaving well before it overstayed its welcome.
Seasons: 2
Genre: Comedy/drama
Stream it on Prime Video
Adventure Time (2010 - 2018)
The world of animation-for-adults is often filled with programs that are especially kid-unfriendly. Adventure Time is that rare series that managed to thread the needle. While later seasons explore some topics (abandonment, for example) that kids might not be ready for, Adventure Time is one animated show that's great for kids and kid-ults alike.
This fantasy series instantly drops you into the Land of Ooo, which we later realize is post-apocalypse. But that's not where the drama lies. That comes in when Finn is dealing with his crushes, and spending his free time adventuring and stopping the weirdo Ice King (Tom Kenny) from kidnapping the many princesses of Ooo. Oh, and Marceline the Vampire Queen (Olivia Olson)? Let's just say her back story delivers one of the best flashback episodes ever.
While Adventure Time might sound like a-bit-too-much, each of its 15-mintues-or-less episodes is a treat, and the show built amazing characters and stories over its nine-year run.
Seasons: 10
Genre: Animated fantasy
Stream it on HBO Max
Old Enough! (2022)
And now for something completely different. Old Enough! will either sound like a true delight or cruel and unusual punishment. In this series (which originally aired in Japan, and Netflix imported 20 episodes as a test of sorts), we meet a series of quite young (mostly below five years of age) kids who are sent on errands or assignments that test their independent nature.
An utterly wholesome piece of reality TV, Old Enough! is framed as a competition show, including a narrator who takes these kids' missions seriously. Some of the contestants are seen as too meek by the show and their parents, and so Old Enough! acts as a way to push out on their own. Adorable as heck (at least for some), Old Enough is one of my favorite Netflix shows of the year.
Seasons: 1 (20 episodes)
Genre: Reality
Stream it on Netflix
Next: Here's everything we know about Rings of Power season 2, and we've got 5 reasons to buy the Apple TV 4K (2022) and 2 reasons to skip it.
