The 10 most popular TV shows on Netflix right now
Exploring the thousands of titles on Netflix can be both exciting and overwhelming. Content of all types abounds, from dramas and comedies to reality shows and documentaries. It’s a good thing there’s a list to help narrow your decision by letting you see the most popular Netflix shows. That’s right, every week, Netflix releases its list of the 10 most-watched TV shows over a recent seven-day period.
Tyler Perry rules Netflix, as his new show, Beauty in Black, sits at No. 1. This Is the Zodiac Speaking moves to No. 2, followed by The Diplomat season 2 at No. 3. Below, we have listed the top 10 shows in the U.S. from October 28 to November 3, along with general information about each show, including genre, rating, cast, and synopsis.
We’ve also rounded up the best shows to stream this week, the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, the best shows on Max, and the best shows on Disney+. For Netflix fans, also check out the 10 most popular movies on Netflix right now.
10. Escape at Dannemora (2018)
Metacritic: 78%
IMDb: 7.9/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Drama, Crime
Cast: Benicio del Toro, Paul Dano, Patricia Arquette
Created by: Michael Tolkin, Brett Johnson
Escape at Dannemora, Showtime’s 2018 crime series, is so unfathomable that you must see it to believe it. Based on a true story from 2015, Escape at Dannemora explores an escape attempt at the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. Richard Matt (Benicio del Toro) and David Sweat (The Batman‘s Paul Dano) are two convicted felons serving long murder sentences.
Matt has a history of escapes, and he begins planning his next getaway with Sweat. The key to this plan involves Tilly Mitchell (Patricia Arquette), a married security guard who becomes romantically involved with Matt and Sweat. Matt’s scheme works, and the duo eventually flees the prison. However, getting out was only the beginning.
9. The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox season 1 (2024)
IMDb: 8.4/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Documentary
Cast: David Ortiz
In 2003, the Boston Red Sox were one game away from reaching the World Series. However, Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone stepped up to the plate and hit a home run to send New York to the World Series. One year later, the Red Sox and Yankees met again in the ALCS. This time, the Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 series lead.
Then the improbable happened. The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox chronicles a Red Sox organization that became the first MLB team to win a series after falling behind 0-3. Boston would finish the job and win the World Series, defeating the notorious “Curse of the Bambino” in the process.
8. Nobody Wants This season 1 (2024)
Metacritic: 73%
IMDb: 8.2/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Comedy
Cast: Kristen Bell, Adam Brody, Justine Lupe
Created by: Erin Foster
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody are millennial royalty. During the mid-2000s, Bell starred in the titular role on Veronica Mars, while Brody played the lovable goof, Seth Cohen on The O.C. 20 years later, Bell and Brody are older, but their charm is still there in Nobody Wants This, a rom-com series from Erin Foster.
Joanne (Bell) is an agnostic woman who hosts a sex and relationship podcast with her sister, Morgan (Justine Lupe). Noah (Brody) is a kind, attractive rabbi. Joanne and Noah meet at a friend’s dinner party and instantly hit it off. Their courtship eventually turns into a relationship. However, their opposing views and familial backgrounds threaten to derail this love story.
7. Love Is Blind season 7 (2020)
Metacritic: 62%
IMDb: 6.2/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 6
Genre: Reality
Cast: Nick Lachey, Vanessa Lachey
Created by: Chris Coelen
Love is Blind is back for season 7. Netflix’s dating experiment welcomes 30 new singles to the pods as they search for love. The singles try to form relationships by talking to each other through a speaker. When the daters make a connection, they can extend a marriage proposal.
If a marriage proposal is accepted, the contestants can finally meet each other face-to-face. After a couples retreat and a multiweek stint living together, it all comes down to the wedding. Will the couples go through with the marriage or end the engagement? New episodes will be released every Wednesday this month, with the finale airing on October 23.
6. Territory season 1 (2024)
Metacritic: 71%
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Western, Drama, Action & Adventure
Cast: Anna Torv, Michael Dorman, Sam Corlett
Created by: Ben Davies, Timothy Lee
Head to the Australian outback for Territory, a drama that combines Yellowstone with Succession. Marianne Station is the world’s largest cattle station. The Lawson family has owned Marianne Station for generations. Key members of the family include Emily Lawson (Anna Torv), Graham Lawson (Michael Dorman), Colin Lawson (Robert Taylor), and Marshall Lawson (Sam Corlett).
