RELATED: The Best TV Shows on Netflix in 2022
Downton Abbey
Play Video
Creator Julian Fellowes brings gentle human drama to the British class system in Downton Abbey, which focuses equally on the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants living at the titular estate. It’s an engrossing domestic drama that’s more concerned with relationships than social change, although the six seasons take place over the course of 15 years and chronicle shifting attitudes in British society.
The show is full of charming characters, from the eccentric, outspoken Crawley matriarch Violet (Maggie Smith) to the stalwart, stuffy butler Mr. Carson (Jim Carter).
The Expanse
Play Video
The future depicted in sci-fi series The Expanse is vast and awe-inspiring, but it’s also full of inequality, class struggle, and corruption, just like any system set up by humans would be. Based on the popular novels, The Expanse focuses on the battles between humans living on Earth and in colonies on Mars, with people who work as miners in the asteroid belt caught in the middle.
There’s also a strange alien threat, but the smart, complex series is more interested in the political conflicts between rival human factions.
RELATED: The 10 Best Hulu Original TV Series in 2022
Felicity
Play Video
Before they became titans of big-budget genre movies, J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves co-created charming, emotionally engaging college drama Felicity. Keri Russell stars as the title character, who makes an impulsive decision to follow her high school crush—whom she’s never spoken to—from California to New York City for college.
There, she’s embroiled in a love triangle between that brooding crush, Ben (Scott Speedman), and the friendly, neurotic Noel (Scott Foley). It’s a sensitive, low-key drama about figuring out who you are and what you truly want in life.
Fleabag
Play Video
U.K. import Fleabag is a perfect example of the benefits of the concentrated, self-contained model of British TV series. Creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge tells a bitingly funny and heartbreakingly sad story within the first season’s six episodes. The unnamed main character navigates her disastrous personal life while making frequent snarky asides to the audience. She even matures a bit in the belated second season, which tells an equally hilarious and poignant story of its own.
Friday Night Lights
Play Video
High school football encapsulates the entirety of life in the small-town Texas drama Friday Night Lights. Wise, empathetic coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) understands that his responsibility extends far beyond just teaching teenagers the fundamentals of football. He guides these young souls as best he can, providing a guidepost for people who are just starting to figure out their lives.
Over the course of five seasons, Friday Night Lights features plenty of amazing comebacks, astonishing displays of skill, and stunning defeats—both on the field and off.
RELATED: The 10 Best Hit Reality TV Shows You Can Binge-Watch
How I Met Your Mother
Play Video
It took nine seasons for Ted Mosby to finally tell his children How I Met Your Mother, but the journey is worth all the detours. Bob Saget narrates the sitcom as the older version of Ted (Josh Radnor), a hapless New York City bachelor who cycles through various ill-fitting matches on the way to finding true love.
It’s a clever, funny take on the ups and downs of relationships, for Ted as well as for his occasional love interest Robin (Cobie Smulders), his womanizing friend Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), and his more settled married friends Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan).
The Kids in the Hall
Play Video
The Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall may never have become breakout stars like other sketch performers, but their series has been influential on generations of comedians. The surreal yet silly sketches feature the five performers taking on a variety of roles, including almost all of the female parts, with notable recurring characters including the Chicken Lady and Buddy Cole.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Play Video
The show is full of rapid-fire witticisms delivered by fascinating characters in colorful costumes. It’s a celebration of the time period with insight from the present.
RELATED: The 10 Best Hit Food Shows You Can Binge-Watch
NewsRadio
Play Video
While it was overshadowed by other major 1990s sitcoms, NewsRadio easily stands alongside the popular hits of the era. It has a quirkier sensibility while delivering the same kind of camaraderie and character development as other contemporary shows.
The ensemble cast includes Dave Foley, Maura Tierney, Phil Hartman, Khandi Alexander, and more, playing the employees of an AM news station owned by the eccentric Jimmy James (Stephen Root). The show mixes absurdity and warmth, with funny bits of wordplay and characters worth caring about.
The Night Manager
Play Video
The title character of The Night Manager does actually work as an overnight supervisor at an upscale hotel, but this isn’t a show about the challenges of high-end hospitality. Before he was a night manager, Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) was in the British military, and that’s why he’s recruited by an intelligence officer (Olivia Colman) to go undercover in the operation of an international arms dealer (Hugh Laurie).
Based on a novel by espionage master John le Carré, The Night Manager is a slick, thrilling miniseries with a stellar cast that finds suspense and intrigue even in the smallest interactions.