Here’s the problem: Marianne Station does not have a clear successor. With no clear heir to the throne, the Lawson family prepares for an ugly battle of succession. The Lawson family war leaves them vulnerable to outside forces, and Australia’s most powerful factions try to swoop in and claim Marianne Station for themselves.
5. The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 (2022)
Metacritic: 61%
IMDb: 7.7/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 3
Genre: Drama, Crime
Cast: Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Becki Newton, Yaya DaCosta
Created by: David E. Kelley
The man who loves to work out of the back of his car is back in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo stars as Mickey Haller, the unorthodox, but brilliant lawyer who does his best work from the back seat of his Lincoln Navigator. Mickey has a habit of taking on seemingly impossible cases. Yet, Mickey continues to find a way to win.
Season 3 is based on The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly. In a strange twist of fate, Mickey is hired to defend Julian La Cosse (Devon Graye), the man accused of killing Mickey’s former client, Gloria Dayton (Fiona Rene). The case proves challenging for Mickey, who grapples between doing his job as a lawyer and seeking revenge for the death of his friend.
4. The Manhattan Alien Abduction season 1 (2024)
IMDb: 5.4/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Documentary
Cast: Linda Napolitano
Netflix is known for its true crime documentaries. The Manhattan Alien Abduction might be the streamer’s wildest one to date. In the late 1980s, Linda Napolitano claimed she was taken by aliens inside her apartment in Lower Manhattan. After Napolitano reported the incident, UFO researcher Budd Hopkins reported that over 20 people saw Napolitano floating over her apartment.
Did this event happen? That’s what The Manhattan Alien Abduction tries to answer. Hopkins used hypnosis treatments on Napolitano to retrigger her memories. Napolitano’s partner at the time, Carol Rainey, is now one of the incident’s biggest critics. This documentary features an interview with Napolitano, but the filmmakers leave it up to the viewer to decide what to believe.
3. The Diplomat season 2 (2023)
Metacritic: 75%
IMDb: 8.0/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 2
Genre: Drama, War & Politics
Cast: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi
Created by: Debora Cahn
After an explosive season finale, The Diplomat returns for an excellent second season. Keri Russell stars as Kate Wyler, the United States ambassador to the UK. Kate is dealing with the effects of a bomb that nearly killed her soon-to-be husband Hal (Rufus Sewell). Was the bomb made for Hal, or was it for someone else?
Meanwhile, Kate learns the attack that originally brought her to the UK was an inside job. British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) orchestrated the attack, not Iran. With this new information, Kate must tread lightly and determine how to use this information against Trowbridge. That’s not the only thing Kate must worry about as Vice President Grace Penn (Allison Janney) throws a wrench in her plans.
2. This Is the Zodiac Speaking season 1 (2024)
IMDb: 7.0/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Documentary, Crime
Cast: Arthur Leigh Allen, Robert Graysmith, Rita Williams
The Zodiac Killer case is one of the most controversial crime cases in American history. In the late 1960s, a serial murderer known as the Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California, murdering and injuring multiple people. The killer sent coded messages to newspapers as his calling card. The top suspect was Arthur Leigh Allen. However, Allen was never convicted.
The three-part true crime docuseries This Is the Zodiac Speaking revisits the case with new evidence and interviews that support the theory that Allen was the killer. The series features interviews with Robert Graysmith, an investigative reporter who covered the case, and Rita Williams, a news reporter who interviewed Allen before his death.
1. Beauty in Black season 1 (2024)
IMDb: 4.6/10
Rated: TV-MA
Seasons: 1
Genre: Drama
Cast: Taylor Polidore, Crystle Stewart, Amber Reign Smith
Created by: Tyler Perry
Thanks to his first-look deal with Netflix, Tyler Perry’s first series with the streamer, Beauty in Black, is now available on the service. In Atlanta, two women on completely different paths become linked after a chance encounter. Kimmie (Taylor Polidore Williams) is a sex worker trying to make ends meet.
Mallory Bellaire (Crystle Stewart) is the CEO of the Beauty In Black hair product company. However, Mallory’s family is behind a trafficking scheme at Magic City Strip Club, Kimmie’s place of employment. Like many of Perry’s shows, Beauty in Black will have drama and plenty of twists and turns throughout the eight-episode first season.